Ask Penguin

Penguin Books UK
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What should I read next? Ask Penguin is the podcast where your quirkiest, trickiest, and most urgent book questions get answered. Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, we bring bestselling authors and Penguin insiders to explore some of your favourite books and discover new ones that you are yet to read.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. What secrets does Jane Austen's house hold?

    2025-12-18 · BONUSINNEHÅLL

    What secrets does Jane Austen's house hold?

    In this special bonus episode, and to mark Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, we step inside her home in Alton to uncover the life she lived there and the objects she treasured most. From first editions to her own annotated books which formed her personal library, we explore how her surroundings and daily routines shaped her writing - and how walking through her rooms brings her world vividly to life. Discover all our episode transcripts and book recommendations at Penguin.co.uk   Love everything Jane Austen? Visit all our features and beautiful editions of all her works by clicking: Jane Austen   Follow in our footsteps and find out more aout her home and plan your visit by clicking: Jane Austen's House Ask Penguin will be back in the New Year. Until then, Happy Reading! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    26 min
  2. What were the best books of 2025?

    2025-12-11

    What were the best books of 2025?

    What were our favourite books of the year and what are we most excited to read in 2026? Join the team behind the Ask Penguin podcast to look back at standout titles, memorable podcast moments, and the reading intentions we’re taking into the New Year. Explore all the books mentioned on this episode: Click here Ask Penguin will be back in 2026. Find us on Insatgram @PenguinUKBooks and follow our Broadcast channel for exclusive content, giveaways and your chance to put your questions to your favourite authors! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    41 min
  3. What makes a setting feel so vivid it becomes a character? With Paula Hawkins

    2025-12-04

    What makes a setting feel so vivid it becomes a character? With Paula Hawkins

    Which novels are truly unputdownable and what should you read on a dark winter's night? We’re joined by best-selling author, Paula Hawkins, who discusses art, love and remote islands in her latest thriller, The Blue Hour. She also helps us tackle your listener questions with a stack of gripping recommendations to guide you to your next great read. Explore all the books mentioned on this episode: Click here Paula Hawkins worked as a journalist for fifteen years before writing her first novel. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, she moved to London in 1989. Her first thriller The Girl on the Train became a global phenomenon, selling over 23 million copies. Published in over fifty languages, it was a No.1 bestseller around the world and a box-office-hit film starring Emily Blunt. Paula's subsequent thrillers have all been instant Sunday Times bestsellers. In 2021 A Slow Fire Burning was nominated for Thriller of the Year at the British Book Awards, and in 2025 The Blue Hour was voted the Good Housekeeping Good Books winner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    51 min
  4. What is the best translated fiction to read? With Karl Ove Knausgaard

    2025-11-20

    What is the best translated fiction to read? With Karl Ove Knausgaard

    What are the best new books in Korean fiction? What is the process of translating a book into English? And how do you evoke a sense of place you haven't visited? This week we sat down with award-winning and internationally best-selling author, Karl Ove Knausgaard to discuss his latest novel, The School of Night. The School of Night is a Faustian-inspired meditation on art and creativity, the 4th novel in The Morning Star series, and the first in the sequence that can be read as a standalone novel.  Discover all the books mentioned on this episode: Click here Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle cycle has been heralded as a masterpiece all over the world. From A Death in the Family to The End, the novels move through childhood into adulthood and, together, form an enthralling portrait of human life. Knausgaard has been awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature, the Brage Prize and the Jerusalem Prize. His work, which also includes the Seasons Quartet and the Morning Star sequence (The Morning Star, The Wolves of Eternity, The Third Realm and The School of Night) is published in thirty-six languages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    52 min
  5. Why are generations at war with each other? With Zadie Smith

    2025-11-06

    Why are generations at war with each other? With Zadie Smith

    Which multi-generational novels inspired White Teeth? Where does Zadie Smith turn for her next great read? And our Penguin team is back to solve your reading dilemmas - whether you're after fascinating memoirs, this year's pick of prize-winning books, or stories perfect for Autumn.  Discover all the books mentioned on this episode: Click here Zadie Smtih is one of the most distinctive, exciting and widely loved writers of her generation: she’s the twice shortlisted, once winner of the Women's Prize, also shortlisted for the Booker and has been twice named among Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. Her debut, White Teeth, blazed onto the best-seller lists, and established her as a defining generational voice. Her follow-up work includes the critically and commercially acclaimed NW, On Beauty, and Swing Time. Zadie Smith’s latest work is Dead and Alive: the keenly awaited new collection of essays, in which she brings her unique skills and observations to bear across a dazzling range of subjects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    56 min
  6. Is never growing up the secret to great storytelling? With Philip Pullman

