Imagine you walk into your bedroom one day … and there’s a horse going on a rampage. Better yet, it’s a horse from a childhood story that has haunted you ever since you first heard it. Who’s the first person you call? In Ali Smith’s new novel, Glyph, estranged sisters Petra and Patch are brought back together when a story from their childhood comes to life in an incredible way. But what makes a ghost story real? And what can it tell us about the world we live in now? This week, Ali joins Mattea Roach to talk about her connection to horses, the power and wonder of words and whether or not she believes in ghosts.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• For Jeanette Winterson, stories are essential to survival
• How do we restore our sense of wonder in media?

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

For cheating couples who are sneaking around, it’s paradise … but how long until the cracks start to show? Sophie Mackintosh’s new novel, Permanence, follows secret lovers Clara and Francis. Francis is married, and they’ve been stealing brief moments with each other for months. When they wake up one day in a dreamy city where they don’t have to hide, everything seems perfect … until things take a sinister turn and Clara and Francis realize they can’t escape the real world forever. This week, Sophie joins Mattea Roach to talk about the new era of infidelity literature, writing about unsavoury love and where passion and desire can take you.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Life of Pi author Yann Martel on the wars in your everyday
• Why you can’t forget your first love

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

How many of your friends are over 30 years older than you? When Marc Bendavid was 12, he met a teacher that changed his life. His debut novel, The Sapling, is about their generation-defying bond … and living in those memories in the wake of her death. So how can a meaningful friendship between a 12 year-old and a 44 year-old defy what we think about the gap between generations? And how does someone live and change through our memories of them? This week, Marc joins Mattea Roach to talk about the real teacher that inspired the book, the beauty of aging and what you can gain from connecting with people older and younger than you.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Can our friendships age with us?
• Ocean Vuong finds beauty in a fast food shift

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

The phrase "unprecedented times” was repeated over and over again during the pandemic … and Malavika Kannan’s debut novel, Unprecedented Times, dives into university life during that period. The story follows Rishi, an Indian American student who’s ready to start fresh at Stanford after her strict Florida upbringing. She has big plans to shed her old skin and finally meet people just like her, but that journey is cut short by the arrival of COVID-19. As Rishi and her peers struggle with disillusionment, political unrest and good old university drama, she starts to think more closely about her story and the shared experience that’s shaping her generation.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Here’s what you have wrong about teen moms
• Would a tradwife influencer survive in 1855?

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

You might be used to moving around … but you've probably never ended up in a town full of zombies, aliens and sad clowns. Jon Claytor’s new graphic novel, Nowhere, is about a young boy named Joel whose family is constantly moving. He’s trying to adjust to life in a new small town, but things get complicated when a giant, otherworldly cube appears and people start mysteriously disappearing. Jon drew from his own nomadic childhood to craft the story, and his rich visuals tell a spooky but moving story about growing up. This week, Jon joins Mattea Roach to talk about how his upbringing inspired the book, his background in oil painting and referencing the real-life Sackville cube.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Charles Burns: Why the comics icon keeps returning to teenage angst
• Why this comics legend is just getting started

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Bad men, bee warned. Imani Thompson’s buzzy debut novel, Honey, follows a jaded PhD student named Yrsa. She’s bored with her work and frustrated with the culture at Cambridge … but when she accidentally kills a shady professor using a bee, she realizes that she may have found her calling. As Yrsa murders more men in the name of justice, she feels a greater sense of purpose in her violent mission. But can Yrsa really justify the blood on her hands? And what happens when the killings come back to sting her? This week, Imani joins Mattea Roach to talk about how her background in sociology informed the story, getting into the mind of a killer and her mother’s impact on the novel.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Justice for Murder Bimbo!
• A raunchy workplace satire ... about deradicalizing ISIS brides?

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

If you just let go of everything that’s out of your control … can you truly be happy? Maria Semple tests that philosophy in her new novel, Go Gentle. The story follows Adora Hazzard, a Stoic philosopher in her 50s who lives a calm, mostly happy life with her teen daughter and a coven of women friends. If you think a book about Stoicism might bore you, don’t speak too soon. This one also has art heists, divorce, a toxic Hollywood comedy scene … and the philosophy stuff might be more relatable than you think. This week, Maria tells Mattea Roach about her interest in Stoicism, her long career in TV writing and how her daughter inspired a character in the story.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Curtis Sittenfeld is fascinated by fame
• Would a tradwife influencer survive in 1855?

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

David Baerwald is a famous songwriter who’s worked with artists like Joni Mitchell and Sheryl Crow. But when he uncovered a family history filled with spies, music, and wartime secrets … David went from notes to novels and wrote a sweeping historical debut. The Fire Agent fictionalizes the story of Ernst Baerwald, David’s real grandfather. In 1900, Ernst was recruited to become a spy. His work took him across two continents and through two world wars, and his life became an adventure involving Japanese gangsters, the fight against fascism and numerous pivotal moments in history. This week, David tells Mattea Roach about espionage in the 1900s, his love of Japan and how the novel brought his family back together.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Anarchists have bigger hearts than you think
• Emma Donoghue boards a train destined for disaster

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks