Our first Book Club pick of 2026 is 'The Poet Empress' by debut novelist, Shen Tao.

The book is an epic tale of female empowerment, love and the power of words. It might also win the award for best cover of the year!

Shen talks to Sara about world building, her inspirations for the protagonist and why she loves the Fantasy genre so much. She also mentions the eight unpublished novels which went before this one, confirming that you should never give up!

We also get a book recommendation from Shen - and - play a clip from the Audiobook of 'The Poet Empress' (*please note this clip features the burying of a young child, which some listeners may find upsetting or triggering)

Here's the book blurb:

As the emperor lays dying, the once-great Azalea Dynasty plunges towards civil war. While its princes plot for power, a more hidden war - to become the next empress - occupies the imperial court.

Wei Yin - peasant girl turned concubine to the cruel Prince Terren - has already endured unimaginable suffering. Ripped from her family, she has no title, no allies, and no escape. But she does have a secret . . .

In the shadows of the palace, surrounded by enemies, she is learning a skill forbidden to women. Because when words are weapons and poetry holds an ancient magic, the fate of a girl - and a nation - can both be rewritten. All she has to do is compose the perfect poem - a tale so powerful, it can kill any man, even the next emperor.

Louisa Steel - one of our superstar librarians - joins Sara for a natter about books.

They chat about the Radio 2 Book Club panel, reading ruts and why book clubs are good for getting you out of your comfort zone.

Louisa also shares her Top Five Reads Of The Year (well, of 2025). They are:

The Offing by Benjamin Myers

James by Percival Everett

Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Dr Crippen by Hallie Rubenhold

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson

Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jessie Q. Sutanto

Our last book choice of 2025 is The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell.

Alex joins Sara for a chat about the novel, the inspiration behind it, the obstacles that come with writing a time travel narrative and working out a writing routine for busy working mums.

We also hear a clip from the audiobook - and - Alex gives us a great book recommendation too. (one that keeps cropping up!)

Here's a little more info on The White Octopus Hotel:

London, 2015

When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her London office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her. His name is Max Everly – curiously, the same name as Eve’s favourite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she can’t shake the feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when?

The White Octopus Hotel, 1935

Decades earlier, high in the snowy Swiss Alps, Eve and a young Max Everly wander the winding halls of the grand belle epoque White Octopus Hotel, lost in time. Each of them has been through the trenches – Eve in a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War – but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door.

Sara welcomes Rachel Parris and Jessica Bull to the Radio 2 Book Club for a celebration of Jane Austen.

Jess writes the 'Miss Austen Investigates' series, whilst Rachel performs in the improvisational group Austentatious - and has just published her first novel, inspired by an Austen character.

They chat with Sara about when their love of Austen began, their favourite books and adaptations - and - how she has inspired them to write.

Our two guests also recommend us a book they have been reading and enjoying recently - and - we get to hear a snippet of a new audio abridgment of Pride & Prejudice - read by the legendary Julie Andrews.

Here's some more info on Jessica's book - 'The Austen Christmas Murders':

The festive season is fast approaching. Jane Austen fears that without her lively siblings at home, there won’t be much Christmas cheer in the Austen household this year. But when she uncovers a skeleton in the cellar of Deane Parsonage, Jane soon forgets her woes. For who needs merriment, when there’s a mystery to solve? Jane quickly learns of a missing young bride, who after fleeing her wedding breakfast, was never seen again. Locals have long believed she haunts the woods nearby.

Could Jane have found her at last? Or does the truth of this mystery lie closer to home?

Over the twelve days of Christmas, Jane will embark upon festive delights, making merry, and solving murders…

And here's a little more info on Rachel's book - 'Introducing Mrs Collins':

Charlotte Lucas has never been a romantic. Practical to a fault, she accepted Mr Collins's proposal with clear eyes and a steady heart, trading passion for security. Life at Hunsford Parsonage may be quiet and predictable, but it is hers to manage - and she's determined to make the best of it, whatever Elizabeth Bennet may think.

That is, until an unexpected guest at Rosings Park turns Charlotte's careful world on its head. He sees her, challenges her - and a spark is lit. But true contentment is not only about who you choose to love, but who you choose to be. For the first time, she wonders: has playing by the rules kept her on the sidelines of her own life?

