Kobo in Conversation

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Liann Zang, author of the new novel Julie Chan is Dead. In it, Julie Chan is in fact very much alive but her estranged twin sister Chloe, a wildly successful social media influencer, has suddenly died and it just so happens that Julie is for just a moment the only person in the world who knows Chloe is dead. So she decides to pick up and start living Chloe's apparently fabulous life, letting the world believe it's Julie Chan's body being carried out of Chloe's apartment on a stretcher. Liann Zhang on satirizing social media influencers from the inside

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Jon Hickey, author of Big Chief. It's takes place in an Anishinaabe reservation called Passage Rouge Nation during the last weekend before a Tribal Presidential election. Incumbent president Mack Beck is coasting to another term happily overseeing tribal governmental matters as well as the Golden Eagle Casino and Hotel when his rival, activist Gloria Hawkins begins gaining steam in the home stretch. Gloria's campaign, by the way, is being run by Mack's estranged sister Layla, while his own campaign is run by his childhood friend and local boy made good in law school Mitch Caddo, who by the way seems to have almost had a thing with Layla back when they were kids.  Jon Hickey on the politics of apocalypse

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Claire Cameron, author of the novels The Bear and The Last Neanderthal. Her new book is How to Survive a Bear Attack. It's a memoir of family, of illness, of love, and the author's ongoing fascination with a 1991 bear attack that happened in a wilderness she knows so well.  Claire Cameron on what she's learned from studying monsters

Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with mystery novelist Nita Prose, author of the international bestseller The Maid. It's the story of Molly Gray, a 20-something hotel maid whose job perfectly suits her need for order and predictable routine. As tends to happen in mystery novels set in hotels, Molly discovers a dead guest and finds herself a suspect in the ensuing murder investigation—an investigation which she undertakes in parallel, with the help of herfriends. In Nita's latest book, The Maid's Secret, Molly is riding high: she's been promoted to Head Maid & Special Events Manager, she's engaged to the love of her life—the dashing Juan Manuel, and she's just learned that she's the owner of a piece of art that might be worth millions… If, that is, she can find out who stole it on the day it was supposed to be sold at auction. Nita Prose on saying goodbye to Molly Gray

In our latest installment in this series, hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj caught up on a book whose author they're not going to get to interview. Topics covered in this episode: Meta's problem with an ex-employee's tell-all memoir The cognitive perils of being a billionaire The publishing perils of nonfiction Moving fast and breaking things as sage wisdom from the elders of Silicon Valley LibGen and the fight in the courts over Faire Use in AI models Books mentioned: Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism - A Memoir by Sarah Wynn-Williams Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with podcaster Nate DiMeo about his book The Memory Palace, based on the podcast by the same name. In The Memory Palace, history comes in vignettes, as short stories, as jewels carefully mined from a variety of sources. Nathan and Nate talked about history as story, how Nate realized the thing that made him the best guy to sit next to at the bar was a great idea for a podcast, and the making of The Memory Palace's star-studded audiobook. Nate DiMeo on shaking up the past in The Memory Palace

Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with David A. Robertson, author of many books including the Governor General's award-winning When We Were Alone, and On the Trapline, both illustrated by Julie Flett. He's also the author of the ongoing series for young readers, The Misewa Saga. And he's the author of the 2022 novel for adults, A Theory of Crows, as well as a memoir from 2020 called Black Water: Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory. David and Michael spoke about his new book, All the Little Monsters: How I Learned to Live with Anxiety. In it, David tells the story of the mental health struggles he's faced all his life. David A. Robertson and his little monsters go to uncomfortable places

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Christina Cooke, author of the novel Broughtupsy. It's a book about a young woman who returns to Jamaica to reconnect with her sister and to spread the ashes of their little brother amidst the places that make up the history of their family.  Christina Cooke wrote the 90s story only she could tell

Following our last episode all about the best books we read in 2024, host and producer Nathan Maharaj connected over Zoom with even more Kobo staffers (including one that'll be very familiar Kobo in Conversation listeners) to talk about the books that have stuck with them over the past 12 months. So welcome back once more, to our year in books.  The best books we read in 2024 We'll be back in your feed soon with more amazing author interviews.

