The Coode Street Podcast

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Gary is joined by multiple award-winning author Nicola Griffith and they discuss the less-than-satisfactory challenges of the virtual cocktail party, the more satisfactory challenges of researching historical fiction and of reading Patrick O’Brian and others, the advantages of using genre as a set of tools rather than a container, her own So Lucky, her forthcoming sequel to Hild, and an exciting new as-yet-untitled book. Books mentioned include: Nicola Griffith, So Lucky Nicola Griffith, Hild Nicola Griffith, The Aud Torvingen mysteries Sigrid Undset, Olav Audunssøn: The Vow, translated by Tiina Nunnally Maggie Brookes, The Prisoner’s Wife Octavia Butler, Kindred Patrick O’Brian, The Aubrey/Maturin novels Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave Rosemary Sutcliffe, Sword at Sunset Mary Renault, Fire from Heaven Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising Sarah Waters, Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet Ellen Galford, Moll Cutpurse: Her True History      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan sits down to chat with Aurealis and Ditmar Award-winning writer Lisa L. Hannett about reading, writing and life during lock-in, the joy and challenges of suddenly being home all the time, her brand new book, and much more. Books mentioned include: Songs for Dark Seasons by Lisa L. Hannett Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan Her Perilous Mansion by Sean Williams Network Effect by Martha Wells Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian The Ruth Galloway Novels by Elly Griffiths Galore by Michael Crummey      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Gary joins Hugo and Nebula-winning author Terry Bisson to talk about historical fiction, R.A. Lafferty’s most important novel, James Salter, reading Shakespeare’s history plays, the Globe Theater, Cecelia Holland, The Blair Witch Project, Terry’s own classic short stories "Bears Discover Fire" and "They’re Made of Meat," and his brilliant but overlooked novel of the 1960s, Any Day Now. Books mentioned include: Any Day Now by Terry Bisson The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel Okla Hannali by R.A. Lafferty Last Night: Stories by James Salter      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Award-winner Daryl Gregory comes on board for a discussion with Gary about how distracting the news can be from real work, reading manuscripts for blurbs or for friends, the new Lavie Tidhar novel, Island of Dr. Moreau movies, the virtues of Iain M. Banks, the occasional pleasures of locked-room murder mysteries, and Daryl’s own forthcoming but not yet titled novel. Books mentioned include: Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells The Culture novels by Iain M. Banks The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr    

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Gary is joined by fellow Locus reviewer and author Adrienne Martini, whose recent book on participating in local politics has gained sterling reviews and even a shout-out from Hillary Clinton. They discuss the importance of local politics, the fate of the famous explorer ship Erebus, and the appeal of Mary Robinette Kowal and Robert A. Heinlein. Books mentioned include: Somebody's Gotta Do It: Why Cursing at the News Won't Save the Nation, But Your Name on a Local Ballot Can by Adrienne Martini Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin The Terror by Dan Simmons The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal Friday and the Lazarus Long novels by Robert A. Heinlein Books mentioned include:  

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. All the way from Barbados, multiple award-winning author Karen Lord chats with Gary about how the lockdown is affecting life there, how the whole worldwide experience is liking moving into a new country where you don’t quite know all the rules, what reading to return to in such times, and her own new story "The Plague Doctors” (and discussion of the story) from the free anthology, Take Us to a Better Place: Stories. Books mentioned include: Unravelling by Karen Lord The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton The City Watch, Witches, and Tiffany Aching novels by Terry Pratchett Take Us to a Better Place: Stories     

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. If his recent conversation with John Berlyne saw Jonathan embrace the fact that Coode Street's ten minutes was at a best theoretical, then today's conversation blows that out of the water extending beyond 35 minutes, and still only being just barely long enough. Today Jonathan talks to writer and editor Simon Ings about art, despots, fabulous books, and unexpected experiences. Utterly essential listening. It's the most fun you'll have with earphones in for ages! Books mentioned include: We Robots edited by Simon Ings Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson  The Plague by Albert Camus The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War by Lucy Hughes-Hallett Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman    

ETA: Due to an technical error, only one track on the audio was released earlier. We apologise for that and are providing an updated/corrected podcast now.  Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Jonathan spends ten minutes talking with Claire McKenna about working, reading, and writing during difficult times, pirate utopias, the joys of old bestsellers, and her debut novel, Monstrous Heart. Books mentioned include: Monstrous Heart by Claire McKenna Monsoon by Wilbur Smith Gondar by Nicholas Luard    

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Jonathan spends ten minutes talking with Claire McKenna about working, reading, and writing during difficult times, pirate utopias, the joys of old bestsellers, and her debut novel, Monstrous Heart. Books mentioned include: Monstrous Heart by Claire McKenna Monsoon by Wilbur Smith Gondar by Nicholas Luard    

Jonathan and Gary are back with a socially-distanced full-hour podcast. Since last time, Jonathan actually went and read the reviews for the podcast on the iTunes Podcast app where one listener described the Coode Street as being occasionally enlightening, saying when: "the two hosts are left to their own devices (which is most of the time) they testily chew over a handful of pet topics, usually debating who should win each year's awards and then whether or not awards mean anything".  and rated the podcast Three stars. Perfectly fair. Today's episode was recorded during the Nebula Awards presentation and days after the announcement of the Locus Awards shortlists. Both feature briefly, but our main topic was not awards. Rather we turned to more fundamental questions involving reasons to be optimistic about science fiction, the role of entertainment in reading SFF, what each of us values most in what we read, and, almost accidentally, some brief previews of exciting novels coming up later this year. Hopefully the sound on today's episode is a bit better, the testiness is toned down, and you all enjoy!