Matt Haig discusses his new novel, The Life Impossible and Lord of the Flies at 70.

Graham Norton speaks to Johny Pitts about his new novel, Frankie.

Elif Shafak discusses her new novel. Hanna Pylväinen on writing about the Arctic Circle.

Evie Wyld, Jessie Cave and Camille Bordas

Lauren Elkin, Michèle Roberts and Maria Balshaw

DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver, chosen by Rachel Parris DID YE HEAR MAMMY DIED? by Séamas O'Reilly, chosen by Harriett Gilbert BOTH NOT HALF by Jassa Ahluwalia, chosen by Sonali ShahComedian and musician Rachel Parris and broadcaster and presenter Sonali Shah join Harriett Gilbert to read each other's favourite books.Rachel Parris (Late Night Mash, Austentatious) chooses Barbara Kingsolver's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Demon Copperhead, which is based on David Copperfield and boldly takes on America's opioid crisis.Sonali Shah (Escape to the Country, Pilgrimage, Magic FM) picks Both Not Half: A Radical New Approach to Mixed Heritage Identity by the actor Jassa Ahluwalia, who had always described himself as 'half Indian, half English'. So he decided to come up with a new way of thinking about all kinds of individuality.Harriett brings a wonderfully funny and loving memoir by the Irish writer Séamas O'Reilly: Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?Producer: Beth O'Dea for BBC Audio in Bristol Join the conversation @agoodreadbbc Instagram

Benjamin Myers, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Claire Kohda

RADIO ROMANCE by Garrison Keillor, chosen by Sarah Phelps PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi, chosen by Irenosen Okojie ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER by Rose Tremain, chosen by Harriett GilbertTwo authors pick books they love with Harriett Gilbert.Screenwriter, playwright and television producer Sarah Phelps (The Sixth Commandment, A Very British Scandal, EastEnders) brings us the trials and tribulations of a small-town radio station in the Midwest. Told with humour and irony, but also packs a punch.Novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie (Hag, Butterfly Fish, Speak Gigantular) chooses Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, an autobiographical graphic novel charting the writer's childhood in Iran, set against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution, before her move to Austria.Harriett Gilbert brings Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain, a story about the all-consuming power of first love, set 1960s London.Produced by Sally Heaven for BBC Audio Bristol Join the conversation on Instagram @bbcagoodread

Irenosen Okojie talks to Johny Pitts about her new book, Curandera.

BOOKS:WISHFUL DRINKING by CARRIE FISHER FORBIDDEN NOTEBOOK by ALBA DE CESPEDES YELLOWFACE by REBECCA F KUANGHarriett's guests today are comedian and writer Helen Lederer known for so many roles including as Catrionia in Absolutely Fabulous. Recently she has published her memoir Not That I'm Bitter and set up the Comedy Writing In Print Prize. She has opted for the hugely witty and knowing memoir Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher detailing her tumultuous life as the child of two Hollywood stars who often couldn't separate fantasy from reality. Ilaria Bernardini is an Italian novelist and screenwriter. She is currently working on Bernardo Bertolucci’s final script which Ilaria co-wrote with hi -The Echo Chamber. Her choice is the seminal feminist Italian novel Forbidden Notebook by the Italian-Cuban writer Alba de Cespedes about the inner life of an Italian housewife and Mama of the family. Harriett's choice is Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang - a cautionary tale for our times of plagiarism, cultural appropriation, social media storms and more.Producer: Maggie Ayre

Johny Pitts speaks to Garth Risk Hallberg about his new novel, The Second Coming.

Writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth has chosen EF Benson's entertaining tale of competitive snobbery in the 1920s, Mapp and Lucia. In a contrasting choice, neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow advocates for Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, a story of a Ghanaian family transplanted to Alabama which takes in neuroscience and opiate addiction. Harriett has gone for a real crowd-pleaser in E. Nesbit's The Railway Children and all three enjoy a bit of nostalgia for the times when children could run free having adventures around the railway. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven.

VOICES IN THE EVENING by Natalia Ginzburg (trans. DM Low), chosen by Tessa Hadley THE ZONE OF INTEREST by Martin Amis (trans. Jessica Moore), chosen by Sebastian Faulks EASTBOUND by Maylis de Kerangal, chosen by Harriett GilbertTwo authors pick books they love with Harriett Gilbert.Tessa Hadley (Late In The Day, Free Love, After The Funeral) takes us to post-war Italy with Voices In The Evening by Natalia Ginzburg. The drama, suffering and fascism are in the past, but traumas surface in the day-to-day, with first loves and lost chances.Sebastian Faulks (Birdsong, Human Traces, The Seventh Son) chooses The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis, after watching the hit film by Jonathan Glazer and wanting to read the book it was inspired by. The haunting novel follows a Nazi officer who has become enamoured with the Auschwitz camp commandant's wife, and goes inside the minds of the commandant, who lives with his family right next to the concentration camp.Harriett Gilbert brings Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal, a gripping novella set on the Trans-Siberian Railway, with a chance encounter between a desperate Russian conscript and a French woman.Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol Join the conversation on Instagram @bbcagoodread

Rita Bullwinkel, Mohsin Hamid and Téa Obreht

Recorded at the Hay FestivalSHUGGIE BAIN by Douglas Stewart ON THE BLACK HILL by Bruce Chatwin AGAINST NATURE by Joris-Karl HuysmansHarriett Gilbert takes to the stage in the BBC Marquee at the Hay Festival for a special edition of the programme recorded in front of an audience. Actor and writer Doon Mackichan known for her outrageous character Cathy in the sitcom Two Doors Down chooses Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart as her good read. It's a touching but heartbreaking tale of a young Glaswegian boy's desperate efforts to save his mother Agnes from the alcoholism that ruins and degrades her. It won the Booker Prize in 2020. As we're in Wales Harriett's fitting choice is Bruce Chatwin's On The Black Hill an account of rural Welsh life in the mid 20th century. It's the story of two brothers' lives over 80 years and their connection to land and community. Bruce Robinson actor, director and writer of the hit film Withnail and I which has been adapted for stage chooses a book that features in the final scene of the film. The I character places two books in a suitcase at the end of the film, one of which is A Rebours - Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans. Bruce confesses that he's not the book's biggest fan but the ensuing discussion provides an entertaining insight into books we might read when we're younger and how differently we feel about them in later life. It's the story of an eccentric recluse Jean des Esseintes in 19th century France who loathes people and creates a fantasy world for himself but ultimately suffers from his self-inflicted pretentious ennui. "I wish I hadn't chosen this book" proclaims Bruce Robinson as he introduces it. "I wish you hadn't chosen it" agrees Doon Mackichan. They then elicit a lot of audience laughter from their deconstruction of this seminal French novel that all three find pretentious.This is a longer version of the broadcast programme.Producer: Maggie Ayre

Shahidha Bari discusses EM Forster's A Passage to India with Neel Mukherjee, Elizabeth Lowry and Dr Chris Mourant.

ABSENT IN THE SPRING by Agatha Christie (writing as Mary Westmacott) (HarperCollins), chosen by Simon Brett IN THE GARDEN OF THE FUGITIVES by Ceridwen Dovey (Penguin), chosen by Denise Mina HIDE MY EYES by Margery Allingham (Penguin), chosen by Harriett GilbertCrime writers Denise Mina and Simon Brett join Harriett Gilbert to read each other's favourite books.Simon chooses Agatha Christie under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, with Absent In The Spring. It’s a story without any detective and one that, perhaps, reveals a more personal side to Christie's writing.Denise picks the novel In the Garden of the Fugitives by South African-Australian author Ceridwen Dovey, an epistolary novel which begins with a letter that breaks seventeen years of silence between a rich, elderly man with a broken heart and his former protegee, a young South African filmmaker.And for the occasion of having two crime authors, Harriett Gilbert picks a golden age crime book, Hide My Eyes by Margery Allingham, where private detective Albert Campion finds himself hunting down a serial killer.Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio in Bristol Join the conversation @agoodreadbbc Instagram

Johny Pitts talks to Kevin Barry about his new novel, The Heart in Winter

Claire Messud, Kafka and Jiaming Tang

QUARTET IN AUTUMN by Barbara Pym, chosen by Samantha Harvey MRS CALIBAN by Rachel Ingalls, chosen by Harriett Gilbert PHARMACOPOEIA: A DUNGENESS NOTEBOOK by Derek Jarman, chosen by Darran AndersonTwo award-winning writers share books they love with Harriett Gilbert.Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

Historian and author Kathryn Hughes and No Such Thing As a Fish presenter Dan Schreiber recommend favourite books to Harriett Gilbert. Kathryn chooses Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes, an exploration of the French writer's life in the form of a novel. Dan's choice is very different - John Higgs taking on the conceptual artists and chart toppers The KLF. Harriett has gone for Michael Ondaatje's novel Warlight, set in a murky and mysterious post-war London.Presenter: Harriett GilbertProducer for BBC Audio Bristol: Sally Heaven

Octavia Bright talks to Maggie Nelson about Like Love, an anthology of essays which explore art and friendship and criticism. And a new prize for climate fiction.Presenter: Octavia Bright Producer: Nicola Holloway

Sarah Perry talks to Shahidha Bari about her new novel, Enlightenment

Hari Kunzru talks to Shahidha Bari about his new novel, Blue Ruin

Sunjeev Sahota talks to Alex Clark about his new novel, The Spoiled Heart

Sinéad Gleeson talks to Octavia Bright about her new novel, Hagstone.

Percival Everett

Andrew O'Hagan and Helen Garner

Film director Carol Morley and comedian Will Hislop discuss their favourite books.