Listen in as Kobo staffers share the best books they read in 2024. It's all here, from the buzziest new releases to bucket list classics. The best books we read in 2024 

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Dr. Jonathan Stea, clinical psychologist and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary, about avoiding the pitfalls of pseudoscience and what we can all learn from wellness grifters in his book Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry. Dr. Jonathan Stea on how to mind your mental health

Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Anne Fleming, author of Curiosities, which was a finalist for the 2024 Giller Prize. It's the story of how five fictional 17th century manuscripts uncovered by an amateur historian named Anne paint a picture of a handful of unusual lives. Anne Fleming on love stories and curiosity

Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Anna Gomez, author of Somewhere Along the Way. It's the story of Charlotte, or Charlie to her friends, a woman thrown into turmoil with the death of her father. She is given a collection of letters that her mother had been sending since she left Charlie and her dad so long ago. Those letters set Charlie on a journey, and we all get to come along for the ride. Anna Gomez on the things she's picked up to write about... somewhere along the way

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Richard Powers. Many readers will know him from his 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Overstory, or perhaps The Echo Maker, which won the 2006 National Book Award. His newest novel is Playground, a story about four characters joined in different ways—marriage, friendship, a kind of celebrity—but sharing nonetheless an interest in the French Polynesian island of Makatea, where much of the story takes place. Joining Richard Powers on the Playground

In our second installment in this new series, hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj sat down to go over some of the latest goings-on since summer in the business of books. Topics covered in this episode: Is AI a no-go for NaNoWriMo? Audible announces AI narration—as a side hustle for human narrators B&N needs more shovels (to deal with AI) Bestselling nonfiction author Steven Johnson on employing AI as research assistant on steriods - The Verge Odds on an AI writing a bestselling book Fewer booksellers at Apple Books A leaner, meaner penguin* in the Penguin Random House logo (or, the slimming power of a strong vertical line)? Gen Z's eReader moment Books mentioned: By Stephen Johnson: The Ghost Map, Where Good Ideas Come From Naked Came the Stranger by Penelope Ashe (aka. Mike McGrady "and two dozen of his colleagues") *This conversation contains a brief digression into off-label use of Ozempic. Please listen with care.

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with writer katherena vermette, author of the award-winning 2016 novel The Break, the graphic novel series A Girl Called Echo, as well as a number of poetry collections and books for children. Her latest novel is real ones. It's the story of a pair of sisters, lyn and June, whose mother's claims to Indigenous identity come under more scrutiny than they can bear. katherena vermette on crafting a real story out of fakery

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with writer and filmmaker Jamaluddin Aram, winner of the 2024 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary fiction for his novel Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday. It's a tapestry of stories about different people—shopkeepers, tradespeople, doctors, children, and their parents—while in the background, often very deep in the background, a war is being fought. Novelist Jamaluddin Aram on leaving space for the reader to work

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Amanda Peters, author of the 2023 novel The Berry Pickers, a book about a 4-year-old girl who goes missing while her family is visiting Maine for the summer to pick blueberries. It's a book that won both the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Crime Writers of Canada's first novel award, among many other accolades. Her new book is a collection of short stories called Waiting for the Long Night Moon. Amanda Peters on the art of thought-provoking storytelling

Michael Tamblyn spoke with Keziah Weir, winner of the 2024 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in the category of Mystery for her novel, The Mythmakers. It's the story of Sal, a writer who's hit a very rough patch in every aspect of her life. But then she discovers a short story written by an author she met some time ago—about her and her and that moment of meeting. She learns that the story is a part of a larger book and that the author is deceased. This sets her on a path of investigation into the author, his widow, and ultimately the heart of storytelling itself. Keziah Weir's literary influences are no mystery to her

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with fiction and comics writer Rainbow Rowell, author of the novels Eleanor &   Park and Fangirl, as well as the 2017 revival of Marvel's Runaways comic book series, the current run of She-Hulk, and many other books and stories. Her newest book is Slow Dance, the story of a couple of grown-ups who've been friends since they were kids, but didn't manage to stay friends through early adulthood. 14 years after they last spoke to one another, they set about trying to figure out what kind of relationship they have now, and whether they might not have been exactly right about what kind of relationship they had back then. Rainbow Rowell wants to write about "messy" characters

At Toronto's Harbourfront Centre, Nathan interviewed Ian Hamilton, author of the Ava Lee series, and Steve Urszenyi, author of Perfect Shot. Ian's latest book The Fury of Beijing is (possibly) the last in the series, while Steve's book kicks off the Special Agent Alexandra Martel series. Live at MOTIVE: Thrills from Start to Finish

