This week, Jack is joined by debut novelist Khashayar J. Khabushani. Khashayar's hotly anticipated first novel, I Will Greet the Sun Again, is a beautiful novel about family, queer adolescence, and the multifaceted nature of identity and while it is a story unafraid to face difficult subject matter, just like the poem from which it takes its title,…

This week, Jack is joined by novelist Rowan Hisayo Buchanan. Rowan's first novel was 2017's Harmless Like You, which won a Betty Trask and Authors Club First Novel Award. Since then, she has penned Starling Days, and now this year she has released her third novel, The Sleep Watcher, an exquisite exploration of adolescence, family, and the complexit…

This week, Jack is joined by the legendary international literary agent, Barbara J. Zitwer. Barbara has been at the forefront of bringing some of the most exciting voices from Korea over to the Anglosphere, from Han Kang, the author of The Vegetarian, to the Man Asian Booker Prize winner, Shin Kyung-sook, to name a few. Now she has released her own…

This week, Jack is joined by novelist Kate Mascarenas. To date, Kate has published three novels, including The Psychology of Time Travel and The Thief on the Winged Horse. Her third and most recent is the gorgeously gothic Hokey Pokey. Set in 1929 at the Regent Hotel, Birmingham, Nora checks in under a false name. She is there to spy on the famed o…

This week, Jack is joined by author and musician Mat Osman. Mat is the founding member of the British rock band Suede. In 2020 his first novel The Ruins was released and this year it was followed by his hotly anticipated second book The Ghost Theatre which was chosen as a book of the year 2023 by The Observer, The Times and The Evening Standard. Pu…

This week, Jack is joined by novelist Sophie Mackintosh. Sophie's first book, The Water Cure, was published in 2018 and was long-listed for that year's Booker Prize. In 2020 came her second novel, Blue Ticket, and this year she published the haunting and dreamlike Cursed Bread, which was long-listed for the Women's Prize. Sophie was also included i…

This week, Jack is joined by writer and academic Blessin Adams. Blessin's book, Great and Horrible News was published on the 30th of March this year. It is a wonderful exploration of murder and violent death in the early modern period, told through the lives of the ordinary people that experienced it. It is a hugely engrossing and often touching re…

This week, Jack is joined by debut author Stephen Buoro. Stephen's novel, the Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa was published on the 13th of April. It's already received impressive praise. Author Max Porter described it as eccentric, profound and timely and says he fell in love immediately. In this episode, Stephen delves into the themes of h…

This week Jack is joined by Alice Winn. Alice Winn's gorgeous In Memoriam follows Elwood and Gaunt, two boarding school boys desperately in love with one another. Together they navigate the highs and lows of school life until World War I comes crashing into their lives, irrevocably changing them and the world they know forever. Purchase In Memoriam…

This week Sarah is joined by Reverend Richard Coles. Richard is co-presenter of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live and is regularly seen as a guest panelist on shows such as Would I Lie to You, Have I Got News for You, and QI. He first came to the public's attention in the mid-1980s as part of the pop duo The Communards. After deciding to study theology i…

This week Jack is joined by Elly Griffiths. In 2009 she released The Crossing Places and introduced the world to the wonderful Dr Ruth Galloway who over several books has garnered a loyal cohort of fans from across the world. Now many mysteries later Ruth's story is coming to an end with the release of The Last Remains in January of this year. Elly…

This week Jack is joined by Cecile Pin. Her debut novel, Wandering Souls, tells the story of three siblings who flee Vietnam after the terrors of war, and find themselves orphaned and seeking a new home in Thatcher's Britain. Purchase Wandering Souls (0:27) Introduction and Childhood reads (9:14) Fact and Fiction (19:01) Being a debut author and mo…

This week Jack is joined by Kevin Jared Hossein. His latest book, Hungry Ghosts is set in rural 1940s Trinidad and follows two households, the wealthy Changoors and the impoverished Sharups. It is a novel about family, caste, religion and violence. Purchase Hungry Ghosts (1:06) Publishing the novel (4:07) Childhood reads (12:47) Kevin's approach to…

