Simon Mayo's Books Of The Year

Simon and Matt welcome international bestselling author, Jodi Picoult, back to the studio for a slice of Q&A.

She talks about some of her favourite authors and gives us some book recommendations. Plus we hear from crime writer Gillian McAllister and learn who Jodi would invite to her fantasy dinner party.

We hope you enjoy the chat!

And remember, for a limited time, you can £100 off any HD light and free UK delivery. Just visit seriousreaders.com/booksoftheyear to find out more!

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Jodi Picoult is baaaack! And she joins Simon and Matt in the studio to discuss her new novel.

They chat about the myths surrounding Shakespeare and his work, whether he really wrote all the plays he's credited to have written, and why the history of women writers of the time is completely unknown.

Women used writing to record their wisdom at the time, but this specific part of history hasn't been explored properly.

We hope you enjoy this lively and quite fulsome debate!

(and here's a little more on the book)

BY ANY OTHER NAME

Student playwright Melina Green finds that even in New York, her words will struggle to make the stage, when the power is held by men. Inspired by the life of her ancestor Emilia Bassano, a gifted and witty storyteller herself, Melina takes a lesson from history, and submits a play under a male pseudonym . . .

As Melina discovers more of Emilia’s extraordinary life in Elizabethan England, she is determined to right the wrongs of the past – and finally tell her story.

Two women – centuries apart – are both forced to hide behind another name.

But can either make their voices heard?

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Simon and Matt welcome Ian Rankin to the studio for a special Q&A episode.

They discuss his love of music, his writing processes, Swedish Death Cleaning (yes really) and who he would invite to his fantasy dinner party.

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Sir Ian Rankin joins Simon and Matt for a natter about his new book, Midnight And Blue.

They discuss the challenges of writing a book from a world inside a prison, and how much Ian had to research to ensure he got the details right.

And of course they chat about music (Pentangle even get a mention) and the recent screen adaptation of his book.

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Bestselling author Robert Harris joins Simon and Matt for a Q&A episode.

He tells us the last book her really REALLY enjoyed reading, what he learns (and has learnt) from writing each of his books, why he's drawn to WWI and WWII and who he would invite to his fantasy dinner party.

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Robert Harris returns to Books Of The Year to discuss his new novel, 'Precipice', with Simon and Matt.

A new Robert Harris novel is always a big moment - and once again, he hasn't let us down!

They chat about the extraordinary letters that were sent from Prime Minister H.H. Asquith to the woman he was besotted with, Venetia Stanley, and how that relationship changed the shape of government forever.

'Precipice' like many of Robert's novels is based on true events - and so these letters, and Asquith's love for Venetia Stanley, form the backbone of this book.

He also discusses his research, 'The War Book' which he got to hold in the national archives - and what he thinks Asquith would have made of our current government.

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Ben Macintyre returns to Books Of The Year and answers questions about his craft, research, favourite books and authors.

He tells us who he would invited to his fantasy dinner party, and gives us some great book recommendations too.

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Ben Macintyre joins us again to discuss his brilliant new book 'The Siege'

Simon and Matt chat to him about the incredible research and interviews he undertook to write the account of this incredible historic event.

They delve into who carried out The Siege and what the people wanted, and how Ben managed to get so much access to the first hand accounts.

Here's a little more on the book:

On April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens.

A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS – hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy – laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod.

Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue.

Recreating the dramatic conversations between negotiators and hostages, the cutting-edge intelligence work happening behind-the-scenes, and the media frenzy around this moment of international significance, The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, and the first full account of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS – and itself.

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Simon Mayo and Matt Williams welcome music journalist and author David Hepworth to the studio, to find out about his favourite authors and books and get a sense of his reading habits.

You'll probably be as surprised as us to discover that he only reads standing up!

There's also a surprise question from broadcasting legend, Bob Harris, and we find out who David would invite to his fantasy dinner party!

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Simon Mayo and Matt Williams welcome music journalist David Hepworth to the studio.

His new book - Hope I Get Old Before I Die - looks at how enduring rock icons like Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen and many more have remained in the ever changing music game.

They discuss Mick Jagger, Elton John, Paul McCartney and many other rock icons, and just how and why they are still so relevant today.

The book is full of great anecdotes, which are endlessly quotable, and is a must read for any music fan.

We hope you enjoy the chat !

(here's a little more on the book)

When Paul McCartney closed Live Aid in July 1985 we thought he was rock's Grand Old Man. He was forty-three years old.

As the forty years since have shown he - and many others of his generation - were just getting started.

This was the time when live performance took over from records. The big names of the 60s and 70s exploited the age of spectacle that Live Aid had ushered in to enjoy the longest lap of honour in the history of humanity, continuing to go strong long after everyone else had retired.

Hence this is a story without precedent, a story in which Elton John plays a royal funeral, Mick Jagger gets a knighthood, Bob Dylan picks up the Nobel Prize, the Beatles become, if anything, bigger than the Beatles and it's beginning to look as though all of the above will, thanks to the march of technology, be playing Las Vegas for ever.

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