Kobo in Conversation

Nathan Maharaj spoke with Jamaluddin Aram, 2024 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize-winner and author of the novel Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday about his new collection of essays called The Blood of Things: A Love Letter to Afghanistan. 
Jamaluddin Aram on writing beyond lines of division

Producer and Kobo in Conversation co-host Nathan Maharaj enlisted the help of Kobo's Deandra Lalonde to guide readers through this overwhelming fall 2026 season of new books.
Here are all the books Deandra and Nathan covered in this episode.
Series
A Court of Splintered Harmony - Sarah J. Maas
Threshing Day - Rebecca Yarros
Dead Beat - Leigh Bardugo
Victorious - VE Schwab
Literary
The Disappearers - Marlon James
Ply - Hernan Diaz
Partita - Barbara Kingsolver
American Hagwon - Min Jin Lee
The Radiance - Ayad Akhtar
Buzz-bound
Exit Party - Emily St. John Mandel
Life Out of Order - Audrey Niffenegger
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman - Deesha Philyaw
Hollywood, Ending - John Green
Hollow Bones - Jodi Picoult
The Pirate Queen - Ariel Lawhon
Switzy - Emma Cline
The Sorceress of Sky Serpents - Eden Robinson
Nonfiction
Swan Song - Charles Spencer
The Vanishing Family - Robert Kolker
The American Way of Killing - Malcolm Gladwell
Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea - Emily Wilson
Redwood - Ben MacIntyre
Deandra's faves so far
Taipei Story - R. F. Kuang
Broken Rival - Tessa Bailey
The Disappearers - Marlon James
More links at: Kobo's big fall 2026 books round up!

Michael Tamblyn spoke with TJ Klune, author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, and the Extraordinaries YA series, to name just a few of his many books. TJ's latest book is We Burned So Bright. It's a story about a couple, Don and Rodney, who set out on a road trip to lay their shared pain to rest while all around them, people are dealing with the very imminent end of the world. 
And to WATCH Michael and TJ's chat, check out the video version: https://youtu.be/owvD19D0_6Q 
Is TJ Klune a little bit better every day?

Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Shari Lapena. Since her 2016 novel The Couple Next Door, she's been known as one of the masters of domestic noir. In her newest book Getting Away With Murder, her 10th suspense novel in as many years, we get financial precarity, unlikeable yet relatable characters, mistrust mixed with intimacy, and all the page-turning qualities that readers have come to expect in a Shari Lapena novel.
 Shari Lapena on writing a murder mystery where we already know whodunit

Nadia Odunayo didn't set out to create the leading competitor to social reading app GoodReads. But somewhere along the way while building her website & app The StoryGraph she discovered that for a lot of folks that's exactly what she'd done.
In this episode of our Booktalking series, Kobo in Conversation hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj are joined by Nadia to find out about StoryGraph's origins and where Nadia's taking it in the future.
Kobo first met Nadia back in 2021: read our interview
Learn about all the ways you can keep track of the books you read, including on your Kobo with StoryGraph: The best ways to track your reading | Kobo Books Blog
Join the Kobo in Conversation reading challenge on StoryGraph (and get a sneak peek at the books we're reading for upcoming episodes): Read along with the Kobo in Conversation podcast | The StoryGraph