This week we are incredibly excited to welcome the author of one of our, and Barack Obama's, favourite books. Raven Leilani's Luster has, quite rightly, taken the literary world by storm. As well as making Obama's 2020 book list, it's won the Kirkus Prize and been a New York Times bestseller. Sexy, funny and incredibly prescient, it is a book for our times and Raven is a writer of extreme skill and enormous promise. We talked to Raven about unlikeable characters, fantasy movie adaptations, fan fiction and sexy vampires.

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Raven Leilani - Luster

Patricia Lockwood - No One is Talking About This

Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov - Pnin

Dylan Thomas- Collected Poems

Allen Ginsberg - Howl

Morgan Parker - There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé

Zadie Smith - Intimations

Anne Rice - Interview With the Vampire

Richard Matheson - I Am Legend

Brian K. Vaughan - Saga

Alison Bechdel - Fun Home

Michael Chabon - Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

Jennifer Egan - Visit From the Goon Squad

Emily Nussbaum - I Like To Watch

Robert Jones Jr - The Prophets

Susan Choi - My Education

Halle Butler - New Me

Candice Carty-Williams - Queenie

Ottessa Moshfegh - My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Jia Tolentino - Trick Mirror

Maisy Card - These Ghosts are Family

Megan Giddings - Lakewood

Emily Temple - Lightness

Sarah Gerard - True Love

Alexandra Chang - Days of Distraction

Morgan Jerkins - Caul Baby

Elizabeth Gilbert - Big Magic

Ann Patchett - State of Wonder

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we are nosing around the bookshelves of the author described as "the most talented new cookbook writer of a generation" by The Times, the wonderful Ella Risbridger! Ella is the author of Midnight Chicken, called "a manual for living and a declaration of hope" by Nigella Lawson. Ella is also the editor of the poetry anthology Set Me On Fire and her first book for children The Secret Detectives will be released later this year. We talked to her about nourishing poetry, smoking in the bath and why she still has Daisy's copy of Brother of the More Famous Jack.

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Ella Risbridger - Midnight Chicken

Ella Risbridger - Secret Detectives

Frances Hodgson Burnett - Secret Garden

Elizabeth Jane Howard - Cazalet Chronicles

Ian McEwan - Atonement

Sylvia Plath - Bell Jar

Sarra Manning - Unsticky

James Rebanks - English Pastoral

Ada Limon - Bright Dead Things

Hera Lindsay Bird - Hera Lindsay Bird

Kaveh Akbar - Calling a Wolf a Wolf

Richard Scott - Soho

Kayo Chingonyi - Kumukanda

Morgan Parker - There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé

Ellen Bass - Human Line

Gabrielle Calvocoressi - Rocket Fantastic

Marie Howe - What The Living Do

Mary Wesley - Camomile Lawn

Mary Wesley - Haphazard House

Mary Wesley - Speaking Terms

Mary Wesley - Sixth Seal

Mary Wesley - Harnessing Peacocks

Barbara Trapido - Brother of the More Famous Jack

Deborah Davis - Party of the Century

Barbara Trapido - Travelling Hornplayer

Sarra Manning - You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me

Sarah Dessen - Lock and Key

Robin Stevens - Murder Most Unladylike

Louise Rennison- Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging

Tana French - Secret Place

Donna Tartt - Secret History

Bret Easton Ellis - Rules of Attraction

Eva Ibbotson - Journey To The River Sea

Eva Ibbotson - Secret Countess

Eva Ibbotson - Song For Summer

Laura Wood - Snowfall of Silver

Laura Wood - Under a Dancing Star

Judith Kerr - Small Person Far Away

Judith Kerr - When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit 

Judith Kerr - Bombs on Aunt Dainty

Eva Ibbotson - Morning Gift

Penelope Mortimer - Pumpkin Eater

Laurie Colwin - Happy All The Time

Lorrie Moore - Who Will Run The Frog Hospital

Dodie Smith - I Capture the Castle

Stella Gibbons - Cold Comfort Farm

Shirley Jackson - We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Jill Mansell - Millie’s Fling

Jill Mansell - Fast Friends

Ross Gay - Book of Delights

JB Priestley - Delight

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For this year's festive special, we are in the company of comedy royalty. It's the undisputed national treasure: Dawn French! As well as being part of the groundbreaking comedy duo French and Saunders, Dawn is the author of two books of memoir and four novels with the latest being the bestselling Because Of You. We talked to her about the funniest book she has ever read, fictional families, Ab Fab, Carrie Fisher, Beatrix Potter and unusual research methods.

