Kobo in Conversation

Joined by a live audience in Kobo's intimate event space, Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Leanne Toshiko Simpson, author of Never Been Better and winner of the 2025 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. Never Been Better is the story of a group of three friends who met in a psych ward, but time has passed and now two of whom are about to get married while the third tries to figure out whether to swallow her feelings or let it all out. 
Leanne Toshiko Simpson on self-care and writing a prize-winning rom-com

Hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj caught up on the latest private equity-fueled mergers & acquisitions, what we're not talking about when we're talking about the money made from books, plus a whole lot more.
This episode covers:
Rosetta Books acquired by Open Road Media
Why private equity is (still) interested in the book business, most recently in German companies Bookwire and Zebralution
Independent Publishing Group's move to add more direct-to-consumer services for their publisher clients (and why becoming a bookseller is harder than it looks)
The "dark matter"* that's not being reported when we talk about the health of the book business
Publishers and librarians duking it out over digital book pricing Sidebar on Heated Rivalry and the NYPL

And a remembrance of Porter Anderson
Beloved backlist books cited in this episode include Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis, The Rise and Fall fo the Third Reich by William L. Shirer, the works of Octavia E. Butler and William Styron.
More author interviews at kobo.com/conversation
Find past Booktalking episodes here 
 
*Nathan said "grey matter" in the episode because his was failing him at the time.

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Dan Rubinstein, author of Water Borne: A 1,200-Mile Paddleboarding Pilgrimage. In it he tells the story of his journey via stand-up paddleboard through waterways around Montreal, New York City, Toronto, and his home in Ottawa. But it's also the story of all of us, and how we benefit from spending time near bodies of water. 
Dan Rubinstein on finding community on waterfronts

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with poet and novelist Souvankham Thammavongsa. Her first poetry collection Small Arguments was published in 2003, and in 2020 her first short story collection How to Pronounce Knife won Canada's Giller Prize. Her latest book is a novel called Pick a Colour. It's a story set in a nail salon run by a retired boxer, and it won the Giller Prize in 2025. 
Souvankham Thammavongsa on writing a woman at the centre of her own story

Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with sports broadcaster Eric Smith and writer Andrew Bricker, who together are the authors of We the Raptors: 30 Players – 30 Stories – 30 Years. It is a snackable feast of a book about Canada's only NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, who celebrate their 30th anniversary this season. 
Eric Smith and Andrew Bricker on 30 years of the Toronto Raptors