Bookwandering with Anna James

Laura Dockrill joins me to talk about the iconic Tracy Beaker. Laura is the author of books for all ages from picture books to poetry including her memoir What Have I Done?, the Darcy Burdock series for young readers and her new non-fiction book about creativity, You Are a Story. We talk about why Jacqueline Wilson is as good as the Spice Girls, how we find essences of our littler selves when we revisit childhood books as well as sharing some embarrassing tween memories. You can find out more about Laura's books, and the books we discuss in the episode here: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookwandering-the-podcastThe last episode of series one of Bookwandering will be out next Wednesday, and we'll be back for series two later in the summer. The podcast is produced by Adam Collier with artwork by Hester Kitchen.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guy Gunaratne joins me to talk about Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak’s beloved 1963 picture book. Guy is the award-winning author of In Our Mad and Furious City and Mister, Mister which comes out at the end of May. We discuss domesticity, order and disorder, and embracing wildness and bewilderment as readers and writers. You can find out more about Guy’s books, as well as more about the other books that come up in our conversation at my Bookshop store: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookwandering-the-podcastThe video essay by Jack Halberstam that we discuss can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia5CmrzTqw4&ab_channel=RIBOCA The Hilary Mantel quote I could not remember is part of this interview with her in 2020 in the Guardian, the particular bit I was trying to bring to mind was in answer to Amanda Foreman’s question, about half way through: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/oct/04/hilary-mantel-wolf-hall-mantel-pieces New episodes on Wednesdays. Music by Adam Collier, artwork by Hester Kitchen. Produced by Adam Collier.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Juno Dawson joins me to talk about the Point Horror cult classic, The Forbidden Game by LJ Smith. Juno is the bestselling author of several books including Clean, This Book is Gay and recent viral hit Her Majesty’s Royal Coven which is out in paperback tomorrow. The sequel, The Shadow Cabinet, is publishing in June. We talk about campy scares, horny teens and why horror is so much fun to read and write.Unfortunately The Forbidden Game is currently out of print in the UK, however you can find more information on Juno’s books at my Bookshop store: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookwandering-the-podcastNew episodes on Wednesdays. Music by Adam Collier, artwork by Hester Kitchen. Produced by Adam Collier.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna is joined by Emily St John Mandel, author of novels including Station Eleven, The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility. Emily chose Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising although as she hasn’t revisited it as an adult this is a wonderfully free-ranging conversation about the perils of revisiting old favourites, experience magic through the eyes of a child and how to get divorced on Wikipedia.You can find all the books mentioned on Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookwandering-the-podcastNew episodes on Wednesdays. Music by Adam Collier, artwork by Hester Kitchen. Produced by Adam Collier. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nikesh Shukla joins me to talk about his lifelong love for Spider-Man. Nikesh is the author of several books including Stand Up and Brown Baby and the editor of The Good Immigrant. We talk about why Spider-Man means so much to him and how it’s recently all come full circle.You can find all the books mentioned on Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookwandering-the-podcastNew episodes on Wednesdays. Music by Adam Collier, artwork by Hester Kitchen. Produced by Adam Collier. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bestselling author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin joins me to talk about the beloved children's classic/problematic fav, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. We talk about all the ways that it is wonderful, and some of the ways that it is not, and try to tangle through how to think about these elements in 2023. You can find all the books mentioned on Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookwandering-the-podcastAnd the blog that Gabrielle and I mention, that's a deep dive into rereading A Little Princess, is here: https://alpennia.com/blog/problematic-favorites-little-princess-part-1-introductionNew episodes on Wednesdays. Music by Adam Collier, artwork by Hester Kitchen. Produced by Adam Collier.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode I talk to academic and children's author Katherine Rundell about Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones, the 1977 beginning of the Chrestmanci series, and why we both rate it as one of the all time greats of children's literature. We also discuss Katherine's 2019 essay, Why You Should Read Children's Books Even Though You Are So Old and Wise, which does an excellent job of pitching the entire purpose of the podcast. All books mentioned can be found here: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookwandering-the-podcastAnna is @acaseforbooks across social platforms and Katherine is @katherine.rundell on Instagram.New episodes on Wednesdays. Music by Adam Collier, artwork by Hester Kitchen. Produced by Adam Collier.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.