Books and Authors

BBC Radio 4

4.3 (353)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
UPDATED BIMONTHLY

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.

12/02/2024

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
11/25/2024

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
11/18/2024

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
11/04/2024

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
10/28/2024

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
10/27/2024

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
10/21/2024

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

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4.3

out of 5

353 Ratings

Love this program!

10/20/2024

Bob Garfield

Thanks for your consistently fascinating broadcasting. The recent panel episode with Naomi Alderman about the future was especially great. Keep up the great work.
Feeds my Addiction

11/18/2023

Gingiaa

I enjoy the wide range of books discovered through these discussions. The guests vary so widely in how they interpret what is a a Good Read that I learn of books I’d never hear of elsewhere. The host is an absolute twin to my own book tastes so I know there will always be at least one book I’ve read or need to read or better still, need to reread.
Mariella Frostrup the best

09/28/2022

sextus Pompeius

Mariella Frostrup is by far the best of the hosts. Always measured, informed and a pleasure to listen to.
Often shallow

10/11/2023

twomoonmusic

A great concept but often the shallowness of the guests is such that they could be talking about television. In fact they are usually TV presenters of some kind.

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.