Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

Journalist and bestselling author, Jon Ronson, joins Simon and Matt for a chat about his brilliant new book 'The Castle'.
They discuss the manosphere, masculinity, performative male...and how the idea for this book came from his own son's story of being lured into a mysterious castle in the forest...
Here's a little more info on the book:

When Jon Ronson received a series of disquieting texts from his son Joel who’d been lured to a mysterious castle in the forests of New England late one night, it sets Ronson Sr. off on an adventure into an underworld of unmoored and disaffected men.

As Jon deepens his investigation into the castle and the wider ‘man crisis’ – where some are feeling tossed around in a sea of conflicting ideologies of what it means to be a man – urgent questions come to light. What exactly is ‘Princessing’? Why did a lawn care influencer dress as a baby in front of billions of online viewers, with catastrophic results? And more pressingly, why are two recently released murderers on their way to pay Jon a visit?

From the death of utopian factory towns to the false promise of YouTube influencer culture, Jon shows us our rapidly changing world like never before, and the men caught in the middle. A world drained of purpose, of collapsing institutions, where a new era of disinhibited behaviour has taken hold of our online and real-world selves. And as the castle mystery twists and turns into a cat-and-mouse story, will Jon be able to discover its terrifying secret hidden from the world?

International bestselling author, Robert Harris, joins Simon and Matt for a spot of Q&A.
He recommends us some books, reveals his writing routine, tells us about his amazing collection of books - and of course, tells us who he'd invite to his fantasy dinner party!
We also surprise him with a question from author and Literary Editor of The Spectator, Sam Leith!

Robert Harris returns to Books Of The Year to chat about his new novel, 'Agrippa'.

The book sees Robert return to Ancient Rome, to tell the fictionalised memoir of Agrippa - one of Augustus Caesar's great friends and top generals.
They chat about why Robert decided to return to this time, 10 years after the last novel he set here - and what inspired him to write about a soldier who did so much during his life, but who is not very well known.
Robert is a master storyteller and this novel is another brilliant page-turner, which is also full of fascinating facts.
Here's a little more about the book:

Julius Caesar is dead, and the lives of two teenaged boys are about to be changed forever. One is Caesar’s 17-year-old nephew, Octavius, whom he has made his heir.

The other is Octavius’s closest friend, Agrippa.

To claim Octavius’s inheritance, they must fight the giant figures of the Roman Empire – and, against all odds, they win. Octavius becomes the Emperor Augustus. For twenty years, they rule the world together.

Now Agrippa is fifty. Ailing and alone, betrayed by his wife’s infidelity, he takes refuge in his house on the Bay of Naples and begins to write his memoirs. Yet to stir up the past can be dangerous. From his earliest meetings with Julius Caesar, through the epic conflict with Mark Antony and Cleopatra, the great naval battle of Actium and the endless wars to expand the empire, he describes how one man has dominated his life: the cunning, ruthless, unknowable Octavius.

When it comes to power, does friendship exist at all?

David Baldacci is angry - and he's ploughed his feelings into his latest books.
Join Simon and Matt - and the international bestselling novelist - for a special Q&A episode, where he reveals his reading inspirations and who he would invite to his fantasy dinner party.
And you can hear more about David's latest work on our previous episode...and you can watch all of our episode on YouTube - follow and subscribe to our channel so you never miss an episode!

International superstar author, David Baldacci, joins Simon and Matt for a chat about his novel 'Nash Falls'.
They chat about the 'American Dream', the US economy, feeling jaded with the super wealthy, being angry at the status quo - and how he's put these feelings into a page-turning book.
Could this book have been written 10 years ago? David's not sure...but he know's its a book for now.
They also discuss the follow up novel, 'Hope Rises' - and what David put himself through in the name of research (including training with the Ranger Regiment in Georgia - where he parachuted out of a plane, ran obstacle courses and got dumped in water in a Hummer)
He also talks about his fight with AI companies to protect his (and other authors) work, a lawsuit which has been ongoing for three years. David, and fellow former Lawyer turned bestselling author John Grisham, continue to battle Microsoft and Open AI to save