Michael spoke with artist, illustrator, and fashion designer, Maurice Vellekoop. Over a career spanning four decades, Vellekoop's work has been published in magazines including The New Yorker, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Fashion, and Cosmopolitan, and he's the author and illustrator of the books, The World of Gloria Badcock: A Comic for Adults, A Nut at the Opera, and Maurice Vellekoop's Pin-ups, to name just a few. His newest book is I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together. It's a memoir of his childhood and early adulthood in a suburb of Toronto, the youngest of four siblings in a strictly religious household, and it's about coming out as a gay man at a very particular time in the 1980s. Spending time with Maurice Vellekoop

We're sweeping up the glitter after awarding the 10th annual Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize to a trio of brilliant authors just a few days ago (more on that to come). We'll be back in your feed with more author interviews soon.  In the meantime... When Kobo in Conversation hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj aren't reading books and interviewing authors for this show, they're working in the business of selling eBooks, audiobooks, and eReaders. In this episode, Nathan sat Michael down to get his takes on a bunch of book biz news making headlines now.* It's kind of an experiment, and we'll do it again soon—but we'll keep changing it up until we can make it feel right. Thoughts? Questions? Stuff you'd like us to cover? Email Nathan at nmaharaj@kobo.com or drop a comment below if you're listening on YouTube. Topics covered in this episode: What's a publisher, and why doesn't everybody self-publish now? Why does it seem like publishers buying each other all the time? Why are major players in high finance poking around in the book business so much lately? Why are big league publishing executives leaving to create new publishing companies—just to publish books by famous people? Costco's not going to sell books anymore: does it matter? Post-pandemic peril in Australian bookselling The "Spotify for audiobooks" before Spotify decided to be the Spotify for audiobooks   Books mentioned: The Trial: The DOJ's Suit to Block Penguin Random House's Acquisition of Simon & Schuster by Michael Cader of Publishers Lunch Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar The works of Ernest Hemingway, published by Scribner   *Michael may have actually staged a one man studio sit-in, and Nathan rolled tape to get him to leave. Accounts differ.

Michael spoke with writer Stephen Maher, author of The Prince: The Turbulent Reign of Justin Trudeau. Informed by interviews with hundreds of people close to the events covered, as well as Maher's own conversations with Trudeau himself, it's a portrait of a complex person leading through complex times. Stephen Maher offers readers a glimpse of The Prince

Nathan spoke with Laura Tamblyn Watts, founder and chief executive of CanAge, Canada's national seniors' advocacy organization, and author of Let's Talk About Aging Parents: A Real-Life Guide to Solving Problems with 27 Essential Conversations, a book about the many hard things facing adults who know their aging parents need to make some decisions—and probably some changes too—but they don't know where to start. Laura Tamblyn Watts on 27 essential, and uncomfortable, conversations

Nathan spoke with novelist Anna Julia Stainsby, author of The Afterpains. It's the story of Rosy, whose grief over the loss of her infant daughter nearly twenty years ago has all but cut her off from her husband and teenage son. And it's about Isaura, an immigrant from Honduras raising her daughter in Toronto and trying to keep her out of the grip of a centuries-long curse. Anna Julia Stainsby on ugly truths, isolation, and The Afterpains

Nathan spoke with novelist Shilpi Somaya Gowda, author of the 2012 international bestseller Secret Daughter. Her new book is A Great Country. It's about the Shah family, recently moved to the well-to-do neighbourhood of Pacific Hills. While Ashok and Priya catch up with friends at a dinner party one Saturday evening, their children are each, separately, experiencing things that will leave their family forever changed. Shilpi Somaya Gowda, author of A Great Country

Michael spoke with journalist Michael Finkel, author of True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa, and The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit as well as numerous articles about extreme places and unlikely people for Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, GQ, and the New York Times Magazine. His latest book The Art Thief is the story of Stéphane Breitwieser, a man whose theft of over 200 artworks from the sleepy museums of central Europe showed a singular obsession for possessing works of art that grab his attention—and the talent to bring them home. Journalist Michael Finkel on seeing through the eyes of The Art Thief

