Hi, I’m Sonya.

A woman who acts, reads, parents, writes, podcasts, cooks and loves good conversation.

Maybe you know me as Penny from Lost, or from The Mind of the Married Man, Tell Me You Love Me, FlashForward, Common Law, The Catch or For All Mankind. But anyone who knows me well knows how much I love books. My mum is a nursery school teacher which means I learned to read at two and a half years old and I would read anything that I could lay my hands on. (She left me in the car once and came back to find me reading the Renault V handbook. Relax, it was the 70’s - we all grew up in the back of parked cars).

I still read. A career, husband, and two kids later, I don’t own a purse that doesn’t fit a book in it.

I’m always look for recommendations: classics I’ve missed, new releases I can devour. I’m voracious. My happy place is an hour to myself in an independent bookstore.

I studied English Literature at Christ Church College at the University of Oxford and have never stopped wanting to talk about books, so in 2017 I invented this podcast. I think it’s interesting to think about the books that made you who you are. The voices that have shaped your own, or formed your views about love, morality, freedom, identity, politics, the world around you. My guests often tell me what a provocative question it is to sit with, to think about what those voices might be. It’s not a question we ordinarily ask ourselves.

We cover a huge range of books: cookbooks, comics, classics, fiction and non. We delve into all genres.

I’ve loved creating every single episode you see here. I’ve loved talking to people about what books mean to them, about how they intersect with their lives and with their past, and what it means to let a piece of writing act on you in such a way that you are forever changed by it.

I am neither a professional interviewer nor a professional book critic. These are just honest conversations about books, life and where they meet.

If you have any recommendations for future guests, suggestions for books you’ve loved or feedback please get in touch with me here at bookishwithsonyawalger@gmail.com or via Instagram or Twitter.

Sit with the question yourself - what are the books that have made you who you are?