Books and Authors

BBC Radio 4

3.8 (9)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
EVERY TWO WEEKS

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.

24 MIN AGO

A Good Read: Inua Ellams and Ted Hodgkinson

WHEN WE CEASE TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD by Benjamin Labatut (translated by Adrian Nathan West), chosen by Ted Hodgkinson ENTER GHOST by Isabella Hammad, chosen by Inua Ellams GHOSTING: A DOUBLE LIFE by Jennie Erdal, chosen by Harriett Gilbert As Head of Literature and Spoken Word-programming at the Southbank Centre in London, writers and writing are at the heart of Ted Hodgkinson's work. In 2020 he chaired the judging panel of the International Booker Prize and he has judged many other awards, including the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. His choice of a good read is a slim, genre-defying book by Chilean author Benjamin Labatut which packs a huge punch. It's about the scientists and mathematicians whose work has shaped our world, and the unintended - sometimes horrifying - consequences of scientific advancement. Inua Ellams is a playwright, poet and curator. His work includes Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half-God of Rainfall, and an updating of Chekhov's Three Sisters, set during the Biafran Civil War, and he's recently been announced as one of the writers of the next series of Dr Who. His choice is Isabella Hammad's 2023 novel Enter Ghost. After a disastrous love affair, British-Palestinian actress Sonia goes to stay with her sister in Haifa. Intending the visit as a holiday, she finds herself investigating her family's history and getting involved in a production of Hamlet, to be staged in the West Bank. Presenter Harriett Gilbert's choice is Ghosting by Jennie Erdal. A fascinating account of Jennie's time as ghostwriter for 'Tiger' (the publisher Naim Attallah), penning everything from novels to love letters in his name. Producer: Mair Bosworth

28 min
24 FEB

A Good Read: Julia Bradbury and Ramita Navai

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig, chosen by Julia Bradbury A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, chosen by Ramita Navai An Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, chosen by presenter Harriett Gilbert TV presenter, author and walking enthusiast Julia Bradbury recommends a fiction book by Matt Haig, How to Stop Time, which brings to life the idea of living forever. Award-winning British-Iranian investigative journalist, documentary maker and author Ramita Navai shares the epic novel A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, his Dickensian masterpiece of modern India. And Harriett's choice is An Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, capturing four ladies' unforgettable holiday on the Italian Riviera. Produced by Beth O'Dea for BBC Audio Bristol Follow us on instagram: agoodreadbbc

28 min
17 FEB

A Good Read: Joe Dunthorne and Iszi Lawrence

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind, translated by John E. Woods, chosen by Iszi Lawrence Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles, chosen by Joe Dunthorne Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout, chosen by presenter Harriett Gilbert Historical fiction author and broadcaster Iszi Lawrence adores the sensational novel Perfume, and has done since she was a teenager. For her, it immerses her in another world and is wonderfully cynical about the futility of chasing ultimate fulfilment through creating art and performing to a crowd. The poet and novelist, author of Submarine, Joe Dunthorne chooses the forgotten cult classic Two Serious Ladies. It makes him happy because every sentence is a surprise, and that makes him want to write. But he admits that it's not for everyone. And Harriett's choice is Oh William! by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout. Which prompts the discussion, can you love a book if you loathe the central character? Produced by Beth O'Dea for BBC Audio Bristol Follow us on instagram: agoodreadbbc

28 min
10 FEB

A Good Read: Nicci French

The writing duo known as Nicci French choose favourite books

28 min
02/12/2024

A Good Read: Professor Ben Garrod and Lucy Jones

A PRIMATE'S MEMOIR (Love, Death and Baboons) by Robert Sapolsky, chosen by Professor Ben Garrod SOLDIER SAILOR by Claire Kilroy, chosen by Harriett Gilbert THE ABUNDANCE by Annie Dillard, chosen by Lucy Jones Evolutionary biologist Ben Garrod (Professor at the University of East Anglia) chooses a book which he's read and gifted countless times, a book which inspired him to go out in the field and study chimpanzees himself: A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky. Robert is one of the leading primatologists and scientists today and this is his gripping, at times heartbreaking account of leaving the United States age twenty-one to study wild baboons in the Kenyan savannah. Lucy Jones (author of Matrescence and Losing Eden) picks an author she has consistently loved for her child-like gift of wonder and close, detailed attention to the natural world. Lucy brings Annie Dillard's collection of essays, The Abundance, for the others to read. And Harriett Gilbert recommends a fictional tale of early motherhood. A vivid, immersive monologue of a woman on the brink that keeps readers on the edge of their seats to the very end.

28 min
25/11/2024

A Good Read: Sir Ian Blatchford and Charles Fernyhough

TOKYO EXPRESS by Seichō Matsumoto, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, chosen by Sir Ian Blatchford THE LETTERS OF ABELARD AND HELOISE, translated by Betty Radice, chosen by Charles Fernyhough SOLDIERS OF SALAMIS by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLean, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Director of the Science Museum group and president of the Royal Literary Fund, Sir Ian Blatchford, chooses a cult classic from 1958 for his good read. A double love suicide wrapped up in suspicious government corruption and a whodunnit hinging on train timetables, Sir Ian makes the case for one of his favourite books. Travelling to the middle ages for Charles Fernyhough's pick, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise were once much more widely known than they are today. Charles, an amateur medievalist alongside being an author, musician and Professor of Psychology at Durham University, recommends this book as one of the greatest love stories of all time. The letters of Heloise he especially believes should be celebrated, as they showcase a great early feminist philosopher and writer. Presenter Harriett Gilbert's good read takes readers into the Spanish Civil War: Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas, from 2001. This is a book exploring the role of memory when unpicking the past, and asks questions about whether we can ever remember what really happened. What will the others make of it? Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio, Bristol Join the book club on Instagram, @agoodreadbbc

28 min
18/11/2024

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
11/11/2024

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

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Mariella Frostrup

Host

3.8

out of 5

9 Ratings

Sorry, but..

19/06/2012

Cintra

The books chosen by Harriett Gilbert and her guests are absolutely awful. For heavens sake, think of your audience, and try to select guests and books which might be of more interest to a wider audience...

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.