Nathan spoke with novelist Kiley Reid, author of the 2020 novel, Such a Fun Age. Her new book, Come and Get It is set on the campus of the University of Arkansas, specifically at a dormitory called Belgrade, and it follows Millie Cousins, a 24-year-old Resident Advisor or RA to folks familiar with dorm life, who's launching a second run at the final year of her degree after taking time off to look after her mother, while quietly inching towards buying a little house. Kiley Reid on writing realistically about people and money

Nathan spoke with Dr Jen Gunter, OB/GYN and bestselling author of several books on health, anatomy, and medicine: The Vagina Bible, The Menopause Manifesto, and most recently a new book called Blood: The science, medicine, and mythology of menstruation. Dr. Jen Gunter on writing books about bodies for people 

Nathan spoke with R. F. Kuang, author of the epic historical fantasy trilogy The Poppy War, as well as the 2022 novel, also a work of historical fantasy called Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution. R. F. Kuang's latest novel is Yellowface. It's the story of June Hayward and Athena Liu, a pair of writers on the rise—one of whom is rising significantly faster than the other, until a fatal freak accident leaves the survivor holding an unfinished manuscript and facing a very tempting proposition.  R. F. Kuang on seeing herself in Yellowface

Michael spoke with R.H. Thomson: actor, director, playwright, and author of By The Ghost Light: Wars, Memory, and Families. Part memoir, part travelogue, part history, it's a thoughtful and impassioned consideration of war and the stories we tell one another about it R.H. Thomson on viewing wars by the light of family history

In January of 2023 our host and producer Nathan Maharaj spoke with Kai Thomas, author of the novel In the Upper Country. It's a story set in the fictional Canadian town of Dunmore, a place where people fleeing slavery in the southern United States build new lives. In our roundup of the best books we read in 2023, Nathan called out In the Upper Country as the book that stayed with him the whole year and which he most wants to read again. And this past November, In the Upper Country won the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. So for all of those reasons, plus it's Black History Month, we're replaying that conversation for you. We'll be back with all-new episodes soon.

Nathan spoke with novelist Ashley Audrain, author of the 2021 international bestseller The Push. Her new book The Whispers is a story about marriage, mothers and motherhood and parenthood generally, and also women's rage. Ashley Audrain on bringing rage from the group chat to the page

You can't possibly need more reading recommendations after our last episode featuring the best books read by the staff of Kobo in 2023 but we've never let the height of anybody's TBR pile stop us from singing the praises of our favourite books. Here are a few more, including one you absolutely must read ASAP—plus co-hosts Michael and Nathan talk about what made 2023 a different kind of year in books and why they're optimistic about what's coming next.   The best books we read in 2023

We connected with the staff of Kobo over Zoom and in our brand new studio in our new office to ask them about the best books they read in 2023. We learned what made Rebecca Ross a must-read author this year, how one staff member found the right book for remembering his rockstar friend, and what well-known series of thrillers one of our best-read colleagues wishes they'd gotten around to years ago.   The best books we read in 2023

Michael spoke with journalist and human rights advocate Rowan Jetté Knox, author of the 2019 memoir Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family, as well as a new memoir that came out this year: One Sunny Afternoon: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing. Rowan Jetté Knox on learning from hard times

Michael spoke with Mohawk writer and editor, Alicia Elliott, author of an award-winning book of essays, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, and a new novel, And Then She Fell. It is the story of a young woman named Alice experiencing the stress of new motherhood, feeling isolated in Toronto, which feels far away, culturally more than physically, from where she grew up on Six Nations. There she's trying to carve out time for writing and keeping up appearances as the wife of a rising academic star. Alicia Elliott on telling the truth through the lens of fiction

Nathan joined Giller Prize-winning novelist Sean Michaels on stage at the Toronto International Festival of Authors to talk about his new novel Do You Remember Being Born? and the role of technology in the creation of art—from automated spellchecking to ChatGPT. Sean Michaels, live at TIFA 2023

Nathan welcomed Waubgeshig Rice to the Kobo studio to talk about the sequel to his 2018 novel Moon of the Crusted Snow, the story of an Anishinaabe community slowly realizing that what at first appeared to be a power outage might be the end of the world as we know it. In Moon of the Turning Leaves the community realizes their time in this place may be at an end, so they send out a band of walkers to find them a new home. Waubgeshig Rice on finding renewal at the end of the world