Carys Davies on her new novel, Clear. Plus Annie Ernaux and photography

Jonathan Buckley, Lit Crit and David Baddiel

JUST KIDS by Patti Smith, chosen by Lindsey Hilsum MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING by Viktor E. Frankl (trans. Ilse Lasch), chosen by Christopher Eccleston TOWARDS THE END OF THE MORNING by Michael Frayn, chosen by Harriett GilbertThe television journalist and actor share favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor of Channel 4 News, loves Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids, her account of coming to New York as a young woman and of her relationship with the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. It's a coming-of-age story set against the heady backdrop of 1970s counterculture; it's a story of becoming an artist; and it's a love story that turns into an elegy.The actor Christopher Eccleston chooses Man's Search for Meaning, the psychotherapist Viktor Frankl's account of his time in Nazi concentration camps and how those experiences informed his belief that man's deepest need is to search for meaning and purpose. It's a powerful book about retaining one's humanity in the face of unimaginable suffering and degradation.And Harriett Gilbert chooses Towards the End of the Morning, Michael Frayn's 1967 satire about journalists working on a newspaper during the heyday of Fleet Street.Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

Art historian Katy Hessel and author Amy Blakemore discuss their favourite books.

Open Book explores Daphne du Maurier and the enduring qualities and appeal of her writing

ON WRITING by Stephen King, chosen by Kathryn Williams THE BITCH by Pilar Quintana (translated by Lisa Dillman), chosen by Harriett Gilbert ON THE BEACH by Nevil Shute, chosen by Andrew McMillanThe singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams loves books about the craft of writing and her choice of a good read is 'On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft', by the master of horror, Stephen King. The book gave her practical tools and advice which helped her to write her debut novel, The Ormering Tide. She also loves what we learn about King's life - from his flatulent childhood nanny to the devastating 1999 accident which almost ended his life.Harriett's choice this week is The Bitch by Colombian author Pilar Quintana, translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman. In a village on the Pacific coast of Colombia, between wild jungle and wild seas, a childless woman develops a complicated relationship with an orphaned puppy.And the poet and novelist Andrew McMillan chooses On the Beach by Nevil Shute. In Australia, a group of people try to come to terms with the end of the world. A nuclear war has wiped out all life in the northern hemisphere and the radiation is drifting steadily south. What would you do if you knew that you, and everyone you know, had only months to live?Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

More books worth reading chosen by well known guests

Kate Davies talks to Chris Power about her new novel, Nuclear Family.

An actor and singer and a computer scientist and author pick their favourite books.

Sheila Heti on her new experimental book, Alphabetical Diaries.

The frontman of Idles and the artistic director of Bristol Old Vic share book choices.

Madeleine Gray on her witty, heartbreaking novel, Green Dot, about a young woman's affair

a former professional footballer and a film critic pick their favourite books.

The crime writer and the singer aka Mull Historical Society choose favourite books

Michael Cunningham speaks to Johny Pitts about his new novel, Day.

Gerald Murnane talks to Chris Power about his writing life.

Pulitzer Prize winning author, Hisham Matar, discusses his new novel My Friends.

Chris Power is joined by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Aminatta Forna & Lucy Caldwell

Chris Power shares some of the highlights of the year on Open Book.

Johny Pitts speaks to Janice Hallett about her new book, The Christmas Appeal.

Ron Rash on his new book, The Caretaker.

The artist Chantal Joffe picks I Capture The Castle, the English classic by Dodie Smith. Set in 1930s rural England, it relates the adventures of an eccentric family over the course of about a year. It's a book Chantal has come back to again and again, ever since she was a teenager. Séamas O'Reilly champions the Irish novel, A Goat's Song by Dermot Healy, which he argues deserves to be more widely known. And Harriett Gilbert recommends a graphic memoir by the cartoonist Alison Bechdel, called The Secret to Superhuman Strength.Chantal Joffe is an artist known for her often larger-than-life-sized paintings, of women and children in particular, which have been shown in solo exhibitions around the world. Séamas O'Reilly is a columnist for the Observer whose memoir is Did Ye Hear Mammy Die.Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio

Award winning novelist Alexis Wright talks to Chris Power.

The presenter and the sociologist share favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Crime writer Femi Kayode on his new novel, Gaslight.

The journalist and the writer talk to Harriett about favourite books.

Chris Power talks to Teju Cole about his wide-ranging and powerful new novel, Tremor.

Good books chosen by well known guests as reading recommendations

Books worth reading chosen by Harriett Gilbert and guests

Elizabeth Day and Johny Pitts discuss AI and the novel.

The TV presenter and the writer share favourite books with Harriett.

Chris Power speaks to Karl Ove Knausgård about his new book, The Wolves of Eternity

Artist Cornelia Parker is with the chef Jeremy Lee and presenter Harriett Gilbert, to pick their all-time favourite books. Cornelia chooses South by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the story of his extraordinary journey to Antarctica. Jeremy is a fan of the food writer Elizabeth David, and recommends her book of essays, Omelette and a Glass of Wine. Finally Harriett Gilbert suggests the novel Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie, centred on two American academics' escapades in London. Cornelia has recently had solo shows at the Tate Britain and the Metropolitan Museum of New York; Jeremy is chef-proprietor of Quo Vadis restaurant in Soho and author of Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many. Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio

The US author and psychiatrist on his new novel, North Woods

The children's TV presenter and stand up comedian advocate for favourite books.

Lydia Davis on the writing of Our Strangers.

Two guests choose their favourite books

Ben Lerner and Anne Enright on poetry and fiction

Elizabeth Day talks to the novelist Zadie Smith about her new novel, The Fraud.

Cases to baffle and intrigue. What to expect from BBC Radio 4 and 4 Extra’s treasure trove of murder mysteries. Available only on BBC Sounds.

George Orwell Now

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen speaks to Johny Pitts about her new book, The Wolf Hunt

Octavia Bright talks to Ann Patchett about her captivating new novel. Tom Lake is the story of a young actor Lara under the spell of a future Hollywood star, but it is also about how she retells that story in later life to her adult daughters, and the power of storytelling itself. Two masters of historical fiction, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and S. J. Parris (aka Stephanie Merritt) discuss the allure of magic and mysticism in their latest books set either side of the Enlightenment. Plus Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah recalls the enchanting tale behind the book he'd never lend. Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

Johny Pitts explores Birmingham's literary heritage and contemporary writing scene.

Author and cultural critic Olivia Laing, whose books include The Lonely City, Funny Weather and Everybody, is joined by fashion writer and curator Charlie Porter, of What Artists Wear and Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion, and presenter Harriett Gilbert, to talk about the books they love. Olivia recommends Bad Blood by literary critic Lorna Sage - a memoir of her eccentric childhood and adolescence in 1940s rural Wales. Charlie loves Honey From A Weed by Patience Gray, a cookbook which exalts local knowledge and seasonal cooking, taking readers to a time and place far removed from modern life. And Harriett brings The English Understand Wool, a 2022 novella by American author Helen DeWitt, which takes unexpected twists and turns and which Harriett argues, merits reading more than once. Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio

Elizabeth Day celebrates the centenary year of the writer Elizabeth Jane Howard

More book recommendations from actor Niamh Cusack and author Elly Griffiths

Susanna Hoffs and Nina Wadia choose their good reads

Johny Pitts speaks to Megan Nolan about her new novel, Ordinary Human Failings. The book explores the demonization of an Irish family and tabloid journalism in nineties London following a shocking tragedy. Plus what is the best crime fiction out there this summer? Vaseem Khan, incoming chair of the Crime Writers Association, and critic Laura Wilson give their tips, from hot new psychological thrillers to reissued classics. And Val McDermid chooses a very modern-feeling 1940s whodunit for her Book I'd Never Lend. Book List – Sunday 16 July and Thursday 20 July Ordinary Human Failing by Megan Nolan Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan Grave Expectations by Alice Bell The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh The Wheel of Doll by Jonathan Ames Alchemy by SJ Parris The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey

Richard Ford talks to Alex Clark about his latest novel, Be Mine.

The actor-comedian and the poet advocate for their favourite books

Biologist and author Merlin Sheldrake (of 'Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures') is joined by the science journalist Jo Marchant (of 'Human Cosmos' and 'Cure') and presenter Harriett Gilbert. Merlin picks 'The Age of Wonder' by Richard Holmes, a biographical portrait of scientific innovators in the late 18th century. In this historical book. Holmes explores the scientific ferment that swept across Britain, and how it became an age of great discovery. Jo's choice, 'You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto', is by computer scientist and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier. In this prescient book from 2010, Jaron delves into the digital world, examining what went wrong in its development, and how we might fix these problems. And Harriett recommends the classic, magical children's novel, 'The Sword In The Stone' by T. H. White, which she argues merits re-reading as an adult. Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio, Bristol. Comment on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

Jenny Erpenbeck talks to Octavia Bright about her novel Kairos

The comedian and the writer talk to Harriett about favourite books, including one of Orwell's less well known novels, Coming Up for Air, chosen by Hal after he played the central character in a one man show. Daisy has gone for Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin, and Harriett loves Jenny Diski's Stranger on a Train, a travel memoir by someone who is not too keen on travel. Producer Sally Heaven

Tragicomic Writing with Paul Murray plus guests Josie Long, Katherine Heiny & Jen Beagin

Journalist, broadcaster and author Zing Tsjeng and poet Yomi Ṣode join presenter Harriett Gilbert to talk about the books they love. Zing chooses a book set in the heart of New York City's queer community. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters is centred on the lives of Reece, a trans woman, her ex Ames, and her ex's new lover, Katrina. Yomi recommends Caleb Azumah Nelson's debut book, Open Water, a lyrical romance story set in South East London. And Harriett's choice is Intimacies, a novel by Katie Kitamura, where the main character is an interpreter at the International Court in The Hague, where unease bubbles below the surface of the novel's cool narration. Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc Produced by Eliza Lomas

Leila Slimani, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Kalaf Epalanga

The two writers talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Johny Pitts talks to Guy Gunaratne about their new novel Mister, Mister

Linda Grant, Xiaolu Guo and Alice Vincent

Deborah Levy, Miranda France and Kate Morton

Johny Pitts talks to the debut novelist about The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa

Booker winning writer Marlon James talks to Elizabeth Day

Octavia Bright discusses Granta's once in a decade list of new writing talent

Contemporary Indian Writing in the spotlight

The author of the Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery series, Donna Leon, is joined by writer-entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan and the presenter Harriett Gilbert. Donna has chosen a book by an author she greatly admires, Ross MacDonald, who she read before she became a writer herself. His 1971 noir novel, The Underground Man, follows a detective as he tries to track down a missing child, whilst a mysterious fire rages through the hills of Southern California. Margaret loves Butcher's Crossing, the lesser-known book by John Williams, the author of Stoner. Set in 1871, this is about a young Harvard drop-out who heads out into the American West to discover a new way of living and which Margaret describes as an 'anti-Western' novel. Meanwhile Harriett's choice is A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam, which follows a mother's struggle to protect her children as Bangladesh fights for independence. Produced by Eliza Lomas. Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc

Chris Power discusses the last novel from the late Spanish writer Javier Marías.

