Kobo in Conversation

Episódios

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  Is TJ Klune a little bit better every day? 16.09.2026 50min

  Michael Tamblyn spoke with TJ Klune, author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, and the Extraordinaries YA series, to name just a few of his many books. TJ's latest book is We Burned So Bright. It's a story about a couple, Don and Rodney, who set out on a road trip to lay their shared pain to rest while all around them, people are dealing with the very imminent end of the world.  Is TJ Klune a little bit better every day?
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  Shari Lapena on writing a murder mystery where we already know whodunit 02.09.2026 25min

  Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Shari Lapena. Since her 2016 novel The Couple Next Door, she's been known as one of the masters of domestic noir. In her newest book Getting Away With Murder, her 10th suspense novel in as many years, we get financial precarity, unlikeable yet relatable characters, mistrust mixed with intimacy, and all the page-turning qualities that readers have come to expect in a Shari Lapena novel.  Shari Lapena on writing a murder mystery where we already know whodunit
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  Booktalking - All about StoryGraph! 26.08.2026 36min

  Nadia Odunayo didn't set out to create the leading competitor to social reading app GoodReads. But somewhere along the way while building her website & app The StoryGraph she discovered that for a lot of folks that's exactly what she'd done. In this episode of our Booktalking series, Kobo in Conversation hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj are joined by Nadia to find out about StoryGraph's origins and where Nadia's taking it in the future. Kobo first met Nadia back in 2021: read our interview Learn about all the ways you can keep track of the books you read, including on your Kobo with StoryGraph: The best ways to track your reading | Kobo Books Blog Join the Kobo in Conversation reading challenge on StoryGraph (and get a sneak peek at the books we're reading for upcoming episodes): Read along with the Kobo in Conversation podcast | The StoryGraph
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  Anita Rau Badami on writing a character who can't stop wounding the people she loves 19.08.2026 48min

  Nathan Maharaj spoke with Anita Rau Badami, author of novels including the Commonwealth Prize winning The Hero's Walk. Her new book is Asha in Her Garden. It's the story of a woman named Asha, who lives now in Montreal, but left Bangalore, India many years ago. We learn about her childhood, her children, her friends, and the life she's made for herself.  Anita Rau Badami on writing a character who can't stop wounding the people she loves
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  David Baerwald on feeling his way through history 05.08.2026 42min

  Nathan Maharaj spoke with musician and novelist David Baerwald, author of The Fire Agent. It's a story spanning the world wars of the 20th century viewed through the eyes of Ernst Baerwald, a bright and idealistic young man who finds himself at the frontiers of chemistry and war. David Baerwald on feeling his way through history
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  LIVE from Ever After, with Julia McKay & Kristine Winters 22.07.2026 32min

  In the spirit of "Christmas in July," we're presenting a special live episode of Kobo in Conversation from the Toronto International Festival of Authors' inaugural Ever After, the romance book festival. This was recorded back in November 2025, and though it deals with some extremely seasonal themes, we don't mind a little Christmas in July and we thought you might be into it as well.  For a session called "Snowflakes and Sparks," Michael Tamblyn spoke with authors Marissa Stapley and Karma Brown writing under their pen names Julia McKay and Kristine Winters, about what Christmas and Christmas Romance means to them, as well as their COVID-era collaborations as Maggie Knox. LIVE from Ever After, with Julia McKay & Kristine Winters Join the Kobo in Conversation reading challenge on StoryGraph
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  Patrick Radden Keefe on London's dark descent 08.07.2026 49min

  Michael Tamblyn spoke with Patrick Radden Keefe, who has been writing for the New Yorker since 2006 and is the author of nonfiction bestsellers including Empire of Pain and Say Nothing. His latest book is London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth. They were joined by an intimate studio audience. Patrick Radden Keefe on London's dark descent
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  Jowita Bydlowska on becoming an expert on shame by accident 24.06.2026 42min

  Nathan Maharaj spoke with the novelist and journalist Jowita Bydlowska about her new book Unshaming: A Memoir of Recovery, Relapse, and What Comes After. It's a frank, unflinching recounting of the years following the publication of her first book, the memoir Drunk Mom. And it's a thoughtful, fearless meditation on the concept of shame.  Jowita Bydlowska on becoming an expert on shame by accident
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  Summer Reading 2026 17.06.2026 21min

