Mostly Books Meets...

It is our great pleasure to welcome on to the podcast this week author Bobby Palmer. Bobby’s much-anticipated debut novel Isaac and The Egg was published on the 9th of August. Before it was even released Isaac and The Egg had people queuing up to sing its praises. Author Joanna Cannon says it is: “‘Truly one of the most beautiful stories you’ll ever read… What’s it about? I’d love to have a stab a...

This week we welcome onto the podcast performer, activist, and author Jill Nalder. In January 2021 Russell T Davies‘ It’s a Sin hit our TV screens. For some, it was a reminder of the pain and prejudice of the AIDs crisis, while for many it was an education. Either way, it captured the hearts and minds of millions across the country. Jill Nalder, a lifelong friend of Russell, was the inspiration fo...

On the podcast this week we are thrilled to be hosting the twice Booker prize shortlisted author Mohsin Hamid. Mohsin is the author of five novels , including Exit West, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist as well as a book of essays, Discontent and Its Civilizations. His writing has been translated into forty languages, featured on bestseller lists, and has been adapted for the cinema. Mohsin's late...

It is our great pleasure to welcome onto the podcast this week debut novelist, and journalist, Tracey Lien. Tracey grew up in Sydney, Australia. She was previously a reporter for Vox Media before going on to work for the Los Angeles Times. Tracey then made the brave leap into the world of fiction and joined the MFA program at the University of Kansas. It was during this time that her first novel A...

This week we’re speaking to award-winning writer and illustrator, Jackie Morris. Over her career Jackie has written and illustrated over 40 books. In 2019 she won the CLIP Kate Greenaway Medal and The Books are My Bag Readers Award for the absolutely stunning book, The Lost Words. It is a staple in every bookshop and appeals to both adults and children alike. Told off as a child for drawing and dr...

On the podcast this week we are speaking to award-winning novelist Kamila Shamsie. I thought for a long time about how best to introduce a writer as renowned and respected as Kamila. I toyed with the idea of listing off her many accolades and achievements, but each time I read them out loud I found it didn’t capture the experience of reading a Shamsie novel for the first time. Instead, I’ll tell y...

On this week’s episode we have the amazing R. F. Kuang, the author of the much loved and lauded Poppy War Trilogy. Rebecca is a Marshall Scholar, translator, and has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Award. She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford and is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Liter...

It is our great pleasure to welcome to the podcast this week a true legend of crime fiction, the novelist Karin Slaughter. Karin launched onto the scene in 2001 with her first novel Blindsighted, which marked the beginning of the Grant County series. Since then she has gone on to write more than twenty instant New York Times bestselling novels, including the much-loved Will Trent series which is d...

Mostly Books Meets is back for another season and our first guest novelist, Kim Sherwood! Kim’s first novel Testament was published in 2018, and was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Award, shortlisted for the Best First Novel Award, and won the Bath Novel Award and the Harper's Bazaar Big Book of the Year. A James Bond fan since a young age, and described as a “Fleming aficionado of the highest...

Our guest this week is Sunday Times best-selling author, Cathy Rentzenbrink. Cathy is an integral part of the publishing world who regularly chairs literary events, runs creative writing courses, and speaks and writes on life, death, love, and literature. She believes that everyone's life would be improved by picking up a pen and is at her happiest when encouraging her students to have the courage...

It’s our great pleasure to welcome onto the podcast this week writer, journalist, and academic Sunny Singh. Sunny was born in Varanasi, India and went on to study in India, the USA, and Spain. Her first book, published in the year 2000, was the prize-winning Nani’s Book of Suicides. She has since gone on to release two other novels as well as works of nonfiction, and her short stories have been pu...

This week, we are delighted to be speaking to Eve Chase. Eve is a star on the rise. She has published four novels, the latest of which, The Birdcage, was out in April. Her third novel, The Glass House, was a Sunday Times bestseller, Richard and Judy pick and sold nearly 200,000 copies across all formats. We’re expecting readers to be just as excited about The Birdcage. Eve’s novels are perfect for...

This week we are speaking to author, Louise Hare. Louise is a major author on the rise – she was one of the Observer’s top 10 debuts for 2020, and her first book, This Lovely City was a BBC 2 Between The Covers pick and was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize. The book received near-universal acclaim with blanket review coverage. Louise’s profile is only continuing to grow, particularly surroun...