Author Katherine May and poet Liz Berry talk about their favourite books with Harriett.

Eleanor Catton talks to Chris Power about her new eco-thriller, Birnam Wood

The newsreader and the writer chat about books with Harriett.

Johny Pitts explores the work of two writers who have combined comedy with tragedy

The broadcaster and comedian discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Psychotherapist writer Philippa Perry and Professor of Neuroscience Anil Seth join Harriett Gilbert to talk about books they love. Anil Seth, who explores consciousness and the self in his book Being You, recommends Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, where our near-future world is seen through the eyes of an Artificial Friend. Philippa Perry's choice is A Stranger City by Linda Grant, a novel with a mystery at its heart and is about how lives interweave in the city. And Harriett Gilbert loves the non-fiction book Being Mortal by American surgeon Atul Gawande, which asks what medicine is for in the face of death. Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio in Bristol

Tom Bullough on writing about the climate crisis, and Richard Wright's lost novel

Columnist at The Times James Marriott and arts journalist for The Guardian Jude Rogers discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. James picks The Past by Tessa Hadley, a contemporary novel about family, place and the modern world encroaching upon the old; Jude recommends Border Country by Raymond Williams, a semi-autobiographical story of a man returning home to his small village on the Welsh borders, and how it's changed over a century; and Harriett loves A Summer Without Men by Siri Hustvedt, about a woman re-examining her life in after her husband's rejection. Do you agree with their assessments? Join us on Instagram @agoodreadbbc Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Chris Power talks to Aleksandar Hemon about his new novel The World and All That It Holds

Art historian Kate Bryan and comedian Mark Steel talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books. Kate loves Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing, an inspiring collection of essays which make a case for why art matters. Mark is a big fan of Stalin Ate My Homework by Alexei Sayle, a comedic memoir about growing up in a Jewish atheist communist family in Liverpool. And Harriett puts forward Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss, in which a present-day story converges with ancient rituals to provoke a discussion about how far we have come from the “primitive minds” of our ancestors. Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc Produced by Becky Ripley

Bret Easton Ellis

Favourite books chosen by well known guests and presenter Harriett Gilbert

Guest choose favourite books to discuss with Harriett Gilbert

Chris Power discusses one of the most talked about trends in publishing

Monica Heisey talks to Johny Pitts about her debut novel about divorce in your twenties

Jane Smiley, and writing gay lives from the past with Tom Crewe and Nell Stevens

Chris Power explores the writing of Katherine Mansfield on the centenary of her death.

Johny Pitts explores the Queen of Crime's connection to the festive season

Chris Power talks to the author of The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasures.

Chris Power discusses a year in books with Ellah Wakatama and Kate Mosse.

Books about tidying, music and addiction, and a desire to write are this week's choices.

Mariana Enríquez

A disgraced university tutor, a dysfunctional family, and a love-letter to literature.

Cormac McCarthy, The Writers, Derek Owusu

Two very-different memoirs and a tale of two women on an adventure feature this week.

Barbara Kingsolver, plus the "Social Novel" with John Lanchester and Ayisha Malik

Comedians Heidi Regan and Neil Delamere discuss their favourite all-time books with Harriett Gilbert. Heidi chooses a non-fiction book on the cult of positive thinking by the late Barbara Ehrenreich, called Smile or Die. Neil suggests a novel by Ronan Hession about two unambitious friends in their thirties; Leonard and Hungry Paul, and Harriett picks the novella Foster by Irish writer Claire Keegan, who has recently been nominated for the 2022 Booker Prize. Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio, Bristol Join the conversation on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

The comedian Ria Lina - who's appeared on the BBC’s Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News for You and Mock the Week - joins Otegha Uwagba - author of Little Black Book, Whites and We Need to Talk About Money - to talk to Harriett Gilbert about the books they love. Ria chooses Moll Flanders, the 18th-century classic by Daniel Defoe. Otegha picks the popular romance story Like Water for Chocolate by Mexican author Laura Esquivel and Harriett Gilbert brings a book about motherhood; Making Babies by Anne Enright. Produced by Eliza Lomas Comment on Instagram at @agoodreadbbc

Chris Power talks to Colm Tóibín about his essays on illness, religion and literature

The poet and the writer choose their favourite books.

Writing Nature

The writers choose the books they love to read.

William Boyd discusses his new novel, The Romantics.

The broadcaster and the comedian choose books they love

Celeste Ng and Grief and modern masculinity with Bobby Palmer and Michael Pedersen

Two writers who cover crime, football and music share their favourite books with Harriett

Orhan Pamuk, Patterson Joseph and Torrey Peters.

Maggie O'Farrell, Graphic Novels with Lizzy Stewart and Posy Simmonds, plus Anuradha Roy

Chris Power talks to Ian McEwan about his new book, Lessons.

Alex Clark on novels - past, present and future - about summer and change

Mary Renault's Greek Myths

Octavia Bright talks to Ross Raisin about his new book, A Hunger.

The Ethics of Writing Crime

Writer Salena Godden chooses Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys, a book she's re-read many times and returns to now – older, wiser and with even greater empathy for its protagonist. Author-illustrator Rob Biddulph recommends When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle, named Children’s Fiction Book of the Year at the 2022 British Book Awards, which brought him to tears and conjures London in the Blitz so vividly. Presenter Harriett Gilbert picks Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Jessica Moore, the story of a heart transplanted from one life to another. Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sarah Goodman.

Tess Gunty on The Rabbit Hutch; Jackie Kay on the writing of Jamaica Kincaid

Columnist Melanie Reid adores This is Not About Me by Janice Galloway, a tragicomic account of her turbulent childhood in mid-century Scotland. Presenter Harriett Gilbert thinks John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a true masterpiece, and sports broadcaster (and famous dog owner) Andrew Cotter recommends The Wild Places by fellow mountain-lover Robert Macfarlane. Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sarah Goodman.

Summer Reading and Benjamin Wood

Sophie Hannah and Viv Groskop join Harriett Gilbert to talk about books they love. Sophie, an Agatha Christie expert and superfan, recommends The Rose and the Yew Tree, a book – misleadingly billed as a romance, she says – that Christie wrote under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. She claims it can rival any detective novel for suspense and intrigue. Will Harriett and Viv agree? Harriett champions Dame Eileen Atkin’s recent memoir Will She Do? which charts the first 30 years of the actor's life, including her time as a child soubrette, performing in working men’s clubs as ‘Baby Eileen’. Writer, podcaster and stand-up Viv Groskop recalls her time living in Russia in the 1990s and explains why she thinks The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov, a 1920s satire about science gone very wrong, will become increasingly relevant in the months and years ahead. Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sarah Goodman.

Johny Pitts returns to his home city to explore Sheffield's literary landscapes

The broadcaster Petroc Trelawny, host of the Radio 3 Breakfast show, and the crime writer Stuart MacBride, author of the bestselling Logan McRae and Ash Henderson crime thrillers, talk to Harriett Gilbert about books they love. Petroc's choice is dystopian J. B. Ballard novel The Drought, Stuart's is the Hollywood memoir by David Niven, The Moon's A Balloon, and Harriett's is Borges and Me by Jay Parini. Produced by Eliza Lomas. Comment on instagram at @agoodreadbbc

Dr Alex George and Ella Al Shamahi choose books they love

Revisiting the 1990s

The comedian and the writer discuss favourite books

Johny Pitts discusses time with three writers who have explored it in very different ways

The novelist and the podcaster propose favourite books for discussion

Johny Pitts talks to author of Either/Or, sequel to the 2017 bestseller The Idiot

Omid Djalili and Nikita Lalwani choose books they love

Johny Pitts talks to Benjamin Myers about his new book, The Perfect Golden Circle.

Chris Power talks to Atticus Lish about his new novel, The War for Gloria.

Neurodiversity

Elizabeth Day talks to David Whitehouse about his new creative nonfiction

Julian Barnes; How Words Get Good; Bangkok Postcard

Forbidden love with Douglas Stuart; Oxford’s influence on interwar writers

Belfast in the Blitz

Two actors choose their favourite books

The two actors choose books they love

Here Again Now, Readers Guide to Gogol, Lessons in Chemistry

The actor and the thriller writer chat about books with Harriett Gilbert.

Karen Joy Fowler on the infamous Booth family, Michel the Giant and Lisa Taddeo

The comedian and the writer talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

A life in books with Marlon James

The actor and the writer debate books with Harriett Gilbert

Katie Thistleton and Suzannah Lipscomb bring their favourite books to the table.

Elizabeth Day talks to Audrey Magee about her latest novel The Colony

CHVRCHES frontwoman Lauren Mayberry and comedian Rob Deering share their favourite books.

Johny Pitts talks to Trinidadian author Ayanna Lloyd Banwo about her debut novel When We Were Birds. It is a carefully crafted story set in the backstreets of Trinidad, where a young man called Darwin has newly arrived in the city of Port Angeles looking for a fresh start and his lost father. He’s forced to shed his Rastafarian faith in order to pick up the only work going, as a gravedigger in a sprawling cemetery full of secrets. In a parallel story, Yejide lives with her dying mother in an old house on a hill and is about to inherit a super-natural ancestral power passed on down through the women of the family. The novel blends myth, magic, and indigenous wisdom with everyday struggle and is, ultimately, a passionate love story between two lost souls. Alex Preston's latest novel Winchelsea is set in the 18th century as a young woman enters into the cut throat world of smugglers in a quest to avenge her father’s death. And today he takes us through the stormy relationship some of our literary smugglers have had with the truth and the real smugglers that inspired them… We’ll be exploring the exquisite racial riddle at the heart of Toni Morrison’s first and only short story, Recitatif, with the author of An American Marriage and Silver Sparrow, Tayari Jones as it's published in hardback for the first time.

