Book Shambles with Robin and Josi‪e‬ The Cosmic Shambles Network

This week's Book Shambles is a cross over event. Physicist, and one of the world's biggest selling science authors, Carlo Rovelli has a new book out today, Helgoland. He joined Robin for a conversation for our Patreon exclusive series Tips for Existence but we're making some of that conversation around the book available for free here on Book Shambles. To hear the full Tips for Existence episode, which is 40 minutes longer, you can sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles Other guests in that series include Neil Gaiman, Tim Minchin, Ann Druyan and Brian Greene.

It's a double header this week! First up Robin and Josie chat with journalist Ben Machell about his book, The Unusual Suspect: The Rise and Fall of a Modern-Day Outlaw and then in the second part Robin chats to Booker Prize shortlisted author of The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste. If you'd like to hear the full versions of both of these interviews, you can subscribe to the podcast's Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles

Journalist Nell Frizzell's new book is The Panic Years: Dates, Doubts, and the Mother of All Decisions and it spoke so strongly to Josie that she provided one of the cover quotes so it only makes sense she join her and Robin on the podcast. They chat about the book, motherhood, some of Nell's favourite books about parenting, vegetable growing and much more. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles. 20 minutes extra this week.

On today's episode, Josie couldn't make the recording and so Robin is joined by a guest co-host, the brilliant Natalie Haynes. They chat to Mark Steel about a new book of collected writings and musings of the late Jeremy Hardy, Speaks Volumes, for which Mark wrote the introduction. They chat about the difference between a comedian and a comic, favourite stories in the book and why it's high time we called a canoe a canoe... To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles where there's a whole bonus twenty minutes this week.

Salena Godden was one of our very first guests on Book Shambles six years ago and now she's back to talk about her debut novel, the hugely acclaimed Mrs Death Misses Death. She chats to Josie and Robin about the book, discovering female authors in her thirties and the process of writing while walking. Support the show on Patreon to get extended editions each and every week. You can do that at patreon.com/bookshambles The extended edition this week includes the potential of cannibal marshmallows covered in death magic...

This week Robin and Josie are joined by the multi-award winning, and Booker Prize long-listed, Irish novelist and short stories writer Kevin Barry. They chat about his latest collection of short stories, That Old Country Music, the grumpiness of Dennis Potter, a hatred of the first draft and the appeal of living by a swamp. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles