Booktalking - Publishers wannabe booksellers, the book business's third rail, dark matter sales data, and more
Release Date: 02/11/2026
Booktalking - Publishers wannabe booksellers, the book business's third rail, dark matter sales data, and more
Kobo in Conversation
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...
info_outline
Dan Rubinstein on finding community on waterfronts
Kobo in Conversation
Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Dan Rubinstein, author of . In it he tells the story of his journey via stand-up paddleboard through waterways around Montreal, New York City, Toronto, and his home in Ottawa. But it’s also the story of all of us, and how we benefit from spending time near bodies of water.
info_outline
Souvankham Thammavongsa on writing a woman at the centre of her own story
Kobo in Conversation
Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with poet and novelist Souvankham Thammavongsa. Her first poetry collection was published in 2003, and in 2020 her first short story collection won Canada’s Giller Prize. Her latest book is a novel called . It’s a story set in a nail salon run by a retired boxer, and it won the Giller Prize in 2025.
info_outline
Eric Smith and Andrew Bricker on 30 years of the Toronto Raptors
Kobo in Conversation
Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with sports broadcaster Eric Smith and writer Andrew Bricker, who together are the authors of . It is a snackable feast of a book about Canada’s only NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, who celebrate their 30th anniversary this season.
info_outline
MORE of the best books we read in 2025
Kobo in Conversation
Following our last episode all about the best books we read in 2025, host and producer Nathan Maharaj connected over Zoom with even more Kobo staffers—as well as Kobo in Conversation co-host Michael Tamblyn—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.
info_outline
The best books we read in 2025
Kobo in Conversation
It's no spoiler to say that Kobo is full of avid readers. So every year we get together to share the best books we read in the past year. Some of the books are new. Some are very old. All were beloved to a Kobo staffer. So across 2 whole episodes (follow to make sure you don't miss the second one!), join us as we hear from the staff of Kobo about the best books they read in 2025.
info_outline
Miriam Toews on her new memoir, and the surprising truth of good comedy
Kobo in Conversation
Michael Tamblyn spoke with Miriam Toews, author of many novels including , , and , to name just a few. Her latest book is a memoir called, . Spurred by the question “why do you write?”, posed by a distressingly persistent literary festival organizer, it’s a work of nonfiction that delves into the author’s feelings around the deaths by suicide of both her father and her sister.
info_outline
Charlotte McConaghy found fear on the Wild Dark Shore
Kobo in Conversation
Nathan Maharaj spoke with the novelist Charlotte McConaghy. Her latest book is . It’s the story of the Salt family, the stewards of a vast seed bank on a remote island that’s in danger of being washed over by rising sea levels. As they’re making the hard decisions about what can be saved in the course of their evacuation, a vicious storm tears across the island and leaves a woman washed up on the shore—and she’s alive.
info_outline
Julian Brave NoiseCat on storytelling in the trickster tradition
Kobo in Conversation
Nathan Maharaj spoke with the Oscar-nominated filmmaker and journalist Julian Brave NoiseCat. He co-directed the 2024 documentary Sugarcane which investigated abuses at a residential school in western Canada. He is also the author of a new book called . It’s about his dad, and also his upbringing, and a mythical character named Coyote.
info_outline
Mona Awad on returning to the world of Bunny
Kobo in Conversation
Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Mona Awad. Her debut book, was a Giller Prize finalist. Its follow-up was set in an Ivy League creative writing program and blended horror and suspense with wicked satire. is her fifth novel, and it’s a return to that creative writing program, revisiting the story through the perspectives of characters who apparently want to set the record straight but end up pulling us even further down this dark and twisting rabbit hole.
info_outlineHosts 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 fo 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.