A Pair of Bookends

For today's episode Hannah was joined by the prolific Italian author & screenwriter, Ilaria Bernardini to chat about her novel 'We Will Be Forest' (Known in Italy as: 'Faremo Foresta')
Ilaria was incredibly generous in sharing her experiences in this episode, most of which were huge inspirations for this book. We also discussed the differences between her work as a screenwriter and as a novelist, father/daughter dynamics, adapting this novel into a film and lots more. If you enjoy this episode, please do rate, review & subscribe as it helps to reach more of you!
You can follow Ilaria via Instagram or via Twitter
You can follow us via Instagram, Twitter & Tik Tok

Books & other recs mentioned in this episode: 
The Dreamers by Gilbert Adair
https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-the-dreamers-2004-online (movie adaptation by Bernardo Bertolucci)
Yellowface by Rebecca F.Kuang
Kramer vs. Kramer (movie)
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Dolore Non Esiste by Ilaria Bernardini
C'mon C'mon (movie)

For episode requests or interview pitches please contact us via [email protected]

On today's episode Hannah was joined by author and literary translator Sam Taylor to discuss his latest novel The Two Loves of Sophie Strom, which is out now and published by Faber!
We discuss how the book went from being a Sci-fi novel when he first started writing 14 years ago to becoming a historical novel about Nazi Berlin, the differences between working as a translator and a novelist, how falling in love influenced his novel and loads more. If you enjoy this episode, please do rate, review & subscribe so we can reach more of you!
You can follow us via Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok

Book, authors & other recs mentioned on this episode:
Prague Fatale by Phillip Kerr
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
HHhH by Laurent Binet
https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/18/sam-taylor-the-two-loves-of-sophie-strom-novel-translating-a-book-is-like-x-raying-it-you-get-a-deep-tissue-read
George R.R. Martin
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
The Guest by Emma Cline
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

If you'd like to get in touch please email via [email protected]
Thanks so much for listening! Until next time, happy reading!

For today's very exciting bonus episode Hannah was joined by the Women's Prize longlisted author of 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' Claire Lombardo to chat all about her new novel 'Same As It Ever Was' (out now in the US, published by Doubleday! UK folk you can pre-order!)
We chat about her favourite family saga novels, writing 'nice' men & complicated women, her debut novel's upcoming adaptation and so much more! If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review & subscribe to boost us in the charts!
You can follow Claire via Instagram or Twitter
For more exclusive content & for less than £3 a month, join us on Patreon, you can also follow us via Instagram, Twitter & Tik Tok

Books mentioned in today's episode: 
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Brother Of The More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido

Thanks so much for listening! If you want to get in touch you can do so via [email protected]

To celebrate Independent Bookshop Week 2024, Hannah interviewed one of her local indie bookshops Serenity Booksellers. We chat about how Kelly and her partner Chris turned their bookshop dreams into a reality, what exciting things they have coming up, why it's important to support our indies and a HUGE list of book recommendations! 
If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review & subscribe so we can reach more of you. 
You can find Serenity Booksellers via their website (subscribe to their mailing list to be in with a chance of winning a £100 voucher for their store) or via Instagram or Facebook.
If you're unable to make it in store and wish to support them, the below book recs are linked to Serenity Booksellers bookshop.org page.
For more on Independent Bookshop Week visit https://www.booksaremybag.com/

Books, indie bookshops & other mentions in this episode: 
The Coast Road by Alan Murrin
Want by Gillian Anderson
The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley
A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe
October, October by Katya Balen
Ghostlines by Katya Balen
James by Percival Everett
Hard By A Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili
Three Burials by Anders Lustgarten
The Many by Wyl Menmuir
The Draw of The Sea by Wyl Menmuir
The Heart of The Woods by Wyl Menmuir
Small Hours by Bobby Palmer
The Castle (1997 movie, on Amazon Prime)
Simply Books, Bramhall
Dark Peak Books & Gifts, Glossop
Booka Bookshop, Oswestry
Truman Books, Leeds
Wife by Charlotte Mendelson
The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson
Still Life by Sarah Winman
Homecoming by Kate Morton
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Green Dot by Madeleine Gray
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
Dirt Music by Tim Winton
Breath by Tim Winton
Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan
Wanting by Richard Flanagan
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria Mackenzie
You Are Here by David Nicholls
Rare Singles by Benjamin Myers
The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne by Freya North
Other Women by Emma Flint
Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor
Stand Up Guy by Nina Kaye
Baby Reindeer- Netflix 
Sparrow by James Hynes

Thanks so much for listening, until next time happy reading!

For today's episode Hannah was joined by Irish author Sarah Gilmartin, to chat all about her latest novel Service (Pushkin Press, out now in paperback)
Please be aware this episode contains reference to SA & statistics of SA cases
We chat about what it was like to write from the perspective of a man accused of sexual assault, her experience of working in restaurants, how the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre helped shape the writing of the case in the book and more. It was such an insightful conversation and the book is in Hannah's top reads of the year! 
If you enjoyed this episode please do rate, review & subscribe so we can reach more of you!
You can follow Sarah via https://twitter.com/sarahgilmartin_
You can email us via [email protected] or follow us Instagram, Twitter  & Tik Tok
For more exclusive content with Hannah and friend of the pod Emma Hinds, head to https://www.patreon.com/APairofBookends

Books & other mentions on the pod:
Dinner Party by Sarah Gilmartin
Old Romantics by Maggie Armstrong
Multitudes by Lucy Caldwell
Intimacies by Lucy Caldwell
Openings by Lucy Caldwell
Blue Lights- BBC Iplayer

Thanks so much for listening! Until next time, happy reading!

