Book Talk

Our final Book Talk podcast features a pair of heavyweights from the world of crime fiction and a debut author we should all be sure to keep an eye on.First up: Ryan Van Winkle has a chat with bestselling author Val McDermid and her partner in crime (research), forensic anthropologist Sue Black. Val has recently returned to her roots as a journalist with her latest book, Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime, a work of non-fiction. But although, in her own words, she usually ‘makes stuff up,' she still does meticulous research, and for that, she turns to Sue. The pair met while guesting on a radio show years ago and have been friends and research partners ever since. Learn how the writer/expert relationship works, what Sue respects most about Val's writing, and how they balance the dark aspects of their day jobs with normal life.Ryan next introduces us to Kate Tough, whose debut novel, Head for the Edge, Keep Walking, deals with a woman's ‘late quarter-life crisis.' Kate talks about her inspiration, how she went from writing poetry and short stories to a novel and the invaluable assistance she received with it, and what you can expect from her at the upcoming Aye, Write! Festival in Glasgow.Finally, Sasha de Buyl has a word with Nordic crime superstar Arne Dahl. Dahl discusses his latest book, To the Top of the Mountain, the third in the Intercrime series, and what he loves most about the crime fiction genre.

This month, our Book Talk panel turns its attention to the latest book by fantastic Scottish author, Andrew O'Hagan. The Illuminations tells two stories; the first of Anne Quirk, a once-great photographer trying to reconnect with her past, and the second, of her grandson Luke, serving in the British Army in Afghanistan. Andrew O'Hagan has been twice nominated for the Man Booker Prize as has won the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts & LettersJoining Sasha de Buyl are Kaite Welsh (@kaitewelsh), journalist and chair of the Green Carnation Literary Prize, and Yasmin Sulaiman (@yasmin_sul), Books Editor at The List.The panel discusses the novel's dual perspectives, the way the book explores the inner workings of a mind in the grip of dementia and the frustrations of the voiceless.Through the podcast, they explore the two main characters and how they interact, the comparison between the beauty of art and the atrocities of war and the gentle lyricism of O'Hagan's style.If you're reading, or have read, the book, what did you think? How do you think it compares to O'Hagan's previous work? We'd love to know what you thought - you can join the discussion in the comments below, or on Twitter @scottishbktrust.Book Talk is also available on Soundcloud. BookTalk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

This month, Ryan Van Winkle and our own Sasha de Buyl interview best-selling YA authors Garth Nix (@garthnix), Leigh Bardugo (@LBardugo) and David Levithan (@loversdiction) about returning to different worlds, crafting a series and creating characters that break the mould.Garth Nix is the Australian-born author of the Old Kingdom series, the Keys to the Kingdom series and the Seventh Tower series. Written almost 20 years ago, Sabriel was the first book in the Old Kingdom series and told the story of a young girl tasked with making sure the dead stay dead. Though Garth hasn't returned to the world of the Old Kingdom since 2003's Abhorsen, last year's Clariel found him back there, this time several hundred years before the events of Sabriel. Garth talks to Sasha about what it was like to go back, and why he went there again.Leigh Bardugo is the Jerusalem-born, LA-raised author of The Grisha Trilogy, a YA fantasy series that comprises Shadow and Bone, Seige and Storm and the third in the trilogy, Ruin and Rising. Shadow and Bone tells the story of Alina Starkov, an orphan who has to harness powers she didn't even know she had in order to save her best friend. The novel debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and the series has proved incredibly popular. Leigh talks to Ryan about crafting a trilogy, realising your potential and never taking a break. David Levithan is the hugely popular American author of a number of YA books, including Boy Meets Boy and The Realm of Possibility, and books for adults including The Lover's Dictionary. In collaboration with Rachel Cohn, he wrote Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which was adapted into a film in 2008. His newest novel Every Day tells the the story of A, a character that wakes up in a different body and in a different life each morning. David talks to Ryan about creating a character without physical characteristics, what makes us ourselves and the nature of love.Podcast contents00:00 - 01:02 Introduction01:10 - 14:08 Garth Nix interview14:09 - 22.39 Leigh Bardugo interview22:40 - 36:27 David Levithan interviewBook Talk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

This month, our Book Talk panel turns its attention to the popular autobiographical graphic novel Persepolis, by French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi.With a title that references the ancient capital of the Persian empire, Persepolis is a coming-of-age tale that spans some of the most unsettled years in Iran's recent history. The first volume tells the story of Satrapi's life in Tehran from the ages of six to fourteen, during which time she experiences the Islamic Revolution and the devastating Iran-Iraq war. The second volume marks her adolescence in Vienna, and her struggle to reconcile the girl she was with the woman she is becoming. Joining Sasha de Buyl are Damon Herd, PhD researcher at the Scottish Centre for Comic Studies, and Mona Vaghefian, Communications Coordinator for the Edinburgh Iranian Festival.The panel discusses the graphic novel's popularity with a wider audience, the new insights that the book offers on the history of Iran and the outsider perspective that Satrapi seems to experience in both Iran and Austria. Through the podcast, they explore their reactions to the honesty with which Satrapi writes about her childhood self, the dual existence of citizens during the Revolution and the book's place within the genre of autobiographical comic books, alongside such titles as Art Spiegelman's Maus and Joe Sacco's Palestine.If you're reading, or have read, the book, what did you think? How do you think it contributes to the wider graphic novel community? Have you seen the animated film that was released in 2007 - and if so, does the story carry over from the book?Book Talk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

In our first set of interviews for 2015, Ryan Van Winkle talks to Lucy Ribchester, Lucy Hughes-Hallett and Elizabeth Gifford about suffragettes, mythology and the fascist poet who wanted to create his own utopia.Lucy Ribchester is the Edinburgh-based author of the recently-published The Hourglass Factory, her first novel. As well as being shortlisted for this year's Costa Short Story Awards, Lucy is a previous recipient of a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. The Hourglass Factory tells the story of Frankie George, a young reporter who becomes entangled in the messy, passionate worlds of the circus and the suffragettes when she meets Ebony Diamond, a mesmerising trapeze artist using her skills to fight for votes for women. Lucy opens up to Ryan about her inspirations, the fascinating world of those early suffragettes and why it took her five years to finish the book. Elisabeth Gifford is the author of Secrets of the Sea House, a fascinating novel which explores the interaction between history and myth. Based in the Hebrides, the book looks at the mythology of the islands and of the sea, and what happens when the two appear to come together in the form of a dark discovery. The book enjoys a very definite sense of place, and Elisabeth chats to Ryan about the culture of the Hebrides, the link between the sea and those who live by it, and the responsibility she felt in dealing with such an interesting culture. Elisabeth's new novel Return to Fourwinds is out now. Finally, Ryan speaks to Lucy Hughes-Hallett, a Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction winner and author of The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio, a searing biography of the man who believed he was the greatest Italian poet since Dante. The book was awarded the 2013 Costa Book Award for Biography of the Year, and the subject matter is certainly eye-opening. d'Annunzio was a creative, daredevil and fascist whose life goal was to establish a utopia based on his political and artistic ideals. Lucy talks Ryan through the intensely thrilling world of this strange man and the way his life unfolded. Podcast contents00:00 - 01:09 Introduction01:10 - 13:19 Lucy Ribchester interview13:20 - 19.08 Elisabeth Gifford interview19:09 - 29:33 Lucy Hughes-Hallett interviewBook Talk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

This month, our Book Talk panel turns its attention to the wildly successful Wild by Cheryl Strayed. This highly personal, admirably honest memoir details the authors journey from a lost 26-year-old who thought she had lost everything following her mother's shockingly quick death from cancer. With nothing to lose, she made the impulsive decision to walk eleven-hundred miles of the west coast of America and to do it alone with no experience of long-distance hiking. It proved to be a journey that saved her life. In early 2015, the book became a movie starring Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl. What better time to feature it on Book Talk. Join host Claire Marchant-Collier and her guests Michael Merillo from Scottish Book Trust, who's walked the trail himself, and novelist Sophie Cooke.

