A Good Read

Latest Episodes:

Janet Street-Porter and Felicity Ward Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

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

Philippa Perry and Anil Seth Feb 28, 2023

Show notes

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.

Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio in Bristol

James Marriott and Jude Rogers Feb 21, 2023

Show notes

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.

Do you agree with their assessments? Join us on Instagram @agoodreadbbc Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Kate Bryan and Mark Steel Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

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.

Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc Produced by Becky Ripley

Adrian Chiles and Martyn Ware Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

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. Adrian Chiles chooses Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer. Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s it's a slow burn love story of a couple who meet at a writers' conference and begin exchanging letters that lead to a deepening friendship and feelings before they make their way to the glamour of New York City. Nina Simone's Gum by musician Warren Ellis receives a resounding Hooray and thumbs up from both Adrian and Martyn as Harriett's choice. It's an eclectic book about the importance and emotion of objects centred around Ellis' custodianship of a piece of chewing gum discarded by the singer Nina Simone at one of her final British concerts. Ellis spotted her take out the gum and put it on a towel on the piano before beginning her concert at the Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre which was being curated by Ellis' friend and bandmate Nick Cave. After the singer left the stage Warren Ellis jumped onto the stage and took the towel and kept it safe for twenty years in an almost shrine like setting before releasing it into the world and realising the emotional power such an object holds.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Maggie Ayre

Agnès Poirier & Nikki May Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

Agnès 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 on 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.

Agnès Poirier's choice is a collection of short stories by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. Agnès wants to make the case for the unsung heroes of the literary world - translators. She has loved Zweig's work since she was a teenager and was surprised to find he was little known in the UK, but quickly discovered that the limited translations of his work were old fashioned and not very good. But thanks to more recent English translations she is happy to see him being more widely recognised in the Anglophone world. Letter From An Unknown Woman is the title story and its account of a lifelong one-sided love affair sees the unknown woman devote her life to a handsome and rather caddish writer who barely notices her. For Agnès it's a universal story of unfulfilled longing that many young girls experience.

The Trees is Harriett's choice of a a good read and it's a novel that hits right between the eyes. Percival Everett sets it in Money Mississippi the town infamous for the brutal torture and murder of the young African American Emmett Till in 1955. The story revolves around the modern day lynching and murder of some of the white KKK descendants of Emmett Till's killers. Enter two African American detectives sent to Money to investigate the spate of ghastly killings. What is so unexpected about The Trees is the laugh out loud humour that cuts through despite its horrific subject matter. Ed and Jim, the two cops, are hilariously funny as is Everett's depiction of Southern redneck small town life.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Ellie Gibson and Frank Turner Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

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

Join the conversation on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

Shaparak Khorsandi and Anne Hegerty Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

Comedian and author Shaparak Khorsandi and Anne Hegerty AKA "The Governess" on the ITV quiz show 'The Chase' discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Shaparak's choice is about a university lecturer in South Africa who leaves his job after an affair with a student, 'Disgrace' by J.M. Coetzee. Anne selects a story about a musical, bohemian family that in part reminds her of her own family, 'The Fountain Overflows' by Rebecca West. Harriett picks 'Dear Reader' by Cathy Rentzenbrink, a memoir which serves as a love letter to literature.

Produced by Toby field for BBC Audio, Bristol

Join the conversation on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

Philippa Forrester and Dwayne Fields Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

Presenter Philppa Forrester and explorer Dwayne Fields discuss their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Philippa's pick is a fun memoir about Nina Stibbe's experiences working as a Nanny in London, 'Love, Nina'. Dwayne chooses a novel about two ill-matched ladies on an adventure in the South Pacific, 'Miss Benson’s Beetle' by Rachel Joyce, and Harriett selects the late Jenny Diski's memoir 'In Gratitude' which was written whilst she received treatment for inoperable cancer.

Produced by Toby field for BBC Audio, Bristol

Join the conversation on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

Heidi Regan and Neil Delamere Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

Comedians Heidi Regan and Neil Delamere discuss their favourite all-time books with Harriett Gilbert. Heidi chooses a non-fiction book on the cult of positive thinking by the late Barbara Ehrenreich, called Smile or Die. Neil suggests a novel by Ronan Hession about two unambitious friends in their thirties; Leonard and Hungry Paul, and Harriett picks the novella Foster by Irish writer Claire Keegan, who has recently been nominated for the 2022 Booker Prize. Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio, Bristol Join the conversation on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

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