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.
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
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
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
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
Elizabeth Day and Johny Pitts discuss AI and the novel.
The two writers choose favourite books. Recorded at the Edinburgh Book Festival
Chris Power explores the writing of Katherine Mansfield on the centenary of her death.
At the Edinburgh International Book Festival the two authors discuss favourite books
Alan Hollinghurst speaks to Chris Power about his new novel, Our Evenings.
Rachel Kushner on her Booker Prize shortlisted novel, Creation Lake and Sarah Moss.
Matt Haig discusses his new novel, The Life Impossible and Lord of the Flies at 70.
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