A Good Read

Lively conversation around three book choices. Presenter Harriett Gilbert talks to two guests about books they love EUPHORIA by Lily King HUNGER PAINS by Derek Owusu LOVED AND MISSED by Susie Boyt Selina Brown has written three children's picture books. She is the founder and CEO of the Black British Book Festival. Her book recommendation is Hunger Pains by Derek Owusu - a novel that puts the grow...

Guests discuss books they love. This time:  Loving and Giving by Molly Keane, chosen by podcaster and Archers actor Susie Riddell The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré, chosen by education activist Dr Vee Kativhu The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller, chosen by presenter Harriett Gilbert Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sarah Goodman Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

A sharing of book recommendations and lively discussion. Harriett Gilbert is joined by children's author Lauren Child and musician David McAlmont to talk about books they love by George Orwell, Elizabeth Strout and Alan Bennett. The books are: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout, chosen by Lauren Child Burmese Days by George Orwell, chosen by David McAlmont Killing Time by Alan Bennett, chosen...

Writer, actor and comedian Cariad Lloyd and writer Geoff Dyer join Harriett Gilbert for an enthusiastic and robust discussion about favourite books. The books are: The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard, chosen by Geoff Dyer Question 7 by Richard Flanagan, chosen by Harriett Gilbert The Others by Sheena Kalayil, chosen by Cariad Lloyd Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Eliza Lomas Join us over...

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, chosen by Joanne Harris Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz, chosen by Islam Issa Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Heaven

The classicist and the author talk about books they love with presenter Harriett Gilbert. One of the books is eerily prescient about the state of the world today. The books are: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, chosen by classicist Daisy Dunn Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household, chosen by podcaster and author Andrew Hunter Murray A Life's Music by Andreï Makine, translated by Geoffrey Strachan, chosen...

A special episode of A Good Read, recorded live at the Hay Festival. The books are: London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, chosen by psychotherapist and artist Philippa Perry All Quiet on the Orient Express by Magnus Mills, chosen by presenter and writer Stuart Maconie Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie, chosen by presenter Harriett Gilbert Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Maggie Ayr...

Two Scottish crime writers choose books by: Iain Banks (Espedair Street) Muriel Spark (Memento Mori) And Harriett's choice is Summer by Edith Wharton Producer: Maggie Ayre BBC Audio Bristol Photo credit: Julie Broadfoot

The books are: Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, chosen by Harriet Tyce Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre, chosen by Matt Edmondson Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Heaven Photo credit: Suki Dhanda

Three books that deal with the intricacies of relationships and marriage. Not That Sort of Girl by Mary Wesley Aftermath by Rachel Cusk Three Days In June by Anne Tyler Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Maggie Ayre

This time the community clothing entrepreneur and host of The Great British Sewing Bee Patrick Grant chooses his favourite book along with fellow guest anthropologist and broadcaster Mary-Ann Ochota. The books are: Parsnips Buttered by Joe Lycett The Flow by Amy Jane Beer Heatwave by Penelope Lively Produced in Bristol by Maggie Ayre

Newsreader Maryam Moshiri and Red Dwarf creator Doug Naylor discuss their chosen books, including Bridget Jones's Diary, with Harriett Gilbert. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding, chosen by Maryam Moshiri Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell, chosen by Doug Naylor Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Join us...

THE LIVES AND LOVES OF A SHE DEVIL by Fay Weldon, chosen by Victoria Pile THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway, chosen by Julian Baggini CLEAR by Carys Davies, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Comedy writer and director Victoria Pile joins philosopher and author Julian Baggini to talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. On the menu is a feminist revenge novel that is as dark as it...

