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PODCAST

Book Off!

A fun, upbeat, accessible show about brilliant books, writing and culture. Each episode sees two authors go head to head in a war of the words, championing a book they love and think we should all read...but only one can win.This book podcast features an incredible array of authors from across the globe and some amazing, and sometimes unexpected, book recommendations. #books #bookpodcast #authors #writers #booklovers #writing #literature #bookrecommendations #bookworms Hosted on Acast. See

arts books

All Episodes

47:27

Xenobe Purvis and Gurnaik Johal

Book Off! ·

2025/09/03

We welcome two brilliant debut novelists to Book Off this week, who go head to head in a war of the words...Xenobe Purvis and Gurnaik Johal have both recently published their first novels - and they are both brilliant! Hear them discuss their inspirations, writing and research techniques. how to choose a good title and why reading slowly is good. In a Book Off first - Gurnaik pitches a book he hasn't even finished yet! And there are some great recommendations all round. THE BOOK OFF 'The Portrait Of

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47:00

Wendy Erskine and Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin

Book Off! ·

2025/08/27

Two debut novelists, Wendy Erskine and Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin join Joe Haddow for a war of the words!They discuss their brilliant new novels ('The Benefactors' and 'Ordinary Saints') as well as giving us some brilliant book recommendations too.They also chat about 'queer literature', the Women's Prize, how to cast a book and the joy of free writing.THE BOOK OFF'The Price Of Salt' ('Carol') by Patricia HighsmithVS'Hunchback' by Saou IchikawaHere's a little more about our guests' novels:Ordinary SaintsAn

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1:03:41

JD Kirk and MW Craven

Book Off! ·

2025/08/14

Bestselling crime writers, MW Craven and JD Kirk go head to head in a war of the words...They chat with Joe Haddow about their latest novels ('The Final Vow' and 'A Rock And A Hard Place'), their inspirations, meeting artists they admire and acting weird...and Terry Pratchett. There's quite a lot of Terry Pratchett chat! (Chatchett?)As ever, we have some brilliant book recommendations for you - and of course - there's the little matter of the Book Off. THE BOOK OFF 'Horror Movie' by Paul

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52:46

Irvine Welsh and John Niven

Book Off! ·

2025/08/08

Two bestselling authors, both alike in dignity, in the fair Book Off studio - where we lay our scene...On this episode we bring together two brilliant minds, authors and Scots - Irvine Welsh and John Niven. They discuss their latest novels, nostalgia, returning characters...and the joy of writing in the pre-mobile phone era. They also chat Oasis, crime fiction, the shit that appears on instagram - and give us some great book recommendations too. *and just to warn you - there's quite a bit of fruity

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43:04

Harriet Evans and Laura Barnett

Book Off! ·

2025/07/31

It's our 150th episode!!! Can you believe it? No, we can't either......and celebrating our big birthday are Harriet Evans and Laura Barnett, who join Joe for a brilliant bit of Booking Off.Sadly - there's no cake or party poppers - thanks to the terrible Thameslink service which meant Joe couldn't get to the shops in time, but there's still a lot of great book chat!Harrie and Laura discuss their brilliant new novels, give us some fab book recommendations - and - there's also a surprise appearance

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47:54

Holly Smale and Cally Beaton

Book Off! ·

2025/07/24

Bestselling author Holly Smale goes head to head with Comedian and writer Cally Beaton in a War Of The Words.The authors chat to Joe Haddow about their latest books, imposter syndrome, living in the present and what Orca's can teach us about feminism.They also also share some great book recommendationsTHE BOOK OFF'East Of Eden' by John SteinbeckVS'The Beekeeper Of Aleppo' by Christy LefteriHere's more on our guest's books:'Namaste Motherfuckers' by Cally BeatonPart memoir, part stereotype-defying

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55:28

David McCloskey and Paul Vidich

Book Off! ·

2025/07/03

Bestselling spy novelists, David McCloskey and Paul Vidich, join Joe Haddow for a good ole fashioned booking off!As well as discussing their new novels ('The Seventh Floor' and 'The Poets Game'), they also share some great book recommendations and talk us through their writing processes.Spy novels are such a great way to learn about world history - and have arguably never been more popular - so we delve a little more into this genre, referencing John Le Carre - and his son, Nick Harkaway, who was a

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58:57

Wendy Holden and Jane Thynne

Book Off! ·

2025/06/26

Wendy Holden and Jane Thynne are both former journalists turned authors. In fact, they both worked in newsrooms together back in the 1980s.In this episode, they bring their journalistic competitiveness to the Book Off, but who will triumph?They also discuss their new novels, their fascination with WW2, why we need to keep telling historic stories and how fun research can be. They also give us some brilliant reading recommendations too!THE BOOK OFF'Little Women' by Louisa May AlcottVS'Tinker, Tailor,

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39:32

Linwood Barclay and CJ Tudor

Book Off! ·

2025/06/19

Bestselling authors Linwood Barclay and CJ Tudor join Joe Haddow for a chat about their latest books.They discuss genre bending, horror tropes, Stephen King, rocking horses, muffins and building tension. Quite the eclectic mix!They also give us some brilliant book recommendations too.THE BOOK OFF'Long Island' by Colm ToibinVS'Altered Carbon' by Richard K MorganAnd here's more on their latest novels!'Whistle' by Linwood Barclay Celebrated children’s author and illustrator Annie Blunt has had a