This week Jack is joined by debut author Santanu Bhattacharya. Santanu was included in the Guardians list of the 10 best new novelists of 2023 and in 2021 he won the Mo Siewcharran prize. His novel One Small Voice is a beautiful novel brimming with humanity and populated by a cast of characters that feel so real you could reach out and touch them. …

This week Jack is joined by poet and debut novelist Victoria Mackenzie. Victoria's novel For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain, which follows two medieval mystics, Marjery Kempe and Julian of Norwich. It is an exquisite historical fiction debut which explores themes of faith, trauma, and women's writing. Purchase For Thy Great Pain Have M…

This week, Jack is joined by debut author Eleanor Shearer. Eleanor’s novel River Sing Me Home was published on the 19th of January. The story follows Rachel, who after escaping slavery goes on the search for her missing children. Jeanette Winterson called it "a strong and beautiful novel that stares into the face of brutality and the heart of love"…

This week, Jack is joined by Georgina Moore. Georgina has worked in the publishing industry for 20 years and is an award-winning book publicist. It is no wonder that having spent her life immersed in the world of books that she has decided to put pen to paper and write one herself. That book, the wonderful and absorbing The Garnett Girls follows th…

Welcome to Mostly Books Meets, a podcast by the independent bookshop, Mostly Books. Booksellers from an award-winning indie bookshop chatting books and how they have shaped people's lives, with a whole bunch of people from the world of publishing - authors, poets, journalists and many more. Join us for the journey. Meet the host: Jack Wrighton is a…

This week, Jenny Bayliss and Karen Swan join Jack for this holly, jolly Christmas Mostly Books Meets special. Jenny Bayliss is the author of the 12 Dates of Christmas and The Winter of Second Chances and her latest book is the wonderful Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. Karen Swan is the author of this year's The Last Summer, which is the first in the f…

This week, we welcome author Chloe Timms onto the podcast. Chloe Timms' debut novel The Seawomen was published in June of this year. The book follows Esther, a young woman raised on an island within a deeply religious society, that cut itself off from the mainland. Fellow author Kirsty Logan described it as The Handmaid's Tale meets The Shape of Wa…

This week, Jack is joined by author Maggie Shipstead to discuss her novel Great Circle. Great Circle was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Women's Prize for Fiction and Maggie has also penned two previous novels, 2012s Seating Arrangements, and 2014s Astonish Me. More recently, she's released a collection of short stories called You Hav…

This week, Jack is joined by children's book dream team Greg James and Chris Smith. In 2017, they launched onto shelves with the hilarious Kid Normal, which quickly went on to become a best-seller. Since then they have penned three more Kid Normal books, The Great Dream Robbery and their latest book, Super Ghost released in September of this year. …

This week, we are thrilled to be speaking to author Julia Boyd. In 2017, she released the spellbinding Travellers in the Third Reich, a history of the rise of fascism told through the first-hand accounts of those who had travelled through Germany. It went on to become a Sunday Times top three best seller and to win the Los Angeles Times Book Prize …

We welcome onto the podcast this week author Salley Vickers. Salley's first novel Miss Garnet's Angel was published in the year 2000. Since then, she has gone on to pen 11 novels in total as well as collections of short stories. Previously, she worked as a teacher and a psycho-analyst. Her storytelling has won her many fans and she's a Sunday Times…

It is our great pleasure to welcome onto the podcast this week Liz Calder and Alexandra Pringle. Liz was one of the founding directors of Bloomsbury and was editor-in-chief from 1987 to the year 2000, after which she passed the baton on to Alexandra, who served in the role until 2020. Between them, they have published Nobel Prize, Booker Prize and …

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…

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 …

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, a…

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 Kans…

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 child…

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 Sham…

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 no…

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, inc…

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 de…

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 …

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 …

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 excite…

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 profil…

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 …

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 …

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 …

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…

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 t…

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 …

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 b…

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 “on…

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 th…

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 wi…

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 wi…

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 c…