Book Off!

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...

This week we welcome bestselling authors Saara El-Arifi and Callie Hart to the podcast, who go head to head in a war of the words. We chat fantasy, romantasy, maps, sexy fairies - and also learn a new word 'Chussy' (don't google it!) Callie and Saara also give us some brilliant book recommendations and some top writing tips! (oh, and di we mention the interpretive dance?) THE BOOK OFF 'Gideon The...

We welcome two brilliant debut novelists to Book Off this week, who go head to head in a war of the words... Xenobe Purvis and Gurnaik Johal have both recently published their first novels - and they are both brilliant! Hear them discuss their inspirations, writing and research techniques. how to choose a good title and why reading slowly is good. In a Book Off first - Gurnaik pitches a book he ha...

Two debut novelists, Wendy Erskine and Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin join Joe Haddow for a war of the words! They discuss their brilliant new novels ('The Benefactors' and 'Ordinary Saints') as well as giving us some brilliant book recommendations too. They also chat about 'queer literature', the Women's Prize, how to cast a book and the joy of free writing. THE BOOK OFF 'The Price Of Salt' ('Carol') by Pat...

Bestselling crime writers, MW Craven and JD Kirk go head to head in a war of the words... They chat with Joe Haddow about their latest novels ('The Final Vow' and 'A Rock And A Hard Place'), their inspirations, meeting artists they admire and acting weird...and Terry Pratchett. There's quite a lot of Terry Pratchett chat! (Chatchett?) As ever, we have some brilliant book recommendations for you -...

Two bestselling authors, both alike in dignity, in the fair Book Off studio - where we lay our scene... On this episode we bring together two brilliant minds, authors and Scots - Irvine Welsh and John Niven. They discuss their latest novels, nostalgia, returning characters...and the joy of writing in the pre-mobile phone era. They also chat Oasis, crime fiction, the shit that appears on instagram...

It's our 150th episode!!! Can you believe it? No, we can't either... ...and celebrating our big birthday are Harriet Evans and Laura Barnett, who join Joe for a brilliant bit of Booking Off. Sadly - there's no cake or party poppers - thanks to the terrible Thameslink service which meant Joe couldn't get to the shops in time, but there's still a lot of great book chat! Harrie and Laura discuss thei...

Bestselling author Holly Smale goes head to head with Comedian and writer Cally Beaton in a War Of The Words. The authors chat to Joe Haddow about their latest books, imposter syndrome, living in the present and what Orca's can teach us about feminism. They also also share some great book recommendations THE BOOK OFF 'East Of Eden' by John Steinbeck VS 'The Beekeeper Of Aleppo' by Christy Lefteri...