A Good Read

Mirza Waheed is a Kashmiri novelist whose new book, The Book of Gold Leaves, is a Romeo and Juliet style love story set in wartorn 1990s Srinagar. He talks to Mariella about whether he feels a responsibility to write about his home country and the conflict there. Also on the programme, vampire chronicler Anne Rice reveals the book she'd never lend and a new series: Close Readings - examining how great writing works.

Harriett Gilbert and her guests - food blogger, Jack Monroe and comic actor, Doon MacKichan - discuss favourite books by Bryce Courtenay, Jenny Offill and Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.

Pulitzer prize winning author Marilynne Robinson on her new book Lila, the third novel from her bestselling series set in the fictional town of Gilead. Novelist Tim Parks discusses how, and why, we read. And we visit a haven for lovers of literature in Liverpool to hear about about the joys of shared reading.

Harriett Gilbert and her guests - historians Roy Foster and Andrew Roberts - discuss favourite books by John Harris, Hanif Kureishi and William Maxwell.

Covenant with Death by John Harris

The Chateau by William Maxwell

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.

The Pulitzer prize winning novelist Jane Smiley talks to Mariella Frostrup about her new novel, Some Luck, the first in a planned trilogy. Also on the programme, Mariella discusses the best new writing from sub-Saharan Africa with Ellah Allfrey, the editor of a new collection and Lynne Truss reveals the book she'd never part with.

Harriett Gilbert and her guests - former head of MI5 Eliza Manningham-Buller and Turkish author Elif Shafak - discuss their books by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Alison Lurie and Michael Chabon.

‘Americanah’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

‘The War Between the Tates’ by Alison Lurie

‘Gentlemen of the Road’ by Michael Chabon

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.

Harriett Gilbert and her guests - journalist, Janet Street Porter, and crime writer, Martina Cole - discuss their favourite books by Curtis Sittenfeld, Maurice Druon and Muriel Spark.

'The Iron King' by Maurice Druon

'The Ballad of Peckham Rye' by Muriel Spark

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2014.

In a special edition of Open Book Mariella Frostrup stands on the touchline to celebrate the very best writing about sport.

Harriett Gilbert and her guests - comedian, Adam Hills and psychologist, Steven Pinker - discuss their favourite books by Albert Camus, Richard Bach and Jonathan Livingston.

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White

The Outsider by Albert Camus

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2014.

Amanda Coe talks to Mariella Frostrup about her double writing life as both a novelist and a screenwriter, and Kathy Reichs reveals the book she'd never lend.