Authors Ruth Ozeki and Cathy Rentzenbrink join Joe Haddow for a war of the words and to discuss their new novels. Ruth explains how she came to stare at her face in a mirror for 3 hours and then write a book about it, whilst Cathy talks about the joys of sea swimming and how anyone can write a book if they want to. They also talk about the joy of libraries, their writing processes and recommend some books they have been reading and enjoying recently. In the Book Off, they pit Lemn Sissay's "My Name Is Why?" against "Booth" by Karen Joy Fowler...but which will win? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.