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 .
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Keziah Weir's literary influences are no mystery to her
Kobo in Conversation
Michael Tamblyn spoke with Keziah Weir, winner of the in the category of Mystery for her novel, . 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.
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Rainbow Rowell wants to write about "messy" characters
Kobo in Conversation
Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with fiction and comics writer Rainbow Rowell, author of the novels and , as well as the 2017 revival of Marvel’s Runaways comic book series, the current run of , and many other and . Her newest book is , 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...
info_outlineHost 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.