Kobo in Conversation

This bonus episode comes courtesy of our friends at the Kobo Writing Life Podcast. Co-hosts Vanessa Salemi and Laura Granger interviewed Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife and the long-awaited sequel: Life Out of Order. That's a book that came up a couple weeks ago in another bonus episode we had with Deandra Lalonde, all about the biggest books coming out this fall 2026 season.

If you're a writer looking for tips on developing your craft and growing your self-publishing business, check out the Kobo Writing Life Podcast and get started with Kobo Writing Life.

Nathan Maharaj spoke with Jamaluddin Aram, 2024 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize-winner and author of the novel Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday about his new collection of essays called The Blood of Things: A Love Letter to Afghanistan.

Jamaluddin Aram on writing beyond lines of division

Producer and Kobo in Conversation co-host Nathan Maharaj enlisted the help of Kobo's Deandra Lalonde to guide readers through this overwhelming fall 2026 season of new books.

Here are all the books Deandra and Nathan covered in this episode.

• A Court of Splintered Harmony - Sarah J. Maas
• Threshing Day - Rebecca Yarros
• Dead Beat - Leigh Bardugo
• Victorious - VE Schwab

• The Disappearers - Marlon James
• Ply - Hernan Diaz
• Partita - Barbara Kingsolver
• American Hagwon - Min Jin Lee
• The Radiance - Ayad Akhtar

• Exit Party - Emily St. John Mandel
• Life Out of Order - Audrey Niffenegger
• The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman - Deesha Philyaw
• Hollywood, Ending - John Green
• Hollow Bones - Jodi Picoult
• The Pirate Queen - Ariel Lawhon
• Switzy - Emma Cline
• The Sorceress of Sky Serpents - Eden Robinson

• Swan Song - Charles Spencer
• The Vanishing Family - Robert Kolker
• The American Way of Killing - Malcolm Gladwell
• Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea - Emily Wilson
• Redwood - Ben MacIntyre

• Taipei Story - R. F. Kuang
• Broken Rival - Tessa Bailey
• The Disappearers - Marlon James

More links at: Kobo's big fall 2026 books round up!

Michael Tamblyn spoke with TJ Klune, author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, and the Extraordinaries YA series, to name just a few of his many books. TJ's latest book is We Burned So Bright. It's a story about a couple, Don and Rodney, who set out on a road trip to lay their shared pain to rest while all around them, people are dealing with the very imminent end of the world.

And to WATCH Michael and TJ's chat, check out the video version: https://youtu.be/owvD19D0_6Q

Is TJ Klune a little bit better every day?

Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Shari Lapena. Since her 2016 novel The Couple Next Door, she's been known as one of the masters of domestic noir. In her newest book Getting Away With Murder, her 10th suspense novel in as many years, we get financial precarity, unlikeable yet relatable characters, mistrust mixed with intimacy, and all the page-turning qualities that readers have come to expect in a Shari Lapena novel.

Shari Lapena on writing a murder mystery where we already know whodunit

Nadia Odunayo didn't set out to create the leading competitor to social reading app GoodReads. But somewhere along the way while building her website & app The StoryGraph she discovered that for a lot of folks that's exactly what she'd done.

In this episode of our Booktalking series, Kobo in Conversation hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj are joined by Nadia to find out about StoryGraph's origins and where Nadia's taking it in the future.

• Kobo first met Nadia back in 2021: read our interview
• Learn about all the ways you can keep track of the books you read, including on your Kobo with StoryGraph: The best ways to track your reading | Kobo Books Blog
• Join the Kobo in Conversation reading challenge on StoryGraph (and get a sneak peek at the books we're reading for upcoming episodes): Read along with the Kobo in Conversation podcast | The StoryGraph

Nathan Maharaj spoke with Anita Rau Badami, author of novels including the Commonwealth Prize winning The Hero's Walk. Her new book is Asha in Her Garden. It's the story of a woman named Asha, who lives now in Montreal, but left Bangalore, India many years ago. We learn about her childhood, her children, her friends, and the life she's made for herself.

Anita Rau Badami on writing a character who can't stop wounding the people she loves

Nathan Maharaj spoke with musician and novelist David Baerwald, author of The Fire Agent. It's a story spanning the world wars of the 20th century viewed through the eyes of Ernst Baerwald, a bright and idealistic young man who finds himself at the frontiers of chemistry and war.

David Baerwald on feeling his way through history

In the spirit of "Christmas in July," we're presenting a special live episode of Kobo in Conversation from the Toronto International Festival of Authors' inaugural Ever After, the romance book festival. This was recorded back in November 2025, and though it deals with some extremely seasonal themes, we don't mind a little Christmas in July and we thought you might be into it as well.

For a session called "Snowflakes and Sparks," Michael Tamblyn spoke with authors Marissa Stapley and Karma Brown writing under their pen names Julia McKay and Kristine Winters, about what Christmas and Christmas Romance means to them, as well as their COVID-era collaborations as Maggie Knox.

LIVE from Ever After, with Julia McKay & Kristine Winters

Join the Kobo in Conversation reading challenge on StoryGraph

Michael Tamblyn spoke with Patrick Radden Keefe, who has been writing for the New Yorker since 2006 and is the author of nonfiction bestsellers including Empire of Pain and Say Nothing. His latest book is London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth. They were joined by an intimate studio audience.

Patrick Radden Keefe on London's dark descent