The natural world, leadership styles aboard a submarine and sibling rivalry in Scotland.

The ‘new boom’ of feminist Spanish-language literature.

Writers Katherine Rundell and Nathan Filer bring their favourite books to the table.

The gardener and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh and the Yorkshire shepherdess choose books

Gary Shteyngart's tragic comedy set in lockdown, Richard Beard on Time, East Side Voices

Tessa Hadley, Richard Beard on Time and two pioneering female book sellers.

Open Book explores the enduring legacy of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Hanya Yanagihara speaks to Chris Power about her new book, To Paradise.

Elizabeth Day and Johny Pitts look back at highlights of their first year at Open Book.

Laura Barnett, Moscow Postcard, Non- Fiction 2021

Claire Keegan talks to Chris Power about her new book, Small Things Like These.

Comedian and writer Liam Williams and musician Kate Stables pick their favourite books.

Elizabeth Strout discusses her new novel, Oh William!

The artist Kaffe Fassett and musician Andy Summers ex The Police choose books they love

JJ Bola, David Damrosch and Rob Doyle plus Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and Taskeen Ahmed

Friends, sisters and serial killers all feature in the book choices for this week. Writer and stand-up comedian Athena Kugblenu picks 'My Sister the Serial Killer' by Oyinkan Braithwaite, a darkly comic tale which is as much about sibling rivalry as it is about murder. Nell Dunn's memoir about love and friendship, 'The Muse', is Harriett Gilbert's pick. And Pope Lonergan selects 'African Psycho' by Alain Mabanckou for its challenging portrayal of a frustrated and violent protagonist. Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Toby Field Follow our instagram book group @agoodreadbbc

The ghost stories of Edith Wharton and Lustre by Raven Leilani are the guests' choices

Patricia Highsmith, Robin McLean, Courttia Newland

The NHS palliative care doctor and author Rachel Clarke (Breathtaking, Dear Life) and the barrister and author Mohsin Zaidi (A Dutiful Boy) share the books that inspire them with presenter Harriett Gilbert. Rachel chooses The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, a memoir about locked-in syndrome by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Mohsin picks a collection of essays, speeches, and poems by African-American author and poet Audre Lorde, Your Silence Will Not Protect You. And Harriett shares with them a crime novel, Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell. Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol, Eliza Lomas. Follow our instagram book group @agoodreadbbc

Friendship in Fiction: a special programme from London Literature Festival

Friendship in Fiction: a special programme from London Literature Festival

Writers Musa Okwonga (One of Them, Striking Out) and Sophie Heawood (The Hungover Games) share their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Musa chooses The Bone Readers by Jacob Ross, a crime novel set in the Caribbean. Sophie picks Lunch Poems, a collection by Frank O'Hara written on the streets of New York and Harriett introduces them to An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel, written before her Booker-winning Wolf Hall trilogy. Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol, Eliza Lomas. comment on instagram at @agoodreadbbc

Elizabeth Day talks to Sarah Hall about her latest novel, Burntcoat

Two poets and writers choose books that they love.

Johny Pitts talks to Lauren Groff about her novel Matrix.

Two guests discuss books they love this week on a science theme

Jonathan Franzen, Amitav Ghosh, Nina Mingya Powles

Pianist and broadcaster Neil Brand actor/comedian Tiff Stevenson choose books they love

Rabih Alameddine, English PEN at 100 with Philippe Sands and Elif Shafak, Editors' Pick

Malorie Blackman talks to Johny Pitts about Endgame

Elizabeth Day talks to Colson Whitehead in a special feature length interview.

Johny Pitts explores the 20s with Alison MacLeod, Bill Goldstein, James Clammer & Jo Hamya

David Grossman, Richard Beard, The Sea Library

Chris Power talks to author of The Country of Others. Plus nonfiction books on motherhood

Chris Power talks to author behind TV hit The Undoing about her latest book, The Plot

Cats, a wrestling princess and grief.

Elizabeth Day talks to Anuk Arudpragasam about his new novel, A Passage North

Two acting greats advocate for their favourite books.

Chris Power speaks to Miranda Cowley Heller about her debut The Paper Palace

Japanese fiction; Vendela Vida

The two musicians choose favourite books

The Greek politician chooses a good read along with novelist Patrick McGrath

Elizabeth Day speaks to Damon Galgut about his new novel, The Promise.

Harriett Gilbert talks to Janey Godley and Mel Hudson about books they love.

Elizabeth Day talks to Zakiya Dalila Harris about her debut novel, The Other Black Girl

The actor and the journalist share favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Chris Power speaks to Jonathan Lee about his new novel, The Great Mistake

Tears, hope and identity. The comedian, the Radio 1 presenter, and their favourite books.

Tech startups in fiction; Editor's tip; Sensitivity reading

New Irish Writing, Book Dedications, Mary Gaitskill on Madame Bovary

Hollie McNish, Modern American Short Stories, Twins

Elizabeth Day talks to the writer Jhumpa Lahiri, whose latest novel, Whereabouts, was originally written in Italian, a language she learned in her 40s. Whereabouts tells the story of an unnamed middle-aged woman who meanders through a Northern Italian city, sharing her observations on everything from having a manicure to walking a friend’s dog. Lahiri builds up a mosaic of such moments, interspersing them with deeper glimpses into the woman’s relationship with her parents and the sudden death of her father when she was 15. Jhumpa Lahiri has long been interested in themes of dislocation and belonging, the daughter of Bengali immigrants who moved to New York, her first book, The Interpreter of Maladies, was a short story collection which won a Pulitzer Prize. The programme also explores the life and writing of the English mid century writer Barbara Pym. Best known for her novels, Excellent Women, Jane and Prudence, and A Glass of Blessings, Pym created sharp observational comedies in which little happens, but a great deal is conveyed. Paula Byrne has written an illuminating new biography, The Adventures of Miss Pym, and talks to Elizabeth about the connections between her tumultuous life and her writing, and they are joined by the writer and lifelong Pym fan, Philip Hensher.

Johny Pitts talks to Jon McGregor about his latest novel Lean Fall Stand, inspired by a trip to Antarctica. Opening with sparse, barely describable landscape in the midst of a storm, it follows Robert "Doc" Wright's recovery in the aftermath and sensitively examines heroism, modern masculinity and the failure of words. Chester Himes is an often overlooked favour of his Black American contemporaries Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright and James Baldwin, despite also attempting to carve out a literary career in Paris. With his better-known Harlem detective series being reissued, his biographer Lawrence P. Jackson and crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell discuss his prescient legacy. And looking ahead to next month, Francesca Main of Phoenix Books chooses a multi-generational story of love, family and Indian history as her Editor's Tip. BOOK LIST: Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes Lonely Crusade by Chester Himes Cast the First Stone by Chester Himes If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes Chester B Himes: A Biography by Lawrence P Jackson Shelter by Lawrence P Jackson China Room by Sunjeev Sahota

Elizabeth Day talks to Chris Power, writer of the short story collection Mothers, about his debut novel A Lonely Man. Robert Prowe is a struggling writer living in Berlin with his wife and two young daughters. One night he meets Patrick, a stranger with a story to tell, who is a ghostwriter for a Russian oligarch who is now being followed. Robert finds himself seduced by Patrick's dramatic story, wondering if it might provide the inspiration he needs for his own novel, and becomes caught up in a paranoid world of threats that may or, may not, be real. Swipe Right is Radio 4's series of short stories written by young writers under 30; Caleb Nelson, Bryan Washington, Naoise Dolan, Rebecca Watson, and Beth O'Leary. The series explores relationships and sex in the modern world, characters searching for love in a myriad of ways. Novelists Beth O'Leary, Flatshare, The Switch, and Okechukwu Nzelu, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney, share their thoughts of the joys and challenges of writing love stories in an online world. And Trisha Sakhlecha whose novel Can You See Me Now is a pacey, psychological thriller exploring female friendship against a backdrop of Indian politics, sends a literary postcard from Delhi. Book List A Lonely Man by Chris Power The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary The Switch by Beth O’Leary The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney by Okechukwu Nzelu The Fourth Hand by John Irving Less by Andrew Sean Greer The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang Can you see me now by Trisha Sackhlecha We That Are Young by Preti Taneja Society by Mahesh Rao The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara

Johny Pitts visits his local bookshop, Review in Peckham, as it prepares to reopen and talks to manager Ben Pope about missing bookseller recommendations Naomi Ishiguro discusses her debut novel Common Ground, about a friendship across a cultural divide and the importance of open space for everyone. And we reflect on making room in our homes for Spring. Do books count as clutter? Eleanor Ray and Jess Kidd, two authors who have written about hoarding, discuss.

Chess, drugs and dentistry- the two writers chat to Harriett about their favourite books

Johny Pitts discusses working-class rural life with Claire Fuller and Karla Neblett

Actor Adjoa Andoh, Bridgerton's Lady Danbury, and CBeebies presenter Andy Day share books

Elizabeth Day talks to Fiona Mozley about her second novel, Hot Stew.

Husband & wife team - the Radio 1 Breakfast host and the writer talk up their top reads.

Elizabeth Day talks to Pulitzer Prize winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen about The Committed

The news presenter and the author both talk about the books they've chosen

The comedian and the books blogger talk to Harriett about their favourite books

Elizabeth Day talks to Mary Lawson

The writer/drag performer and the television executive talk books with Harriett

Johny Pitts talks to Caleb Azumah Nelson about Open Water, his hotly anticipated debut

Does a Tiger Come to Tea? Harriett Gilbert finds out

Elizabeth Day talks to actor Ethan Hawke about his new novel.

The actress and the environmentalist talk about much loved books with Harriett Gilbert.

The poet and the comedian talk climbing, science fiction, and love with Harriett Gilbert.

Richard Flanagan; How To Read Well; Editor's Tip

Kate Mosse, Books on TV, Writing in prisons

Elizabeth Day talks to debut writer Raven Leilani.