Jodi Picoult is the author of 23 books that have sold over 23 million copies. Her latest novel Leaving Time debuted at number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The book tells the story of Alice Metcalf, and elephant researcher, and her daughter Jenna. Following Alice's disappearance, Jenna uses Alice's diaries to find out more about her mother and what might have happened to her. Jodi speaks to Ryan about the research she undertook for the book - including learning how to run an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee and working with an elephant researcher in Botswana - and how she planned the structure of a book with multiple narratives.Helen Macdonald's recent memoir, H is for Hawk, won the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-Fiction. After the sudden death of her father, Helen coped with her grief by returning to a childhood obsession and training a goshawk. "The goshawk was everything I wanted to be: it didn't know about grief, it was very solitary and it was also very powerful and full of rage... It took me a good few years to get enough emotional distance from that year to be able to write it as a book"The book is a raw and very personal reflection of a traumatic period in Helen's life and her storyis intertwined with that of writer TH White and his struggles with the difficulties in his life and attempts to train his own goshawk in 1936.Finally, Ryan talks to the author of one of his favourite books of the year, Stay Up With Me a short story collection by Tom Barbash. Tom explains how some of his stories were put together, and the power of drafting: "I do like the fact that I'm not quite getting at in the beginning". Podcast contents00:00 - 01:26 Introduction01:27 - 14:10 Jodi Picoult interview14:11 - 23:57 Helen Macdonald interview23:58 - 38:11 Tom Barbash

This month, the Book Talk panel has been discussing the 2014 Man Booker Prize winner, Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Taking its title from one of the most famous books in Japanese literature, written by the great haiku poet Basho, Flanagan's novel has as its heart one of the most infamous episodes of Japanese history, the construction of the Thailand-Burma Death Railway in World War II.In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the Burma Death Railway, surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted by his love affair with his uncle's young wife two years earlier. Struggling to save the men under his command from starvation, from cholera, from beatings, he receives a letter that will change his life forever. Joining Sasha de Buyl are Literature Manager at Creative Scotland, Jenny Niven, and former Booker prize judge and literary critic, Stuart Kelly.The panel discusses the many different facets of a novel called ‘graceful and unfathomable' by the Telegraph, including its many scenes of torture and violence and the stripping back of concepts of traditional masculinity.Through the podcast, they explore what sort of book deserves to win a Booker prize and whether Flanagan's Narrow Road has earned its weighty title. Despite winning the Man Booker Prize, the novel was nominated for a Bad Sex award. Were Flanagan's descriptions jarring for the panel?Flanagan is seen as a powerhouse of literary fiction in today's market – does he mark a turn in the tide for the ‘Culture Cringe' generation of Australian culture?If you're reading, or have read, the book, what did you think? How do you think it compares to Flanagan's previous books? Book Talk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

In this edition of Book Talk, Ryan Van Winkle talks modern day crime with Martina Cole, 18th century science with Jack Wolf, and ancient Memopotamian stories with Irving Finkel.Martina Cole is a legendary British crime writer. She's the author of 21 books, including her most recent novel The Good Life.Cole discusses her background, how she stays up-to-date with the changing criminal world and her attraction to writing about criminals and prison life rather than from the police perspective: "I prefer writing from the perspective of the criminal, I think they're much more exciting people to write about... You know in my book who's bad and who's not."As one of the most borrowed - and stolen! - authors in prison libraries, Cole also discusses her work in prisons and why she's encouraging prisoners to escape (with a book!)Jack Wolf, whose debut novel The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones, takes us back to 1750, a time where medieval superstition was on the way out and modern rationalist thinking on the way in. Wolf's protagonist, Tristan Hart, is a conflicted man caught between science and superstition.Wolf talks about conveying the mental pain of the character and also how he coped with writing a novel while keeping the language of the book as authentic as possible. "You just write. It becomes as instinctive as speaking the language I speak now".Finally, Ryan talks to Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum in London whose book The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood looks at the origins of the Biblical story of Noah's Ark.After deciphering a cuneiform tablet brought into the British Museum, Finkel discovered that it was the beginning of the flood story. While the story of Noah in the Bible is a universally known narrative, the tablet demonstrates that the ancient Mesopotamians knew a very similar story 1000 years before the Bible came into being.Finkel discusses the strong literary link and striking similarities between the stories and his theory about how the Babylonian story developed into the biblical version that we know today.Podcast contents00:00 - 00:58 Introduction00:58 - 10:22 Martina Cole10:22 - 20:18 Jack Wolf20:18 - 30:00 Irving Finkel

This month finds the Book Talk panel reading and discussing The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. Faber's first book in fourteen years is a tale of adventure, faith and the ties that might hold two people together when they are worlds apart.Peter Leigh is a husband, a Christian, and now a missionary. As The Book of Strange New Things opens, he is set to embark on a journey that will be the biggest test of his faith yet. From the moment he says goodbye to his wife, Bea, and boards his flight, he begins a quest that will challenge his religious beliefs, his love and his understanding of the limits of the human body.Sasha de Buyl is joined by Writer Development Coordinator for Scottish Book Trust, Claire Marchant-Collier, and Marketing Manager of Glasgow Film (and former host of Book Talk), Paul Gallagher.Despite creating a strong character whose faith plays a major part in the story, and regularly referencing the Bible (the hardback edition of the book even looks like a copy), Faber is himself an atheist. Do the author's personal beliefs cause him to stereotype his characters or their faith?Peter and his wife describe their feelings for each other and their predicaments through a series of letters - is it a realistic portrayal of a long-distance relationship?Colonialism and the motives of a new alien race are also central to the novel, with Faber developing a new language that Peter, and the book's readers, are introduced to. How successful was Faber in bringing this new culture to life?Book Talk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

In this edition of Book Talk, host Ryan Van Winkle and Sasha de Buyl talk to Ron Butlin, Donal McLaughlin and Eimear McBride about family and place.A Girl is a Half-formed ThingWith an international reputation as a prize-winning novelist, Ron Butlin is a former Edinburgh Makar/Poet Laureate (2008-2014) whose fourth novel, Ghost Moon, is out now. The book tells the story in flashback of Maggie, a young woman in post-World War II Edinburgh who falls pregnant in a society that frowns on unwed mothers. Based on Ron's own mother, the author explains where fact and fiction meet and discusses the writing process.Born in Derry in 1961, but resident in Scotland since 1970, Donal McLaughlin is a freelance writer known for his short stories, a number of which have already appeared in translation. Donal's latest collection, Beheading the Virgin Mary, and Other Stories, follows the character of Liam through a loose sequence of stories and take place over a period of three decades. Ron reads from the book and offers some insight into his technique which will be of interest to both readers and aspiring writers.Finally, Sasha talks to author Eimear McBride, who was born in Liverpool to Northern Irish parents before moving to Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo. Eimear discusses the nine-year journey between the writing of her book, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, and its eventual publication and critical success.BookTalk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

