What is Books + Bits?
It’s the UK’s No.1 books newsletter, and a Pandora’s box of books, interviews and culture recs. I’ve loved recommending things for as long as I can remember and over the years, I have done it via a blog, a newspaper column, a podcast and now, this newsletter. In short? Join over 100,000 readers and let me hack through the cultural overload for you.
Who are you?
Hard to answer without getting existential, so I’ll keep it top-line bio: I’m a mum of three, living in London. I’m also a journalist and broadcaster, who has written for The Sunday Times (where I used to be an editor on the Style mag) The Guardian, ELLE, Vogue, Grazia, The Cut, GQ and more. I have produced and hosted multiple no.1 podcasts including the The High Low, Doing It Right and Book Chat and made several audio documentaries for The BBC (about Britney Spears and the history of reality TV). I also hosted 8 series of The Missing. I’m currently working on a new audio documentary, for Audible.
Much of my professional life is spent interviewing people - mainly on stage, with authors like Margaret Atwood, Jacinda Ardern, Jung Chang, and Bernadine Evaristo, but sometimes cover stories for magazines, such as Michelle Obama, Kate Winslet, Gillian Anderson - and talking about books. I was a judge on the 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction and I’ve also published two books: a 2020 essay collection, How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? which was a Sunday Times bestseller and a 2022 anthology, What Writers Read: 35 Writers On Their Favourite Book, which I edited in aid of The National Literacy Trust.
When will I receive a newsletter?
All subscribers receive a free weekly edition of the letter (occasionally, like when I commission out - which means I pay the contributor - these will be paywalled). For £6 a month, paid subscribers also receive an edition of ‘Bits’ every weekend. This is my favourite thing to write, and it includes things to watch, read, listen to, chew over.
What do I do if I can’t afford a paid subscription?
Please e-mail me and I will comp you one.
