Bookends with Mattea Roach

In Michael Redhill’s new novel, The Trial of Katterfelto, the titular Katterfelto is a traveling magician and scientist in the late 1700s. One day, Katterfelto and his partner Roger come across a mysterious horn that emits a woman’s voice … and that voice calls herself Siri. Siri is from the future, and she tells the two of climate disaster, social unrest and AI takeover. As Katterfelto and Roger start using Siri for their magic show, they must learn how to decipher her messages … and figure out what she’s really warning them about. This week, Michael joins Mattea Roach to talk about his interest in magic, anxieties for the future and writing a different kind of ghost story. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: What if your dreams could land you in jail?In a world run by AI, what makes us human? Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

What does it mean to love a place that is so complicated? Pulitzer prize finalist Daniyal Mueenuddin’s new novel, This Is Where the Serpent Lives, dives into class, corruption and the systems of power that dictate life in Pakistan. Over six decades, it follows the lives of both the wealthy elite and those that serve them … and it takes readers all across the country, from its opulent cityscapes to rural farmlands. Although the book is fiction, many of its characters are inspired by real people Daniyal has known in Pakistan while living on his farm there. This week, Daniyal tells Mattea Roach about fictionalizing those people, his own relationship with Pakistan and how the country has changed. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: How far would you go for your family?The beauty and despair of Appalachia Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Julian Barnes says his new novel is his final. It’s called Departure(s), and it’s about two people who fall in love when they’re young and then meet again decades later. The story is told through the perspective of a writer named Julian … who has a lot in common with the author himself. The book was released on Julian’s 80th birthday, and after four decades of writing and a Booker Prize win under his belt, Julian is finally putting down the pen. This week, he joins Mattea Roach to reflect on his literary legacy, why he feels less afraid of death and his recent secret wedding. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Ian McEwan has hope for humanity — here’s whyFor Jeanette Winterson, stories are essential to survival Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

For Michael V. Smith, the answer is a resounding yes … and he explores that in his new book, Soundtrack: A Lyric Memoir. It’s a collection of poems about snapshots in his life, each named after a different song or album. He dives into growing up gay during the AIDS crisis, finding his first love and coming of age on the dance floor. The book celebrates music and memory, and is a deeply personal look into the songs that send us back in time. This week, Michael tells Mattea Roach about the albums that made him, reading old journal entries and what it really means to be a man. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Music, sex and finding the soundtrack to queer joyReliving the soundtrack of the 2000s Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

This week, Bookends is celebrating libraries with a special Canada Reads event at the Hamilton Public Library. Morgann Book truly lives up to her name. As one of Canada’s biggest book influencers, she shares her love of literature with millions of followers … and she’s taking that to the next level as a contestant on this year’s Canada Reads. Morgann is championing It’s Different This Time, the debut novel by Joss Richard. It’s a second chance romance about two former roommates with some very unresolved feelings, and it draws from Joss’s own experiences as a TV producer in LA. Joss and Morgann joined Mattea on-stage to talk about exes, preparing for Canada Reads and why there are so many chefs in romance novels. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Fans asked for another happy ending — Carley Fortune deliveredAll I want for Christmas … is a fake boyfriend? Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

In Tara Gereaux’s new novel, Wild People Quiet, a Métis woman works tirelessly to hide her identity for years … until everything starts to come crashing down. It’s the early 1900s when Florence realizes she can pass as white. Longing for a comfortable life free of discrimination, she decides to leave her entire family and culture behind. Decades later, her carefully constructed facade is challenged by a group of Métis farmhands who come through town, and she begins to wonder if her rigid, lonely life was worth it after all. This week, Tara joins Mattea to talk about Florence’s complexity, life for Métis people in the mid-20th century and exploring the beauty of beadwork in the novel. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: In the Caribbean, secret lives come at a costWhat would it take to become the first Cherokee astronaut? Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

What does family mean to two motherless daughters? That question is at the centre of Kin, a new work of historical fiction by Tayari Jones. It’s about the bond between two girls in the American South as they end up on starkly different paths, and a deeply human look into life for Black Americans on the brink of the civil rights movement. You might know Tayari from her novel An American Marriage, which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2019. Until Kin, Tayari called herself a “committed” contemporary novelist. But when those two characters from the 1950s came to her, she had no choice but to write a historical novel that ended up on Oprah’s list. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Strip club … or culture hub?An opera singer gives voice to the Grenadian revolution Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Toronto’s most infamous women’s prison was meant to rehabilitate women … but its real history tells a much darker story. Heather Marshall dives headfirst into the Mercer Reformatory in her latest novel, Liberty Street. The book follows Emily Radcliffe, a 1960s journalist who goes undercover to expose the prison’s harsh conditions and abuse of inmates. Over 30 years later, after the prison’s closing, a detective revisits one of the its sinister mysteries … and these intertwining narratives tell a story of female resilience and strength. This week, Heather tells Mattea Roach about the history of the prison, the real journalists that inspired the story and what it means to be an “incorrigible” woman. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Who was the woman Kafka loved?Emma Donoghue boards a train destined for disaster Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

If you had to tell a story to stay alive … what story would you tell? Jeanette Winterson’s new book, One Aladdin Two Lamps, is a nonfiction exploration of storytelling, culture, politics and the things that make us human. It’s based on the One Thousand and One Nights, the famous collection of Middle Eastern folk tales home to characters like Aladdin, Sinbad and Ali Baba. At the centre of it all is Scheherazade, a woman who tells a vengeful Sultan stories for 1001 nights to stop him from executing her. Like Scheherazade, Jeanette sees storytelling as a means of survival. In the book, she uses those tales to muse on the way that stories shape our identities and our lives … and how they’re a tool to better ourselves and the world around us. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Zadie Smith never thought she’d tell this storyIan McEwan has hope for humanity — here’s why Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

What does it mean to come of age in a place where violence is a daily fact of life? Ashraf Zaghal’s debut novel, Seven Heavens Away, is about a Palestinian teen named Aziz. Like any teen, he’s growing up, working part-time and learning how to navigate love and loss … but he’s also living through escalating violence and unrest in Jerusalem. When Aziz's friend is killed, he grapples with grief and an uncertain future. While his involvement in Palestinian resistance efforts grows, he also starts to harbour feelings for a Jewish girl named Dafna. This week, Ashraf tells Mattea about being a teenager living through constant tragedy, the role of religion in the story and how it felt to return to Palestine while writing the novel. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: What happens to fiction in times of war?V.V. Ganeshananthan: Exploring the complexity of Sri Lanka's civil war in her prize-winning novel, Brotherless Night Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

What happens behind the closed doors of a strip club? Pole dancing, booming basslines … and in Nic Stone’s new novel, the chilling mystery of a missing exotic dancer. In Boom Town, the manager of a fictional Atlanta strip club sets out to find a missing dancer named Charm. The book offers a shadowy taste of Atlanta’s notorious adult entertainment scene … but it’s also a look into the lives of the regular women who live and dance in the city. This week, Nic joins Mattea Roach to talk about growing up in Atlanta, why strip clubs are cultural epicentres and writing her first novel for adults. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Pitbull, Scarface and a whale walk into a bookHere’s what you have wrong about teen moms Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Can you inherit fury? Kagiso Lesego Molope’s new novel, We Inherit The Fire, follows a mother and daughter at the end of apartheid in South Africa. Kewame is a famous freedom fighter who is haunted by the trauma of apartheid and her time as a political prisoner. Her daughter Kelelo is a regular teenager who resists being defined by her mother’s heroics … but is struggling to connect with her mother at home. The two voices intertwine to tell a story about memory, history and the ways we inherit resilience and pain. This week, Kagiso tells Mattea about her own youth in South Africa, writing about motherhood and how Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren informed her characters. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: An opera singer gives voice to the Grenadian revolutionWhat would it take to become the first Cherokee astronaut? Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

What do you know about Appalachia? Fancy Gap is the debut novel by Zak Jones, and it challenges the preconceptions we might have about the region. The story follows three generations of an Appalachian family as they navigate poverty, illness, extreme religion … and the eternal struggle of finding one’s place in the world. There’s no better person to tell the story than Zak, who grew up in the region and has deep connections to its culture. This week, Zak joins Mattea to talk about his upbringing, how religion shapes the culture and why you might be wrong about Appalachia. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Meth and murder in rural AmericaOcean Vuong finds beauty in a fast food shift Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and tiktok @cbcbooks

