Kobo in Conversation

Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with David A. Robertson, author of many books including the Governor General's award-winning  When We Were Alone ,  and  On the Trapline , both illustrated by Julie Flett. He's also the author of the ongoing series for young readers,  The   Misewa   Saga . And he's the author of the 2022 novel for adults,  A Theory of Crows , as well as a memoir from 2020 called  Black W...

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Christina Cooke, author of the novel  Broughtupsy . It's a book about a young woman who returns to Jamaica to reconnect with her sister and to spread the ashes of their little brother amidst the places that make up the history of their family .   Christina Cooke wrote the 90s story only she could tell

Following our last episode all about the best books we read in 2024, host and producer Nathan Maharaj connected over Zoom with even more Kobo staffers (including one that'll be very familiar Kobo in Conversation listeners) to talk about the books that have stuck with them over the past 12 months. So welcome back once more, to our year in books.  The best books we read in 2024 We'll be back in your...

Listen in as Kobo staffers share the best books they read in 2024. It's all here, from the buzziest new releases to bucket list classics. The best books we read in 2024  

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Dr. Jonathan Stea, clinical psychologist and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary, about avoiding the pitfalls of pseudoscience and what we can all learn from wellness grifters in his book  Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry . Dr. Jonathan Stea on how to mind your mental health

Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Anne Fleming, author of  Curiosities , which was a finalist for the 2024 Giller Prize. It's the story of how five fictional 17th century manuscripts uncovered by an amateur historian named Anne paint a picture of a handful of unusual lives. Anne Fleming on love stories and curiosity

Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Anna Gomez, author of  Somewhere Along the Way . It's the story of Charlotte, or Charlie to her friends, a woman thrown into turmoil with the death of her father. She is given a collection of letters that her mother had been sending since she left Charlie and her dad so long ago. Those letters set Charlie on a journey, and we all get to come along for the r...

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Richard Powers. Many readers will know him from his 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel  The Overstory , or perhaps  The Echo Maker ,  which won the 2006 National Book Award. His newest novel is  Playground , a story about four characters joined in different ways—marriage, friendship, a kind of celebrity—but sharing nonetheless an interest in the French Polyne...

In our second installment in this new series, hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj sat down to go over some of the latest goings-on since summer in the business of books. Topics covered in this episode: Is AI a no-go for NaNoWriMo? Audible announces AI narration—as a side hustle for human narrators B&N needs more shovels (to deal with AI) Bestselling nonfiction author Steven Johnson on employi...

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with writer katherena vermette, author of the award-winning 2016 novel  The Break , the graphic novel series  A Girl Called Echo , as well as a number of  poetry collections  and  books for children . Her latest novel is  real ones . It's the story of a pair of sisters, lyn and June, whose mother's claims to Indigenous identity come under more scrutiny than they can bear....

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with writer and filmmaker Jamaluddin Aram, winner of the 2024  Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize  for Literary fiction for his novel  Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday . It's a tapestry of stories about different people—shopkeepers, tradespeople, doctors, children, and their parents—while in the background, often very deep in the background, a war is being f...

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Amanda Peters, author of the 2023 novel  The Berry Pickers , a book about a 4-year-old girl who goes missing while her family is visiting Maine for the summer to pick blueberries. It's a book that won both the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction  and  the Crime Writers of Canada's first novel award, among many other accolades. Her new book is a collection...

Michael Tamblyn spoke with Keziah Weir, winner of the  2024 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize  in the category of Mystery for her novel,  The Mythmakers . It's the story of Sal, a writer who's hit a very rough patch in every aspect of her life. But then she discovers a short story written by an author she met some time ago—about her and her and that moment of meeting. She learns that the story is a part...

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with fiction and comics writer Rainbow Rowell, author of the novels  Eleanor &   Park  and  Fangirl , as well as the 2017 revival of Marvel's  Runaways  comic book series, the current run of  She-Hulk , and many other  books  and  stories . Her newest book is  Slow Dance , the story of a couple of grown-ups who've been friends since they were kids, but didn't manage to st...