This week's books are: How to Measure a Cow by Margaret Forster (chosen by Lolita Chakrabarti) The House of God by Samuel Shem (chosen by Guy Leschziner) A Very Easy Death by Simone de Beauvoir (chosen by Harriett Gilbert) The producer is Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

The children's author Frank Cottrell-Boyce and the author of Wild Swans and Big Sister Little Sister Red Sister Jung Chang choose their good reads. Where Should We Run To by Alan Garner chosen by Frank Cottrell-Boyce Death of A Naturalist by Seamus Heaney chosen by Harriett Gilbert Hans Christian Andersen's Fairytales chosen by Jung Chang Produced in Bristol by Maggie Ayre

This week's books are: Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie, chosen by crime writer Martin Edwards At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien, chosen by sociologist, bioethicist and comedian Tom Shakespeare Thursday Night Widows by Claudia Pineiro, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Heaven Photo credit: Belinda Mason

This week's books are: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler chosen by Maria Balshaw. The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol (translated by Isabel Hapgood) chosen by Léa Ypi. Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans chosen by Harriett Gilbert. The producer is Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol. Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc Photo credit: Erdem Moralioglu

This week's books are: Water Shall Refuse Them by Lucie McKnight Hardy, chosen by comedian Robin Ince Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Esther Waters by George Moore, chosen by writer Philip Hensher Producer Sally Heaven, BBC Audio Bristol

This week's books are: Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner chosen by the Welsh poet and writer Gwyneth Lewis The LIving Mountain by Nan Shepherd picked by author Annabel Abbs Emma by Jane Austen chosen by Harriett Gilbert ahead of the writer's 250th birthday in December 2025 Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Maggie Ayre Photo credit: Edward Brown

Michelle Ogundehin is a broadcaster, magazine editor and author also known as a presenter on TV's Interior Design Masters. She and author Lisa St Aubin de Terán give their book recommendations. Michelle's is 4000 Weeks: Time Management For Mortals by Oliver Burkeman which she says has helped her simplify her life. Lisa chooses Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix the powerful retelling of the 2021 inci...

WEDLOCK: HOW GEORGIAN BRITAIN'S WORST HUSBAND MET HIS MATCH by Wendy Moore, chosen by Kate Lister GRAYSON PERRY: PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG GIRL by Wendy Jones, chosen by Harriett Gilbert PLASTIC EMOTIONS by Shiromi Pinto, chosen by Roma Agrawal Structural engineer Roma Agrawal, known for her work on buildings such as the Shard in London, and historian Kate Lister, who specialises in the hi...

THE YEARS by Annie Ernaux chosen by Richard Benson THE CORNER THAT HELD THEM by Sylvia Townsend Warner chosen by Amy Sackville COFFEE AND CIGARETTES by Ferdinand von Schirach chosen by Harriett Gilbert Writer and former editor of the Face Richard Benson talks to fellow writer Amy Sackville and presenter Harriett Gilbert about favourite books. Richard chooses The Years by Nobel Laureate Annie Ernau...

FUNDAMENTALLY by Nussaibah Younis, chosen by Julia Shaw YOUR LIFE IS MANUFACTURED by Tim Minshall, chosen by Hayaatun Sillem ROSARITA by Anita Desai, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Criminal psychologist Julia Shaw joins engineer Hayaatun Sillem to discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Julia's choice, Fundamentally, is a bold debut novel by Nussaibah Younis which sparks a bit of debate. Younis...

Two books featuring teenage killers feature this time. Nicola Sturgeon MSP votes for Elif Shafak's Honour as her good read. It details the reasons behind the so-called honour killing carried out by a young Turkish Kurd living in London in the 1970s. Nicola says it provides valuable cultural insight into the reasons behind a particular form of violence against women. His Bloody Project by Graeme Ma...

THE STONE DIARIES by Carol Shields, chosen by Tom Cox HOW TO WRITE A THESIS by Umberto Eco, chosen by Sophie Scott PARADISE by Abdulrazak Gurnah, chosen by Harriett Gilbert Writer Tom Cox joins neuroscientist Sophie Scott to discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Tom's choice is the 1995 Pulitzer Prize winner, The Stone Diaries. Following the story of one woman’s life from birth to death,...