When Chris Kraus became fixated on a murder case in a Minnesotan town, she decided to try her hand at a true crime novel ... but the project soon evolved into something much bigger. The Four Spent The Day Together weaves together the stories of an impulsive murder carried out by three teens, a marriage torn apart by addiction and the reality of life in working class America. Much like Chris’s hit novel I Love Dick, the story and its protagonist draw heavily from her own life experiences. This week, Chris tells Mattea Roach about her interest in the crime, how addiction can shape a relationship and why she’s finally exploring her childhood in fiction. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: When young men murder, what can we learn?Buffoon or genius? What makes a cult leader? Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and tiktok @cbcbooks

Did the Olympics get you in the hockey spirit? If not, here’s a book that certainly will. Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard is a novel about small town life and Canada's favourite pastime … and it’s also one of this year’s Canada Reads picks. The story follows Adam, a failing sportswriter who goes back to his hometown to interview a notorious retired hockey goon. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, with one catch. The goon is actually Adam’s estranged father … and he can’t run away from his past forever. This week, Tyler joins Mattea to talk about who inspired the titular Terry Punchout, why growing up is so complicated and the warmth of small town Nova Scotia. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: For Indigenous players, ice hockey is a ceremony of its ownHere’s what you have wrong about teen moms Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Tamara Jong grew up going door-to-door for the Jehovah’s Witnesses … and her new memoir, Worldly Girls, is all about breaking away from the faith. For much of her life, the strict religious movement was Tamara’s only way of making sense of the world. But as she got older, Tamara began to reflect on her unconventional childhood, complicated relationships with her parents and mental health struggles. She realized that she wasn’t lost without the Witnesses — it was actually the religion that was preventing her from finding herself. This week, Tamara tells Mattea about growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, her relationship to motherhood and what it really means to be worldly. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Video games are radical. Not in the way you thinkWhy an ADHD diagnosis had this author rethinking everything

Murder Bimbo is a new book about a sex worker-turned assassin … and it’s the debut novel by Rebecca Novack, a former priest-in-training. The story follows a sex worker nicknamed Murder Bimbo who is hired by the government to kill a right-wing politician. She does the deed, makes her escape, and tells her story in emails to a social justice podcaster. But things aren’t quite what they seem. So is she a scapegoat … or is she a liar? This week, Rebecca dives into the wild premise of the book, how she almost became a priest and the challenges of writing a political novel in fraught times. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Why Mona Awad gave the Bunnies a sayTaylor Jenkins Reid is among the stars — on and off the page

If you’re worried about being lonely in the afterlife, don’t worry. Just hire a corpse bride to keep you company in the coffin! In Lindsay Wong’s new novel, Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies, a university dropout is desperate to pay off her family’s debt … so she signs her life away to the ancient Chinese tradition of corpse marriage. But as she prepares to be auctioned off to the highest bidder and locked away in a coffin forever, she realizes that running from her family’s ghosts won’t be that easy. This week, Lindsay joins Mattea to talk about the history behind death marriages, how her own life inspired the novel and why she loves to write about the grotesque. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: How far would you go for your family?Three writers on the monsters that made them

Carla Ciccone was 39 years old when she was diagnosed with ADHD. That diagnosis changed everything for her ... and she shares her experience in her new memoir, Nowhere Girl: Life as a Member of ADHD’s Lost Generation. Over the past few years, the rates of adult women receiving ADHD diagnoses have risen dramatically. So why were these women overlooked for so long? And where do they go from here? This week, Carla tells Mattea about struggling with undiagnosed ADHD, understanding her childhood through a new lens and finding humour in the frustration of it all. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Weightlifting made Casey Johnston stronger — in muscle and mindKate Gies: Reclaiming her body after years of medical trauma

If you’re feeling jaded by money, politics and modern dating … you’re not the only one. Conor Kerr’s new novella, Beaver Hills Forever, follows the everyday lives of four Métis people in Edmonton. The odds are stacked against them and life is exhausting, but each person finds meaning in the small moments and the beauty of life in the Canadian Prairies. Beaver Hills Forever is a poetic love letter to the city of Edmonton and the power of community … and yes, the perils of dating apps make an appearance too. This week, Conor joins Mattea to talk about the unique structure of the book, how he battles his own cynicism and what it really means to strive for a better life. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: For Indigenous players, ice hockey is a ceremony of its ownOcean Vuong finds beauty in a fast food shift