Some incredible books for a credible first show. In our first ever episode, we talk about The Ticking is the Bomb by Nick Flynn, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Marilynne Robinson’s novels Home and Gilead. We also detour into James Joyce and Stalin. You don’t have to have read (or have heard of) any of these books to have a good time with us. And by good we mean interesting and delightful, at the very least. 

Further ReadingFor the keen beans, here are some further readings and links to buy the novels we mention in the episode. We have linked to Foyles because we think they might pay their taxes, but we encourage you to seek books out at your local indie bookshop. Feel free to tweet us with your favourite local bookshops!

Chinua Achebe

Interview with Achebe in The Paris Review

Achebe and the Great African Novel in The New Yorker

Marilynne Robinson

Interview with Robinson in The Paris Review

Nick Flynn

Interview with Nick Flynn on Fresh Air

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City

Donna Tartt

Article in Vanity Fair

The Goldfinch

The Secret History

Charles Bukowski

http://bukowski.net

Lionel Shriver 

We Need to Talk About Kevin

James Joyce 

Ulysses

Henry James Portrait of a Lady

Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things