The Penguin Podcast

What are the best books get you out of a reading slump? How did Snakes on a Plane inspire a literary sensation? What did James Joyce and Pakistani rap teach one of our debut novelists? And does a writer need to be completely delusional to finish writing a novel?  This week on Ask Penguin we sit down with three breakout debut authors, Angela Tomaski, Sufiyaan Salam, and Madeline Cash, to discuss the messy, hilarious reality of writing a first novel. And as always, we answer all your bookish questions and provide some much-needed reading recommendations. Discover all the books mentioned in this episode hereAbout the booksWimmy Road Boyz is a blistering story of masculinity, violence and love set over the course of a single, surreal night, told in energetic and cinematic prose.The Infamous Gilberts is a novel buoyed by love, buffeted by loss, and tangled together in an unputdownable story where the lines between eccentricity and madness, cruelty and love become hilariously heartbreakingly blurred.Lost Lambs is a novel of quick-witted observation and surprising tenderness, conspiracies, loss and humour, a family saga for the twenty-first century, all held together with crazy glue.About the authorsSufiyaan Salam is a writer and former animator from Blackburn. He’s working on several TV & feature projects, and co-wrote the short film MAGID / ZAFAR, premiering in 2025. Wimmy Road Boyz, winner of the #Merky Books New Writers’ prize, is his first novel.Angela Tomaski was born in Oxford and raised in Somerset with her four brothers and sisters. She has had a variety of different jobs, including as a waitress, cleaner, English teacher and activity coordinator in a care home. She has a daughter and two grandsons, and now lives in rural Dorset.Madeline Cash is the founder of Forever Magazine and the author of the story collection Earth Angel. Her fiction has appeared in Granta, The Baffler, The Sewanee Review, The Drift, and Bomb, among other publications. Lost Lambs is her debut novel.For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here https://goallin.org.uk 

How does artist Kae Tempest inspire Dawn French? Do editors always know best? What is the impact of grief on those we love most? And what really happened when Dawn French came face to face with a hippo while filming Harry Potter? In this episode of Ask Penguin, Rhianna Dhillon sits down with bestselling author and comedy legend Dawn French to discuss her moving new novel Enough, alongside brilliant book recommendations from Dawn and the Penguin team.  Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here About the book  Enough, follows Etta, 68, happy, healthy and satisfied with the life she has lived. One morning she gathers her family together and drops a bombshell that they all have one day to come to terms with - this will be Etta’s final day alive.   About the author  Dawn French has been making people laugh for 30 years. As a writer, comedian and actor, she has appeared in some of this country's most long-running and celebrated shows, including French and Saunders, The Vicar of Dibley, Jam and Jerusalem, and more recently, Can You Keep A Secret? Her first three novels, A Tiny Bit Marvellous, Oh Dear Silvia and According to YES, are all Sunday Times bestsellers. For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here https://goallin.org.uk 

What’s the difference between flash fiction and the short story? Why are we drawn to literature’s most flawed characters? And what would be the ideal fictional world for adulterers?   Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, on this episode of Ask Penguin, we’re answering your questions with our best book recommendations and talking to Booker Prize-longlisted novelist Sophie Mackintosh about her new novel Permanence. The book follows Clara and Francis – a couple in love, but in secret. When they wake in a strange city, they can finally be together. But as they move between this world and their ordinary lives, cracks begin to show, and they are forced to ask - how long can their love survive?  Discover all the books mentioned in this episode hereSophie Mackintosh is the author of four novels, including The Water Cure and Cursed Bread. She has been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Women's Prize, has won a Betty Trask Award, and has been selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. She has been published in Granta, The White Review and TANK magazine among others.  For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here https://goallin.org.uk 