Our guests this week are Kitty & Al Tait. Breadsong, the part memoir, part recipe book by Kitty & Al was published on 28th April. The book tells the story of Kitty’s battle with depression and anxiety, and how baking bread with her Dad changed everything. The result of their journey is the Orange Bakery in Watlington, renowned throughout the local area for their sourdough bread and fresh p...

This week we’re speaking to children’s author, Alex Falase-Koya. Alex was the winner of Spread the Word’s 2019 London Writers Awards for YA/children’s books and his Letter to my Future Self can be found on their website. Alex was inspired to write his debut novel, ‘Marv and the Mega Robot’ after struggling to find superheroes in fiction who looked like him. By creating Marv, a superhero whose stre...

In the podcast this week, Mostly Books is speaking to author and practicing barrister, Imran Mahmood. Imran’s debut novel, You Don’t Know Me, was chosen as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club choice when it was published in 2017. It was also longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year and the Crime Writer’s Association Gold Awards. A TV adaptation of the book was released on Netflix at the end of las...

Our guest this week is Sunday Times bestselling author, Beth O’Leary. Beth wrote her debut novel, The Flatshare, on her train journey to and from her job at a children’s publisher. Since then she has gone on to write a further three books and her writing has been translated into more than 30 languages. Beth’s latest novel, The No-Show, was published on 12th April. The podcast is produced and prese...

Our guest this week is author Tom Watson. Tom is a graduate of the UEA creative writing course where he won the Curtis Brown Prize. Metronome, his debut novel was published on 31st March. It is an utterly compelling read examining what happens to human relationships and love when put under extreme pressure. The podcast is produced and presented by the team at Mostly Books. Find us on Twitter @most...

Our guest this week is children’s author, Hannah Gold. Hannah is passionate about writing stories which share her love of the planet. Her debut middle-grade book, The Last Bear, was the biggest selling debut hardback of 2021 as well as being shortlisted for numerous awards including The Blue Peter Book Award. Her new book, The Lost Whale, comes out in March. The podcast is produced and presented b...

This week we are delighted to be hosting not one, but two brilliant creatives; author Swapna Haddow and illustrator Dapo Adeola. Swapna Haddow is the writer of the popular prize-winning Dave Pigeon and Bad Panda series and Dapo Adeola is an award-winning illustrator, who co-created and illustrated the picture book Look Up! And is the writer of the book Hey You! An Empowering Celebration of Growing...

Our guest this week is author Robert Edric. Robert’s first novel, Winter Garden, was published in 1986 and went on to win the James Tait Black award. Since then, he has written a grand total of twenty-eight novels. Including Peacetime and Gathering the Water which were both longlisted for the Booker Prize. The Telegraph described his backlist as “one of the most extraordinary bodies of work to app...

In the Podcast this week, we’re speaking to author Kasim Ali. Kasim has previously had a short story published in The Good Journal and has been longlisted for both the 4th Estate B4ME Short Story Prize and shortlisted for Hachette's Mo Siewcherran Prize. On the 3rd of March his debut novel Good Intentions was published by 4th Estate. It tells of the story of Nur and Yasmina who have been together...

Our guest this week is Hafsa Zayyan. Hafsa’s book, We Are All Birds of Uganda, was published early last year and has just been released into paperback. One of the breakout debuts of 2021, it was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime and a Book Club pick for both the BBC Radio 2 and Sky Book Show. The book has attracted a lot of well-deserved praise since winning the inaugural #Merkey Books New Writers Pri...

In the podcast this week, we’re speaking to author, copywriter and bookseller, Jen Williams. Jen started her writing career by creating character-driven fantasy novels full of adventure and magic. They were extremely successful and Jen was awarded the British Fantasy award on two occasions. More recently, Jen has written dark unsettling thrillers with strong female leads. He latest book, Dog Rose...

This week we’re speaking to author, Lucy Diamond. Lucy has been writing uplit fiction since 2007. She has published three novellas and seventeen novels, the latest of which, Anything Could Happen, came out in January this year. Lucy Diamond is actually called Sue Mongredien but she writes under a pseudonym because she initially started out writing children’s books. Lucy’s books are perfect for esc...