Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

John Boyne returns to the pod for his hat-trick appearance. He has written 13 novels for for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection, including The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas which was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide. As of 2021, it has spent 15 years in the New...

One of the world's great crime writers takes our Q&A about his favourite books and authors...which include Ian Rankin, PD James and Agatha Christie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iceland's Ragnar Jonasson is a crime writing phenomenon - and it's not even his main job. He works as an investment banker in Reykjavik, in addition to teaching law at Reykjavik University. But is also a bestseller in Germany, France, the UK and Australia. From the age of 17, Ragnar translated 14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic. Ragnar is the co-founder of the Reykjavik international crime w...

The best selling author of Black Buck talks us through some of his favourite books and authors, which include...Colson Whitehead, Jason Reynolds, Iceberg Slim, John A Williams and Candice Carty Williams Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fantastically funny interview with Mateo Askaripour about his New York Times bestseller Black Buck - a satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael is the bestselling author of thirty-six novels and one work of non-fiction. With over eighty million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into forty foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood dire...

When defence attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, the body of a client is discovered in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is charged with murder and can't make the $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge. Haller knows he's been framed and elects to defend himself. Best selling author Michael Connelly chats to Simon and Matt from Las Vegas. He is perhaps best known for his b...

The king of sci-fi talks about his favourite books and authors - which include Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Lee Child and Iain M Banks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The best selling author of The Martian and Artemis returns with a new sci-fi thriller. It has already had its film rights snapped up by Ryan Gosling and MGM. Tim Peake has called Project Hail Mary ‘One of the most plausible science fiction books I’ve ever read’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The best selling author of The Sanatorium chats to Simon and Matt about some of her favourite books and authors - which include Jo Nesbo, Enid Blyton and Guy Morpuss. Plus there is a lot of chat about Warwick University Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Pearse lives by the sea in South Devon with her husband and two daughters. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Warwick and worked in Brand PR for a variety of households brands before following her passion for writing. Her experiences living in the Swiss Alps in her early twenties inspired her acclaimed debut novel, The Sanatorium, which was an instant Sunday Times ...

The best selling author of Girl A talks about some of her favourite books and authors - which include Gone Girl, A Little Life and Never Let Me Go Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abigail Dean studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and graduated with a double first in 2011. Her first job was as a bookseller at Waterstones. Abigail now works as a lawyer at Google. Ahead of her thirtieth birthday, she took time off between jobs to work on her first novel, GIRL A. The book immediately became a New York Times and Sunday Times Bestseller and has sold in 31 territori...

The multi million selling author and comedian chats about his favourite books and authors which include Alan Partridge, Nick Hornby and John Updike Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Baddiel is an author, comedian and screenwriter. He has written and performed in a series of highly successful TV comedy shows, including Fantasy Football, The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned. He is the author of four novels as well as six books for children which have sold over 1 million copies. In Jews Don't Count David combines powerful polemic and personal te...

The author of the US best selling novel American Dirt tells Simon and Matt about her favourite books and authors - which include Colson Whitehead, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ann Patchett, Jasper Fforde and Toni Morrison Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeanine Cummins chats about her US best selling novel. American Dirt follows the path of a Mexican woman who survives an attack by a drug cartel - and escapes as an undocumented immigrant to the United States with her son. It was selected by Oprah for her Book Club and Radio 4 for their Book At Bedtime - but then drew criticism from fellow authors about her representation of Latinos. Jeanine talks...

The BBC's man in Washington talks us through his favourite books and authors - which include John Le Carre, Hugo Young, Joseph Heller, Robert Caro and Denis Healey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The BBC's North America Editor chats about his diary of the 2020 US Presidential Election. It was an incredible year, which started with Joe Biden getting off to a very shaky start in the Primaries. And ended with a riot in Congress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The award winning, best selling author talks about his favourite books and authors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it’s not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days. Rebus fears the worst – and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect. He wasn’t the best father – the job always came first – but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective? As he l...

Comedian and author CK McDonnell tells us about some of his favourite books and authors - which include Simon Mayo, Terry Pratchett, Simon Mayo, Gary Delaney, Simon Mayo, Rick Wakeman, Simon Mayo and Don Winslow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the weird news was the real news?! There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank the Lord The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . . A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable. At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less ausp...

Hungry author Grace Dent chats about her favourite authors which include Rupert Everett, Kenneth Williams, Nancy Mitford and Nigel Slater Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Angel Delight, Cadburys and Carlisle. A very funny episode featuring restaurant critic Grace Dent. Hungry traces Grace's story from growing up eating beige food to becoming one of the much-loved voices on the British food scene. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.