How did Marian Keyes inspire Bryony Gordon’s writing? How do you write about family without falling into stereotypes? Which books capture the messy reality of life? And what is your favourite habit to fit reading into your life?  The Ask Penguin team returns with a shelf-load of must-read book recommendations - and this week, we're joined by bestselling author, journalist, and podcaster Bryony Gordon to discuss her debut novel, People Pleaser.  The novel follows Olivia Greenwood, a self-confessed people pleaser who, after one chaotic night out, decides it’s time to start living life on her own terms. Bryony Gordon is a columnist, author, and host of the podcast The Life of Bryony. She is the author of several bestselling books, including Mad Girl and You Got This, both Sunday Times No.1 bestsellers and British Book Award nominees, and is a passionate advocate for mental health, founding Mental Health Mates, a global peer support network. People Pleaser is her first novel. Discover all the books mentioned in this episode hereFor more information about the National Year of Reading click here https://goallin.org.uk 

Is Wuthering Heights the perfect novel or the perfect work of art? Why do we fall in love with villains? Is all love doomed? And if Emerald Fennell could adapt another book to film, what would she choose? In this special episode of Ask Penguin, we speak to the director of Wuthering Heights' latest adaptation, Emerald Fennell, about her relationship to Emily Brontë's novel, how she went about interpreting such a complex classic, and what she wants audiences to take away from her vision. Also joining us in the studio are authors Henry Eliott and Harriet Evans, as we deep-dive into the book, the film, and the life of the Brontës. Discover more about this episode and all the books by clicking hereWatch Emerald Fennell's interview on YouTube

In this special bonus episode, and to mark Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, we step inside her home in Alton to uncover the life she lived there and the objects she treasured most. From first editions to her own annotated books which formed her personal library, we explore how her surroundings and daily routines shaped her writing - and how walking through her rooms brings her world vividly to life.Discover all our episode transcripts and book recommendations at Penguin.co.uk  Love everything Jane Austen? Visit all our features and beautiful editions of all her works by clicking: Jane Austen  Follow in our footsteps and find out more aout her home and plan your visit by clicking: Jane Austen's House Ask Penguin will be back in the New Year. Until then, Happy Reading!

What were our favourite books of the year and what are we most excited to read in 2026? Join the team behind the Ask Penguin podcast to look back at standout titles, memorable podcast moments, and the reading intentions we’re taking into the New Year.Explore all the books mentioned on this episode: Click hereAsk Penguin will be back in 2026. Find us on Insatgram @PenguinUKBooks and follow our Broadcast channel for exclusive content, giveaways and your chance to put your questions to your favourite authors!

Which novels are truly unputdownable and what should you read on a dark winter's night? We’re joined by best-selling author, Paula Hawkins, who discusses art, love and remote islands in her latest thriller, The Blue Hour. She also helps us tackle your listener questions with a stack of gripping recommendations to guide you to your next great read. Explore all the books mentioned on this episode: Click herePaula Hawkins worked as a journalist for fifteen years before writing her first novel. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, she moved to London in 1989. Her first thriller The Girl on the Train became a global phenomenon, selling over 23 million copies. Published in over fifty languages, it was a No.1 bestseller around the world and a box-office-hit film starring Emily Blunt.Paula's subsequent thrillers have all been instant Sunday Times bestsellers. In 2021 A Slow Fire Burning was nominated for Thriller of the Year at the British Book Awards, and in 2025 The Blue Hour was voted the Good Housekeeping Good Books winner.

What are the best new books in Korean fiction? What is the process of translating a book into English? And how do you evoke a sense of place you haven't visited?This week we sat down with award-winning and internationally best-selling author, Karl Ove Knausgaard to discuss his latest novel, The School of Night.The School of Night is a Faustian-inspired meditation on art and creativity, the 4th novel in The Morning Star series, and the first in the sequence that can be read as a standalone novel. Discover all the books mentioned on this episode: Click hereKarl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle cycle has been heralded as a masterpiece all over the world. From A Death in the Family to The End, the novels move through childhood into adulthood and, together, form an enthralling portrait of human life. Knausgaard has been awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature, the Brage Prize and the Jerusalem Prize. His work, which also includes the Seasons Quartet and the Morning Star sequence (The Morning Star, The Wolves of Eternity, The Third Realm and The School of Night) is published in thirty-six languages.