Books and Authors

BBC Radio 4

4.1 (478)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY

This podcast features Open Book and A Good Read. Open Book talks to authors about their work. In A Good Read Harriett Gilbert discusses favourite books.

2 DAYS AGO

A Good Read: Naomi Alderman and Abi Dare

The Power author Naomi Alderman, and Nigerian writer Abi Dare discuss favourite books. Naomi chooses Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher, a series of hilarious letters written by a beleaguered academic. Abi champions A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini's tale of two women in Taliban governed Afghanistan and Harriett recommends James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, two immensely powerful essays. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven Follow us on Instagram: agoodreadbbc Photo credit: Annabel Moeller

28 min
11 NOV

A Good Read: Jenny Kleeman and Sam Knight

EDUCATED by Tara Westover, chosen by Jenny Kleeman THE WREN, THE WREN by Anne Enright, chosen by Harriett Gilbert GIVING UP THE GHOST by Hilary Mantel, chosen by Sam Knight Journalist and broadcaster Jenny Kleeman (of Radio 4's The Gift and author of The Price of Life) chooses Tara Westover's memoir Educated, which caused a sensation when it was first published. It's about her childhood growing up in an isolated Mormon family in rural Idaho, who were preparing for the end of the world, and didn't believe in school, doctors or medicine. It's about how she studied her way out of a difficult upbringing, eventually earning a PhD at Cambridge University. Sam Knight (staff writer at the New Yorker and author of The Premonitions Bureau) also picks a memoir, but of a very different kind. He goes for Hilary Mantel's beguiling Giving Up The Ghost. In it, she explores the real, and imaginary, ghosts of her life - the illnesses that have haunted her body, the family she would never have, and the art of writing. Harriett Gilbert brings a work of fiction by a writer she loves, the Irish writer Anne Enright. They discuss her latest novel The Wren, The Wren, a story which speaks about the inheritance of trauma and the price of love. Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio in Bristol Join the conversation @agoodreadbbc Instagram

28 min
4 NOV

A Good Read: Nihal Arthanayake and Elif Shafak

Nihal has chosen Amma, the debut novel by Sri Lankan writer Saraid de Silva, which he compares to meeting someone on a train and having a long, intense conversation. Elif Shafak's choice, however, You're Embarrassing Yourself by Desiree Akhavan, he describes as more like a hilarious night in a pub. Harriett has gone for The Second Murderer by Denise Mina, a Philip Marlowe novel. But is there a need to add to Raymond Chandler's canon? Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven Join the conversation on Instagram: agoodreadbbc

28 min
28 OCT

A Good Read: Tim Spector and Tatty Macleod

THE COUNTRY OF OTHERS by Leïla Slimani, chosen by Tatty Macleod THE MAN WHO ATE EVERYTHING by Jeffrey Steingarten, chosen by Tim Spector ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Comedian Tatty Macleod chooses a novel by French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, the first volume of a new trilogy telling the saga of a French-Moroccan family between 1946 and 2016. Scientist and food writer Professor Tim Spector chooses an award-winning collection of essays by food writer and critic Jeffrey Steingarten. His impassioned, funny, and mouth-watering anecdotes are all bound by a gluttonous curiosity that too often tips into obsession. And Harriett Gilbert chooses a novella by Samantha Harvey called Orbital. Set on the International Space Station, it follows six astronauts as they reflect on life back down on Earth, in all its fury and glory. Producer: Becky Ripley

28 min
27 OCT

Books to Read and Re-Read

In this final edition of Open Book, Johny Pitts and Chris Power celebrate some of the outstanding novels from the last twenty six years. They are joined by Kamila Shamsie, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018 for her novel Home Fire. Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton, and one of this year's Booker Prize judges. Ted Hodgkinson, Head of Literature and Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre, and previous chair of the International Booker. Kamila, Sara and Ted pick out some of the books, including Wolf Hall, Lincoln in the Bardo and On Beauty, which have stood out for them: books they'd recommend to others, and re-read again and again. Producer: Kirsten Locke Books List: Best of Friends – Kamila Shamsie Burnt Shadows – Kamila Shamsie Home Fire – Kamila Shamsie The Confessions of Frannie Langton – Sara Collins In the City by the Sea – Kamila Shamsie Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel Lincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro Seasonal Quartet – Ali Smith The Bee Sting – Paul Murray Maps for Lost Lovers – Nadeem Aslam In Memoriam – Alice Winn On Beauty – Zadie Smith

28 min
21 OCT

A Good Read: Fee Mak and Ali Woods

REASONS TO STAY ALIVE by Matt Haig, chosen by Ali Woods ELENA KNOWS by Claudia Piñeiro, chosen by Fee Mak THE DETAILS by Ia Genberg, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Comedian Ali Woods chooses a memoir by Matt Haig based on his experiences of living with depression and anxiety disorder. Moving, funny and incredibly honest, Reasons to Stay Alive is a book which blasts open the way in which we talk about depression. Presenter and DJ Fee Mak chooses a novel by Claudia Piñeiro called Elena Knows, following a day in the life of Elena, a 63-year-old woman struggling to come to terms with both her own illness and the death of her daughter. And Harriett Gilbert chooses a short Swedish novel by Ia Genberg called The Details, exploring the relationships that define us, and the small but profound details that stay with us. Producer: Becky Ripley

28 min
20 OCT

AI and the novel

Elizabeth Day and Johny Pitts discuss AI and the novel.

28 min
14 OCT

A Good Read Karl Ove Knausgaard and Amy Liptrot

The two writers choose favourite books. Recorded at the Edinburgh Book Festival

28 min

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4.1

out of 5

478 Ratings

Hurrah - still no ads here

18/03/2022

Another Kitty

Always interesting and fab that there are still no ads - it feels like a friend. Thank you Mariella
Bit of a shock

31 Mar

Mole68

I was very surprised that the ep with Christopher Eccleston played with no content warning. I was in the car, so had no view of show notes. To be exposed to the conversation about depression when I felt suicidal was upsetting. My responsibility but i’ll avoid the podcast in future.
[A Good Read] Obsessed!

28/01/2023

Charlie 923

I tend to skip the other episodes, but A Good Read is one of my favourite podcasts of all time. Love listening in and picking up new recommendations - and re-reading books through guests’ experiences.
A Good Read

27/09/2021

WWW/5934

A Good Read has been off air for too long. I hope the BBC isn’t thinking of doing something stupid like axing it or replacing Harriet Gilbert with someone awful.

This podcast features Open Book and A Good Read. Open Book talks to authors about their work. In A Good Read Harriett Gilbert discusses favourite books.