Nathan Maharaj spoke with the novelist and journalist Jowita Bydlowska about her new book Unshaming: A Memoir of Recovery, Relapse, and What Comes After. It's a frank, unflinching recounting of the years following the publication of her first book, the memoir Drunk Mom. And it's a thoughtful, fearless meditation on the concept of shame.

Jowita Bydlowska speaks about her accidental expertise in shame

For this special bonus episode of Kobo in Conversation, producer and co-host Nathan Maharaj was joined by one of Kobo's booksellers (and frequent Staff Picks contributor), Deandra Lalonde. They sort through the buzziest books to take along to the beach, the books landing in the next few weeks that you won't want to miss, and how best to bring a little Hollywood into your summer reading this year.

Books mentioned:

• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
• Whistler by Ann Patchett
• Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune
  • From 2023: Carley Fortune on summer love and second chances
• Heartstopper #6 by Alice Oseman
• Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty
• The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson
• The Odyssey by Homer
• There's Only One Sin in Hollywood by Rasheed Newson
• On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle

And check out dozens more summer picks HERE.

Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Sharon Bala, author of the award-winning 2018 novel, The Boat People. Her new book is called Good Guys. It's about a nearly bankrupt international aid charity called Children of the World, and how their stumbling into the good graces of an A-list celebrity raises a lot of money, and a lot of questions about who the good guys really are.

You can watch their conversation too: https://youtu.be/6_YeVizUPr4

Sharon Bala on the absurdity of so-called Good Guys