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 mysterious fire rages through the hills of Southern California. Margaret loves Butcher's Crossing, the lesser-known book by John Williams, the author of Stoner. Set in 1871, this is about a young Harvard drop-out who heads out into the American West to discover a new way of living and which Margaret describes as an 'anti-Western' novel. Meanwhile Harriett's choice is A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam, which follows a mother's struggle to protect her children as Bangladesh fights for independence.

Produced by Eliza Lomas.

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 of the world that she has been born into. And Harriett chooses Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, a triumphant feminist fable and sweet revenge comedy which celebrates the life and times of protagonist Elizabeth Zott.

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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 Winter, a moving and morally complex tale of three Nazi soldiers in wartime Poland.

Producer Sally Heaven

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 with a mystery at its heart and is about how lives interweave in the city. And Harriett Gilbert loves the non-fiction book Being Mortal by American surgeon Atul Gawande, which asks what medicine is for in the face of death.

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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 borders, and how it's changed over a century; and Harriett loves A Summer Without Men by Siri Hustvedt, about a woman re-examining her life in after her husband's rejection.

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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 puts forward Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss, in which a present-day story converges with ancient rituals to provoke a discussion about how far we have come from the “primitive minds” of our ancestors.

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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 questions about the nature of good and evil. Both he and Adrian Chiles are fascinated by the use of Russian language throughout the book.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Maggie Ayre

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 post apocalyptic read. Centred around a group of travelling actors and musicians the story flips back and forth to their lives before and after the virus making each character much rounder than had they merely been shown as a straggling bunch fighting off feral gangs and surviving against the odds. As a result the book is not only a thrilling adventure it's also moving and ultimately optimistic about the survival of beauty and the human spirit.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

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 'Indelicacy' by Amina Cain, a story about a woman searching for her place in the world which has been described by some as a "ghost story without a ghost".

Produced by Toby Field for BBC Audio, Bristol

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