Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

Latest Episodes:

CK McDonnell (Stranger Times) Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

What if the weird news was the real news?! There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank the Lord The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . . A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable. At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own. When tragedy strikes in her first week on the job The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious investigating. What they discover leads to a shocking realisation: some of the stories they'd previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker forces than they could ever have imagined. Irishman Caimh McDonnell is a former professional stand-up comedian and TV writer who now concentrates all of his energies on his books. Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, he has taken the hop across the water and calls Manchester his home. His TV writing work has seen him work on some of the biggest topical comedy shows on British TV and has earned him a BAFTA nomination. These days he can be found happily writing his next book in the office in the back garden, with only his dog and his imagination for company. His book 'I Have Sinned' has been nominated for the Kindle Storyteller Award 2019. Previously, his debut novel 'A Man With One of Those Faces' was nominated for best novel at the 2017 CAP awards. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A with Grace Dent (Hungry) Nov 29, 2020

Show notes

Hungry author Grace Dent chats about her favourite authors which include Rupert Everett, Kenneth Williams, Nancy Mitford and Nigel Slater Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grace Dent (Hungry) Nov 22, 2020

Show notes

Angel Delight, Cadburys and Carlisle. A very funny episode featuring restaurant critic Grace Dent. Hungry traces Grace's story from growing up eating beige food to becoming one of the much-loved voices on the British food scene. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon's Itchcock Moment Nov 17, 2020

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Thanks for all your correspondence. You may hear some of it discussed in this special show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some nice bits from previous shows you may have missed Nov 07, 2020

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Simon and Matt chat to Graham Norton, Heather Morris, Robbie Williams, John Simpson, John Boyne, Ben MacIntyre and Robin Ince - among others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A with Andrew Child (The Sentinel) Nov 03, 2020

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The new author of the Jack Reacher series takes our book Q&A - discussing the likes of Alistair MacLean, Ben MacIntyre and Genghis Khan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Child & Lee Child (The Sentinel) Oct 28, 2020

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For Jack Reacher's 25th adventure, author Lee Child brings in his younger brother Andrew to help. Here they chat about the process, the Chuckle Brothers and stitching up Ian Rankin... from their homes in Colorado and Wyoming. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A with Ben MacIntyre Oct 21, 2020

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Best selling spy author Ben MacIntyre turns his attention to our Q&A on his favourite books, authors and spy films Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben MacIntyre (Agent Sonya) Oct 13, 2020

Show notes

Ben MacIntyre writes fantastic books about real life spies. Agent Sonya is another one. Ursula Kuczynski Burton was a spymaster, saboteur, bomb-maker and secret agent - who spent a large part of her career in rural Oxfordshire. Codenamed 'Agent Sonya', her story has never been told - until now. From planning an assassination attempt on Hitler in Switzerland, to spying on the Japanese in Manchuria, to preventing nuclear war (or so she believed) by stealing the science of atomic weaponry from Britain to give to Moscow, Ursula conducted some of the most dangerous espionage operations of the twentieth century. Simon Mayo, Matt Williams and all Books of the Year affiliates would like to make it very clear that Ben MacIntyre is not a spy and never has been a spy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A with Robert Harris (V2) Oct 07, 2020

Show notes

The author of V2, Fatherland and Munich tells us about about his favourite books and authors...which include Just William, Maigret, Kingsley Amis and and AJP Taylor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.