We are beyond honoured and excited to bring you this conversation with the legendary Christina Lamb OBE. Christina is the chief foreign correspondent of The Sunday Times and during her illustrious career she's reported from hot spots and war zones including Afghanistan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and currently Ukraine. She's been named Foreign Correspondent of the Year on five occasions and winner of Europe’s top war reporting prize, the Prix Bayeux.  She is the bestselling, acclaimed author of 10...

Our love of Jane Austen should be painfully aware. But this week's guest might put our devotion to shame. The brilliant Andrew Hunter Murray hosts two hit podcasts: No Such Thing as a Fish (Andrew is also a QI Elf) and Page 94: A Private Eye Podcast (Andrew also writes for the magazine). He was also part of the UK's premier (and possibly only) Jane Austen based comedy improv group Austentatious - so his devotion to the beloved author is assured. Andrew is also a bestselling author, his first...

Now this is a treat! Get ready for a fun, frank and fascinating conversation with the great Balli Kaur Jaswal! Balli is the author of five award-wining, bestselling novels, translated into fifteen languages. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows was picked by Reese Witherspoon for her book club, Sugarbread was a finalist for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize and the 2018 Singapore Literature Prize and her new novel Now You See Us has just been released to international acclaim. We talked to her...

We are so excited to welcome one of our absolute heroes to the podcast. It's Josie Long! Josie is an internationally renowned, beloved and multi-award-winning stand-up, podcaster, actor, playwright and radio presence. Her first short story collection, Because I Don't Know What You Mean and What You Don't has just been released. We talked to Josie about favourite short story collections, books to make you laugh on the bus, attempting sainthood, radical texts and trying to get your kids to love...

This week we are welcoming legendary TV royalty to You're Booked Towers. It's Steve Jones! Steve is an instantly recognisable face to anyone with a telly, presenting T4 for many years, plus The X Factor USA, Hair, Drop Zone and F1 coverage on Channel 4. Steve has recently released his first novel the very funny Call Time to rave reviews (and as you'll hear, already has books 2 and 3 in the bag). We talked to him about loving Tolkien, having fun with Filth, writing routines, the power of...

Dream guest alert! We are very, very excited to welcome the wonderful Jenny Jackson to You're Booked! As well as being the author of smash hit novel Pineapple Street, Jenny has been a book editor for many years working with such YB faves as Katherine Heiny and Helen Fielding. So we had much to talk about. On the agenda is the genius of Laurie Colwin, the joy (and stress) of discovering new authors, some great, secret Katherine Heiny insight and Helen Fielding's paramedic skills (plus the...

This week we are delighted to welcome superstar author Caleb Azumah Nelson to the YB airwaves. As I'm sure you're well aware, Caleb's first book Open Water was a massive, bestselling success and won the prestigious Costa First Book award. His follow-up is the highly-anticipated Small Worlds which Candice Carty-Williams calls 'Beautiful, unforgettable and all-consuming'. We talked to Caleb about the joys of the Scholastic book fair, writing routines, the beauty of rereading, love stories in...

We can't think of a better way to kick off a new series than a fabulously fun and illuminating chat with one of our favourite authors: Mhairi McFarlane! Mhairi has been mentioned frequently on the podcast since we began and she is the beloved author of Mad About You, You Had Me At Hello, Here’s Looking At You, It’s Not Me It’s You, Last Night, Who’s That Girl and her latest Between Us. We talked to her about illicit uses of Judy Blume's Forever, formatively reading Fay Weldon and Gloria...

Book lovers everywhere, you are in for a treat! It's the brilliant, global sensation Emily Henry! Emily is the New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read, as well as her latest, soon-to-be blockbuster: Happy Place. We talked to her about libraries as her Narnia, books as a curse (in a good way), reading crushes, and a deep dive into literary astrology. Find out more about Daisy's Creative Confidence Substack HERE. For your chance to appear on...

This week we are incredibly excited to bring you a writing legend and, dare we say, international treasure to the podcast. It's Cecelia Ahern! Cecelia is the author of 19 books, that have sold 25 million copies in 30 languages, including PS I Love You, Where Rainbows End, The Time of My Life, How To Fall in Love, The Year I Met You, Flawed, Perfect, Lyrebird, ROAR, Postscript and Freckles. Her latest is the eagerly anticipated In a Thousand Different Ways. We talked to her about crime...

This week, we are delighted to present a very funny, thoughtful and free-flowing conversation with a very old friend of the podcast, Nell Frizzell! We've been dreaming of having Nell appear on the show since it began, so we're delighted to finally get the chance to chat. Nell is an author, journalist and podcaster. Her first novel was the hilarious Square One, while her first book, The Panic Years, dealt with womanhood, motherhood and... panic. Her latest is Holding the Baby, a memoir on...

This was so much fun! Get ready for a funny, frank and fulfilling conversation with the brilliant Nikki May! Nikki's debut novel Wahala was a former Steal of the Week and one of our favourite books in recent times. It's currently being adapted for TV and was recently shortlisted for the CWIP prize. We talked to Nikki about the problems associated with reading as a kid in Lagos, favourite food books, spies, crime and dystopias and what Nikki believes is the perfect book. For your chance to...

