Mostly Books Meets...

This week we're speaking to Andrew Hunter Murray.

Andrew is a writer and comedian and is one of the QI elves, working behind the scenes for the BBC show, QI. He is also one of the co-hosts of the spinoff podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish. The podcast, which involves Andrew and the team, chatting about their favourite facts has been downloaded more than 300 million times since it started in 2014.

Andrew also writes for Private Eye magazine and hosts the Eye‘s in-house podcast, Page 94. In his spare time he performs in the Jane Austen–themed improv comedy group Austentatious, which normally plays in London’s West End and around the UK.

His debut novel, The Last Day, was published in 2020 and is out in paperback on 18th February.

---

First Book: Redwall by Brian Jacques (https://bit.ly/3be6VjF)

Last Book: The Custom of The Country by Edith Wharton (https://bit.ly/3u2WUi9)

Book That Changed His Life: The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (https://bit.ly/37Fo70P)

Book That Everyone Should Read: The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray (https://bit.ly/3ar80Wm)

Twitter: www.twitter.com/mostlyreading

Insta: www.instagram.com/mostlybooks_shop

This week we’re talking to author, Abigail Dean.

Abi’s debut novel, Girl A, was published in January this year after a nine way auction resulted in her signing with Harper Collins. The book immediately became a Sunday Times best seller and received rave reviews across the industry and in the press.

The book has been sold in over 30 territories and has already been optioned for television and film. Not bad for a debut!

Abi’s Book Choices

Orchard Book of Greek Myths by Geraldine McCaughrean (https://bit.ly/372t43s)

The Insult by Rupert Thomson (https://bit.ly/3q8NfEn)

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (https://bit.ly/36ZiuKc)

Girl A by Abigail Dean (https://bit.ly/3d857v4)

Mostly Books: www.mostly-books.co.uk

Twitter: www.twitter.com/mostlyreading

Instagram: www.instagram.com/mostlybooks_shop

Welcome to Season Two of Mostly Books Meets. In the podcast this week, we're speaking to the Sunday Times bestselling author, Lisa Jewell.

Over the course of her career, Lisa has published 18 novels with another one due out soon.

Her debut novel, Ralph’s Party, was an instant success, and more recently her books have been #1 bestsellers in Canada and the UK. In total, her novels have sold over 5 million copies worldwide and her work has been translated into over 25 languages.

Lisa’s latest book, Invisible Girl, came out in paperback on 7th January and went straight in at number 1. Her new book, The Night She Disappeared, is due out later this year.

---

Lisa's Book Choices

Ant & Bee by Angela Banner: https://bit.ly/2YEZWdE

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby: https://bit.ly/3oIe5Bv

The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker: https://bit.ly/39Gv0Ae

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell: https://bit.ly/3pHpUJw

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell: https://bit.ly/2YHoV0g

Twitter: @mostlyreading

Insta: @mostlybooks_shop

This week, in our season finale of Mostly Books Meets, we speak to portrait artist, Tom Croft, the man behind the global initiative which encouraged artists to draw portraits of NHS Key Workers.

This episode is dedicated to all NHS key workers.

---

During his career, Tom has painted a whole range of clients, from the Manchester United Football team to former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

Tom appeared on Sky Arts Portraits of the Year in 2018, is a member of the Oxford Art Society and opens his studio to the public every year during Oxfordshire Art Week.

Earlier this year, Tom started a global initiative that encouraged artists to draw portraits of NHS key workers. These portraits have recently been published into the book, Portraits for NHS Heroes, which is a beautiful tribute to the amazing work done by the NHS over the course of the pandemic.

Mostly Books, Abingdon

Twitter: @mostlyreading

Instagram: @mostlybooks_shop

Facebook: mostlybooksabingdon

Tom Croft

Instagram: @tomcroftartist

This week we're talking to multi-award-winning writer and broadcaster Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall.

Hugh earned a huge following through his River Cottage TV Series and books.