Debut novelist, Grace Walker, joins Sara in the Radio 2 Book Club to chat about her claustrophobic, dystopian page-turner - 'The Merge'

The book asks a lot of questions for the reader, so Sara and Grace discuss some of those 'what would YOU do?' moments, as well as finding out some of the inspirations behind the plot and storylines. (it turns out, a conversation about not wanting to live in your partner's body can spark a whole novel)

Grace also gives us her book recommendation of the moment, and shares one of the horror stories from writing this particular book - the sort no writer wants to hear!

Here's some more info on 'The Merge'

Laurie is sixty-five and living with Alzheimer’s. Her daughter Amelia can’t bear to see her mother’s mind fade. Faced with the reality of losing her forever, Amelia signs them up to take part in the world’s first experimental merging process for Alzheimer’s patients, in which Laurie’s ailing mind will be transferred into Amelia’s healthy body and their consciousness will be blended as one.

Soon Amelia and Laurie join a group of other merge participants: teenage Lucas, who plans to merge with his terminally ill brother Noah; Ben, who will merge with his pregnant fiancée Annie; and Jay, whose merging partner is his unwilling addict daughter Lara.

As they prepare to move to The Village, a luxurious rehabilitation centre for those who have merged, they quickly begin to question whether everything is really as it seems.

Former librarian turned book influencer, Simon Savidge, joins Sara for a chat about his favourite books of the year - and - his recommendations for great Christmas gifts.

His choices include three novels (for that person who's already read everything!), three kids books (to inspire and entertain young minds) and three works of non-fiction (for the hard-to-buy-for person in your life).

SIMON'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Fiction: On The Calculation of Volume (Book 1) by Solvej Balle A Room Above A Shop by Anthony Shapland Love Forms by Claire Adam

Younger Readers: Dungeon Runners by Kieran Larwood Impossible Creatures by Katherine Randell Somadina by Akwaeke Emezi

Non-Fiction: Agent Zo by Clare Mulley The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry

His go-to Christmas book: Stay Another Day by Juno Dawson

Sara welcomes former library worker turned head of all things Radio 2 Book Club, Karen McPherson, to the podcast.

They chat about how we choose our titles each year, the joy of libraries, 'the fight room' - plus - Karen also shares her Top Five Reads Of The Year.

The Names by Florence Knapp

Show Me Where it Hurts by Claire Gleeson

This Bright Life by Karen Campbell

One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford

The Greatest Possible Good by Ben Brooks

Broadcaster and author Sally Magnusson returns to The Radio 2 Book Club once more, to discuss her new novel 'The Shapeshifter's Daughter'.

The book is a re-telling of the Norse myth of Hel - set across the mythological realm of Asgard and present day Orkney Islands.

Sally chats to Sara about her fascination with Scandanavia, the challenges of re-writing a myth and why Orkney is such a special place. We also hear a snippet from the audiobook, get a great book recommendation - and learn about what happened to the original Mastermind chair! (Sally's Dad was the great journalist and TV Presenter Magnus Magnusson)

Here's a little more info on 'The Shapeshifter's Daughter':

Before she was a hideous monster, the queen of the underworld was simply Hel. But cast as a girl out of lofty Asgard, realm of the gods, by Odin the Allfather, Hel's fate as the terrible goddess of death is sealed. Half beauty, half crone, she has reigned for aeons in the starless darkness of Niflheim, grimly welcoming the most pitiful of death's travellers to her ice-locked prison. Until one day a memory shifts, and she is forced to seek out the sun in Midgard, where humans have made their home.

Faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis, Helen Firth makes the impulsive decision to return to Orkney after forty years to make peace with her past. Under the wintering solstice sun, she reconnects with the ungainly but affable Thorfinn Coffin, who helps her address the real reason she has returned to the islands: to die. As Helen draws closer to death and ever closer to Thorfinn, Hel in turn is intrigued by Helen. She, too, has a past to confront and a lesson to learn: that perhaps who she believes herself to be isn't who she really is.