Zalika Reid-Benta on becoming the "weird writer" she's always wanted to be
Release Date: 09/20/2023
MORE of the best books we read in 2024
Kobo in Conversation
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. We'll be back in your feed soon with more amazing author interviews.
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The best books we read in 2024
Kobo in Conversation
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.
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Dr. Jonathan Stea on how to mind your mental health
Kobo in Conversation
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 .
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Anne Fleming on love stories and curiosity
Kobo in Conversation
Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Anne Fleming, author of , 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.
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Anna Gomez on the things she's picked up to write about... somewhere along the way
Kobo in Conversation
Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Anna Gomez, author of . 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.
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Joining Richard Powers on the Playground
Kobo in Conversation
Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Richard Powers. Many readers will know him from his 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel , or perhaps , which won the 2006 National Book Award. His newest novel is , 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.
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Booktalking - NaNoWriMo's line in the sand, Robo-narration side hustles, a penguin glow-up(?), and more
Kobo in Conversation
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 - 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...
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katherena vermette on crafting a real story out of fakery
Kobo in Conversation
Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with writer katherena vermette, author of the award-winning 2016 novel , the graphic novel series , as well as a number of and . Her latest novel is . 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.
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Jamaluddin Aram on leaving space for the reader to work
Kobo in Conversation
Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with writer and filmmaker Jamaluddin Aram, winner of the 2024 for Literary fiction for his novel . 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.
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Amanda Peters on the art of thought-provoking storytelling
Kobo in Conversation
Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Amanda Peters, author of the 2023 novel , 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 .
info_outlineNathan 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