His broadcasting has earned him a BAFTA as well as awards from Radio 4, The Observer and the Guild of Food Writers. Besides more than 20 cookery-based series, Hugh’s TV work includes hard-hitting campaigns such as the highly influential Fish Fight, which brought about changes in law, Britain’s Fat Fight, which tackled the national obesity crisis, and War on Plastic, where he and Anita Rani dug into the enormity of the problem of single-use plastic.

Since the late nineties, Hugh has published a whole host of books, the latest of which, Eat Better Forever, is out on 31st December.

This week we're talking to author, journalist and broadcaster, Ian Dunt.

A vocal presence in the world of political journalism, Ian is the editor of politics.co.uk. He specialises in issues around immigration, civil liberties, democracy, free speech and social justice and appears regularly on TV and radio.

In May 2017, Ian was part of the team that launched ‘Remainiacs’ a podcast about Britain’s departure from the EU. The podcast was renamed as ‘Oh God, What Now?’ in October this year as he and the team continue to make astute observations about the political landscape.

Ian’s first book, Brexit: What the Hell Happens Now? Was published in 2016 and his latest book, How To Be a Liberal, was published by Canbury Press in September this year.

Note that this podcast contains some limited swearing.

This week we're talking to author, journalist and podcaster Emma Gannon.

Emma’s career has flourished in the digital world. As an early adopter of blogging, her success online has led to book deals, newspaper columns, and a podcast (Ctrl, Alt, Delete) that has been downloaded nearly 8 million times.

Her non-fiction works include The Multi-Hyphen Method - empowering individuals to seize their potential by designing a career that works for them, and Sabotage – helping people quash imposter syndrome and get out of their own way.

Earlier this year, Emma turned her attention to fiction, and the resulting novel, Olive, has sold 10,000 copies since its release in July. She is living embodiment of a flourishing multi-hyphenate career.

This week we're talking to Michelin Starred chef, Tom Kerridge.

Tom has worked in kitchens across the UK since the early nineties. In 2005, he and his wife, Beth, bought a run-down pub in Marlow called the Hand and Flowers. Within a year, he’d turned the business around and achieved a Michelin star. A second one was added in 2012, making The Hand and Flowers the first pub to ever gain two Michelin stars.

The success of this venture led Tom to take on another pub, The Coach of Marlow and, these days he is also responsible for restaurants in Manchester and London and even owns a butchers shop.

As if that wasn’t enough, Tom has plenty of other things to keep him busy. He launched a food and music festival, Pub In The Park, in 2017 and he’s been a regular on The Great British Menu and numerous other television programmes over the years. His brand new series, Saving Britain’s Pubs with Tom Kerridge, has just begun on the BBC.

Amazingly, he’s also found time to publish a host of best-selling books. Tom’s latest book The Hand & Flowers Cookbook, was published by Bloomsbury on 12th November.

This week we're talking to author Alex Wheatle, an acclaimed writer who fearlessly tackles subjects of social injustice in his work.

Having grown up in the UK care system in the 1960s, Alex was also first-hand witness to the violence of the Brixton Riots in 1981, both of which have influenced his work.

His debut novel Brixton Rock won praise from critics, while life on his fictionalised South Crongton estate has featured in a number of his books, including Crongton Knights, which was the Winner of the Guardian’s Children’s Fiction Prize.

In 2008, Alex was awarded an MBE for his services to literature. His latest novel, Cane Warriors, has been endorsed by Amnesty International. Based on true events, it transports readers to 1760s Jamaica meeting Moa and his friend Keverton in their fight for freedom from slavery, not just for themselves but countless others.

This week we're talking to children's author and illustrator David Melling.

Over his career, David has created over 150 books. His picture books include The Kiss that Missed, Once Upon a bedtime, and the much loved Hugless Douglas series. He’s also written and illustrated books for young readers.

David is published in over 30 languages and has been shortlisted for many awards such as the Kate Greenaway and the Smarties Book Award, and Mostly Books is lucky to have worked with him many times over the last few years both in the shop and with our local schools.

Hosted by the team at Mostly Books, an independent bookshop in Abingdon, Oxfordshire @mostlybooks