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53:33

Milly Johnson and Samuel Burr

Book Off! ·

2025/06/10

This week, Joe welcomes Milly Johnson and Samuel Burr to the studio to chat about their new novels.They talk about their writing habits, author mates, female friendships and the menopause amongst man other things. They also give us some great book recommendations too! THE BOOK OFF 'We All Want Impossible Things' by Catherine NewmanVS 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen And here's more on our guests books...The Fellowship Of Puzzlemakers - by Samuel Burr Clayton Stumper is an enigma.He might be twenty-five

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56:49

Emilia Hart and Bridget Collins

Book Off! ·

2025/06/03

Emilia Hart and Bridget Collins join Joe Haddow for a pretty fun and chaotic Book Off!They chat about their brilliant new novels and give us some great book recommendations too. They also talk about the importance of author mates, accidental deleted manuscripts and some scary scary creepy scenes too.Joe had a glass of wine at lunch before the recording - and then had a negroni thrust in his hands at the studio - so he was quite 'loose' for this one! (enjoy)THE BOOK OFF'The Eagle Of The Ninth' by

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46:54

Roisin O'Donnell and Chris McQueer

Book Off! ·

2025/03/20

Debut novelists, Roisin O'Donnell and Chris McQueer, go head to head in a war of the words. They discuss their latest books ("Nesting" and "Hermit"), their writing inspirations, the power of short stories and the rise of toxic masculinity. Whilst Andrew Tate doesn't in any way dominate this conversation (nor should he dominate any conversation), the authors discuss how young boys and men are being radicalised through dangerous people on social media and what, if anything, can be done about it. Both

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58:02

Ben Okri and Colum McCann

Book Off! ·

2025/03/13

Sir Ben Okri and Colum McCann join Joe Haddow for a war of the words... This is Ben's second appearance on Book Off! (The first author to ever appear on the pod twice)Let's see if he's learnt anything from the last time!He chats about his woozy new novella - "Madame Sosostris And The Festival For The Broken-Hearted' - and the poem that inspired it. We also learn he has read 'War & Peace' FOUR times! And so we get a full Ben Okri style review... Colum's new novel - 'Twist' - is a darkly epic tale

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59:47

Nicci French

Book Off! ·

2025/02/27

Bestselling thriller writer(s) Nicci French go head to head in a war of the words, expertly refereed by Joe Haddow.Nicci French is the pen name for husband and wife writing team, Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, and this is our first official Book Off couple! Sean and Nicci discuss their latest novel, The Last Days Of Kira Mullan, and dig into some of the themes which inspired this story. Here's the blurb:Nancy North and her boyfriend Felix are making the move across London to Harlesden. A new flat, a

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51:12

Emma Healey and Fiona Scarlett

Book Off! ·

2025/02/19

On the first episode of Series 14, we welcome bestselling authors Emma Healey and Fiona Scarlett to the studio.They chat about their new novels, give us some great book recommendations - and go head to head in a war of the words! (aka The Book Off)Emma Healey's new novel - Sweat - is a maze-like game of revenge. It blends wellness culture with a slow-burn feminist thriller - and is eery and unsettling and brilliant.We look at what it means to hold the power in a relationship, what happens when power

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1:04:02

James Kaplan and Paul Alexander

Book Off! ·

2024/12/05

Two great music writers - James Kaplan and Paul Alexander - join Joe for a War of the Words. Joe gets excited and takes a deep dive into both of their brilliant books, which are both about America in the 40s and 50s, both about the jazz music scene, but follow very different subjects. 'Three Shades Of Blue' by James Kaplan is biography of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Bill Evans - and how those three extraordinary musicians made one of the greatest jazz albums of all time: Kind Of Blue. 'Bitter

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55:21

Ragnar Jonasson and Simon Kernick

Book Off! ·

2024/11/28

Two top crime and thriller writers, Ragnar Jonasson and Simon Kernick, go head to head in a war of the words! They share their love of Agatha Christie, why scary crime fiction doesn't have to be gory and tell us about their latest novels. ("Death At The Sanitorium" and "You All Die Tonight") We also get some cracking book recommendations from them too. THE BOOK OFF! 'The Murder On The Links' by Agatha Christie VS 'McNally's Luck' by Lawrence Sanders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more

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47:32

Salena Godden and Hollie McNish

Book Off! ·

2024/11/20

We're so excited to bring you this episode of Book Off, featuring two of our favourite poets and humans - Salena Godden and Hollie McNish. We've been wanting to bring these two together for a long time, and now it's finally happened! They talk about their latest poetry collections ('With Love Grief and Fury' and 'Lobster'), the freedom of performance, why they love the form so much and why you can't start with a poem about blow jobs. They also give us some brilliant book recommendations too! Hollie

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57:07

M.L. Rio and Kate Weinberg

Book Off! ·

2024/11/13

M.L. Rio and Kate Weinberg arrive as friends, but will they still be so chummy with each other after the Book Off?They chat to Joe Haddow about their latest books, Trump, the importance of publishing at a time when books are being banned and why Scooby Doo is a great influence.They also give us some briiiilliant book recommendations too - so apologies to your TBR pile in advance.Here's more on our authors and their books...and what they picked for the Book Off! (we hope you enjoy the episode)M.L

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43:04

Rachel Abbott and Hannah Lynn

Book Off! ·

2024/11/01

Authors Rachel Abbott and Hannah Lynn go head to head in a war of the words. They talk to Joe Haddow about their self-publishing journeys, the pros and cons and how things have changed on that side of the industry over the last 10 years. They also discuss their new novels, how the weather can influence a chapter and why sometimes you just have to go away in the name of research! THE BOOK OFF 'Good Girl, Bad Girl' by Michael Robathan VS 'The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind' by William Kamkwamba and Bryan

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154 results

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