This month, Book Talk has been reading and discussing Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid, a modern re-imagining of the Jane Austen classic. This is the second release from the Austen Project, which pairs six bestselling contemporary authors with Jane Austen's six complete works. Seventeen-year-old Catherine 'Cat' Morland has led a sheltered existence in rural Dorset, a life entirely bereft of the romance and excitement for which she yearns. So when Cat's wealthy neighbours, the Allens, invite her to the Edinburgh Festival, she is sure adventure beckons. Sasha de Buyl is joined by Scottish crime writer, Alex Gray, and reader, Julie Amphlett to discuss how successful McDermid has been in bringing Austen's novel into the 21st century. Launched in 2013 with Joanna Trollope's Sense & Sensibility, The Austen Project has generated much discussion among critics and readers as they debate the merits of "reimagined" titles. The panel touch upon McDermid's updates to the original story, including the use of social media and text speak - was this well done or does it immediately date the book? The panel discuss McDermid's adherence to the plot of the original - should she have remained faithful or should more twists be added to the tale? They also ask how the original novel's themes work in the modern setting. If you're reading, or have read, the book, what did you think? Do you think Austen needs to be brought into the modern world? How do you think it compares to McDermid's previous novels? We'd love to know what you thought - you can join the discussion in the comments below, or on Twitter @scottishbktrust. Discover more Read about The Austen Project, pairing contemporary authors with Jane Austen's works. Sasha recommended Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl as a companion piece to Northanger Abbey. Follow Alex Gray on Twitter and visit her website to find out about her latest work. Follow Julie Amphlett on Twitter. Book Talk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

In this edition of Book Talk, host Ryan Van Winkle talks to Ajay Close and David Mitchell about time, ethics and mortality.Novelist and dramatist Ajay Close discusses her latest book, Trust. Trust follows the lives of a disparate group of characters working in mining and banking and the effects or two major events, the miner's strike and the banking crisis, on their lives. Ajay discusses where the idea for the story came from and how it developed over time.If the last edition of Book Talk left you wanting to know more about David Mitchell and The Bone Clocks you're in luck - this edition of the podcast features an extended discussion with the man himself. Spoiler warning: this discussion reveals detail about characters and plot.David tells us about the process of creating the book and how he was able to effectively portray time's passage: "Stay true to life and how we perceive the passing decades and you probably won't go too far wrong". Morality, mortality and the future are also discussed.Podcast contents 00:00 - 00:28 Introduction00:28 - 08:52 Ajay Close 08:52 - 30:00 David Mitchell

This month, Book Talk has been reading and discussing The Bone Clocks, the highly anticipated new novel by David Mitchell. The book follows Holly Sykes, a young girl suffering from aural hallucinations, from her teenage years in Gravesend across the world - both geographically and temporally - to a future in the West of Ireland after civilisation has collapsed.Sasha de Buyl is joined by freelance literature and events programmer Hannah Trevarthen and Peggy Hughes, Programme Director of the Dundee Literary Festival to ask if The Bone Clocks lives up to the expectations set by the success of his previous novels.One criticism of David Mitchell's novels has been that they read more like a series of short stories than a novel. This book is no exception and is split into six sections, each featuring a different character. What did our panel think of this structure - did the novel remain cohesive or become difficult to read as a result?The panel also discuss the book's Longlisting for the Man Booker prize. Ahead of the Shortlist announcement, we ask if the book is a potential winner. With four Booker nominations - but no wins - under his belt, is it that Mitchell's books too hard to classify or too accessible to win a literary award?If you're reading, or have read, the book, what did you think? Is it an Award contender or overrated? How do you think it compares to Mitchell's previous novels? We'd love to know what you thought - you can join the discussion in the comments below, or on Twitter @scottishbktrust

Podcast Contents00:00 - 00:45 Introduction00:45 - 11:05 Patrick Ness11:05 - 20:28 Mike Cuddihy20:28 - 32:50 John Gordon SinclairIn this edition of Book Talk. Host Ryan Van Winkle talks to Patrick Ness, Mikey Cuddihy and John Gordon Sinclair about spite, happiness and motivations for writing.Two-time winner of the Carnegie Award, Patrick Ness is the author of a number of books for adults and young adults including A Monster Calls, The Crane Wife and More Than This, the novel under discussion in the most recent episode of Book Talk. In this interview, Ness offers his own insight into some of the topics we discussed and also talks more about his writing process including how he decides whether a book is aimed at adults or teenagers, how to get started as a writer even when people tell you you can't do it: "Do it anyway... Spite is a really good place to write from. It's a really good motivator."Mikey Cuddihy discusses her memoir A Conversation About Happiness. In the book, Cuddihy takes the reader back into her childhood, which was spent at Summerhill School, where children are allowed to live freely and lessons are optional. Cuddihy talks about how she was able to go back into the voice of her 9 year old self, and whether she was truly happy in an environment where the happiness of children was considered paramount.Finally, Ryan talks to John Gordon Sinclair. Sinclair may be most famous as an actor - in particular for his role in Gregory's Girl - but his second novel Blood Whispers has just been published. The book features Keira Lynch, a Glasgow lawyer representing a prostitute on the run from a Serbian gang leader. John discusses both his writing and acting careers and how they overlap and why he wanted to bring emotion into crime writing.

A boy drowns. He wakes up in a house he hasn't lived in for years. The world is deserted. More Than This has a gripping and brutal opening chapter, but does the book live up to the potential of its opening? Host Sasha deBuyl is joined by children's bookseller Eve Harvey and young adult author Keith Gray to discuss the book, the most recent Young Adult novel from Carnegie Medal-winning author Patrick Ness.Seth, the protagonist, is caught between two worlds. The sparse, deserted post-apocalyptic world he inhabits now and the rich but traumatic world that he remembers in involuntary flashbacks. The length of the book's first section divided our panel - is there enough intrigue to keep readers hooked?This is a book that deals with some very tough themes – suicide, murder, child abuse – our panel ask if young adult books should censor themselves or whether they have a responsibility to discuss these tough issues.More Than This was interpreted very differently at times by our panel - have you read the book? What did you think were the key themes from the book? How do you think it compared to the Chaos Walking trilogy? And is there really more than this?

Podcast contents00:00-01:27 Introduction01:27-12:57 Nick Barley12:57-23:35 Natalie Haynes23:35-27:22 Karrie Fransman and Amruta Patil 27:22-30:48 Gail PorterCreativity and storytelling weave their way through this edition of Book Talk as host Ryan Van Winkle talks to Nick Barley, Natalie Haynes, Karrie Fransman, Amruta Patil and Gail Porter.Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival takes up on a walk through his picks of the programme. While the big names may be getting the press coverage, Nick digs out some of the programme's hidden gems, including Conversations with Ourselves, a strand of the programme that looks at the role of our inner voices in the creative process.Comedian and writer Natalie Haynes discusses the inspiration for her debut novel The Amber Fury, and the crossover between her life on stage and her career as a writer. "I'm sure that some of the storytelling that I learned to do on stage has spilled over into this book. Withholding information until the last possible minute - that's a standup technique for sure".Graphic novelists Karrie Fransman and Amruta Patil talk about the artists and writers that influence their work, and give their advice on embracing rejection and why the things you may consider to be disadvantages are actually the things that will propel your work forward and help you develop an innovative voice.Finally, Gail Porter joins us to talk about the five books that have shaped her life.Discover moreVoices in Our Head at Edinburgh International Book FestivalColumns and journalism from Natalie HaynesClose Your Eyes podcast with guest Nick Barley

It's Tartt, but is it art?In this edition of Book Talk, host Paul Gallagher is joined by journalist and broadcaster Jane Graham and Scottish Book Trust's Head of Reader Development to delve into the themes, characters and preoccupations of Donna Tartt's bestselling third novel, The Goldfinch.Centred around the life of Theo Dekker, a New Yorker whose mother is tragically killed in a bomb blast at a prominent Manhattan art gallery, the book is a dense, detailed work, 11 years in the making. The Book Talk panel discuss whether they felt Tartt's ambitions with the novel paid off; it is clearly a book with much to say about the connections between art and life, but is it a compelling read too?They also discuss the many characters that populate The Goldfinch, and question whether Tartt's female characters are as fully-formed as the men, as well as considering the book's parallels with Dickens, Dostoevsky and other literary titans.If you have read The Goldfinch, we'd love to hear what you thought - add your comments on our Book Talk web page at ScottishBookTrust.com, on Twitter @ScottishBkTrust or on Facebook.