At Toronto's Harbourfront Centre, Nathan interviewed Ian Hamilton, author of the  Ava Lee series , and Steve Urszenyi, author of  Perfect Shot . Ian's latest book  The Fury of Beijing   is (possibly) the last in the series, while Steve's book kicks off the  Special Agent Alexandra Martel series. Live at MOTIVE: Thrills from Start to Finish

Michael spoke with artist, illustrator, and fashion designer, Maurice Vellekoop. Over a career spanning four decades, Vellekoop's work has been published in magazines including  The New Yorker ,  Vogue, Rolling Stone ,  Fashion,  and  Cosmopolitan , and he's the author and illustrator of the books,  The World of Gloria Badcock: A Comic for Adults,  A Nut at the Opera,  and  Maurice Vellekoop's Pin...

We're sweeping up the glitter after awarding the 10th annual Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize to a trio of brilliant authors just a few days ago (more on that to come). We'll be back in your feed with more author interviews soon.  In the meantime... When Kobo in Conversation hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj aren't reading books and interviewing authors for this show, they're working in t...

Michael spoke with writer Stephen Maher, author of  The Prince: The Turbulent Reign of Justin Trudeau . Informed by interviews with hundreds of people close to the events covered, as well as Maher's own conversations with Trudeau himself, it's a portrait of a complex person leading through complex times. Stephen Maher offers readers a glimpse of The Prince

Nathan spoke with Laura Tamblyn Watts, founder and chief executive of  CanAge , Canada's national seniors' advocacy organization, and author of  Let's Talk About Aging Parents: A Real-Life Guide to Solving Problems with 27 Essential Conversations , a book about the many hard things facing adults who know their aging parents need to make some decisions—and probably some changes too—but they don't k...

Nathan spoke with novelist Anna Julia Stainsby, author of  The Afterpains . It's the story of Rosy, whose grief over the loss of her infant daughter nearly twenty years ago has all but cut her off from her husband and teenage son. And it's about Isaura, an immigrant from Honduras raising her daughter in Toronto and trying to keep her out of the grip of a centuries-long curse. Anna Julia Stainsby o...

Nathan spoke with novelist Shilpi Somaya Gowda, author of the 2012 international bestseller  Secret Daughter . Her new book is  A Great Country . It's about the Shah family, recently moved to the well-to-do neighbourhood of Pacific Hills. While Ashok and Priya catch up with friends at a dinner party one Saturday evening, their children are each, separately, experiencing things that will leave thei...

Michael spoke with journalist Michael Finkel, author of  True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa , and  The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit  as well as numerous articles about extreme places and unlikely people for Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, GQ, and the New York Times Magazine. His latest book  The Art Thief is the story of Stéphane Breitwieser, a...

Nathan spoke with novelist Kiley Reid, author of the 2020 novel,  Such a Fun Age . Her new book,  Come and Get It is set on the campus of the University of Arkansas, specifically at a dormitory called Belgrade, and it follows Millie Cousins, a 24-year-old Resident Advisor or RA to folks familiar with dorm life, who's launching a second run at the final year of her degree after taking time off to l...

Nathan spoke with Dr Jen Gunter, OB/GYN and bestselling author of several books on health, anatomy, and medicine:  The Vagina Bible ,  The Menopause Manifesto , and most recently a new book called  Blood: The science, medicine, and mythology of menstruation . Dr. Jen Gunter on writing books about bodies for people  

Nathan spoke with R. F. Kuang, author of the epic historical fantasy trilogy  The Poppy War ,  as well as the 2022 novel, also a work of historical fantasy called Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution . R. F. Kuang's latest novel is  Yellowface . It's the story of June Hayward and Athena Liu, a pair of writers on the rise—one of whom is rising...