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Dale Shaw - Painfully British Haikus

Dawn French - Because of You

Beatrix Potter - Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle

Beatrix Potter - Tale of Peter Rabbit

Roald Dahl - The BFG

Eve Garnett - Family From One End Street

Carrie Fisher - Postcards From the Edge

Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice

Ruth Jones - Us Three

Dawn French - Dear Fatty

Diablo Cody - Candy Girl

Dawn French - Oh Dear Silvia

Robert McFarlane - Old Ways

John Williams - Stoner

Pete Paphides - Broken Greek

Jessica Mitford - Letters

Charles Dickens - Bleak House

Charles Dickens - Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens - David Copperfield

Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist

Spike Milligan - Puckoon

Spike Milligan - Silly Verse For Kids

Jane Hirshfield - The Beauty

Brene Brown - Gifts of Imperfection

Elizabeth Gilbert - Big Magic

Dorothy Wordsworth - Letters

John Lanchester - Debt to Pleasure

John Berger - And our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos

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For this very special festive episode, we have enlisted the help of former guest, Twitter's resident book concierge and one of our favourite people in the whole world - the great Sarra Manning - to help you select the perfect book for everyone in your life (including yourself). Whether you're looking for that ideal last minute present for an awkward relative, or want to get something delightful to read for yourself, Sarra has a title for you. Sarra's new book Rescue Me and out early next year and available for pre-order now.

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Dale Shaw - Painfully British Haikus

Sarra Manning - Rescue Me

David Sedaris - Best of Me

David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day

David Sedaris - Santaland Diaries

Craig Brown - Ma’am Darling

Hugo Vickers - Elizabeth, Queen Mother

Tina Brown - Diana Chronicles

Craig Brown - One, Two, Three, Four

Andre Leon Talley - Chiffon Trenches

Jasper Rees - Victoria Wood: Let's Do It

Victoria Wood - Chunky

Becky Brown - Blitz Spirit

Nigella Lawson - Nigella Christmas

Elizabeth Jane Howard - Cazalet Chronicles

Laura Wood - A Snowfall of Silver

Laura Wood - A Sky Painted Gold

Laura Wood - Under a Dancing Star

Lissa Evans - Old Baggage

Lissa Evans - Crooked Heart

Lissa Evans - V For Victory

Anthony Quinn - Curtain Call

Anthony Quinn - Freya

Anthony Quinn - Eureka

Jilly Cooper - Rivals

Darren Coffield - Tales From the Colony Room

Terence Blacker - Willie Donaldson: You Cannot Live As I Have Lived and Not End Up Like This

Nina Stibbe - Almost Perfect Christmas

Nina Stibbe - Love Nina

Kate Young - Little Library Christmas

Kate Young - Little Library Cookbook

Kate Young - Little Library Year

Noel Streatfeild - Ballet Shoes

Jilly Cooper - Between the Covers

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This week we are delighted to have a rummage around the bookshelves of writer and presenter C.D. (Cesca) Major! Cesca is the prolific author of the bestselling thriller The Other Girl and also writes under the pseudonyms Rosie Blake and Ruby Hummingbird, producing a variety of brilliant books. We talked to her about Jilly Cooper, literary sisters, funny books, Christmas reads and writing something so scary you can't read it yourself.

