What do we mean by a “good book”? Some people choose a holiday read that demands time and attention. Others pick rip-roaring novels that require little thought. Our bookworms discuss whether art has to be improving to be praiseworthy, and give genre fiction some much-needed air time. 

This is a full list of the books mentioned in the show:

“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen

“Red Rising” by Pierce Brown

Jack Reacher series by Lee Child

“The Hunt for Red October” by Tom Clancy

“Riders” and the other Rutshire chronicles by Jilly Cooper

Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman

“Middlemarch” by George Eliot

“Ulysses” by James Joyce

“Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel

“The Diamond Age” by Neal Stephenson

The Murderbot series by Martha Wells 

“The Martian” by Andy Weir

“American Wife” by Curtis Sittenfeld

Guests and host:

• Catherine Nixey, culture and Britain correspondent
• Tom Standage, Economist deputy editor
• Alexandra Suich Bass, culture editor
• Alex Hern, AI writer
• Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Fiction, romance, sci-fi, crime, thrillers, fantasy, romantasy
• Jane Austen, Jilly Cooper, Curtis Sittenfeld, Lee Child
• Matt Dinniman, Pierce Brown, Neal Stephenson

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