Paul Gallagher is joined by The Scotsman features writer Lee Randall and freelance journalist and books blogger Nicola Balkind to discuss Jennifer Egan's 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winner A Visit from the Goon Squad, as well as choosing some related reading recommendations.Driven less by a progressing narrative or a central character than by several overriding themes - passing time, changing relationships and the nature of the music industry to name a few – A Visit from the Goon Squad investigates these themes through 13 distinct chapters, each of which focuses on a different character, all of whom are in some way connected to each other.

In this edition of Book Talk host Ryan Van Winkle takes us on a literary trip around the world, stopping off in Roman Britain, on the River Nile and in the Middle East.Charlotte Higgins is the author of Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain. Having travelled around Britain in a campervan, Charlotte talks to Ryan about how the idea of Roman Britain has resonated throughout British culture since the end of Roman rule and what it means to us now.If you'd like to head out on your own journey of discovery, she gives some suggestions of where to find some of the best Roman remains in Scotland and where you can find out more about the Roman history in Scotland.We then move to Eqypt to talk to Robert Twigger, author of Red Nile: The Biography of the World's Greatest River. Robert talks about the challenges of writing an autobiography of an inanimate object and, given the phenomenal history of the subject, how to decide what to focus on. Robert tells some of the stories associated with the Nile, including Caliph Al-Hakim's unconventional approach to keeping his neighbourhood quiet and free of dogs.Finally, we head to the Middle East to look at two new anthologies of Palestinian and Kurdish/Iraqi contemporary poetry translated into Scots and English. Poet Liz Niven discusses A Bird is Not a Stone, featuring Scots and English translations of Palestinian poetry from some of Scotland's most acclaimed poets and Iraqi Kurdish poet Awezan Nouri and Scottish poet William Letford discuss This Room is Waiting is an anthology of contemporary poetry from Iraq.Podcast contents00:00-01:04 Introduction01:04-11:06 Charlotte Higgins interview 11:06-18:52 Robert Twigger 18:52-22:56 Liz Niven interview 22:56-29:12 Awezan Nouri and William Letford interview

In this edition of Book Talk Scottish author Barry Hutchison and journalist and critic Chitra Ramaswamy join host Sasha de Buyl to talk about The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins, the new novel by Irvine Welsh.Trainspotting may have been named as the nation's favourite Scottish novel, but The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins is proving much more divisive, with our Twitter followers calling the novel everything from “brilliant” and “amazing” to “boring” and “utter rubbish”.The book follows the intertwined stories of Lucy Brennan, a personal trainer with her sights set on media stardom and Lena Sorensen, an overweight artist who accidentally catapults Lucy into the spotlight. Unusually for Welsh, the book features a female protagonist – how well has Welsh managed developing a female character?Listen now to discover what our panel thought about the book. Does the book achieve what it's trying to say about the extremes of body imagine culture in modern American society? And can Irvine's natural ability as a storyteller make incredibly an unpleasant protagonist appealing to the reader?If you've read The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins let us know what you thought about the book. Join the discussion by adding a comment below, by sending us a message on Twitter @ScottishBkTrust or on our Facebook page.

In this edition of Book Talk, Ryan Van Winkle speaks to Chris Ware, Dilys Rose and Michael Fry about stories, memories and histories.Chris Ware is an American graphic novelist whose latest book is Building Stories. The book, which has no beginning or end, is designed to reflect the non-linear way we remember our lives. Chris talks about why he decided to focus the intangible world of memory and how he develops work that can be read in multiple ways.“It's like composing music. You have a sense of a feeling you're trying to get to but the second you start playing a note or hearing the notes that you're playing you think, ‘oh that doesn't sound right' or ‘that sounds better than what I had in mind'.”Scottish poet and novelist Dilys Rose picks up the thread of memory and its deception. The narrative of her new novel Pelmanism developed from the interconnected and fragmented nature of remembrance. Is there such a thing as a real memory when “once you start remembering, you start inventing as well”? Dilys also reads the homage to RD Laing she wrote for the novel as a creative solution to copyright clearance!Finally, we finish our tour of the past by speaking to historian Michael Fry. The title of Michael's newest book A New Race of Men: Scotland 1815-1914 references a contemporary description of Scotland at a time of huge progress.  How did Scotland transform a country and its people?By looking at the past, Michael identifies how old Scotland connects to a new Scotland, “we don't have to assume our history has been lost... People in Scotland are too unaware of the facts of their history, how those facts hang together, how they have survived, and how they still influence us in the present day.”Podcast contents00:00 – 00:51 Introduction00:55 – 13:05 Chris Ware13:05 – 21:52 Dilys Rose21:52 – 33:00 Michael Fry

In this edition of Book Talk we're discussing The Humans by adult and young adult novelist Matt Haig. When Professor Andrew Martin solves the Riemann hypothesis, one of the world's greatest mathematical problems, the inhabitants of planet Vonnadoria panic.Fearing what warmongering, greedy humans will do with this mathematical knowledge, the Vonnadorians kidnap Martin and replace him with their very own man who fell to earth - an assassin masked in the Professor's body. Tasked with destroying all evidence of his discovery, including his wife Isobel and son Gulliver, the alien assassin strays from his original mission and attempts to better understand humans.Host Danny Scott is joined by fellow Earthlings Lynsey Rogers of the Scottish Book Trust and Leith librarian Colm Linnane to discuss the novel. Is Haig able to make the tried-and-tested sci-fi trope of an alien coming to Earth work and make it readable for sci-fi refusers? Can a book that has been as well reviewed as The Humans ever meet the expectations of readers? And what does the book say about what it is to be human in the 21st century?The Humans was one of the books given away on this year's World Book Night – if you were lucky enough to receive a copy, let us know! How well do you think the novel worked? Join the discussion by tweeting us @scottishbktrust or commenting on Facebook!

