A Good Read

A Good Read

By BBC Radio 4ArtsBooks
Download on the App Store
  • Favorites

    49

    Followers

  • Typical duration

    28 min

    per episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

A Good Read episodes

  • Andrea Wulf and Selina Brown

    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 growing trend of male obsession with appearance and fitness under the spotlight.

    Fellow guest Andrea Wulf is author of eight books, including the Founding Gardeners and The Invention of Nature. Her latest, The Traveller, is about the life of ethnographer George Forster, She chooses the novel chooses Euphoria by Lily King. It's based on the life of the life of the American explorer and anthropologist Margaret Mead.

    Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt is Harriett's choice - a poignant story about the fierce love of a grandmother who brings up her troubled daughter's child.

    Producer: Maggie Ayre, BBC Audio Bristol

    Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

    Photo credit: Antonina Gern

    28 min
  • Dr Vee Kativhu and Susie Riddell

    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

    28 min
  • Lauren Child and David McAlmont

    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 by Harriett Gilbert

    Producer for BBC Audio Bristol: Sally Heaven

    Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

    28 min
  • Cariad Lloyd and Geoff Dyer

    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 on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

    28 min
  • Joanne Harris and Islam Issa

    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

    28 min
  • Daisy Dunn and Andrew Hunter Murray

    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 by presenter Harriett Gilbert

    Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Beth O'Dea

    Join us over on instagram @agoodreadbbc

    Photo credit: Timothy Foster

    28 min
  • Philippa Perry and Stuart Maconie

    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 Ayre

    Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

    Photo credit: Pal Hansen

    28 min
  • Louise Welsh and Chris Brookmyre

    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

    28 min
  • Harriet Tyce and Matt Edmondson

    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

    28 min
  • Patrick Grant and Mary-Ann Ochota

    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

    28 min

About A Good Read

From the publisher's feed

Find reading inspiration with favourite books chosen by our guests.

Best of A Good Read

Ranked by our users in the last 21 days

More shows like A Good Read

Ask Penguin by Penguin Books UK

Ask Penguin

143 Listeners

Artists at Work by BBC World Service

Artists at Work

372 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

485 Listeners

Backlisted by Backlisted

Backlisted

582 Listeners

London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

London Review Bookshop Podcast

134 Listeners

Front Row by BBC Radio 4

Front Row

134 Listeners

Bookclub by BBC Radio 4

Bookclub

237 Listeners

Private Passions by BBC Radio 3

Private Passions

53 Listeners

The Book Club Review by The Book Club Review

The Book Club Review

129 Listeners

The Waterstones Podcast by Waterstones

The Waterstones Podcast

41 Listeners

Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize Podcast by Women’s Prize Podcast/ Bird Lime Media

Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize Podcast

45 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

119 Listeners

Off Air with Jane & Fi by The Times

Off Air with Jane & Fi

176 Listeners

The Radio 2 Book Club by BBC Radio 2

The Radio 2 Book Club

8 Listeners

Take Four Books by BBC Radio 4

Take Four Books

8 Listeners