She's the writer of one of our favourite novels in recent times and one of the funniest people on the planet, so we are delighted to welcome Sunny author Sukh Ojla to the podcast! As well as being a fabulous novelist, Sukh is a comedian, actor and playwright. Her debut novel Sunny is a joyously funny story of love, loss and heartbreak. We talked to her about 90s cosplay, failing to impress Richard E Grant, books you must (and mustn't) read on holiday and the ongoing genius of Marian Keyes....

We've got Zott! Or the closest we're going to get until we can convince fictional characters to come onto the podcast. Yes, it's Lessons in Chemistry author Bonnie Garmus! Bonnie's book, about chemist turned TV cook Elizabeth Zott (and her dog Six-Thirty) has been a huge and already beloved international bestseller, translated into 39 languages and with a TV adaptation in the works. We talked to her about, unsurprisingly, dogs in literature, plus the importance of Harriet the Spy, how science...

Hurrah! This week we're featuring an author we've trying to tempt onto the show for ages. It's the brilliant Katherine May! Katherine is the New York Times-bestselling author of Wintering which has been translated into twenty-five languages around the world, the acclaimed The Electricity of Every Living Thing and her new book Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age. She also hosts the podcast How We Live Now in which Katherine and her guests try to access wonder and joy in a world...

Happy World Book Day! To celebrate, here's an essay Daisy wrote while working on her Pound Project book Burn Before Reading. It's about the joy and redemption associated with reading. How reading can help us understand each other and overcome difficult times. Why reading should have no rules, no judgement and no boundaries. It's there to be absorbed and relished. Enjoy! You can read the full essay on the You're Booked newsletter. Sign up by heading to: FurtherReading.Substack.com Hosted on...

This is such a treat! Prepare for the wise words, dulcet tones and excellent book taste of the great Kevin Wilson! Kevin is the author of the massive bestseller Nothing to See Here, The Family Fang which was turned into an acclaimed film with Nicole Kidman, the critically lauded novel Perfect Little World and two story collections Tunnelling To the Centre of the Earth and Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine and his latest, the brilliant Now is Not the Time to Panic. We talked to him about his love of...

This week we're delighted to bring you an author we've been trying to tempt onto the podcast since day one. Finally, it's Eva Rice! Eva's wonderful books are mentioned frequently on the show, so we are beyond excited to present this wide-ranging conversation with her. There's a discussion about Eva's wonderful new book This Could be Everything plus the influence of her dad (legendary lyricist Sir Tim Rice) on her writing, Jesus as a teen icon, deep dives into Enid Blyton, some very exciting...

We are so delighted to bring you this nourishing, fascinating and frequently hilarious conversation with comedian, podcaster, Taskmaster alumnus and now memoirist Fern Brady! Fern is an acclaimed and celebrated stand-up (currently on tour around the UK), co-hosted the BBC podcast Wheel of Misfortune with Alison Spittle and has just released the remarkable memoir Strong Female Character which covers autism, stripping and Catholicism. It's very funny. We talked to Fern about Jean Rhys, her...

We're back! And we can't think of a better way to kick off the new series than a fascinating conversation with one of our favourite authors: Tessa Hadley! Tessa's books are constantly being discussed on the podcast so it's an absolute honour to finally have her on the show. And what a treat it was! Tessa discusses formative children's books, being shocked by John Updike, possessing a fear of fairy tales and why every teenager needs to read Jane Eyre. For your chance to appear on the podcast,...

We have very special and incredibly exciting news for all You're Booked listeners. Daisy's new book Limelight will be published on June 1st by Sphere. Limelight is a story about sisterhood, sexuality, and self-esteem. It's about how we cope with living in a world which constantly tells us who we are. What happens when we stop listening and start paying attention to who we need to become? You're Booked listeners can be the very first to hear an extract from Daisy's new book and also find out...

Kindle hacks! Reading slump fixes! Cosy reads! And a whole slew of books to look forward to in the new year! Author, book aficionado and YB favourite Sarra Manning joins us to help us with our reading resolutions. Discover the books you'll be snapping up in 2023, a few tips to get you back on the reading path if you've strayed and some excellent advice for those struggling with the classics. Find out more about the books mentioned on the episode by visiting our bookshop.org shop. Sign up for...

Seasons greetings! And we can't think of anything more festive or merry-making than this glorious conversation with lexicographer, author and podcaster Susie Dent! As well as writing many books on words and language, with the latest being the brilliant An Emotional Dictionary, Susie resides in Dictionary Corner on Countdown and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and hosts the podcast Something Rhymes With Purple with Gyles Brandreth. We talked to her about tricky words in Dickens, the perils of...

As a festive treat, we are re-sharing our 2019 Christmas special! Here's what we said the first time around... Merry Christmas! And welcome to the You're Booked Christmas extravaganza live from the fabulous Allbright Members Club in London's glamorous Mayfair. We are joined by High Low podcast legend and author of Everything I Know About Love Dolly Alderton, author of This Green and Pleasant Land and the Sofia Khan novels Ayisha Malik and author of Old Baggage and Their Finest Hour and a...

As a little bonus treat, we are delighted to present this glorious, nourishing conversation with the fantastic Emma Black! Emma is a hugely talented opera director, veracious reader and winner of the You're Booked auction, raising funds for Book Fuel. Emma talks about her early fascination with Anne of Green Gables, a terrible crime committed to a copy of In Cold Blood in a New Zealand youth hostel, loving Meg Wolitzer, Katherine Heiny and Curtis Sittenfeld and the books she's looking forward...