In this edition of Book Talk, host Ryan Van Winkle talks to author Scott Westerfeld about steampunk and zeppelins, discusses the myths of modern Scotland with commentator and academic Gerry Hassan, and looks at how crime and science work together in fiction with Lin Anderson and Doctor Kathy Charles.Scott Westerfeld, author of the Uglies trilogy, gives an insight into how he researched and created the steampunk World War One setting of Leviathan. Loved by teenagers and military history buffs alike, the book showcases a world that blends accurate military detail with fantastic creations including airships made of whales.  Scott discusses the benefits of writing for a young adult audience. “Adult readers are very fragile and very easy to alarm and scare off, whereas teenagers are incredibly robust readers who can keep going. If you see a teenager who'd really into a book you could drop a brick on their head and they'll keep reading!”Gerry Hassan, commentator and academic in Cultural Policy discusses his latest book, Caledonian Dreaming: The Quest for a Different Scotland. Inspired by the work of Fintan O'Toole following the crash in Ireland, the book looks at the myths Hassan argues are inherent in Scottish identity. What are these stories we tell ourselves about modern Scotland and where did they come from?Finally, Ryan chats to crime writer Lin Anderson, creator of fictional forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod, and forensic psychologist Dr Kathy Charles about how crime and science work together in fiction.  Lin and Kathy discuss the use of psychology to develop strong characters, how to effectively depict the biological differences of psychopaths in fiction and the challenge of ensuring potential scenarios in the novel are scientifically plausible while keeping a novel entertaining. Podcast contents00:00-00:51  Introduction00:52-12:08  Scott Westerfeld interview12:09-22:26  Garry Hassan interview  22:27-32:05  Lin Anderson and Dr Kathy Charles interview

This month, host Paul Gallagher is joined by two Scottish writers, Kirsty Logan and Gavin Inglis to discuss Tenth of December, the new collection of short stories from George Saunders. Saunders has received many awards and accolades for his short story writing, most recently  the inaugural Folio Prize, yet he is far from a household name. Tenth of December is a dark collection of stories with a sci-fi feel that explores a near-dystopian American society and the lives of those living in it. But did it divide our panel as much as it divided reviewers, whose opinions ranged from “the best book you'll read this year” to “rather insubstantial”?Listen now to find out what our panel thought about this collection, and whether short stories can ever match the literary experience of a novel. 

In this edition of Book Talk, host Ryan Van Winkle interviews bestselling American author George Saunders and Scottish crime writers Alex Gray and Doug Johnstone.Tenth of December, the sci-fi infused short-story collection by George Saunders was recently awarded the inaugural Folio Prize. George reads ‘Sticks', a story from the collection and talks to Ryan about having the freedom to focus on writing fiction, how he applies lessons from his career as a scientist to develop his characters and how he has learnt to write about family without drifting into sentimentality: “The trick is to try to be honest and say ‘at this moment in the story, what's the most truthful, bighearted thing to do?'”The latest novel from Doug Johnstone, The Dead Beat, is a thriller set in an Edinburgh newspaper. As Martha, a journalism student, begins an internship on the newspaper obituaries desk, she takes a call from an ex-employee of the newspaper who appears to commit suicide. This chilling echo of Martha's own life forces her to unravel the mysteries of her parents' past. Music and gigs feature heavily in the book, and Doug discusses the future of journalism and music, during a time of increasing uncertainty for both industries.Finally, we catch up with Alex Gray, whose book The Bird That Did Not Sing, the 11th in the Lorimer series, has just been released. Set in Glasgow at the start of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Gray describes the novel as “my most ambitious book to date”. The book deals with themes including people trafficking and terrorism, and Alex discusses the inspiration behind the book and her experiences of writing such a complex novel.

Conceived by filmmaker J.J. Abrams and written by novelist Doug Dorst, S has been hailed as a brand new reading experience, but does it live up to the hype? Joining host Sasha deBuyl are Nicola Balkind, freelance writer and books blogger and Iain Morrison, Enterprise Manager at Edinburgh's Fruitmarket Gallery. S is an ambitious and complex work with multiple strands fighting for the reader's attention. The core text, Ship of Theseus, is the final work of fictional author V. M. Straka, presented with footnotes from the translator. Additionally, a multi-coloured sprawl of notes in the margins reveals an unfolding relationship between two readers as they try to decipher the mysteries of the book and its author. A feast for the senses, S comes stuffed with with paraphernalia, including maps, letters, photocopied articles and a code wheel, making it a truly tactile experience. The book is certainly beautiful, but does the story meet the high standards set by the design? Is the intrigue created by S enough to keep readers hooked, or is the challenge of the book's structure too much? Have a listen and find out what our panel thought, and join in the discussion in the comments or by tweeting us @scottishbktrust or leaving a message on our Facebook page.

In this edition of the Book Talk podcast Ryan Van Winkle interviews Kirsty Logan about her debut collection of short stories, discusses parkour with novelist and poet Tim Sinclair and imagines the Scotland of the future with sci-fi author Ken MacLeod.The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales is the debut short story collection from former New Writers Award recipient Kirsty Logan. Written over the course of five years, the stories are set in locations as diverse as 1920s New Orleans, the Australian Outback and Paris.Kirsty reads her moving short story The Light Eater and discusses how writing helped her to process difficult emotions.Australian novelist and poet Tim Sinclair talks about his latest young adult novel, Run. Written in concrete poetry, where words function both linguistically and visually, the book explores the world of parkour, where participants “move through the urban environment in a way that doesn't allow for boundaries”. But when ego gets involved, trouble quickly follows.Finally, acclaimed sci-fi writer Ken MacLeod discusses his new book about “flying saucers, hidden races and Antonio Gramsci's theory of passive revolution”. Descent follows the teens and twenties of an ordinary Greenock man whose bad behaviour is blamed on a possible alien encounter.Moving from science fiction to science fact, Ken also explains his involvement with Hope Beyond Hype, a comic book he wrote in collaboration with OptiStem, an EU-funded stem cell research project. It was downloaded over 100 000 in times in the first few days following release - listen now to discover how the book was developed.Podcast contents00:00-00:53 Introduction00:53-09:20 Kirsty Logan interview09:20-16:30 Tim Sinclair Interview16:30-30.00 Ken MacLeod interview

This month, Book Talk cranks up the heat and settles in for a chat about Michel Faber's creepy sci-fi-meets-horror debut, Under the Skin, soon to be released as a film starring Scarlett Johansson. Joining host Danny Scott are Sarah Stewart, a senior editor at Floris Books, founder of the Lighthouse Children's Literary Consultancy and soon-to-be-published children's author; and Doug Johnstone, novelist, journalist, musician and co-founder of Scotland Writers FC.Under the Skin tells the unsettling story of Isserley, an alien sent to earth to harvest male hitchikers for an intergalactic corporation, which fattens them up and turns them into food. The macabre story is a dark satire on intensive farming, big business and environmental decay, as well as an examination of such issues as sexual identity and humanity.Find out how Faber managed to make Isserley a character readers could empahtize with, which parts our panel found most disturbing and whether they'd recommend the novel to a friend in this spine-tingling podcast.BookTalk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

In this edition of the Book Talk podcast Ryan Van Winkle interviews bestselling Chocolat author Joanne Harris, biologist and science writer Aarathi Prasad and Dr Karin Kukkonen, an academic specialising in the history of graphic novels. Peaches for Monsieur le Curé is the third in Joanne Harris's series of books about Vianne Rocher, the chocolatier first introduced in her bestseller Chocolat. Joanne talks to Ryan about the challenges of revisiting a familiar character and explains why "if you want to create characters that people believe in then they can't be immune to life". She also gives a brillaint reading that exemplifies the sensory quality of her writing.Shortlisted for Salon's Transmission prize, Aarathi Prasad's first book Like A Virgin: How Science is Redefining the Rules of Sex provoked headlines when it was first published, due to its suggestion that technology could be making males unnecesarry in the reproductive process. She explains the quite startling details behind the headlines in this fascinating interview, describing just what it means to be "exploring the frontiers of conception".And finally we have a different kind of evolution, as the academic and author of Reading Comics, Dr. Karin Kukkonen, goes toe-to-toe with Ryan in a wide-ranging discussion about graphic novels through history, and picks the five essential graphic novels you need to read.Podcast Contents00:00-01:00 Intro 01:05-10:30 Joanne Harris interview 10:30-20:55 Aarathi Prasad on Like A Virgin: How Science is Redefining the Rules of Sex 20:55-31:40 Karin Kukkonen on graphic novelsDiscover MoreListen to our earlier interview with acclaimed graphic novelist Joe Sacco here: http://scottishbooktrust.com/audio/joe-sacco-and-rj-palacio-facing-realityMore about Joanne Harris at www.joanne-harris.co.uk/ More about Aarathi Prasad at www.aarathiprasad.com/

