You're Booked

We are so, so excited about this one. Abi Daré wrote one of our favourite books of all time, the unforgettable novel The Girl with the Louding Voice . She has just released a sequel And So I Roar, which is just as compelling and delightful as the original. In a fascinating, revealing conversation, Abi discusses the contents of her 'Do Not Delete' folder, the importance of showing up for work, the...

This week we are entertaining crime writing royalty on the podcast as we welcome the legend that is Dr Kathy Reichs ! Kathy is a forensic anthropologist and academic who, amongst many other things, taught FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains. She used her forensic knowledge to create the character Temperance Brennan and the first Temperance book, Deja Dead , won the 1997 Ellis Award...

This week on the show we're delighted to present the legend that is Robin Ince ! Robin is an acclaimed stand-up, star of Infinite Monkey Cage, podcast host and the author of Importance of Being Interested , I'm a Joke , Bibliomaniac and more! We talked to him outside the Tom Thumb Theatre in Margate (sorry about the extraneous noise) about obsessive book collecting, Kurt Vonnegut's library, the im...

This week on the podcast, we visit the home of one of our favourite authors and favourite people, the brilliant Ericka Waller ! Ericka is an award-winning columnist and the author of the acclaimed novels Dogs Days and Goodbye Birdie Greenwing . And, as you will hear, she is a voracious reader. We talked to her about filthy books, snacks in kids books and the genius of John Shuttleworth. Find out m...

Our series 15 cavalcade of champions continues with the wonderful Catherine Gray ! Catherine is an award-winning author, editor and podcaster whose writing has been seen in the Guardian, Stylist, Telegraph, Grazia and Stella. Catherine's hit debut book, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober , became a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller, followed by the acclaimed The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary , The Un...

Here's a bonus treat! And what a treat! To celebrate the release of Daisy's brand new book Pity Party , here's a very special live edition of You're Booked recorded at the glorious Bath Assembly Halls. Three returning champions - Nikki May , AJ Pearce and Andrew Hunter Murray - talk about their favourite Persephone Books in front of an audience of rabid Persephone fans, at the recent Persephone Fe...

The series 15 litany of legends continues with the man commonly known as Dr Buckles - yes, it's Adam Buxton ! As you are all aware, Adam is a writer, comedian, massively successful podcast host, Bowie aficionado and the author of the bestselling memoir Ramble Book (with the sequel on its way - as you will hear). He's also responsible for You're Booked, as the podcast was 'inspired' by the Vinyl Ju...

Our series of legends continues with the novelist, short story writer, playwright and podcaster Irenosen Okojie MBE !  Irenosen's debut,  Butterfly Fish , won the Betty Trask Award and her short story collection, Speak Gigantular was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. Her collection Nudibranch was selected as one...

This week we're delighted to share a conversation with an absolute legend, the punk singer, writer, artist, activist and all-around inspiration Kathleen Hanna ! Kathleen is the iconic front-woman of the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre and the inspiration behind of the clothing company tees4togo which benefits the Peace Sisters charity. Kathleen has just released her memoir Rebel Girl which became a...

We are back! And we are starting the new series off with a bang! It's the legendary broadcaster, podcaster, author and now novelist Fearne Cotton ! Fearne is the host of the massively successful Happy Place podcast and the author of many books including Sunday Times bestsellers  Happy, Cook Eat Love , Speak Your Truth , Bigger Than Us and many more. She has just released her first novel: Scri...

We're delving back into the archives and bringing you another of our favourite episodes. This week we're visiting the beautiful home (including glorious bookshelves with a library ladder that made us green with envy) of Elif Shafak . Elif is a celebrated and award-winning novelist and the most widely read female author in Turkey. She has published many books including the bestselling Island of Mis...

We're diving into the archives while we're on a little break and this week it's the novelist, essayist and New York Times Bestselling author  Curtis Sittenfeld ! Curtis is the author of the YB faves Prep , Eligible , American Wife , Romantic Comedy and a fictional look at Hilary Clinton: Rodham . We talked to her about First Ladies, short stories, writing like there's nobody watching and tryi...