Bryan Washington, Natalie Haynes, Trauma in fiction with Rebecca Watson & Peter Ho Davies

Reading in 2020

Johny Pitts and guests explore the dazzling brilliance of Charles Dickens

Jonathan Lethem; Sylvia Townsend Warner; Edna O'Brien

The journalist and the critic nominate favourite books

Jenny Erpenbeck, Margaret Atwood on a classic dystopia, Paintings in fiction

Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, & Professor Lucie Green, presenter on The Sky At Night, discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Johny Pits asks writers Carys Bray and Diana McCaulay how stories offer hope and motivate action to address environmental crisis

Poet Vanessa Kisuule and environmental writer Jonathon Porritt talk books with Harriett.

Chris Power talks to Jonathan Coe about bringing Billy Wilder to life in his new novel.

Travel and food writer Yasmin Khan and novelist David Mitchell talk books.

Rumaan Alam, Words and Photography, Bookshop.org

The comedian and novelist choose favourites including The Sellout by Paul Beatty.

Daliso can't believe Jonathan's never read a fantasy novel before his choice, Seventh Son

Sara Collins talks to Hilary Mantel about her essay collection

Toni Morrison's Beloved and Elizabeth Strout's Olive Again are the books on the table

Armando Iannucci and John Mullan on Dickens; John Lanchester; new Black British writing

Romance in Marseilles, Butterfly Politics & This is Pleasure.Harriett Gilbert talks books

Jennifer Makumbi, New Dutch Writing, Barbara Kingsolver and Wild Swimming in literature

Ruth Jones and Dominic Cooke share their favourite reads with Harriett Gilbert.

Martin Amis

Rose Tremain; Science in Fiction

Donal Ryan, Libraries in Fiction, Campus Novels

Alex Clark talks to Richard Powers about his new novel, The Overstory.

Sara Collins speaks to Sarah Moss about history, holidays and her new novel Summerwater

Johny Pitts looks at the life and work of crime novelist P D James

Chris Power talks to Carys Davies about her new book, The Mission House

Journalist and author Nicholas Lezard and former Radio 4 controller Gwyneth Williams introduce their favourite reads to Harriett Gilbert. Nicholas chooses Watt by Samuel Beckett, a comic novel unlike any other. Gwyneth's favourite is The Leopard, Lampedusa's classic tale of Sicilian aristocracy, and Harriett champions The Friend by Sigrid Nunez, a story of grief, writing and dogs. Producer Sally Heaven. Join our instagram book club: @agoodreadbbc

Kate Grenville, Beryl Bainbridge, Narrative Voices

Comedian Sarah Keyworth and author Lissa Evans talk about books they love with Harriett Gilbert. Sarah chooses Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, Lissa picks Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks and Harriett shines a light on Lady into Fox by David Garnett. Producer: Becky Ripley. Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc

Elizabeth Day talks to Eley Williams about her new book, The Liar's Dictionary.

Fiona Shaw and Nicola Coughlan join Harriett Gilbert to talk books

Charlotte Wood, Travel Writing, Narrative Voice

Nina Sosanya and David Nicholls bring their favourite books to the table

American avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson and radio DJ Stuart Maconie talk books.

Elizabeth Wetmore, Sebastian Barry and a re-working of Mary McCarthy's The Group

Val McDermid and Martha Lane Fox talk to Harriett Gilbert about books they really love.

Jean-Baptiste Andrea, Orlando King, Authors and Critics

Actresses Pippa Haywood and Felicity Montagu talk books with Harriett Gilbert.

Andrés Neuman, William Boyd on WW2 Novels, Singlit with Elaine Chiew

Natalie Carter & Melissa Cummings-Quarry (Black Girls Book Club) talk books with Harriett

Paul Mendez, Class & Society novels, Thomas Keneally on Dickens

Paul Mendez, Class & Society novels, Thomas Keneally on Dickens

Daniel Mason discusses new short story collection, A Registry Of My Passage On Earth.

Curtis Sittenfeld, Ian Rankin and Katherine Rundell

Award winning autor Tayari Jones discusses her novel Silver Sparrow.

Garth Greenwell talks to Mariella Frostrup about his new book Cleanness.

Ingrid Persaud, Short Fiction, Patricia Grace

Mariella Frostrup talks to Evie Wyld about new novel The Bass Rock

Books worth reading chosen by Nazir Afzal and Maggie Gee.

Maggie O'Farrell Sophie Hannah and Reading in Isolation

Helen Lederer and Angela Barnes nominate books they consider to be a good read.

Petina Gappah. Plus Henry Porter on adventure writing and the joys of fictional journeys.

Texas frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri and actor Hugh Dennis choose favourite books.

Christos Tsiolkas, Mothers and Daughters in fiction, Nairobi books

Harriett Gilbert talks to Henry Normal and Bobby Seagull about their favourite books.

Kiley Reid, Lucy Foley and Abir Mukherjee, Peter Swanson

Books worth reading chosen by Neil Oliver and Neil Forsyth.

Books worth reading chosen by actor Richard Harrington and comedian Njambi McGrath

Colum McCann, George Orwell, new fiction set in Windrush-era London

Authors Gail Honeyman and Mavis Cheek talk to Harriett Gilbert about the books they love.

Isabel Allende, Magic Realism, The Foundling

Sarah Phelps and Dane Baptiste talk to Harriett Gilbert about books they love.

100 Novels; Love and Romance with Marian Keyes, David Nicholls, Sara Collins

Harriett Gilbert talks to Syima Aslam and Stig Abell about books they love - all classics

Nick Hornby and Carlo Rovelli tell Harriett Gilbert about the books they love the most.

Jeanine Cummins on American Dirt, and forgotten classic The Street with Tayari Jones

Deepa Anappara and Rob Doyle on their new novels; Helen Fielding's book she'd never lend

100 Novels That Shaped Our World: Identity

Graham Greene special

Highlights of 2019

Benjamin Markovits, PG Wodehouse, Family rows in novels and child prodigies

2019 books, André Aciman and David Bowie

Comedian Russell Kane and novelist Sarah Perry talk favourite books with Harriett Gilbert

Lee Child and Pat Barker explore the heroic protagonist. Hanne Orstavik's novel, Love

Nemone Metaxas and Raymond Antrobus talk favourite books with presenter Harriett Gilbert.

Ben Lerner, Women's auto fiction and Ian Rankin

The Romany writer and broadcaster Damian Le Bas and author Amy Liptrot choose a good read

Kathy O'Shaughnessy talks to Mariella about her novel charting the life of George Eliot.

Comedian Stewart Lee and DJ author Dave Haslam choose their good reads

Lisa Jewell and Aditya Chakrabortty talk all about books with Harriett Gilbert.

Books worth reading chosen by actor John Gordon Sinclair and singer Kerry Ellis

Andrew Michael Hurley talks to Mariella Frostrup about new folk horror novel Starve Acre

The University of East Anglia's Creative Writing MA turns 50.

Poorna Bell and Tony Law join Harriett Gilbert to talk about their favourite books.

Emma Donoghue discusses her new novel Akin, plus a discussion of the best fiction spies.

Edith Bowman and Harry Baker discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Radiohead's bassist Colin Greenwood and comedian Joanne McNally recommend great books.

Dana Czapnik discusses her debut The Falconer and two writers talk about the Black Death.

Ann Patchett, Jia Tolentino and USA book picks with Jonathan Lee and Zack Graham.

Robert Harris discusses his new novel and reflects on 30 years of writing fiction.

Deborah Levy on her bestselling new novel, The Man Who Saw Everything.

A special edition of Open Book from the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Benjamin Myers on his latest The Offing, and Proust's In Search of Lost Time discussed.

Colm Tóibín reflects on the fathers of Irish greats and US bestseller Mary Beth Keane

David Nicholls on his new novel Sweet Sorrow and a reader's guide to Elizabeth Hardwick

Pam Hogg and Mark Billingham choose their books worth reading.

Award-winning poet Ocean Vuong discusses his debut novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Dolly Alderton and Clare Mackintosh talk about books they love to Harriett Gilbert.

On the centenary of her birth Open Book celebrates the novels of Iris Murdoch

Harriett Gilbert talks to Dom Joly and Kate Hamer about their favourite books.

Mathew Baynton and Aasmah Mir choose favourite books to recommend to Harriett Gilbert.

Will Eaves discusses Murmur, his award-winning novel about Alan Turing

Nicci Gerrard and Gary Younge join Harriett Gilbert to talk about their favourite books.

Irish author Kevin Barry, winner of the Impac Award and the Goldsmiths Prize, discusses his new novel Night Boat to Tangier, a dark comedy billed as Waiting For Godot meets In Bruges. Novelist and journalist Molly Flatt, who writes about culture and technology for the Bookseller, discusses a growing trend for book versions of successful podcasts. 25 years since the death of Derek Jarman, Mariella is joined by writers Philip Hoare and Mike Parker to explore queer nature writing, a genre concerned with the push and pull of the natural world, from a queer perspective.

Cathy Newman and Jeffery Deaver discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Carolina Setterwall and the pleasures of re-reading. With Mariella Frostrup.

Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Hannah Peel share the books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

Pajtim Statovci on his novel Crossing and we explore the work of Gerald Murnane

Stephen Morris and Pippa Evans tell presenter Harriett Gilbert about books they love.

Mia Couto and Wayétu Moore discuss two new African novels exploring colonialism and myth

Ben Smith and Julia Blackburn on Doggerland; Ghana's literary scene; Rosie Price

Bernardine Evaristo discusses her polyphonic new novel Girl, Woman, Other.

An exploration of the rich heritage and bright future of working class writing.

Ali Smith on her new novel, Spring, Easter Eggs in fiction and books to live by

Damian Barr, Candice Carty Williams, Beckett's novels and Julián Fuks literary postcard.

Taylor Jenkins Reid talks about her novel Daisy Jones & The Six. Also we discuss the best older characters in fiction and Reading Clinic suggests books for someone on death row.

Nicola Walker and Sarah Ann Kennedy discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Siri Hustvedt discusses her new novel Memories of the Future.

Harriett Gilbert talks favourite books with the comedian and broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika and the cartoonist-author Martin Rowson. Ayesha chooses a novel from Italy: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Martin picks Let's Kill Uncle by Rohan O'Grady, and Harriett's choice is In The Skin of A Lion by Michael Ondaatje. Producer: Eliza Lomas

Max Porter discusses his new novel Lanny.