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

CD Major - The Other Girl

Holly Miller - Sight of You

Rosamund Lupton - Three Hours

Kate Elizabeth Russell - My Dark Vanessa

Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita

Jodi Picoult - Spark of Light

Jodi Picoult - Book of Two Ways

Erin Kelly - Stone Mothers

Jilly Cooper - Rivals

Enid Blyton - Faraway Tree

Enid Blyton - Malory Towers

Enid Blyton - St Clares

Jean Webster - Daddy Long Legs

Henry James - Portrait of a Lady

Kirsty Greenwood - It Happened on Christmas Eve

Jilly Cooper - Between the Covers

Craig Brown - Maam Darling

Baroness Glenconner - Lady in Waiting

Daisy Buchanan - Sisterhood

Marian Keyes - Grown Ups

 Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows - Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

William Boyd - Any Human Heart

Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall

CD Major - Thin Place

RL Stine- Babysitter

Shirley Jackson - We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Shirley Jackson - Haunting of Hill House

Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

JK Rowling - Harry Potter

Philip Pullman - Northern Lights

Kirsty Greenwood - He Will Be Mine

Curtis Sittenfeld - Man of My Dreams

Nina Stibbe - Love Nina

Natasha Solomon - Mr Rosenblum’s List

Ayisha Malik - Green and Pleasant Land

Natasha Solomon - Novel in the Viola

Natasha Solomon - Gallery of Vanished Husbands

Rosie Blake - Gin O’Clock Club

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This week we're giddy with excitement to speak with the author of one of our favourite book's of recent times, Patrick Freyne! Patrick is a journalist, musician and the author of the essay collection Ok, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea which is hilariously funny, wise and deeply moving. We talked to him about apocalypse strategies, the joy of short books and the power of Adrian Mole. To learn more or donate to the charity FareShare visit FareShare.org.uk

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Patrick Freyne - Ok, Let’s Do Your Stupid Idea

Hilary Mantel - Mantel Pieces

Emily Pine - Notes To Self

Lorrie Moore - See What Can Be Done

Muriel Spark - Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie

Muriel Spark - Memento Mori

Max Porter. - Lanny

JRR Tolkien - Lord of the Rings

Stephen King - The Stand

George RR Martin - Game of Thrones

Terry Pratchett - Discworld

Sally Rooney - Normal People

Lorrie Moore - Gate at the Stairs

Kristen Roupenian - You Know You Want This

Sally Rooney - Conversations With Friends

Naoise Dolan - Exciting Times

CS Lewis - Prince Caspian

Taffy Brodesser-Akner - Fleishman Is in Trouble

Robert Swindells - Brother in the Land

Robert C O'Brien - Z for Zachariah

Sue Townsend - Secret Diary of Adrian Mole

Sue Townsend - Growing Pains of Adrian Mole

Ali Smith - Winter

Gene Wolfe - Book of the New Sun

John Wyndham - Chrysalids

John Wyndham - Day of the Triffids

Emily St John Mandle - Station 11

Cormac McCarthy - The Road

Brian K Vaughan - Y The Last Man

Daisy Buchanan - Sisterhood

Nuala O'Faolain - Are You Somebody

Cat Marnell - How To Murder Your Life

Zadie Smith - Intimations

Deborah Levy - Cost of Living

Ray Bradbury - Stories

Anna Carey - Boldness of Betty

Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Neil Gaiman - Sandman

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This week we're delighted to delve into the reading habits of a genuine living legend: Irvine Welsh! Irvine is an acclaimed and frequently controversial novelist, playwright, director screenwriter and short story writer. His first novel was the massively popular Trainspotting (turned into an equally popular film) and he has produced 10 more novels with the latest being The Seal Club, a collaboration with Alan Warner and John King. We talked to him about rereading, music books, the joys of a chunky read, the importance of Evelyn Waugh and how he may have inadvertently killed Waugh's son, Auberon. To learn more or donate to the charity FareShare visit FareShare.org.uk