    2025-10-30

    Is never growing up the secret to great storytelling? With Philip Pullman

    What was the inspiration behind Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights series? How does he want readers to feel on Lyra’s final adventure in The Rose Field? Has his demon changed now that he has got to the end of this writing journey, and how do you say goodbye to characters you love? In this special edition of Ask Penguin, host Rhianna Dhillon visits Philip Pullman at his Oxford home, surrounded by books (and barking cockapoos), to mark thirty years since the world met Lyra Belacqua in Northern Lights. The two reflects on a lifetime of storytelling and returning to Lyra’s world one final time in the conclusion of The Book of Dust series, The Rose Field. Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here: here To put a question to future podcast guests, and for exclusive content and book giveaways, join our Broadcast channel on Instagram: @PenguinUKBooks   Philip Pullman is one of the most highly respected children's authors writing today. Winner of many prestigious awards, including the Carnegie of Carnegies and the Whitbread Award, Pullman’s epic fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials has been acclaimed as a modern classic. It has sold 17.5 million copies worldwide and been translated into 40 languages. In 2005 he was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. He lives in Oxford. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    42 min
  7. Is Jane Austen's legacy more than just romantic love? With Andrew Hunter Murray and Gill Hornby

    2025-10-15

    Is Jane Austen's legacy more than just romantic love? With Andrew Hunter Murray and Gill Hornby

    Why do we still love Jane Austen’s novels 250 years later? What makes her stories continue to inspire readers and creators today? And if Jane were alive now, which book would you recommend she read?  In this special episode, recorded at Jane Austen’s family home in Alton, host Rhianna Dhillon is joined by Miss Austen author and president of the Jane Austen Society, Gill Hornby, alongside author and creator of the West End show Austentatious Andrew Hunter Murray, to explore Austen’s legacy and provide some regency-inspired book recommendations.    Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here: Jane Austen Episode Visit Jane Austen’s home: janeaustens.house To put a question to future podcast guests, and for exclusive content and book giveaways, join our Broadcast channel on Instagram: @PenguinUKBooks   Gill Hornby is a writer and journalist. Her novels Miss Austen and Godmersham Park were Sunday Times bestsellers, and Miss Austen was adapted into a four-part BBC drama starring Keely Hawes as Cassandra Austen. She is also the President of the Jane Austen Society.  Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer, broadcaster and comedian. His first novel, The Last Day, was a Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller, and one of the top 10 fiction debuts of 2020; his second, The Sanctuary, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month; and his third, A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering, was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic literature. in 2011, Murray was a founding member of the West End comedy show Austentatious.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    50 min
  8. Why do we still laugh when times are hard? With Ocean Vuong

    2025-10-01

    Why do we still laugh when times are hard? With Ocean Vuong

    I'm looking for a novel that reads like poetry - where should I start? Can you recommend a queer love story with a happy conclusion? What are the best books that explore small-town life? We put your book dilemmas to bestselling author Ocean Vuong and Penguin Editor and award-winning poet Sarah Howe. Joining Rhianna this week is Ocean Vuong, whose latest book The Emperor of Gladness has been dubbed the first 'millennial Great American Novel' – but what does that really mean, and which classic American novels have inspired him? The author and poet also reflects on the themes and inspirations behind the book, from small-town Connecticut to intergenerational friendships.  Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here To ask a question and for exclusive content and giveaways join our Broadcast channel on Instagram: @PenguinUKBooks    Ocean Vuong is an award-winning poet, essayist and novelist. He is the winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize for his poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds, and his debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous was a literary sensation, going on to sell more than a million copies. Amongst many other accolades, he was a recipient of the MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’ in 2019 and The Whiting Award in 2016.  The Emperor of Gladness, Vuong’s latest novel, explores themes of chosen family and the ways in which our lives can be changed by the most unexpected people.  Sarah Howe is Poetry Editor for Chatto & Windus an imprint of Penguin as well as an award-winning author. Sarah’s first collection, Loop of Jade won the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2015, and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award the same year. Her follow-up collection, Foretokens, continues to explore ideas and complications of belonging, identity and inheritance.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    54 min
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What should I read next? Ask Penguin is the podcast where your quirkiest, trickiest, and most urgent book questions get answered. Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, we bring bestselling authors and Penguin insiders to explore some of your favourite books and discover new ones that you are yet to read.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Skapad av
    Penguin Books UK
  • Aktiva år
    2005 - 2025
  • Avsnitt
    258
  • Åldersgräns
    Vuxet innehåll
  • Copyright
    © Penguin Books UK
  • Programmets webbplats
    Ask Penguin

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