Book Off!

Bestselling authors, China Mieville and Emily St John Mandel go head to head in a war of the words... They join Joe Haddow for a chat about their work, inspirations and new novels. 'The Rouse' by China Mieville is a sprawling, epic saga (1200 pages in length). He talks to Joe about what can be achieved in a long novel, how the writing process is different, how he kept continuity - and - wh...

Two brilliant writers and humans - Charlie Higson and Vaseem Khan - join Joe for a Book Off (and a Bond Off!) Both are writing contemporary novels - in the world of James Bond - for the Ian Fleming estate. Charlie has previously written Young Bond novels - but has recently published 'King Zero' - his first adult novel featuring James Bond. Vaseem is writing the character of Q - who appears...

Award-winning authors, Donal Ryan and Elif Shafak, join Joe Haddow for a war of the words. Elif's new novel - 'In One Brief Moment All Eternity' - is an imaginative re-telling of Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary' - told from 30 different characters. Some of them are based on real-life people, whilst others are completely made up (and not necessarily human!) Donal's latest nove...

Bestselling authors and all-round wonderful human beings, Max Porter and Katherine Rundell, join Joe Haddow for a War of the Words! They chat about the joy of children's books, magic, creating worlds and why brawling is very much different to fighting. Both Katherine and Max are passionate about words and poetry - and give us some wonderful book recommendations to add to the TBR pile! THE BOOK...

Authors Shelby Van Pelt and Debra Curtis join Joe Haddow for a good ole Book Off! They talk about their debut novels ('Impossibly Bright Creatures' and 'Laws Of Love And Logic'), the brilliance of nature - specifically Octopi - strange psychic coincidences - and sex! THE BOOK OFF 'The Woman Who Lost Her Soul' by Bob Shacochis VS 'The Soul Of An Octopus' by Sy Montgo...

International bestselling authors, Lisa Jewell and Shari Lapena, go head to head in a war of the words! They join Joe Haddow to chat about their new novels, creepy houses, instagram life vs real life, and why some authors (mainly men) shouldn't write sex scenes in their books. The authors also discuss how dark they will go in their own books, why they like reading really gruesome things, tell us a...

We're baaaaack! HELLO SERIES 16! And for the first episode in our new series, authors Bobby Palmer and Claire Daverley go head-to-head in a war of the words. They discuss their latest novels ("Main Characters" and "People In Love") and discover that they both have exactly the same taste in books! Joe chats to them about rom-coms, Richard Curtis, and the many different beautiful and frustrating ang...

Justin Currie - lead singer of Del Amitri - and Debsey Wykes - frontwoman of Dolly Mixture - join Joe for a natter about their memoirs, music, writing, forgotten histories and much more. Justin talks about touring America, then and now, how the US took Del Amitri under their wings and, essentially, helped him buy a house! Debsey talks about touring with The Undertones and U2, keeping an archive -...

Two authors go head to head in a war of the words! This week - Laura Evans and Pip Landers-Letts join Joe Haddow for a natter. They chat about writing sapphic fiction, big skies, eerie landscapes, the Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award...and the joys of writing in Ikea! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Multi-million selling superstar author, Ken Follett, returns to Book Off and goes head to head in a war of the words with author and artist Amy Jeffs. Ken discusses his latest novel 'Circle Of Days' and his fascination with Stonehenge. He talks about the challenges of writing in different historic periods, deep research and how to turn lots of factual information into a brilliantly engaging, page-...

 Women’s Prize shortlisted author, Lily King, and previous Women's Prize winner, Tayari Jones, join Joe for this week’s Book Off! They discuss their new novels, co-parenting Koalas, Ann Patchett, lovers, desire, chosen family, female friendship, mothers, Oprah and the many many forms of love. We LOVED this chat - and hope you do too!  THE BOOK OFF 'The Transit Of Venus' by Shirley Hazzar...

Authors Ava Glass and Anna Mazzola go head to head in a war of the words - pitting a book they love and think that everyone should read against each other in The Book Off! They also chat to Joe Haddow about their new novels, the corrupt world of billionaires (and their exclusive ski resorts), haunted houses, spies, writing inspirations - and - why writers have pseudonyms. They also give us some gr...

Joe Haddow welcomes two more authors to the Book Off studio - for a war of the words! This week, he's joined by debut novelists Fran Fabriczki and Sam Beckbessinger, who discuss their new books, writing processes and inspirations. They talk about Los Angeles (the loves / the hates), wry humour, peri menopause, forging anger into stories and legendary mums. We also get some pretty great book recomm...