The actors Sarah Hadland (Miranda, That Mitchell and Webb Look) and Russell Tovey (Being Human, The History Boys) recommend favourite books to presenter Harriett Gilbert. Sarah's choice is French hit The Elegance of The Hedgehog. Russell's is Close Range: Brokeback Mountain, made into a film with Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal and Harriett's is The Naked Civil Servant. Producer: Eliza Lomas

What Makes a Jewish Book; Colm Tóibín on Natalia Ginzburg; Censorship in Kuwait

Harriett Gilbert talks about books with poet Lemn Sissay and novelist Mick Herron.

Rev. Kate Bottley and Ken Cheng talk about the books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

Whitney Scharer discusses her novel about the love affair between Lee Miller and Man Ray.

Harriet Gilbert invites singer Tracy Thorne and writer Maggie O'Farrell to choose a book.

Barristers turned crime writers, Mohammed Hanif on Catch 22, Emma Darwin

Comedian Lucy Porter and writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books. Lucy Porter's voice will be well-known to Radio 4 listeners as a regular on the News Quiz, the Now Show and The Unbelievable Truth. On TV she has appeared on Live at the Apollo, QI, Mock the Week, Have I Got News For You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. She is also a successful comedy writer. Frank Cottrell-Boyce's credits as screenwriter include Welcome to Sarajevo, Hilary and Jackie and 24 Hour Party People. He is also an award-winning author of novels for children, including Millions, Framed and Cosmic. Their good reads are Letters from a Lost Uncle by Mervyn Peake, Truckers by Terry Pratchett and Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. Producer: Mair Bosworth.

Kristen Roupenian on her new short story collection

Naturalist Brett Westwood and author Kamal Ahmed talk books with Harriett Gilbert.

Writer Scarlett Curtis and comedian Catherine Bohart talk books with Harriett Gilbert.

Chloe Aridjis, Adam Foulds and Leo Benedictus, Gay's the Word Bookshop at 40

A special programme celebrating the breadth and power of writing from the Caribbean

Oyinkan Braithwaite, Books as clutter, Kafka's legacy, True crime in fiction

Open Book explores the legacy of the American writer John Steinbeck

Festive short stories, Hangovers in fiction, Christmas novels, Book choices for 2019

Joyce Carol Oates, Wind in the Willows, October Books and orphans in literature

Donald S Murray, Lyrics and poetry, publishing in Iceland and Greenland

Comedian Gráinne Maguire and alternative history author John Higgs talk to presenter Harriett Gilbert about books they really love. Gráinne chooses Elaine Dundy’s first novel The Dud Avocado, the delightfully funny adventures of a young woman in 1950s Paris. John picks The Patterning Instinct by Jeremy Lent, a history of the world in cultural ideas which offers a brand new way of understanding civilisation and the future. Harriett’s choice is dark wartime novel The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge. Producer: Beth O'Dea

Lee Child, Southall-set thrillers, crime picks for teenagers

SAS thriller writer Andy McNab and spoken word artist George the Poet choose a good read

Barbara Kingsolver, Northern Irish writing, India’s gay fiction

Barbara Kingsolver discusses her new novel Unsheltered with Mariella Frostrup.

Harriett Gilbert is joined by authors Kamila Shamsie and Jeffrey Archer

Exploring literary responses to the Great War in the immediate aftermath of the Armistice. The University of Leicester's Victoria Stewart, and biographer Jean Moorcroft Wilson, discuss the ways that fiction reflected the horror of war in the decade after 1918. Novelist Richard T. Kelly considers the pitfalls of including real people in works of fiction. Bestselling novelist Maria Dahvana Headley explains why Beowulf felt like the appropriate framework through which to explore race, class and violence in contemporary America. And Managing Director of Waterstones James Daunt helps Open Book to launch a new series looking at the challenges of making bookselling pay.

Katie Derham and Matt Haig talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Harriett Gilbert talks favourite books with guests, comedians Sindhu Vee and Phil Wang.

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on his short story debut, Friday Black and Minette Walters

Actor and comedian Liz Carr and Kate Williams select a favourite read

Liane Moriarty, best-selling author of Big Little Lies, discusses her latest novel.

Comedian and actor Ben Miller and writer Danny Wallace choose their favourite books.

Colombian novelist Hector Abad joins Mariella Frostrup to discuss ideas of inheritance and escape in his new family saga The Farm. And Laura Purcell reflects on what soaring horror fiction sales can tell us about contemporary anxieties.

Grace Dent and Sian Harries talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books.

Harriett Gilbert discusses favourite books with the writers Nikesh Shukla and Leone Ross. Nikesh's choice is Amateur; a real-life account of testing one’s masculinity in the boxing ring by Thomas Page McBee. Leone's is Cane, the largely forgotten African-American classic by Jean Toomer and Harriett's is a divisive modern classic, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.Producer: Eliza Lomas

Open Book celebrates 20 years with Mariella Frostrup in front of a live audience.

Gail Jones, revisiting iconic literary detectives and crime fiction of the 1930's.

Australian author Gail Jones discusses her new book The Death of Noah Glass

Lavinia Greenlaw on her new book In the City of Love's Dreams and Venezuelan literature.

John Boyne on his new novel, and ode to Mrs Gaskell and six of the best Sci Fi novels.

Open Book on the majesty of trees with Richard Powers, Melissa Harrison and Jessica J Lee

A special edition exploring book criticism and asking whether using critical tools can make us better readers. Mariella Frostrup is joined on stage at the Edinburgh International Book Festival by critic Alan Taylor, book podcast host Books&Rhymes, novelists Kaite Welsh and Sarah Moss, and Sarah Dillon from Cambridge University to explore the current state of book reviewing, the explosion of conversations about books online and on social media, the role of the professional reviewer and whether we can all learn useful critical tools to help us read well, and enrich our reading experience.

Claire Fuller discusses her new novel, Bitter Orange and Neil Gaiman on Hope Mirrlees

Daisy Johnson, The literary appeal of the Fens, Book festival etiquette

Mariella Frostrup and guests consider what makes them such popular fictional locations.

Actor Anne-Marie Duff and author Louise O'Neill join Harriett Gilbert for a discussion about favourite books. Anne-Marie Duff has starred in films including On Chesil Beach, Sufragette and Elizabeth I, and on TV in Shameless and From Darkness. Louise O'Neill's prize-winning novels include Only Ever Yours and Asking for It, and her latest book is a feminist take on The Little Mermaid called The Surface Breaks.Anne-Marie chooses Nights At The Circus, the classic feminist novel by Angela Carter (Vintage), Louise puts forward a memoir about seventeen brushes with death by Irish author Maggie O'Farrell; I Am I Am I Am (Tinder Press), and Harriett recommends Conversations With Friends (Faber), a critically-acclaimed debut novel by another Irish author, Sally Rooney. Producer: Eliza Lomas

Daisy Johnson and Stella Tillyard on the inspiration of the Fens and literary festivals.

Harriett Gilbert and guests talk favourite books, including Arnold Bennett's The Card, Dylan Thomas' Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog and Daniyal Mueenuddin's In Other Rooms, Other Wonders. Her guests are journalist, broadcaster and documentary-maker Samira Ahmed, presenter of BBC1's Newswatch and Radio 4's Front Row. And comedian Elis James, known for starring in the BBC3 sitcoms Crims and Josh and a familiar face on panel-shows such as Mock the Week and 8 out of 10 Cats. Producer: Becky Ripley.

Michael Donker on his debut novel and Jackie Kay on how poet Audrey Lorde inspired her.

Harriett Gilbert and guests talk favourite books in an all-female line-up, including Meg Wolitzer's The Wife, Ottessa Moshfegh's Eileen and Carol Ann Duffy's collection Meantime. Her guests are comedy actress and writer Isy Suttie, series regular on Peep Show and Shameless and author of a memoir called The Actual One. And comedian Lolly Adefope, the Observer's "rising star of comedy" whose TV work includes Loaded, Taskmaster and, along with Isy, Channel 4's sitcom Damned. Producer: Becky Ripley.

Plus the Wellcome Collection's Kirty Topiwala on how fiction has approached the NHS

Loyd Grossman and Skin from rock band Skunk Anansie talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books. Chosen books include Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham and The Underground Railroad by Colston Whitehead. Producer: Sally Heaven.

Loyd Grossman and Skin from rock band Skunk Anansie talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books. Chosen books include Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham and The Underground Railroad by Colston Whitehead. Producer Sally Heaven.

Hanan Al-Shaykh and Nada Awar Jarrar on writing about Beirut close up and from a distance

Harriett Gilbert and guests talk favourite books, including Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, Never Mind by Edward St Aubyn (the first in his Patrick Melrose series) & The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Her guests are the journalist and broadcaster Tony Parsons, who started his career at the NME and went on to write Man and Boy and later the bestselling DC Max Wolfe thriller series. And Olly Mann, presenter of award-winning podcasts and radio programmes including Answer Me This!, The Modern Mann and BBC Radio 4's The Male Room and Four Thought.Producer: Mair Bosworth

Michael Ondaatje, Nell Dunn on her book, Talking to Women and a postcard from Croatia.

Two former doctors join Harriett Gilbert to talk about their favourite books. Adam Kay is a writer and comedian whose first book, This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, was published to great acclaim in 2017. Farrah Jarral is a writer and broadcaster who was, until recently, a London GP.The good reads up for discussion are Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris and I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson.Producer: Mair Bosworth.

Cressida Connolly, posthumous short stories and a literary postcard from Iraq.

Comic actor and writer Robert Webb and award-winning journalist Hugo Rifkind talk about favourite books with presenter Harriett Gilbert. Robert's choice is East Anglican based fictional tale Waterland by Graham Swift. Hugo picks the Douglas Adams classic Life, The Universe and Everything, and Harriett brings Sam Miller's Fathers to the table. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Fiona Kidman discusses her new book, All Day at the Movies.

Anthony Horowitz on his second James Bond adventure and a universal library in Seville

John Harvey and favourite characters in fiction

Carys Davies on her new book, West and unfaithful women in fiction.

Jennifer Clement and we discuss the increasing influence of book bloggers.