  For this special bonus episode of Kobo in Conversation, producer and co-host Nathan Maharaj was joined by one of Kobo's booksellers (and frequent Staff Picks contributor), Deandra Lalonde. They sort through the buzziest books to take along to the beach, the books landing in the next few weeks that you won't want to miss, and how best to bring a little Hollywood into your summer reading this year. Books mentioned: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Whistler by Ann Patchett Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune From 2023: Carley Fortune on summer love and second chances Heartstopper #6 by Alice Oseman Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson The Odyssey by Homer There's Only One Sin in Hollywood by Rasheed Newson On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle And check out dozens more summer picks HERE.
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  Sharon Bala on the absurdity of so-called Good Guys 10.06.2026 39min

  Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Sharon Bala, author of the award-winning 2018 novel, The Boat People. Her new book is called Good Guys. It's about a nearly bankrupt international aid charity called Children of the World, and how their stumbling into the good graces of an A-list celebrity raises a lot of money, and a lot of questions about who the good guys really are. You can watch their conversation too: https://youtu.be/6_YeVizUPr4  Sharon Bala on the absurdity of so-called Good Guys
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  Natalie Zina Walschots on good bosses and bad guys [encore] 27.05.2026 58min

  This week we're bringing you a conversation Michael Tamblyn had in 2021 with Natalie Zina Walschots about her extremely fun novel called Hench. It's about a world where superheroes are out there saving the day in super ways, while villains, who are a lot like you and me, run organizations bent on taking over the world while also trying to keep scores up on Glassdoor. Natalie's just released a sequel to Hench, and it's called Villain.    [From 2021:] We learned about some of the fantastical worlds Natalie enjoyed exploring as a young reader "often for sheer escapism," as well as the writers she drew inspiration from while starting out as a writer herself, and as a lifelong student of supervillainy: Robert O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and Z for Zachariah High fantasy including J. R. R. Tolkien, but also Shannara, Dragonlance, and "anything with a wizard holding an orb on the cover" or "a skeleton holding a sword" Christian Bök, Karen Solie, bp Nichol, and other writers "doing super weird things with language and the structural materiality of language..." Soon I Will Be Invincible "was the first book I read from the perspective of a supervillain." "Paradise Lost is really important to me ... the relationship between Satan the adversary to the world informs the way I write villains." Neil Gaiman's Sandman, where "a character who's a villain in one context becomes the protagonist in another." Vicious by V E Schwab Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus and various writings of Catherynne M. Valente for their "messed up fairy tale feel."
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  Why Chanda Prescod-Weinstein sees hope in cosmic curiosity 13.05.2026 53min

  Nathan Maharaj spoke with physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, author of the 2021 book The Disordered Cosmos, a highly personal reflection on the human and inherently flawed practice of scientific inquiry and her career as a Black Jewish scientist. Her new book is The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie. In it she explains to readers, what's really going on with quantum cats? what does a light-swallowing black hole actually look like? what can we learn about quantum theory from the Afrofuturist jazz musician Sun Ra? —and a whole lot more. Why Chanda Prescod-Weinstein sees hope in cosmic curiosity
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  Booktalking - All about Shy Girl and whether AI in publishing is more like plutonium or salt 06.05.2026 48min

  Hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj dove deep on the controversy around the book Shy Girl, which was cancelled by its publisher who alleged it was largely AI-generated. Links on Shy Girl: The video from January 2026 that seems to have led to Shy Girl's cancellation: i'm pretty sure this book is ai slop - YouTube Publishing news journalist Alexandra Alter on the controversy over the cancellation of Shy Girl: A.I. Is Writing Fiction. Publishers Are Unprepared. - The New York Times Publishing industry analyst Thad McIlroy on what NYT omitted from their piece: I Broke the Year's Biggest Literary Story. The New York Times Took the Credit | The Walrus Two very "inside baseball" overviews of what happened: The New Publishing Standard's deep dive on Shy Girl Publisher's Weekly industry analysis What might be the last extant page on any of Hachette's sites about the book: Shy Girl: Read the femgore revenge novel that EVERYONE is talking about! by Mia Ballard - Books - Hachette Australia Other links from this episode: Why AI detection is hard People who frequently use ChatGPT for writing tasks are accurate and robust detectors of AI-generated text - ACL Anthology (mistakenly attributed to MIT in the episode) Past episodes of this show that touched on the use of AI in book publishing: Michael bets on "AI Sally Rooney" (from October 2024) Anna Gomez enlisted AI for research assistance when writing a romance road trip (November 2024) Sean Michaels wrote a book about AI and art by using AI for parts of it (November 2023) More author interviews at kobo.com/conversation Find past Booktalking episodes here
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  How Heather Marshall brings readers into places of the past 29.04.2026 36min

  Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Heather Marshall. She is a writer of historical fiction, including her 2022 debut bestselling novel Looking for Jane and 2024's with The Secret History of Audrey James. Heather Marshall's new book is Liberty Street. It's the story of a young journalist's quest to expose the cruelty and corruption of the Mercer Women's Prison from the inside, the women she meets there, and a police detective trying to uncover a secret 30 years later. How Heather Marshall brings readers into places of the past
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  Why Rainbow Rowell's Cherry Baby had to be her sexiest book yet 15.04.2026 50min

  Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Rainbow Rowell. She's the author of books including Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, as well as the novel Slow Dance, which she discussed on the show in 2024. Rainbow Rowell's new book is the novel Cherry Baby. It's about a woman named Cherish, who everybody calls Cherry, at a moment in her life when her marriage seems to have ended and she's figuring out what comes next.  Why Rainbow Rowell's Cherry Baby had to be her sexiest book yet
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  Tara Gereaux on finding the words for an unspoken identity 01.04.2026 34min

  Nathan Maharaj spoke with Tara Gereaux, author of the novel Saltus and the novella Size of a Fist. Her new book is called Wild People Quiet. Set in 1946, it's the story of Florence, or Mrs. Banks as she's known down at Pratt's Insurance, the company where she's worked diligently for years. While out for lunch with her colleagues one day, Florence encounters a man whose mere presence threatens to upend the life she's made for herself in the town of Torduvalle, Saskatchewan.  Tara Gereaux on finding the words for an unspoken identity
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  How Eliana Ramage set her sights on the stars for her debut novel 18.03.2026 52min

  Michael Tamblyn spoke with Eliana Ramage, author of To the Moon and Back. It's a novel about Steph, a young Cherokee woman who from the earliest age is obsessed with space and space travel, dreaming about one day becoming a NASA astronaut.  How Eliana Ramage set her sights on the stars for her debut novel
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  George Newman on getting good at bad ideas—so great ideas can happen 04.03.2026 41min

  Nathan spoke with George Newman, psychologist and associate professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. His new book is How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success. It's a guide to generating ideas, hopefully great ideas, and learning about mental habits that often get in the way, and how creativity is a skill you can train and exercise.  George Newman on getting good at bad ideas—so great ideas can happen | Kobo Books Blog
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  Leanne Toshiko Simpson on self-care and writing a prize-winning rom-com 18.02.2026 34min

  Joined by a live audience in Kobo's intimate event space, Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Leanne Toshiko Simpson, author of Never Been Better and winner of the 2025 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. Never Been Better is the story of a group of three friends who met in a psych ward, but time has passed and now two of whom are about to get married while the third tries to figure out whether to swallow her feelings or let it all out.  Leanne Toshiko Simpson on self-care and writing a prize-winning rom-com
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  Booktalking - Publishers wannabe booksellers, the book business's third rail, dark matter sales data, and more 11.02.2026 46min

  Hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj caught up on the latest private equity-fueled mergers & acquisitions, what we're not talking about when we're talking about the money made from books, plus a whole lot more. This episode covers: Rosetta Books acquired by Open Road Media Why private equity is (still) interested in the book business, most recently in German companies Bookwire and Zebralution Independent Publishing Group's move to add more direct-to-consumer services for their publisher clients (and why becoming a bookseller is harder than it looks) The "dark matter"* that's not being reported when we talk about the health of the book business Publishers and librarians duking it out over digital book pricing Sidebar on Heated Rivalry and the NYPL And a remembrance of Porter Anderson Beloved backlist books cited in this episode include Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis,  The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer, the works of Octavia E. Butler and William Styron. More author interviews at kobo.com/conversation Find past Booktalking episodes here    *Nathan said "grey matter" in the episode because his was failing him at the time.