While we're taking a little break, we're sharing some of our favourite episodes from previous series. This week, it's the amazing stand-up, author, actor and all around inspiration Sara Pascoe ! Sara is one of the most heralded comedians working today and the immensely talented author of the books Animal , Sex Power Money and the novel Weirdo . We talked to her about reading habits during quaranti...

While we take a little break, we're sharing just a few of our favourite ever episodes from the archives. This week we're with the author who has probably been discussed on the show more than any other and one of our favourite writers of all time - the legendary Marian Keyes ! Marian is one of the most successful Irish novelists of all time, selling over 30 million books in 33 different languages....

We're heading back into the extensive YB archives to bring you one of our favourite episodes from yesteryear. This week we’re in Central London – home of some of the greatest shops in the world and our guest, the multimillion selling superstar novelist Sophie Kinsella ! Sophie is the author of over 30 books, including novels, children’s books and her hit Shopaholic series, and she’s as prolific a...

This week, we are delving back into the archive to revisit our series 5 trip to America in the company of the incredible Taylor Jenkins Reid ! When we met Taylor in 2019, Daisy Jones and the Six had just been released. It went on to be a global smash with a recent, lauded Amazon adaptation and in this episode Taylor discusses many of the books that inspired the novel. Her other books, including Th...

While we're taking a little break, we're revisiting just a few of our favourite ever You're Booked interviews. We're travelling all the way back to our first ever series for this chat with author, journalist and podcast supremo Elizabeth Day . Elizabeth is the author of five novels including Magpie and The Party plus her memoir, based on her massively successful podcast How To Fail and her most bo...

While we're taking a little break, we're revisiting just a few of our favourite ever You're Booked interviews. We're kicking off in style with this wonderful conversation with David Nicholls from season 4 in his beautiful North London home. At the time, David had just released his wonderful novel Sweet Sorrow. His new book, You Are Here, is out soon, while the brand new adaptation of One Day has j...

Surprise! We are back for a very special edition of YB. To celebrate the publication of Limelight in paperback, we're chatting to the winner of the YB Limelight competition Kezia Venner! As you will hear, Kezia is a woman of many talents. She's a lingerie designer, a writer, a former bookseller and a voracious reader, with excellent taste in books. We talked to her about her family's literary conn...

Yes! It's finally happened! After 5 years and over 150 episodes, we have finally lured Jilly Cooper onto the podcast! Jilly is the author most discussed, swooned over and beatified on the show, so we are beyond delighted to sit down and talk to her. Jilly is the internationally bestselling author of iconic novels such as Riders, Rivals and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous and her latest release T...

We are back at this year's Margate Bookie for a fun, frank and freewheeling conversation with three brilliant authors: Lucy Vine, Yomi Adegoke and Laura Kay! Lucy Vine is a journalist and author of five novels including Hot Mess , Are We Nearly There Yet , What Fresh Hell , Bad Choices and her latest, the critically acclaimed Seven Exes . Yomi Adegoke is a journalist, podcaster and author, co-writ...

This week we are beyond excited to welcome an absolutely legendary author whose work has been a mainstay of the podcast since day one. It's Ottessa Moshfegh with her writing partner and husband Luke Goebel! Ottessa is the author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation (a YB staple), Lapvona , Homesick For Another World , Death in Her Hands and McGlue . Luke's debut Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are You...

It's two returning champs this week as we present the brilliant and hilarious Lou Sanders and Andi Osho live at the Turner Contemporary as part of the Margate Bookie literary festival. Lou and Andi are both stand-ups and both supreme authors. Lou recently published her memoir What's That Lady Doing? to widespread acclaim. Andi has published two celebrated novels: Tough Crowd and Asking for a Frien...

Our season of writing legends continues with a true giant of literature: Naomi Klein ! Naomi is an activist, filmmaker, journalist and author. She is the bestselling and multi-award-winning author of  How To Change Everything , On Fire , No Is Not Enough , This Changes Everything , The Shock Doctrine and  No Logo . Her latest is Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World . We talked to h...

It's our 150th episode! And we can't think of a better way to celebrate than to welcome a true literary legend to the podcast: Ian Rankin! Ian is a broadcaster, musician, playwright and the globally renowned, multi-million-selling author of the Rebus crime novels, amongst many others. His latest book is the Amazon Original The Rise . We talked to Ian about Muriel Spark, using crime books as a trav...