Book Off! – Details, episodes & analysis

Susie Dent and Louise Minchin join Joe Haddow this week for a war of the words.

Both guests have had incredible careers in TV (Susie recently celebrated 30 years of being on Countdown and Louise spent 20 years on BBC Breakfast's red sofa) and both have written non-fiction before, but have now turned their hand to novels.

Susie say's her book, Guilty By Definition, is more of a linguistic mystery than a murder mystery, whilst Louise's book, Isolation Island, is a page-turning thriller.

They discuss their love of Agatha Christie, why they both gravitated towards the crime genre and how hard they found the shift from writing non-fiction to fiction.

As well as giving us some brilliant book recommendations, they also discuss their love of...cemeteries. YEP!

THE BOOK OFF

'Red Love' by Maxim Leo

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'Rebecca' by Daphne Du Maurier

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More on our guests:

Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on language. She recently celebrated 30 years as co-presenter and resident word expert on ‘Countdown’ - and regularly appears on the show’s comedy sister ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown’. She is the author of several non-fiction books, and her debut novel is ‘Guilty By Definition’

Louise Minchin spent twenty-years on BBC Breakfast’s red sofa, as well as being the main news anchor on the BBC News Channel. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of reality shows, including I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Time Crashers and Celebrity Masterchef – as well as presenting on BBC Radio 5 Live too. She is the author of two books of non-fiction, and her debut novel is ‘Isolation Island’

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Book Off is back! And for the first episode of Series 13, we welcome bestselling authors Mark Haddon and Clare Chambers to the pod.

They chat to Joe Haddow about their new books and what they have been reading and enjoying recently.

'Dogs and Monsters' is Mark's latest collection of short stories, where he weaves together Ancient Greek fables with more dystopian narratives. In each of the eight stories, Mark explores what it means to be human.

Clare's new novel is 'Shy Creatures' - set in South London in 1964, it follows an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital who decides to unravel the story of an immensely talented mute patient.

We get some fabulous book recommendations from each of author, as well as an insight into the ups and downs of publishing and how a little luck can go a long long way!

Mark talks openly about his long Covid and how it has given him brain fog, which not only effects his writing but also his reading. He is now a big gan of short books and short chapters.

THIS WEEK' BOOK OFF

'The Employees: A Workplace Novel Of The 22nd Century' by Olga Ravn

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'Lonesome Dove' by Larry McMurty

We hope you enjoy this episode - and the whole of the new series! Please like, comment and follow so you never miss an episode (and so we can help spread the word!)

More on our guests:

Mark Haddon's bestselling novel, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, was published in 2003 and won seventeen literary prizes. In 2012, a stage adaptation by the National Theatre, went on to win seven Olivier Awards and a Tony! His other literary work includes poetry and short stories, and his most recent novel – ‘The Porpoise’ – was published in 2019. 

Clare Chambers the author of nine novels – the first of which was published in 1992. In 2022, her novel ‘Small Pleasures’ became a word-of-mouth hit on publication, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize For Fiction - and won ‘Pageturner of the Year’ at the British Book Awards.

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It's a children's book special this week!

Former Children's Laureate, Cressida Cowell, goes head to head with broadcaster and author Dermot O'Leary.

They chat about their latest novels, their passion for getting books into children's hands, a love of history - and - world building!

THE BOOK OFF

'The Power Of The Dog' by Don Winslow

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'The Joy Luck Club' by Amy Tan

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Carter USM go head to head with The Auters in this episode of Book Off! Joe Haddow is joined by Jim Bob and Luke Haines who go head to head in a war of the words - putting Kinski's autobiography up against Dave Eggers. But who will win?

Why they love and hate writing in equal measure, the longevity of projects, the craziness of the 90s and how their music has changed with age.

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Dorothy Koomson and Amanda Prowse discuss World Book Night, eavesdropping and how the simplest of stories can spark a whole novel.

They also go head to head in the Book Off, putting Malroie Blackman's "Noughts And Crosses" against "Lemony Snicket" by Daniel Handler.

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Bestselling author and former music journalist Tony Parsons goes head to head with journalist and writer Charlotte Philby in a War of the Words.

They discuss their love of short stories, espionage and how life events are the best way to get ideas.

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Author and essayist Taylor Jenkins Reid goes head to head with columnist, writer and literary event chair Damian Barr in a war of the words - putting The Colour Purple against The Hate U Give.

Damian and Taylor discuss their latest novels (You Will Be Safe Here and Daisy Jones & The Six) as well as how they write, the music scene in LA through the 1970s and what writers can learn from readers by just hanging around in book shops.

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Comedians and authors Helen Lederer and Shazia Mirza go head to head in a war of the words - pitting David Nicholls against Vicktor E Frankel.

They also discuss how comedy has changed for women, the differences of writing prose versus stand-up and the Comedy Women In Print Prize.

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Screenwriter, author and graphic novelist Gregg Hurwitz takes on bestselling crime writer Robert Goddard in a War Of The Words.

In this episode, "Ratking" by Michael Dibdin is pit against "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien and the two authors discuss comics, adapting famous characters and how writing books is just an excuse to go on holiday to exotic places.

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