A Good Read

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...

Niamh Cusack chooses Lila by Marilynne Robinson part of a group of novels set around the fictional Iowa town of Gilead and centres on the gentle relationship between a poor young woman who has grown up drifting around the midwest and an elderly man of God, the Reverend John Ames. For Niamh the novel speaks to the loneliness of life but she also finds its humanity uplifting and inspiring. Crime wri...

Nina Wadia is a well known face on British TV and film. She was part of the smash hit comedy Goodness Gracious Me and was a regular in EastEnders. Most recently she has been in The Outlaws. She's chosen a dark thriller set in Pakistan set in the world of courtesans and pimps. The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad. It's a disturbing read she says but a brilliant insight into a hidden world. Susan...

The actor-comedian and the poet advocate for their favourite books. Andi chooses The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, Nikita loves Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden and Harriett goes for The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Producer Sally Heaven

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 exp...

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

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...

The two writers talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Gill Hornby has chosen Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, which traces the lives of six step-siblings over a span of fifty years. Paul Burston loves Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, which helped him come out to his parents as a young man. Harriett's choice is Tin Man by Sarah Winman which describes the friendship of two men an...

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 my...

Author Katherine May and poet Liz Berry talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books. Liz loves A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, a powerful blend of memoir and literary investigation where the past bleeds into the present. Katherine is inspired by These Wilds Beyond Our Fences by Bayo Akomolafe, framed as letters from the author to his young daughter as he tries to make sense...

The newsreader and the writer chat about books with Harriett. Sophie and Harriett's choices take on early colonialism on two different continents, in West by Cary Davies and Remembering Babylon by David Malouf respectively, and Patrick's choice of Howard's End by EM Forster brings us back to Blighty. Producer Sally Heaven

The broadcaster and comedian discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Janet's choice is The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks, set in 1960s London, which was also Janet's stomping ground. Felicity loves Carlo Rovelli's Seven Lessons on Physics, which provokes much disagreement between the three women, none of whom studied much science at school. Harriett's choice is Hubert Mingarelli's A Meal in Win...

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 wi...

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...

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 pu...

This week broadcaster and writer Adrian Chiles and musician and sound artist Marty Ware join Harriett Gilbert with their reading suggestions. Martyn nominates A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess which he says has influenced his career as a musician. He even named his band Heaven 17 from a reference in the book. If you can get past the brutality and violence it's a novel that throws up many moral...

Agnes Poirier the French writer and broadcaster and British-Nigerian novelist Nikki May introduce us to their favourite books. Nikki chooses a haunting novel about life after the breakdown of society following a flu pandemic. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel was written well before Covid and was published in 2014. Although it depicts the collapse of civilisation it is not a grimly depressing...

Co-host of the 'Scummy Mummies' podcast Ellie Gibson and musician Frank Turner pick their favourite books to discuss with Harriett Gilbert. Ellie's choice is a manifesto about the benefits of order, 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying' by Marie Kondo. Frank's choice looks at mental health and addiction in the music industry, 'Bodies: Life and Death in Music' by Ian Winwood. Harriett chooses 'Indel...

Comedian and author Shaparak Khorsandi and Anne Hegerty AKA "The Governess" on the ITV quiz show 'The Chase' discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Shaparak's choice is about a university lecturer in South Africa who leaves his job after an affair with a student, 'Disgrace' by J.M. Coetzee. Anne selects a story about a musical, bohemian family that in part reminds her of her own fami...

Presenter Philppa Forrester and explorer Dwayne Fields discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Philippa's pick is a fun memoir about Nina Stibbe's experiences working as a Nanny in London, 'Love, Nina'. Dwayne chooses a novel about two ill-matched ladies on an adventure in the South Pacific, 'Miss Benson’s Beetle' by Rachel Joyce, and Harriett selects the late Jenny Diski's memoir 'In...

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 Keega...

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 M...

Poet Patience Agbabi and the writer and podcaster Andy Miller advocate for their favourite books. Andy wrote a memoir about reading fifty great books, so it can't have been an easy choice. He plumps for My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley. Patience loves The Animals in that Country, Laura Jean Mackay's novel which starts with a pandemic but soon moves in to less familiar territory. Harriett talks abou...

Writers Damian Barr and Ben Fergusson recommend books to Harriett Gilbert. Damian chooses the second volume of Janice Galloway's memoir, All Made Up. Ben talks about The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen, and Harriett has gone for Hilary Spurling's biography of Sonia Orwell, The Girl from the Fiction Department. Producer Sally Heaven

Broadcaster John Wilson and comedian Chloe Petts choose books to recommend to Harriett Gilbert. John has chosen Elizabeth Taylor's Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, which features a character based on the other Elizabeth Taylor. Chloe has gone for The Topeka School by Ben Lerner and Harriett goes for Hilary Mantel's first novel, Every Day is Mother's Day. Producer Sally Heaven