Confessions of a Book Collector

What if the magic of books was literally lethal? In this episode of Confessions of a Book Collector, David Headley sits down with Sunday Times bestselling author Georgia Summers to talk deadly ink magic and magical bookshops. We explore  her latest novel The Bookshop Below, a story where book thievery, secret societies and rival booksellers collide, and where owning the wrong shop can get you killed.Georgia also reflects on her journey through every layer of the book world, bookseller, librarian, editor, publisher, and now bestselling novelist, and why the magic of bookshops has never worn off.

David Headley sits down with Philippa Gregory, the undisputed queen of historical fiction, to discuss The Berlin Traitor and the woman history loves to hate: Jane Boleyn. Drawing on new scholarship and decades of obsession, she reframes Jane not as a salacious villain, but as a brilliant survivor navigating the lethal politics of Henry VIII’s court. Philippa reflects on revisionist history, feminism, and why women in the past have been flattened into stereotypes by male historians. She reveals the extraordinary moment that reshaped her novel and explores how early reading and libraries shaped her own life from childhood.

David Headley is joined by historical fiction titan, Bernard Cornwell OBE. From the enduring presence of Richard Sharpe to the creation of The Last Kingdom, Bernard reflects on how history and curiosity have shaped his writing life.Bernard opens up about why Sharpe still speaks to him after forty years, the challenge of writing around real history, and how a planned ending collapsed. From book collecting to acting on stage, enjoy this rare, personal insight into one of Britain’s most beloved historical novelists. 

After nearly a decade away from writing novels, Joe Hill returned this year with King Sorrow, a bold, ferocious, genre-blurring epic that fuses horror, high fantasy, dark academia, rare books, and a Faustian bargain with devastating consequences.In this conversation, Joe joins David Headley to talk about writing a 900-page novel that never lets up, why big books have to move fast, and how six friends summoning a dragon becomes a story about power, complicity, and the stories we choose to live with. Along the way, they explore books bound in human skin, libraries as battlegrounds, the moral cost of comfort, and why genre labels matter far less than telling a great story. Plus, Joe reveals a major exclusive… only on Confessions of a Book Collector.

David Headley sits down with bestselling author Pierce Brown for a conversation that spans rejection, resilience, world-building, and rare books.Pierce reflects on the years before Red Rising (when more than 130 agents turned him down) and how a moment of creative risk helped change everything. He also shares the unexpected moment of inspiration that sparked the tone of Red Rising and what’s next for Darrow.A warm, candid conversation full of inspiration for readers, writers, and collectors alike. 

BBC Presenter and Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet,  shares the remarkable inspiration and writing process for her new book The Finest Hotel in Kabul, a vivid, human history of Afghanistan told through the people who worked inside its most iconic hotel.They explore how a single building became a witness to decades of hope, heartbreak and resilience, and why the everyday lives of waiters, chefs and housekeepers can reveal more about a country than any headline.

Former deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday, James Hanning, takes us behind the scenes of The Bookseller of Hay, his immersive portrait of Richard Booth, the man whose eccentric brilliance (and spectacular unruliness!) turned Hay-on-Wye into a world-famous literary destination.We talk about Booth’s larger-than-life personality, his love–hate relationship with the Hay Festival, his spectacular mischief, and the contradictions that made him both impossible and irresistible. James also shares how his upbringing and his instinct for “getting to the bottom of things” shaped this book and career.

In this episode of Confessions of a Book Collector, David sits down with acclaimed novelist, journalist and broadcaster Sebastian Faulks to explore the restless creative energy that drives his work.Sebastian discusses his latest release, Fires Which Burned Brightly: A Life in Progress,  a collection of essays born from his lifelong compulsion to write.From the childhood books that first sparked his imagination to the literary heroes and signed first editions he treasures today, this is an honest look at the writer behind the words.

She’s the biggest female voice in fiction right now, and a bestselling author of more than 20 novels, we’re delighted to share this brilliant interview with Kristin Hannah.From the remarkable way she writes her books to revealing a major exclusive - we hope you’ll enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

This episode opens with a reflection on the newly launched Go All In campaign, part of the National Year of Reading 2026, a nationwide push to get Britain reading for pleasure again. Backed by the National Literacy Trust and the Department for Education, the initiative aims to reignite our love of books at a time when fewer children and teenagers are reading for fun.From there, we turn to someone who has spent a lifetime thinking about why books matter. Ian Patterson, poet, translator, academic, and author of Books: A Manifesto or How to Build a Library, joins to reflect on what it means to live among books. From parting with his 6,000 volume library to rediscovering the emotional and intellectual worlds that books hold, Ian speaks with warmth, wit and deep humanity about why reading is not a luxury, but a way of being alive.Together, we explore the promise each book holds and why, even in a digital age, our shelves might just be the truest mirrors of who we are.