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting

Irvine Welsh - Seal Club

Elizabeth Jane Howard - Cazalet Chronicles

Alan Warner - Kitchenly 434

Michel Faber - Crimson Petal and the White

Don DeLillo - Underworld

James Joyce - Ulysses

Alasdair Gray - Lanark

William Burroughs - Naked Lunch

Raven Leilani - Luster

Jenni Fagan - Luckenbooth

Evelyn Waugh - Decline and Fall

Evelyn Waugh - Men at Arms

Penelope Lively - Perfect Happiness

JT Leroy - Heart is Deceitful Above All Things

James Frey - A Million Little Pieces

James Frey - Bright Shiny Morning

F Scott Fitzgerald - Tender is the Night

Jenni Fagan - Sunlight Pilgrims

Mark Lanegan - Sing Backwards and Weep

Cat Marnell - How To Murder Your Life

Irvine Welsh - Glue

Irvine Welsh - Marabou Stork Nightmares

Irvine Welsh - Skag Boys

Ned Beauman - Boxer Beetle

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This week we are honoured to be talking to the astounding author Nikita Lalwani! Nikita's first book, Gifted, was long-listed for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and won the Desmond Elliott Prize. Her next novel The Village won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered award. Her latest novel is the breathtaking, You People, which has been widely critically acclaimed. We talked to her about fictional secrets, the power of the single line, literary families and pretending to be Stig of the Dump.

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Nikita Lalwani - Gifted

Nikita Lalwani - You People

Mary Norton - Borrowers

Clive King - Stig of the Dump

Salman Rushdie - Midnight’s Children

Bharati Mukherjee - Wife

James Salter - Light Years

James Salter - Sport and a Pasttime

James Salter - Life is Meals

James Salter - Hunters

James Salter - Last Night

Doris Lessing - Stories

Maeve Brennan - Rose Garden

Mavis Gallant - Stories

Grace Paley - Stories

Doris Lessing - Winter in July

Doris Lessing - Martha Quest

Tessa Hadley - Bad Dreams

Tessa Hadley - Late in the Day

Sue Miller - Monogamy

Carol Shields - Larry’s Party

Sonia Faleiro - Good Girls

Janet Malcolm - Journalist & the Murderer

Toni Cade Bambara - Gorilla My Love

Zadie Smith - Intimations

Sinead Gleeson - Constellations

Patrick Freyne - Ok Let’s Do Your Stupid Idea

John Irving - World According To Garp

Don DeLillo - White Noise

Tillie Olsen - Tell Me a Riddle

Darcy O’Brien - A Way of Life Like Any Other

CS Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia

Arthur Ransome - Swallows & Amazons

Enid Blyton - Malory Towers

Enid Blyton - Enchanted Wood

Vivek Shanbhag - Ghachar Ghochar

Zaina Arafat - You Exist Too Much

Muriel Spark - Far Cry From Kensington

Mary Wesley - Imaginative Experience

Pamela Frankau - Wreath For the Enemy

F Scott Fitzgerald - Great Gatsby

Zadie Smith - NW

Anita Brookner - Look At Me

Anita Brookner - Friend From England

Andrew O’Hagan - Mayflies

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This week we are snuffling around the bookshelves of comedian and author Mark Watson! Mark is a well-known face on British TV, appearing on show such as QI and Taskmaster and he's renowned as an award-winning stand-up. He's also the author of nine books including the graphic novel Dan and Sam, the non-fiction work Crap at the Environment and novels including Eleven, Hotel Alpha and his latest Contacts (which deals with issues surrounding suicide and mental health - if you're affected by this then the Samaritans are always there). We talked to him about loving Agatha Christie, bookshop positioning, reading on planes and why you should never trust a book that features a map. For details on how you can bid to be a guest on You're Booked (and win lots of lovely books) head to Books To Nourish.

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Mark Watson - Contacts

Derren Brown - Happy

Derren Brown - A Little Happier

James Smythe - I Still Dream

Taylor Jenkins Reid - Daisy Jones and the Six

Sarah Waters - Little Stranger

Sarah Waters - Fingersmith

Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie - A Murder is Announced

Richard Powers - The Overstory

Lucy Ellmann - Ducks, Newburyport

Ros Barber - Marlowe Papers

Ann Patchett - State of Wonder

Ann Patchett - Dutch House

Jilly Cooper - Between the Covers

EL Doctorow - Ragtime

Mohsin Hamid - How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia

Mohsin Hamid - Exit West

Mohsin Hamid - Reluctant Fundamentalist

George Orwell - 1984

Extinction Rebellion - This is Not a Drill

Jonathan Safran Foer - We Are The Weather

Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything is Illuminated

Daphne Du Maurier - Rule Britannia

David Nicholls - One Day

Flann O’Brien - Third Policeman

John Fowles - Magus

Flann O’Brien - At Swim Two Birds

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