A Good Read

Malorie Blackman, Dame Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Rosen discuss the role of the Children's Laureate, how they put their own stamp on it and its on-going legacy.

In a special programme Ellah Allfrey, Sally Gardner, Sarah Hall, Lennie Goodings and James Runcie discuss with Mariella Frostrup why 2013 has been the Year of the Women Writers.

Jill Paton Walsh and Sarah Crown on the enduring appeal Lord Peter Wimsey; John Freeman on a career in books and author Kate Mosse on the book she would never lend.

David Vann and Stuart Kelly on Norse myths, Penelope Lively on where she writes and Suzanne Berne talks about her latest novel The Dogs of Littlefield.

TV presenter and novelist Fern Britton and Olympic gold medallist rower Katherine Grainger join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books by Harper Lee, Susan Hill and Alan Bennett.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

Harriett Gilbert and her guests - playwright, Mark Ravenhill and DJ, Nihal Arthanayake - discuss favourite books by James Ellroy, Nadine Gordimer and Wolfgang von Goethe.

Elective Affinities by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

American Tabloid by James Ellroy

July's People by Nadine Gordimer

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2013.

Bernard MacLaverty on a literary life.

Scott Turow talks to Mariella Frostrup about his new thriller Identical; Paul Bailey and Manda Scott on gay literature; and Charlie Hill on fiction that's bad for your health.

Harriett Gilbert and her guests - author, Michael Dobbs and broadcaster, Katie Puckrik - discuss favourite books by Kevin Myers, Jennifer Egan and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Watching the Door - Cheating Death in 1970s Belfast by Kevin Myers

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2013.

Harriett Gilbert. and her guests - BBC Radio 2 presenter, Johnnie Walker and BBC newsreader, Kate Silverton talk about their favourite books by Robert M Pirsig, Georgina Howell and Barbara Pym.

Daughter of the Desert - the Remarkable Life of Gertrude Bell by Georgina Howell

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2013.