Diana Evans discusses her new novel, Ordinary People and how to stage literary classics.

Comedians Phill Jupitus and Robin Ince talk to Harriett Gilbert about books they love. Phill's is Dada: Art and Anti-Art by Hans Richter, the founder of the punk art movement. Robin's is Soviet-era science fiction: Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, the book on which Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker was based. Lastly, Harriett introduces them to a dark and compelling new crime novel in which the protagonists are children: Dodgers by Bill Beverly. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Crime writers Abir Mukherjee Val McDermid and Graeme Macrae Burnet on a tour of Kolkata.

Harriett Gilbert's guests are writer Bernardine Evaristo and comedian Jolyon Rubinstein. Bernardine's choice is Come Let Us Sing Anyway by Leone Ross and Jolyon's favourite is Any Human Heart by William Boyd, and Harriett introduces her guests to An English Murder by Cyril Hare.

Joseph Knox's new book The Smiling Man and the archives of Gabriel Garzia Marquz

Writers Nina Stibbe and Kit de Waal share their recommendations for good reads

James Wood discusses his new book, Upstate and we discuss the joys of being a bookworm.

Harriett Gilbert, Joanna Trollope and Sabrina Mahfouz talk about their favourite books.Joanna chooses The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald. Sabrina's choice is Omar Robert Hamilton's The City Always Wins, and Harriett's is Terms and Conditions by Ysenda Maxtone Graham.

Materials engineer and presenter Mark Miodownik and Diana Henry, the food writer for the Sunday Telegraph, tell Harriett Gilbert about the books they love. Books tossed into the discussion are: The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien, Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton and The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor.Producer Beth O'Dea.

Jessie Greengrass and Jeremy Gavron on creating a new novel from classic texts.

Hadley Freeman (Guardian columnist and author of Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned from Eighties Movies and Be Awesome: Modern Life for Modern Ladies) and Sathnam Sanghera (Times columnist and author of Marriage Material and The Boy With The Topknot) talk favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Choices include Spring by David Szalay, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank and A Cat, a Man, and Two Women by Junichiro Tanizaki. Produced by Mair Bosworth

Jane Harper discusses her latest book, Force of Nature and Penelope Lively on E Nesbit

Broadcaster Steph McGovern and comedian Jayde Adams talk about books with Harriett Gilbert. Their choices are, Jon Ronson's So You've Been Publicly Shamed, Ann Cleeves' The Seagull, from the Vera series, and Postcards from the Edge by the late actress Carrie Fisher.Producer Sally Heaven.

Julian Barnes on his new, The Only Story.

Harriett Gilbert talks to comedian Jake Yapp, whose condensed satires include Radio 4 in 4 Minutes, and Ruby Tandoh, runner-up in The Great British Bake Off and cookery writer, about their favourite books. Jake's is Nicholas Again by René Goscinny (author of Asterix) and Jean-Jacques Sempé, translated by Anthea Bell. Ruby loves Nora Ephron's essays I Remember Nothing: and other reflections, written at the end of her life. And Harriett introduces them to On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, which reminds Jake for some reason of the TV series Lost... Producer Beth O'Dea.

Stephen Fry and Alan Davies reunite in the studio to debate their all-time favourite books with presenter Harriett Gilbert. Expect philosophical musings and a fair bit of silliness from these comedy polymaths and former QI partners in crime. Fears for the future are discussed through Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel A Brave New World, reflections on the past come with J.M Coetzee's memoir Boyhood, and for some light relief, Muriel Spark's centenary is celebrated in a humorous take on the publishing world, in A Far Cry From Kensington. But who picks what? Producer: Eliza Lomas.

Dirk Kurbjuweit on his book, The Fear, Nicola Sturgeon discusses her love of reading.

Leila Slimane discusses her new novel and the iimportance of translating foreign fiction

William Boyd and Alan Taylor discuss the work of Muriel Spark.

Mariella Frostrup and guests ask if we are entering a golden age of dystopian fiction.

In a special programme David Walliams talks about his life as a children’s writer.

A selection of Christmas literary gifts, Hunter Davies and crowd funding for books.

Lionel Shriver on her new book and a celebration of Nordic writing.

Comedians Nish Kumar and Katy Brand tell Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books.

Stephanie Merrit and Benjamin Markovits discuss the idea of the Great American Novel.

Comedian Alexei Sayle and novelist Meg Rosoff trade favourite books with Harriett Gilbert

Jennifer Egan won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel A Visit From The Goon Squad. Her new book Manhattan Beach is set largely during the Second World war, her heroine is the first ever female diver employed to mend warships. She talks to Mariella Frostrup about turning her hand to historical fiction, and her literary interest in twins. Also on the programme, Jen Campbell calls for better depiction of people with disabilities in fiction; biographer Helen Smith talks about Edward Garnett - man of letters and supportive editor to DH Lawrence and Joseph Conrad among others and Adam Haslett reveals the book he'd never lend.

Writers Jon McGregor and Cathy Rentzenbrink talk favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup talks to celebrated American novelist Celeste Ng, whose new book Little Fires Everywhere explores what happens when a calm and ordinary suburb is disrupted by the arrival of a new residents - a teenage girl and her artistic mother. Ian Rankin shares his passion for Thomas Pynchon's 1973 novel Gravity's Rainbow and we hear from the Sharjah Book Fair which has just closed its doors in the UEA. While the Icelandic crime writer novelist Lilja Sigurdardottir explains why the financial crash of 2008 inspired many authors to explore the society's underbelly.

Presenters Rick Edwards and George Lamb join Harriett Gilbert to talk favourite books.

Jenny Colgan & Steven Camden (Polarbear) talk about brilliant books with Harriett Gilbert

Graeme Macrae Burnet joins Alex Clark to discuss his novel The Accident on the A35, a new literary crime thriller. He describes the book as 'a fiction within a fiction', claiming to be not the author but the translator. Also on the programme, the life and work of South African writer Olive Schreiner, literary news from Chile and Lucy Hughes-Hallett, one of this year's judges, discusses the Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer Award of the Year Award.

Alice Lowe and Andrew Hunter Murray talk favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup celebrates the 40th anniversary of the classic travel book In Patagonia. She's joined by the Observer theatre critic Susannah Clapp, who edited the book, and travel writer William Dalrymple who both admire its ground breaking mix of memoir, history and reportage. Also on the programme, Nathan Englander talks about his new novel Dinner at the Centre of the Earth. Best known for his short story collections this is a spy thriller and a love story based around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sandi Toksvig discusses her tale for children set in the American Midwest in the mid nineteenth century, and Dennis Glover on the difficulties of fictionalizing George Orwell, a larger than life character who seems to have been misrepresented in fiction.

Owen Jones and Georgia LA discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Omar El Akkad's debut novel American War has won rave reviews in the states. In it he imagines a future America where the country has been ravaged by climate change and a second Civil War breaks out over fossil fuels. He talks to Mariella Frostrup about his dystopian vision.Also on the programme, Icelandic writer Sjon, and Ted Hodgkinson discuss their new anthology of short stories from the Nordic region, and best selling writer novelist Elizabeth Kostova reveals the book she'd never lend.

Sally Lindsay and Jonathan Harvey talk about the books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

Alan Hollinghurst on his new novel and Denise Mina and Max Porter discuss ghost stories.

Toby Young and Sarah Vine talk favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Clare Messud on her latest novels and theatrical memoirs.

Helen Sedgwick discusses her new novel The Growing Season; Australian writers to watch.

Daryl Gregory discusses his latest novel Spoonbenders and a manual on being a writer

Kamila Shamsie and David Vann discuss their own interpretations of classic Greek myths.

Partition, Peter Stamm on his new novel and libraries in fiction

Fredrik Backman is an internationally bestselling author whose A Man Called Ove has sold more than 3 million copies. His new novel, The Scandal, is set in an isolated Swedish town where the future is looking bright, until one brutal act threatens that future prosperity. Fredrik Backman talks to Mariella Frostrup.

Tom Holland, Tracy Borman and Olivette Otele talk about who is writing history today.

Author John Niven and journalist Sali Hughes talk books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

Fiona Melrose discusses her new book, Johannesburg and Kaite Welsh on transgender fiction

Elizabeth Day discusses her new book, The Party and Patrick Ness's Queer Icon.

Harriett Gilbert talks to Stacey Dooley and Gaia Vince about their favourite books.

Matt Haig on time travel and Val McDermid discusses Virginia Woolf's Orlando.

Kathy Burke and comedian Tom Allen talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert

Actor Bill Paterson and writer Tom Chatfield talk about beloved books to Harriett Gilbert

Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press and Misha Glenny on The Master and Margarita

Harriett Gilbert talks favourite books with Verity Sharp and Matthew Syed.

Thomas Keneally discusses his latest novel, Crimes of the Father

Harriett Gilbert talks favourite books with Nathan Caton and Adam Rutherford.

Harriett Gilbert talks to Ed Byrne and Hardeep Singh Kohli about their favourite books.

Tim Winton on his new book The Boy Behind The Curtain – Notes from an Australian Life

Gail Honeyman, Nell Stevens and Angie Thomas on the Book She'd Never Lend

Richard Beard and Bella Pollen discuss their memoirs and a discussion on George Eliot.

The Girl on the Train writer Paula Hawkins talks about her new novel Into The Water

Lisa McInerney on her new novel, Blood Miracles and a discussion on regional writing

Luiza Sauma on her book Flesh and Bone and Water and books for Easter.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Jon McGregor about his new novel Reservoir 13, a haunting exploration of the impact of a missing child on a Derbyshire community. Polly Clark explains why she decided to fictionalize a less well known period in W H Auden's life when, as a young man, he worked as a school master in Scotland. Mariella is also joined by another devotee of Auden, writer Alexander McCall Smith, to discuss the poet's timeless appeal. We discusses the novel behind the film 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?' which is being re-released. And Wendy Holden tells us about the Book She'd Never Lend.

Will Self and Rachel Johnson talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and Elan Mastai on literary soothsaying.

Doctor twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken talk to Harriett Gilbert about favourite books.