One of Britain's favourite narrative non-fiction writers is back with a fast-paced, often hilarious look at the events and people that shaped one eventful summer during the Roaring 20's.With his usual wry humour, Bryson details an enormously eventful five month period in the late 1920s when America reached the zenith of Jazz Age exuberance and fully took its place on the world stage. Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St Louis to France and became an instant celebrity (much to his chagrin), Prohibition created legendary mobsters and lawmakers, television and talking pictures started to hold audiences enthralled, Babe Ruth made an extraordinary and unexpected comeback and a tiny group of powerful men inadvertently set in motion the events that would lead to the stock market crash in just two short years.Host Paul Gallagher is joined by comedienne Ashley Storrie and Scottish Book Trust's web editor Brianne Moore to discuss the sprawling narrative populated by characters so bizarre it's almost difficult to believe they actually existed. Is Bryson successful at drawing you in and bringing history to life in a way your school textbooks never could? Or does his oftentimes lighthearted approach leave something to be desired? Have a listen and find out what our panel thought, and share your own feelings about America: One Summer, 1927 in the comments below or by tweeting us @scottishbktrust or leaving a message on our Facebook page.

An exciting new year has begun, and, appropriately, we're looking to the future in this, our first edition of Book Talk for 2014! Host Ryan Van Winkle sits down with three very different people to chat about what the future may hold for books and for Scotland.To get things started, literary critic and Man Booker Prize judge Stuart Kelly discusses the most recent Booker winner, Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries and why it should be on everyone's to-read list this year. Find out how considering the future informs his judging decisions, what books he's most looking forward to this year and what recent changes allowing American books to be considered could mean for the Man Booker Prize.Are mind-reading books the future of literature? Sci-fi author Hannu Rajaniemi seems to think so. The author of The Quantum Thief is not content to merely dream about fantastical inventions--he wants to create them as well. He and his collaborator are working on something they call neurofiction: a system that joins neuroscience with stories by measuring the brain activity of a reader and changing the direction of the story they're engaged in accordingly. A Choose Your Own Adventure for the 21st century!Finally, Lesley Riddoch, author of Blossom, discusses the future of Scotland at the dawn of a momentous year for the country. Why, she wonders, is a country with so much promise so troubled? And what can be done about it? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Learn more about Lesley's hopes for the country and what can be done to make Scotland a fairer, even more vibrant place to live.

Book Talk is seeing out 2013 with a bang, tackling Eleanor Catton's 800+ page Man Booker Prize Winner, The Luminaries. Sasha de Buyl is joined by Lois Wolfe, head of development at the National Library of Scotland, and literary critic and Man Booker judge Stuart Kelly to discuss Catton's challenging tome.Set in the New Zealand goldfields in the mid-1860s, the story follows Walter Moody, a prospector who hopes to make his fortune but instead stumbles into a complex series of unsolved crimes, including a disappearance, an attempted suicide and the unexpected appearance of an unlikely fortune. The story unfolds not just as a mystery, but as a rich historical portrait of the mid-19th century goldrush boom and bust and the towns and people that rose and fell with it.Does Catton's novel live up to its wild praise? Find out how our panellists felt about it, its unusual structure and heavy use of the zodiac and why they refer to this as an 'HBO novel.'

What did you get up to during Book Week Scotland? Did you meet some of your favourite authors, try our Literary Personalities app, or grab your copy of Treasures? In this instalment of Book Talk, Ryan Van Winkle takes us on a quick tour of the week, sitting down with two authors and staying up all night at the Fruitmarket Gallery.First up, Ryan meets Glasgow-based author Louise Welsh for a talk about her latest book, A Lovely Way to Burn, the first instalment of the Plague Times Trilogy. Set in a contemporary world engulfed in a pandemic, the book follows a woman named Stevie Smith who sets out to get some answers regarding her boyfriend's mysterious death. Find out where Louise found her inspiration, why you'll love her heroine, and what's to come in the next two books.Ryan then moves on to Edinburgh's Fruitmarket Gallery, which hosted an all-night event called In the Wee Small Hours, featuring a drawing workshop, poetry readings and plenty of treats. Hear from some of the attendees, discover the inspiration behind the night, and listen to some of the attending poets read their work.Finally, Ryan takes some time to sit down with Alastair Reynolds, author of On the Steel Breeze, the second volume of the Poseidon's Children Sequence of science fiction novels. Among other things, they discuss the ins and outs of planning a multi-volume series and how he keeps science fiction grounded in reality.Podcast contents00:00-02:42 Intro02:42-15:36 Louise Welsh interview15:36-24:49 In the Wee Small Hours21:25-22:44 Samantha Walton reads her poem, Circuitous23:55-24:29 David Hopkins reads his poem, Sleep is Serious24:29-36:03 Alasdair Reynolds interview

Book Week Scotland 2013 kicks off next week, and in this special edition of Book Talk, host Ryan Van Winkle gives us a preview of just a few of the exciting events to come! Scottish Book Trust's Head of Reader Development, Philippa Cochrane, and Reader Development Administrator, Sasha de Buyl get things started by sharing where you can find out about the events happening near you and which events they're most looking forward to attending.Next, award-winning author Ewan Morrison (whose latest novel, Close Your Eyes, was featured in our last book discussion podcast) discusses the workshops he ran throughout Scotland, encouraging people to get involved in Treasures. Find out what frequently appearing artifact surprised him most and how he dug down to find out what people really valued (it wasn't necessarily what they brought to the workshop!). Then, stick around and listen to him read his own Treasures story, featuring Batgirl and late American rocker, Kurt Cobain.Ready to discover all the National Library of Scotland has to offer? The library's reader in residence, Kate Hendry, has a full roster of events planned for Book Week Scotland. You'll have a chance to take your kids (or just yourself!) to the reading rooms during off hours to explore some of the millions of volumes the library has to offer, and try your luck at the book giveaway--who knows what fascinating volume you might grab out of the box? There will also be a pop-up books event for children aged 4-7, a Wikipedia relay for prizes, lectures and much more. Click here for a full listing of the National Library's events.Finally, Sara Sheridan, bestselling author of the Mirabelle Bevan mysteries, rounds things out by talking about the joys of writing a series, what drew her to the 1950s and how she's trying to give the 'cosy crime' genre the edge it had back in Agatha Christie's day. You can see Sara during Book Week Scotland at these events.There's all this and much more in this exciting edition!

Close Your Eyes, Ewan Morrison's award-winning fourth novel, is the subject of our panel's scrutiny in this month's Book Talk. Moderated by Danny Scott, guests Nick Barley, director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and cultural critic and New Writers Awardee Lucy Rochester peel away the layers of this onion-like work, searching for the soft centre of this complex book, which tackles a wide range of topics including depression, parenthood, New Age ideals and deep-seated narcissism.The book follows a woman named Rowan, who was abandoned by her mother by the roadside some thirty years earlier. Now a mother herself and grappling with post-natal depression, Rowan leaves her own young family in London and travels to the remote commune in Scotland where she grew up. Paranoid that she'll repeat her mother's mistakes, Rowan delves into her past and tries to get to the bottom of her mother's disappearance.Find out what our panellists had to say about the story and its themes (not to mention its rather frightening depiction of early motherhood), the contrast between life and parenting in the 1970s versus the modern day, and how the book compares to some of Morrison's other work. And why are our guests debating what sort of fruit or vegetable the book reminds them of? You'll have to listen to find out!What are your feelings on Close Your Eyes? Share your thoughts by tweeting us @scottishbktrust or leaving a message on our Facebook page.BookTalk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.

