The Book Club Christmas Special: Five Of The Best

ABC and iview - Tuesday December 19th at 8.30PM

Host Jennifer Byrne and regular guests Marieke Hardy and Jason Steger are joined by author and screenwriter Benjamin Law, and Wheeler Centre director Michael Williams, in the Book Club's one-hour end-of-year special, Five Of The Best 2017, to celebrate and discuss standout 2017 reads.

As the series comes to an end, it's time to celebrate a year of great reads… and to look be back through the archive at 11 years of Book Club guests, disputes, funny moments and in-depth reviews.

Jennifer's choice is the long-awaited The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman; Jason has chosen The Restorer by Australian author Michael Sala, and set at the time of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake; Marieke looks to her unofficial life coach, Robert Dessaix, for The Pleasures of Leisure. Benjamin brings Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge; and rounding out the list Michael recommends is the Man Booker Prize-nominated Home Fire, by Kamila Shamsie.

We'll also discover what other enthusiastic readers – children and booksellers – picked as their top books of 2017; and the big reveal -The Book Club's Audience Poll winners – your Five Of The Best.

Plus, Jimmy Barnes will perform live in the studio his emotive classic, Flame Trees.