For today's episode I deep dived into the world of Romantasy with social media sensation Carissa Broadbent. We chat about why this genre is so successful, her writing process, what readers have to look forward to with the rest of the series and lots more! If you enjoy this episode, please do rate, review & subscribe so I can reach more of you! 

The Serpent and the Wings of Night and it's sequel The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King are available now everywhere (UK folk, the sequel is out tomorrow so go pre-order!)

You can follow Carissa via Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter
You can also follow us via Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok

Books & other recs mentioned: 
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Castlevania - Netflix
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J.Maas
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

For books discussed on each episode, head to: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/apairofbookendspod

Thanks so much for listening & until next time, happy reading!

Bobby Palmer is back on the pod! Back in November 2022, we chatted to Bobby about his debut novel Isaac and the Egg and had an absolute blast so it was only right to bring him back to chat about his second book Small Hours (out now)
We chat about how his relationship with nature has evolved, writing about a memory loss condition, masculinity, writing his third book and all the book reccs your heart could desire! 
If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review & subscribe so we can reach more of you. 
Follow on Instagram @apairofbookendspod, Twitter @apairofbookends and Tik Tok  @apairofbookends
Follow on Patreon for more content: https://www.patreon.com/APairofBookends

Follow Bobby via Instagram
Bobby's Small Hours Spotify playlist
For new episodes of Book Chat with Bobby and Pandora, head to Pandora's Substack https://pandorasykes.substack.com/
Charity mentioned: https://foxproject.org.uk/

Books, authors & other reccs mentioned in this episode:
Rare Singles by Benjamin Myers
Cuddy by Benjamin Myers
The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers
Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy
You are Here by David Nicholls
Where the wild things are by Maurice Sendak
Max Porter
George Saunders
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
One Day by David Nicholls
Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr.Seuss
West by Carys Davies
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/8-bridget-joness-diary-and-high-fidelity/id1657017360?i=1000622998970
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
Erasure by Percival Everett
James by Percival Everett
The Trees by Percival Everett
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
The Terror (Amazon Prime)
The Bear (Disney +)
Another Round (Amazon Prime)

Thanks so much for listening! Until next time, happy reading!

For today's episode Hannah and Ericka had a completely feral two hours of laughing and talking rubbish and somehow Hannah has managed to edit together an episode! 
We chat about mothers and daughters, autism, death and grief and so much more, we hope you enjoy! Please do rate, review & subscribe as it helps us to reach more of you. You can follow us via Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok
For extra content head on over to Patreon

Buy yourselves a copy of Goodbye Birdie Greenwing and Dog Days and once you have send either myself or Ericka a DM and Ericka will be sending out hand-crocheted ghosts to 'haunt your TBR' 
You can follow Ericka via Instagram & Twitter 
For more of her books and dog chat head to her website

Books & other mentions in today's episode:
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Essential Help for your nerves by Dr. Claire Weekes
Joined up writing podcast with Ericka Waller
https://www.writing.ie/interviews/the-difficult-second-novel-goodbye-birdie-greenwing-by-ericka-waller/
The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
One Day - Netflix
The Last Murder at The End of the World by Stuart Turton
The Devil and The Dark Water by Stuart Turton
Hold Back The Night by Jessica Moor
Young Women by Jessica Moor
How we named the stars by Andres N. Ordorica
Leave no trace by Jo Callaghan
In the blink of an eye by Jo Callaghan

For all books mentioned in episodes and to support indie bookshops, head here
Thanks so much for listening! See you next week for a bonus episode!

For our May Book Club episode we were joined by Women's Prize long-listed author Kirsty Capes, to chat about her new novel Girls, out tomorrow! 
We chat about sisterhood, art, mental health, grief and so much more and 'Girls' is a devastating and remarkable book that we couldn't recommend enough. 
You can follow Kirsty via Instagram or Twitter
If you enjoyed this episode please do rate, review & subscribe so we can reach more of you! Follow us via Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok



This is Lydia's final episode on the pod, we couldn't have ever predicted the podcast to take off in the way it has & we've worked on so many incredible interviews together like this one and if you want to keep up with Lydia's book chat you can find her via https://www.youtube.com/@LydiaLostthePlot


Books & other recs mentioned in this episode: 
Careless by Kirsty Capes
My Sister, the serial killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Little Miss Sunshine- Disney +
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Lady Bird - Netflix
The Florida Project
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Women Talking - Prime
Green Dot by Madeleine Gray
Penance by Eliza Clark


Thanks so much for listening & for your support! See you next week, Hannah x

Some podcast updates & an exciting announcement! 
Go follow over on Patreon to support us, it's been a v weird time and I hope you'll stay with me on this journey. Big love x