George Saunders, Nina Lorez Collins, Harper Collins archives and favourite books

Harriet Harman and Pete Paphides champion their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Helen Dunmore discusses her new book, Birdcage Walk.

Tony Robinson and Andi Oliver recommend great books to presenter Harriett Gilbert.

Harriett Gilbert talks great books with Craig Brown and Pippa Evans.

Mohsin Hamid discusses his new book, Exit West and North Korean short stories

Harriett Gilbert talks to Murray Lachlan Young & Deborah Frances-White about good reads.

Nadiya Hussain discusses the book she'd never lend.

Lionel Shriver, author, and Mae Martin, comedian, talk books with Harriett Gilbert.

Joanna Trollope discusses her new novel, City of Friends.

Lord Victor Adebowale and musician Rachel Unthank join Harriett Gilbert to talk books.

Alan Carr and Melanie Sykes talk with Harriett Gilbert about the books they love.

Yaa Gyasi's debut novel Homegoing is already one of the most talked about debuts of 2017. She joins Mariella Frostrup to talk about this tale of two sisters with strikingly different destinies - one sold into slavery, the other a slave trader's wife - and the way their lives reverberate through the generations.We open the doors to our Reading Clinic with the writer of King Arthur Kevin Crossley-Holland, who chooses his favourite books on the legendary figure of Merlin.Award winning novelist AL Kennedy talks about her first book for children, Uncle Shawn and Bill and the Almost Entirely Unplanned Adventure and we have our monthly recommendation from inside the publishing industry.

Tessa Hadley on her new book and Esther Freud and Kitty Aldridge on literary friendships

James Lasdun discusses his new book The Fall Guy and crime fiction for 2017

Literary postcards from around the world.

Nadeem Aslam discusses his new book The Golden Legend

The dark world of Shirley Jackson and a look at this year's best reads

Literary heroes and the book I'd never lend.

Jay McInerney talks about his novel Bright Lights, Big City.

Businessman John Timpson & Big Issue founder John Bird talk favourite books.

An original Jane Eyre manuscript published in a new edition and a story from Chris Cleave

Charles Moore and Nadifa Mohamed discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

David Grossman on his new novel and photographer Steve McCurry's portraits of readers.

Michael Grade and Gia Milinovich talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books.

Margaret Drabble on her new book The Dark Flood Rises and the books on her bedside table.

Sally Phillips and Julia Donaldson talk about books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

In Classic Book Club, author Louise Walsh discusses Kidnapped with James Naughtie

Harriett Gilbert invites Terry Christian and Dr Kevin Fong to talk favourite books.

Quentin Blake, Emma Chichester Clark and Brit Bennett

Harriett Gilbert talks to Cariad Lloyd and Mike Bullen about books they love, and why.

Sebastian Barry, Naomi Alderman and Margaret Atwood

Sebastian Faulks, Sarfraz Manzoor and Harriett Gilbert talk about their favourite books.

Graham Norton, Michelle Paver and Robert Twigger. Close reading Henry James.

Bidisha and Gillian Reynolds choose favourite books to discuss with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella talks to Tommy Wieringa about his book A Beautiful Young Wife

Harriett Gilbert talks books with Ann Widdecombe and Vince Cable.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Sarah Hall and Peter Hobbs about stories of Sex and Death

Mariella Frostrup talks to Donal Ryan about All We Shall Know

Mariella Frostrup talks to author Jonathan Safran Foer

Mariella Frostrup investigates crime writing from the heart of the Edinburgh Festival. Crime today ranges from psychological thrillers to so-called Cosy Crime whodunnits. With more choice than ever before, why are writers still drawn to expanding and re-inventing the genre and what’s its appeal for readers?Mariella is joined by doyenne of the genre, Val McDermid, who publishes her thirtieth novel Out of Bounds this month. Her cold case investigator DCI Karen Pirie returns with gusto to discover the truth behind complex questions of family and identity. Also on stage are two relative newcomers in the field. Lucy Ribchester whose novel The Amber Shadows is a thrilling, mystery adventure set in the secret world of Bletchley Park and Abir Mukherjee's A Rising Man takes us to steamy Calcutta at the time of the British Raj.

Mariella Frostrup with Raja Alem, Richard T Kelly and Benjamin Markovits and Nick Barley

Mariella Frostrup talks to Colin Thubron

Mariella Frostrup explores contemporary literature from Italy

Open Book - Evelyn Waugh, DBC Pierre, a literary postcard from Sweden

Christopher Biggins and Jenny Eclair chat about books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

Francesca Simon and Lloyd Langford talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert

Mariella Frostrup on Children's Literature with Frank Cottrell Boyce and Bali Rai

Joann Fletcher and Damian Barr join Harriett Gilbert to talk about their favourite books.

Open Book with Mariella Frostrup, recorded at Cardiff Central Library

Alex Jones and Victoria Hislop talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Martin Lewis and Tanita Tikaram join Harriett Gilbert to talk about books they love.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Ruth Gilligan about Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan

Professor David Nutt and Philippa Perry join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Annie Proulx about her new novel Barkskins

Robert "Judge" Rinder and Stella Duffy talk about books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup discusses historical fiction and talks to Icelandic writer Sjon

Trevor McDonald and Jon Snow talk about the books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Juan Gabriel Vasquez about his novel Reputations

Mariella Frostrup talks to Kit de Waal, Researching novels, Counter-factual fiction.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Alan Cartwright about Iron Towns

Mariella Frostrup talks to Alan Cartwright about Iron Towns

Mariella Frostrup talks to children's author Allan Ahlberg

Mariella Frostrup talks to children's author Allan Ahlberg

Mariella Frostrup talks to David Szalay and Ted Hodgkinson about being a man

On the 400th anniversary of his death, Mariella Frostrup discusses the work and legacy of Miguel de Cervantes with authors Daniel Hahn and Deborah Levy. Cervantes is often credited with inventing the modern novel and the playful wit and digressive plotting of Don Quixote have influenced generations of writers. Playwright Barney Norris talks to Mariella about his first novel Five Rivers Met On A Wooded Plain . Set in Salisbury, it's about five characters whose lives are united - and transformed - by a car accident. He talks about the importance of the cathedral city to his life and work. Also on the programme, Mariella investigates new ways of getting a book published with self publishing star Rachel Abbott and Angus Phillips from the Oxford Centre for Publishing, and novelist Francesca Haig rails against the critical term 'literary'.

Kate Tempest is an acclaimed rapper, poet and playwright and now she's added novelist to her CV. She talks to Mariella Frostrup about her debut, The Bricks That Built The Houses, the story of three young Londoners trying to escape their complicated lives. Also on the programme two authors discuss why the environmental changing is the new big fear in dystopian fiction and writer Callan Wink tells us why he finds writing hard, hard work.

Peter Lord and Russell Kane talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup explores an anthology of short stories inspired by Jane Eyre

Marian Keyes and Nikki Bedi talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Ayelet Gundar-Goshen about Waking Lions

Internationally renowned percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie's rather surprising choice of a good read is Napoleon Hill's best-selling self-improvement book 'Think and Grow Rich' . First published in 1937, it's a classic of the genre and still has wide appeal to the book-buying public.Sarah Churchwell is a journalist and academic, Professor of American Literature at the University of East Anglia. She recommends Henry James' classic 'The Ambassadors'. A darkly comic story about the seductive charms of Europe and learning to 'live all you can', it's one of James' best-loved novels.Harriett's choice is 'Curious' by the comic actress Rebecca Front. It's a collection of beautifully-observed stories about life's absurdities, funny, thoughtful and touching.Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Javier Marias on Thus Bad Begins

Writers John O'Farrell and Joe Dunthorne recommend great books to Harriett Gilbert.

Harriett Gilbert asks Deborah Bull and Sam Leith about the books they've always loved.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Graham Swift about Mothering Sunday

Natalie Haynes and David Greig join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Meg Rosoff about Jonathan Unleashed

Samantha Bond and Jason Cowley join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books.

Samantha Bond and Jason Cowley join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Elizabeth Strout about My Name is Lucy Barton

Jake Arnott and Rebecca Root nominate their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Vanessa Feltz and David Hepworth debate their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Patrick Flanery about I Am No One

Mariella Frostrup talks to Gail Jones about A Guide to Berlin

Mariella Frostrup talks to Janice Y K Lee about The Expatriates

Alex Clark talks to Francesca Kay about The Long Room

Mariella Frostrup and guests discuss the literary trends of the last twelve months

Mariella Frostrup talks to Samuel Bjork about I'm Travelling Alone.

Mariella Frostrup talks to American novelist Tom Drury about The Driftless Area

Dr Christian Jessen and James Wong nominate their favourite books, with Harriett Gilbert.

Harriett Gilbert debates favourite books with Shirley Williams and Margaret Drabble.

Mariella Frostrup talks to William Boyd about his novel Sweet Caress

Niall Ferguson and Tracy Chevalier talk favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Edna O'Brien about The Little Red Chairs

Short Jonathan Coe and Gemma Cairney join Harriett Gilbert to recommend favourite books.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Jeremy Gavron, Kate Grenville and Eugene Vodolazkin

Krishnan Guru-Murthy and crime writer Ann Cleeves talk about books with Harriett Gilbert.

Spectator editor Fraser Nelson & critic Adam Mars-Jones talk books with Harriett Gilbert.

Philip Pullman & Caroline Criado-Perez talk about books they love with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Adam Sisman about his biography of John Le Carre

Mariella Frostrup talks to Jonathan Lee about his new novel High Dive

David Morrissey and Julia Blackburn join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Andrew Hurley about The Loney

Green MP Caroline Lucas and columnist Rod Liddle debate books with Harriett Gilbert.

Open Book - Mariella Frostrup talks to Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk

Miriam Margolyes and Mark Haddon talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Mariella Frostrup talks to literary agent turned author Bill Clegg

Open Book with Mariella Frostrup - John Banville on The Blue Guitar

David Nicholls talks about his novel One Day

Mariella Frostrup talks to Pat Barker about her life, work and her new novel Noonday.

Open Book

Mariella Frostrup talks to Leila Aboulela about her new novel The Kindness of Enemies.

Mariella Frostrop and guests discuss why we love to read