Journeys - both literal and literary - weave through the latest edition of Book Talk, which sees host Ryan Van Winkle sit down with authors Olivia Lang, Sarah Hall, Pedro Lenz and translator Donal McLaughlin to talk about their latest projects.Granta Best Young British Novelist Sarah Hall reads a creepy excerpt from her new short story collection, The Beautiful Indifference, and discusses the very human need to fight, and how modern-day living has stripped us of the opportunity to do so. Find out where she got the inspiration for her excerpted story, She Murdered Mortal He, and why she finds it easiest to write short stories on the road.How does a Swiss German novel wind up being translated to Glaswegian Scots? With a little inspiration from James Kelman and some unique urban landscapes. Ryan discusses Donal McLaughlin's translation of Pedro Lenz's novel, Naw Much of a Talker, and discovers what's really important in a good translation (and it's not necessarily being slavishly faithful to the source!).Finally, Olivia Lang speaks up about alcoholism as a destructive force in literature, as detailed in her nonfiction book, Trip to Echo Spring. Detailing the lives of six authors with well-documented relationships with alcohol (Ernest Hemingway, John Cheever, John Berryman, F Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams and Raymond Carver), Lang seeks to pull away the pervasive myth that it was cool for writers to drink a lot. In reality, it was a destructive force for them, as it is for anyone else, that may have cost the world some great literature. Hear one of the crazier anecdotes detailed in the book, and why Lang found the sobering subject matter so interesting.Podcast contents0:00-0:47 Introduction0:47-11:20 Sarah Hall Interview11:20-24:10 Pedro Lenz and Donal McLaughlin interview24:10-32:37 Olivia Lang InterviewBook Talk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions. Music by Ragland.

MaddAddam, Margaret Atwood's highly anticipated conclusion to the 'disturbingly credible' dystopian trilogy begun with Orynx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, has finally arrived and gets the Book Talk treatment this month, at the hands of Paul Gallagher, freelance writer Lee Randall and Book Riot contributor Edd McCracken.Bringing together the parallel stories covered in the first two books, MaddAddam follows a small tribe of survivors of a man-made plague, focusing mainly on former God's Gardener Toby and Zeb, the object of her affections. Surrounding them are a madcap cast that includes Snowman-the-Jimmy, a reluctant, hallucinating prophet; Amanda, the survivor of a vicious attack at the novel's start; and Ivory Bill, who loves Swift Fox, who's attracted to Zeb.Atwood's story is darkly humorous, chilling and deals with an enormous number of themes: misogyny, storytelling, rape and trauma, and bioengineering, to name just a few. Was Atwood successful in balancing all her ideas, or does the book fall short? Does the book manage to convey her usual mastery of delving deeply into her characters? Is it possible to enjoy this book as a standalone, or is it necessary to read the entire trilogy? Find out what our panel has to say.

Joe Sacco's comic-based journalism broke ground in establishing graphic novels as a serious art form, so we were very excited to get the chance to speak to him at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival. The resulting conversation didn't disappoint, as he gave us his thoughts on reportage ("truth is always just as interesting as any fabrication could be") and the challenges of objectivity ("as a journalist you need to keep some distance; as a human being that is almost impossible"), amongst many other fascinating insights. Listen to the interview for much more.Also on this podcast, the American author RJ Palacio tells us about her breakout young adult novel Wonder, which we featured on our book discussion podcast earlier this year. The book draws the reader into a compassionate portrayal of a boy with a serious facial disfigurement; Palacio tells us how she went about writing it, and how being a serial eavesdropper helps her to be a great writer.And there's more, including a preview of October's Dundee Literary Festival and an interview and reading from Scottish author Zoe Vendetozzi, whose new novel Anywhere's Better Than Here is in the running for The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize 2013.Podcast contents00:00-00:54 Intro00:55-13:55 RJ Palacio interview14:00-25:10 Joe Sacco interview25:12-29:20 Dundee Literary Festival preview with Peggy Hughes29:50-37:45 Zoe Vendetozzi reading and Top 5 Books interview 

This month, host Sasha de Buyl is joined by Graphic Scotland's Ariadne Cass-Maran and Scottish Book Trust's own Michael Merillo to discuss Neil Gaiman's latest novel for adults, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. But is this book, about a man who looks back on his childhood haunts and adventures and his friendship with a very unusual girl, really meant for adults, or is it a children's book masquerading as something for the older crowd? The question is a surprisingly complex one, as the novel deals with many dark themes in a fairly delicate manner, while touching on the magic and whimsy of childhood and employing a structure -- two children meet and have fantastical adventures -- that frequently appears in children's fiction.The novel's audience isn't the only matter up for debate. Other discussions that arise include:* Is the narrator too unreliable or too much of an empty vessel to be interesting on his own, or does his emptiness signify something important (and devastating) about him?* Did the grim relationship between the narrator and his father hit home and bring up any (less traumatic, hopefully!) memories from your own childhood?* Is the book worthy of the praise that's been heaped upon it since its publication?Hear what our panel thought about these and other questions!

At the end of August, Book Talk packed its bags and made its way over to the white-tented confines of Charlotte Square, for the Edinburgh International Book Festival.While there, we had the chance to have a quick catch up with award winning author and storytelling behemoth, Neil Gaiman.As we only had a few minutes, we chatted a little about Neil's new book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and then asked him some serious hard hitting questions including ‘Do you have a favourite rodent?' and ‘What is your favourite stop on the underground?'. Intrigued? Listen in above to hear Neil's answers!The book Neil speaks about is You Are What You Speak by Robert Lane Green.For anyone interested in the ‘Legs or Hot Dogs?' internet phenomenon, please see this website.Keep your ears at the ready, as we will be discussing Neil Gaiman's new novel in full in September episode of Book Talk! Watch this space!

Summer may be winding down but Book Talk is heating up with a lineup of inspiring (and inspired!) authors who join host Ryan Van Winkle to talk about their upcoming books, how they work humour into even the most harrowing stories, their admiration for flawed characters and how jazz wakes up the mind.Genre-defying Helen Fitzgerald gets things started with a discussion of The Cry, her latest novel, which is available on e-readers now and will be released in paperback in September. The Cry, like many of her other books, follows two people who find themselves in an unimaginably awful situation and end up making perhaps the worst possible decisions. Find out more about the book, and the surprising connection Helen has found between writing and her former career in criminal justice. Also, check out her list of five books her fans will like that don't necessarily fit into the crime fiction genre.New Writers Awardee Pippa Goldschmidt is also celebrating the release of a book, her first, The Falling Sky. This tale of a young astronomer who makes an extraordinary discovery that not only shakes the foundations of science itself, but also has her questioning her entire life and delving into her painful past manages to mix complex family drama with science and dark comedy, as she reveals the cutthroat underbelly of academia. As an academic herself, it's a world she knows well. But beyond campus politics, this is also the tale of a woman dealing with her demons, as well as a meditation on how we tend to see and understand other people.Finally, Ryan catches up with Naomi Alderman, one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists, who recently collaborated with jazz band The Moss Project to write a story based on one of their songs. According to Naomi, after listening to the song over and over, the story suddenly just came, the inspiration doubtless assisted by the fact that, according to her, 'Moss's music makes interesting things happen in my brain. Jazz in general does--it wakes up your brain.' Discover how music has wound its way into her writing in the past, and hear the story and the song that inspired it.

