Up North Books

Hello all!

We hope you're well. 

We had a lovely conversation with Northern rom-com author Danielle Owen Jones about her latest novel, Stuck with Him, and we were joined by her wonderful publicist from Bookouture, Jess Readett!

Both Danielle and Jess are from the North and we had a great chat about author-publicist relationships, BookTok, and romance fiction! Grab a cuppa and snuggle up for this wholesome chat. 

Stuck With Him is available to buy now!

Mentioned in the episode:

Jessica Andrews

Sarah Moss

Wild Water Women by Ellie Wood 

Bingo Hall Detectives by Jonathan Whitelaw

After Everything You Did by Stephanie Sowden 

Hellooo!

Wow, do we have an exciting one for you guys today, because we had the absolute pleasure of chatting with THE Lara Williams about her stellar new novel, The Odyssey (!!!), which is out now.

Tune in to hear Lara chat about her writing process, the themes she wanted to explore in the novel, and (of course) some northern book recs!

Mentioned in this episode:

High Rise by J.G. Ballard

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan 

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Something Happened by Joseph Heller 

Microserfs by Douglas Coupland

Jessica Andrews

Eliza Clarke

Naomi Booth

Test Signal 

Hello lovely listeners!

We're back again with another episode, and this one is a chatty one where we sit down and talk about the books (and more) that we've been loving recently. We hope you enjoy listening, and that you discover some new recommendations!

Books mentioned:

Fossils by Alison Armstrong

Here Again Now by Okechukwu Nzelu

Hands by Lauren Brown

The Odyssey by Lara Williams

Milk Teeth by Jessica Andrews

True Crime Story by Joseph Knox 

Mania by LJ Ross

Bamburgh by LJ Ross 

WELCOME BACK! 

At the end of last year, we took a bit of time away from the podcast to get some much-needed rest and relaxation. Now we're back and kicking the new season off with a wonderful author interview with Karen Powell, author of The River Within.

This incredible novel is a must-read that will get all of your emotions flowing. It's set in post-war Yorkshire and the story is inspired by Hamlet, but of course with a northern English twist. 

Shop The River Within here, now available in paperback.

Books recommended by Karen:

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

Everything Jenn Ashworth has ever written

Muslim, Actually by Tawseef Khan

The Brontës

Welcome back, loyal listeners! This week we've got another brilliant author interview to treat your ears, this time with Anna Glendenning. As the author of the much-celebrated An Experiment in Leisure, we were eager to get Anna's thoughts on the publishing process while getting the gossip on her debut novel. 

Hello, hello folks, you're in for a treat with this episode because we had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Jenn Ashworth about her new novel Ghosted: A Love Story, published by Sceptre in June 2021. 

Listen to hear Jenn read from the novel, tell us about her inspirations and craft, and, of course, give you guys (and us!) some fantastic northern recommendations!

Grab a warm cuppa and a biscuit or two, we think you'll love this one. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Jenn's previous books

The Missing by Andrew O'Hagan 

Seaside Special - postcards From the Edge 

The Woodcock by Richard Smyth 

I Belong Here by Anita Sethi 

Jenn's Twitter

We encourage our listeners to, if they can, seek out an independent bookshop to purchase Ghosted: A Love Story from. You can also buy the book, available in hardback, from Bookshop Org here. 

Hello listeners and welcome back to another episode of Up North Books! In May, we had the privilege of chatting with Jennifer Saint, author of the hugely popular Ariadne. Jennifer is from Yorkshire and Ariadne is her debut novel, so it was really exciting to delve into how this book came to be. 

Mentioned in the episode:

Ariadne, published by Headline and written by Jennifer Saint.

Jennifer's Twitter thread of Northern authors with upcoming books

Ovid's Heroides 

Stacey Halls' Mrs England 

Jennifer's next book

Hello everyone! Have you missed us? After a brief hiatus throughout April, we are back and better than ever (hooray!). In this episode, we update each other (and you lot) on our lives and chat about the books we've read recently. So, grab a cuppa and join in the conversation like the old pals we are -  we really hope you enjoy listening!

Life update links:

Dark Skies Publishing

Inspired Copy

Beth’s Nrth Lass Column 

SYP North 

Books mentioned:

LJ Ross’ DCI Ryan series

The Rock by LJ Ross

I Belong Here by Anita Sethi

Sisters by Daisy Johnson

Girl A by Abigail Dean

An Experiment in Leisure by Anna Glendenning

This New North (Valley Press) 

Test Signal (Dead Ink and Bloomsbury)

Other things mentioned:

PublishingTea Twitter account

Hello everybody! We are back again with another episode, and we are especially excited about this one...

A few weeks ago, we spoke to J.A Mensah about her stunning debut novel, Castles from Cobwebs, which follows the story of a foundling brought up on a remote Northumbrian Island who travels to Ghana to find out who she really is. 

Listen to this episode to hear more about J.A Mensah's crafting of the story, the importance of diverse books, and sinking tourists' cars at the Holy Island causeway. You're in for a treat!

You can find J.A. Mensah's Northern book recommendations here:

Handling Stolen Goods by Edna Stone

The Girl Aquarium by Jen Campbell 

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night by Jen Campbell 

Seduce by Desiree Reynolds 

And the events mentioned here: 

New Word Festival (26 March)

Arvon At Home

We are encouraging our listeners to, if they can, seek out an independent bookshop to purchase Castles From Cobwebs from. You can also buy the book, available in hardback, via Bookshop Org here.

Hello lovely listeners, we are back again with another episode!

We spoke to Blair James about her recently-published debut, Bernard and Pat, a novel that explores the peculiarities of memory and the vulnerability of childhood. 

Listen to hear more about Blair's research into neuroscience and psychology, writing in the child's voice, and her opinion on "gross old men" writers. 

You can find Blair's Northern book recommendations here:

Seagulls by Edwin Stevens 

Passing Time by Michel Butor 

Quiz Night by Joe Darlington

(working title) MKUltra by Ben Jackson

We are encouraging our listeners to, if they can, seek out an independent bookshop to purchase Blair's book from during these hard times. You can also buy Bernard and Pat, available in hardback, via Bookshop Org here.