Michael spoke with writer and activist Naomi Klein, author of highly influential and bestselling books including No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, and the new book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. Like all of her books, it's an accessible yet complex work of socioeconomic and political criticism... but it's also funny, at times disturbing, deeply rooted in its author's personal experience, but for any of us that spend time online or with a steady diet of media, it can feel joltingly familiar. Naomi Klein on what she sees in "the mirror world"

Michael welcomed poet and novelist Michael Crummey to the Kobo office studio to talk about his new novel, The Adversary. Set in a fictional Newfoundland village called Mockbeggar, it's the story of a lifelong rivalry between two entrepreneurs that escalates into violence and revenge. Michael Crummey confronts The Adversary

Nathan spoke with novelist Zalika Reid-Benta, 2020 winner of the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for her debut book Frying Plantain, and author of the new novel River Mumma. It's the story of a young woman named Alicia, who we meet at a time in her life when things are no longer going as well as they used to. Then Alicia meets a water deity named River Mumma who tasks her with recovering a precious object—and she's got just 24 hours to do it. Zalika Reid-Benta on becoming the "weird writer" she's always wanted to be

Michael spoke with crime novelist S. A. Cosby, author of the 2021 breakout bestseller Razorblade Tears. His new book is All the Sinners Bleed, the story of Titus Crown, former FBI agent and Charon County Virginia's first ever Black sheriff, who's moved back to the county to live with his aging father. On the first anniversary of his election to sheriff he's called to a school shooting. The investigation into the shooter's motivation leads Sheriff Crown into the darkest corners of Charon to reckon with the ghosts of its past and present. S. A. Cosby on finding fascination in writing a good guy

We're taking a little bit of time off for summer, so this episode is a re-release of one we put out early last year. It's with science writer Britt Wray. Nathan spoke with her last May about her book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis, which deals with the psychological and emotional implications of climate change, a topic that has only grown in relevance since it was first published. Britt Wray on bringing emotions to bear on climate science

Michael spoke with writer John Vaillant, author of page-turning non-fiction that examines the relationship between humans and the natural world. His new book is Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. At its heart is the 2016 wildfire that ravaged Fort McMurray, a city that stands at the heart of Canada's petroleum industry—but it's really about every city, every home, and the lives of every one of us inhabiting this increasingly flammable planet. John Vaillant sees more fire weather in the forecast

On stage in downtown Toronto, Nathan interviewed authors Kevin Powers and Ausma Zehanat Khan about their latest novels, which introduce us to people working in the criminal justice system to solve violent crimes with far-reaching geopolitical causes—informed by each author's own unique perspective and expertise. Live at MOTIVE: Global Issues on the Page

In this episode recorded in-person in Kobo's new office in downtown Toronto, Nathan spoke with novelist Tom Rachman, author of books including The Imperfectionists and The Italian Teacher. It's our first in-person episode of Kobo in Conversation since 2020—and that's why it sounds a little different from the episodes we've been making over Zoom over the past few years.  The Imposters is a novel about a novelist, but a novelist unlike most you'll meet in fiction. Dora Frenhofer was once successful and well-known, but that was some time ago; we meet her in old age, as she feels some cognitive decline that probably stands out a little more to a person who trades on feats of imagination and memory—and though she'd be the first to declare that the world doesn't need another Dora Frenhofer book, she's pushing herself to finish this one final novel. Tom Rachman on inhabiting the roles of others in The Imposters

Nathan spoke with Samantha Irby, screenwriter on the TV series Shrill and most recently the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That..., and the author of books including We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Wow, No Thank You, as well as the new essay collection Quietly Hostile. They chatted about joining a TV writers' room as a superfan and why she hasn't (yet) written a book called "Garbage Time" or "Trench Mouth". Getting surreal with Samantha Irby

Michael spoke with Rithu Bhasin, social justice advocate, entrepreneur, and author of We've Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging, a book about building a culture where everyone feels welcome to show up with their whole self. And it's also a very personal book, in which she shares her own difficult journey towards a sense of belonging. Ritu Bhasin, on the good, the bad, and belonging

We spoke with Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of the new novel The Three of Us. It's a story about three people: a husband and wife, and the wife's friend, who is definitely not the husband's friend. It's a wickedly funny book told through three voices in tension with one another, and possibly also objective reality.  Ore Agbaje-Williams on writing a character who says it all out loud