Book Talk host Paul Gallagher is joined by science fiction author Ken MacLeod and editor and literary events organiser Oisin Murphy-Lawless to discuss The Quarry, the final novel from the greatly loved and respected Scottish writer Iain Banks, who sadly passed away in early June this year, just days before The Quarry was published.The Quarry is narrated by Kit, a socially awkward, mildly autistic 18-year-old who lives with and looks after his cancer-stricken father Guy. The story involves a last weekend reunion of Guy's old uni pals, before the house he and Kit live in is demolished to make way for an expansion of the adjacent quarry: an event that Guy is unlikely to live long enough to see. As the weekend progresses Kit observes the old friends hanging out, talking and arguing, and also becomes aware of a particular video tape that they are all keen to get their hands on for reasons none of them are willing to explain – a tape that Guy may have hidden somewhere in the house. Here's some of the questions the panel discuss: The Quarry initially seems a uniquely difficult read - is it a challenging book? The narative voice is self-aware, analytical and removed. What does that do to our understanding of The Quarry's cast of characters? How much, or not, should we interpret The Quarry as a personal statement from Banks about his own life? Where does The Quarry fit in Banks' body of work? BookTalk is produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions, with music by Sam Gallagher.

Summer is heating up, and we have a sizzling edition of Booktalk to go with the rising temperatures. First up, host Ryan Van Winkle sits down with Ruth Ozeki, whose novel, A Tale for the Time Being, has been longlisted for this year's Booker Prize. The book, about a diary written by a 16-year-old Japanese girl that washes up in British Columbia, inspires a spirited discussion of such wide-ranging subjects as reader-writer relationships, how major world events can impact on a work-in-progress (and how said work can provide a sort of therapy for the writer), and bullying in both children and adults. It's also inspired a soulful tune from Bath-based The Bookshop Band, a trio of literary songwriters who were commissioned by the owner of Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights to liven up authors' readings with some original songs. Though nerve-wracking (they do have to perform the songs for the authors themselves, after all!) the Band has taken up the project and run with it magnificently. They now have nearly 100 tunes covering folktales, classics, bestsellers and even a dictionary! Have a listen to their song, The Paris Wife, and catch them in action at the Guardian Spiegeltent at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.If all that's a bit too tame for you, then brace yourself for the Literary Death Match, also coming soon to a Spiegeltent near you! Just what is the Literary Death Match, you ask? No, it does not involve any bloodletting, and no novels are harmed in the making. It's a fun evening that sees four writers perform their work for three judges (and the audience, of course), who provide hilarious commentary before picking two of the writers to move on to a a round of wacky hijinks, like pinning a moustache on Hemingway or chucking cupcakes at a poster of George Saunders, to ensure things don't get too serious or competitive. Learn more about the Death Match's past, present and exciting future from founder Todd Zuniga and find out where you can see one yourself!Are you ready? It's going to be a scorcher!

Ghana Must Go, the much-anticipated debut novel of writer, photographer and designer Taiye Selasi, is the subject of this instalment of Book Talk. Host Danny Scott is joined by Ali Bowden, head of Edinburgh City of Literature, and SBT's Writer Development Manager, Will Mackie. Together, they attempt to peer through the clouds of hype surrounding this cross-continental family saga focused on the Sais, a clan of Ghanaian and Nigerian descent that tries to build a new life in Boston.Among the topics of discussion: does the book live up to the marketing frenzy? Does Selasi's lyrical and poetical style serve the story well? Is this a book to pop into your bag as you go on holiday, or should you shut yourself up with it for a few days? Find out how our panel felt about these questions and more, then join the discussion in the comments below or by tweeting us your thoughts @scottishbktrust or leaving a message on our Facebook page.

Summer has started, and there's lots to look forward to! Host Ryan Van Winkle takes a few moments to sit down with Irish author Kevin Barry, whose most recent collection of short stories, Dark Lies the Island, was published last year on the heels of his critically lauded novel, The City of Bohane. Barry is as much a poet in speech as he is on the page as he discusses where he finds his inspiration, how he got into writing short stories, how they've improved his writing and what we can expect from the dizzying, brutal world of Bohane. Then it's off to Charlotte Square to hear what this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival has in store. Find out what has Janet Smith, director of the children's programme, and Nick Barley, the festival director are most anticipating this year. Finally, hear from Richard Holloway, who reads his Treasures story--a touching saga of a painting that represents everything that's important to him. Have a minute, check out more stories from celebs and the public here.Downloads of Icelandic pop bands as inspiration, the joys of graphic novels, a glimpse into the future and the beauty of birds--it's all here, and more!

Guest host Sasha de Buyl is joined by screenwriter, poet and Leith Library's Reader in Residence, Emily Dodd, and Rachel McCrum, performance poet and co-founder of Stewed Rhubarb Press to discuss R J Palacio's bestselling children's novel, Wonder. Wonder tells the story of 10-year-old August Pullman, a boy with a severe facial deformity who faces going to a mainstream school for the first time in his life. The book manages its difficult subject matter with a healthy dose of humour, but does its depiction of pre-adolescent life ring true? And does it fall into the trap of using August merely to teach kids a moral lesson?

Where do writers find their inspiration? As Ryan Van Winkle discovers in this edition of Bookmarked: pretty much anywhere, and not necessarily where you'd expect. Denise Mina found it in a commonplace object that nobody else wanted, spinning a Treasures tale of surprising emotional depth around a battered tea tin that once belonged to her grandmother. For Damian Barr, author of Maggie and Me, it was in memories so powerful he felt he needed to write the book 'or burst'. For her novel Bear Witness, Mandy Haggith was inspired by nature, an ancient myth and the slow re-introduction of once-indigenous species.Hear Mina read her Treasures story and talk about what tea means to her; learn how Margaret Thatcher and her policies impacted a young Barr (for better and for worse) and learn what makes bears so fascinating and so necessary to the world and why we should be welcoming them back to Scotland.

As the new film version hits cinemas, revisit our discussion from May 2012 about the enduring appeal of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel and what makes a book particularly re-readable.In this edition of Book Talk we focus on a classic, which many people would call the classic: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Paul Gallagher is joined by two avowed Gatsby fans - Books critic Keir Hind and Scottish Book Trust's Head of Programme Sophie Moxon.Later in the podcast the discussion opens out to asking what makes a book particularly re-readable, which books we like to go back to and read again, and why. Podcast contents:00:00-02:40 Introduction02:41-19:30 The Great Gatsby review discussion19:35-23:35 Thoughts on Gatsby film adaptations; Gatsby computer game!23:40-30:50 Discussion on re-reading and what makes us return to particular books30:52-32:00 Conclusion; next month's books

This month, Paul Gallagher gathers freelance writer and blogger Nicola Balkind and SBT's Head of Reader Development, Philippa Cochrane, to discuss Jonas Jonasson's bestselling novel, The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared. The book, which details the hijinks of a centenarian who escapes from his old people's home, drew mixed reviews from our Twitter followers, with one saying it made them want to go on a romp of their own and another giving up on it entirely. What did our panel think? You'll have to listen to find out! The spirited discussion touches on the novel's dark comedy, the unexpected depths concealed (or not!) beneath the humourous surface and whether or not the book is intended as a satire--and if so, whether it's a successful one.