Sarah Hilary and Sabine Durrant join Joe Haddow for a Book Off! They chat about their new novels, choosing their settings, 'chalk n cheese' detective duos and balancing darkness and light. Sarah's book ('The Drowning Place') has ghostly elements to it, so they discuss ghosts and whether the authors believe in them... THE BOOK OFF 'The Mahe Circle' by George Simenon VS 'Your Blue-Eyed Boy' by Helen...

Joe Haddow welcomes two bestselling authors - Claire Douglas and Jane Harper - to Book Off to go head-to-head in a war of the words! They chat about making fictional settings seem as real as possible, how a sense of place can shape a novel, and why you should ALWAYS write down your ideas, you never know when you might need them. Jane and Claire also talk about knowing when to give up on a novel -...

Jessie Burton and Katy Hessel join Joe Haddow for a war of the words. They discuss great women artists, mudlarking, the influence of family histories, museums and galleries, getting children interested in art and finding a writing voice. Katy and Jessie also recommend some brilliant books - including 'The Wreck' by Lizzy Stewart (graphic novel) and 'The Artist' by Lucy Steeds (novel) THE BOOK OFF...

Alex Kadis (ex Smash Hits journo and music manager) goes head to head with Tanya Sweeney (columnist and journo) in a war of the words. They chat about their debut novels, their inspirations and their complex central characters. Plus, there's a lot of chat about Smash Hits, music, Bros, One Direction - and - stalking! THE BOOK OFF 'Olga Dies Dreaming' by Xochitl Gonzalez VS 'High Fidelity' by Nick...

Debut novelists Tobi Coventry and India-Rose Bower join Joe Haddow for a war of the words. They chat about their new novels ("He's The Devil" and "We Call Them Witches") as well as their love for the horror genre, their inspirations - and why queer horror is in a renaissance right now. Tobi and India also give us some brilliant book recommendations too. (whilst this episode celebrates the horror g...

Authors Curtis Sittenfeld and Erin White join Joe Haddow for a war of the words... Curtis and Erin are best mates - which makes for a very competitive Book Off! Erin talks about her debut novel 'Like Family' which has themes of desire in middle age, queer domestic love and life, navigating the world as a teenager - and much more. Curtis discusses her latest short story collection 'Show Don't Tell'...

Alexandra Potter and Madeleine Gray join Joe Haddow for a war of the words! They chat about their new novels, conmen, queer love, writing women without making them victims - and give us some great book recommendations too. THE BOOK OFF 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte VS 'How To Be Both' by Ali Smith Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

LIbby Page and Ellie Levenson join Joe Haddow for a natter about their new novels - and - go head to head in a War Of The Words! Libby's new novel - 'This Book Made Me Think Of You' - is a heartwarming, uplifting story about grief and love (and a love letter to books, reading and bookshops!) Ellie's new novel - 'Room 706' - is a tense page-turner about a woman trapped in a hotel room with her love...

Bestselling authors Peter James and Sophie Hannah join Joe Haddow for a right royal Book Off! They discuss Poirot, Christie, Greene and many other writers they love - and give us some great book recommendations too. Peter and Sophie also chat about their new novels. Queen Camilla is a huge fan of Peter James' Roy Grace books - so much so that she is the star of the latest novel 'The Hawk Is Dead'....

Charlatans lead singer, Tim Burgess, and music photographer, Tom Sheehan, join Joe Haddow for a war of the words. Tim and Tom have worked together on and off for over 30 years - and during that time, Tom has captured some of the most iconic images of Tim's band. They chat about their new collaboration 'How High: A Portrait Of The Charlatans' as well as some of their favourite music biographies, ar...

This week Joe welcomes two debut authors - Lisa Smith and Marcia Hutchinson - who get head to head in a war of the words. They chat about their writing journeys, black voices in literature, coming to writing later in life and why sometimes, you can just use books as a way of getting back at people! THE BOOK OFF 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison VS 'Small Island' by Andrea Levy Here's a little more about...

Bestselling authors Joe Hill and Joe Abercrombie join another Joe (the host) for a natter about books, films, horror, fantasy and much more. They discuss their brilliant new novels, 'King Sorrow' and 'The Devils', their writing processes and routines, Stephen King, James Cameron, film adaptations, comics - and - give us some brilliant book recommendations too. THE BOOK OFF 'Lonesome Dove' by Larry...