Harriett Gilbert and her guests – writer, Grace Dent and actress, Frances Barber - discuss favourite books by Nancy Mitford, Khaled Hosseini and Margaret Atwood. From Bristol at BBC Radio 4's More Than Words Listening Festival. Grace Dent chooses: Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford. Frances Barber chooses A Thousand Splendid Suns by Aghan-born novelist Khaled Hosseini. And Harriett Gilbert chooses: Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2012....
Mar 20, 2012•28 min
Harriett Gilbert and her guests - astronomer and Sky at Night presenter, Chris Lintott and Chief Music Critic for The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick - discuss favourite books by Anne Tyler, Olaf Stapledon and Marie Darrieussecq. A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler Publisher: Vintage White by Marie Darrieussecq Publisher: Faber First Men by Olaf Stapledon Publisher: Gollancz Producer: Toby Field First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2012.
Mar 13, 2012•28 min
Harriett Gilbert invites Deborah Meaden from Dragons' Den, and folk-singer and songwriter Eliza Carthy to pick their favourite books. Eliza chooses Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer - a story of a young man who goes to the Ukraine in search of the woman who saved his Grandfather from the Nazis, aided by a blind old man, a randy dog and a very, very bad translator. Deborah's choice is the historical detective story The Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, the tale of a young ...
Mar 06, 2012•28 min
Harriett Gilbert's guests this week are the art critic Brian Sewell and the poet Wendy Cope. Books chosen: "From the City, From the Plough," by Alexander Baron "The Moving Toyshop," by Edmund Crispin "Evening in the Palace of Reason," by James Gaines Producer Christine Hall First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.
Feb 28, 2012•27 min
Harriett Gilbert and her guests, historian, Gus Casely-Hayford and educationalist Martin Stephen discuss books by Aminatta Forna, Dan Vyleta and Thomas Hardy. Gus chooses a fictional account of the fall-out from the conflict in Sierra Leone, Aminatta Forna's "The Memory of Love", which has a natural resonance with Harriett's own choice, "Pavel and I". This is a first novel from Dan Vyleta, set in post-war Berlin. Martin Stephen brings with him “Poems of Thomas Hardy” selected by Claire Tomalin. ...
Feb 21, 2012•28 min
Harriett Gilbert talks to children's writer Eleanor Updale and TV and radio presenter Andrea Oliver about favourite books by William Trevor, Mohsin Hamid and Laura Esquivel. 'Love and Summer' by William Trevor Publisher: Penguin 'Like Water for Chocolate' by Laura Esquivel Publisher: Black Swan 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' by Mohsin Hamid Publisher: Penguin First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.
Feb 14, 2012•28 min
Harriett Gilbert and her guests - writer, Bonnie Greer and scriptwriter, Simon Brett - discuss their favourite books by Alberto Méndez, Michael Green and Annie Proulx. 'Blind Sunflowers' by Alberto Mendez Publisher: Arcadia Books ''The Art of Coarse Acting' by Michael Green Publisher: Samuel French 'The Shipping News' by Annie Proulx Publisher: Fourth Estate First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.
Feb 07, 2012•28 min
Chief Executive of Oxfam Barbara Stocking, and historian Lucy Worsley discuss their favourite paperbacks with Harriett Gilbert. Barbara's choice is Antonia Fraser's intimate portrait of her relationship with Harold Pinter: Must You Go. Lucy's book is a kitchen classic: Food in England by Dorothy Hartley. Harriett's choice is the seedy crime thriller that gave us the malevolent character Pinkie: Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. Producer: Toby Field.
Nov 29, 2011•28 min
Journalist, Rachel Johnson, and journalist/broadcaster Martin Kelner join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books by Beth Gutcheon, Norman Collins and Beryl Bainbridge. Rachel's choice is about every parent's worst nightmare - the disappearance of a child: Still Missing by Beth Gutcheon. Martin opts for a weighty story of the capital city and its characters during the Second World War: London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins. Harriett's choice is the witty and poignant tale of two women, desp...
Nov 22, 2011•28 min
Harriett Gilbert is joined by award-winning singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot and computer games industry pioneer Peter Molyneux to discuss their favourite books. Nerina's choice is an elegiac story of loss and life - The Sportswriter, by Richard Ford. Peter has picked the gripping and intimate father-son story - The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Harriett's book is an intriguing and occasionally torrid collection of short stories - The Ballad of the Sad Café, by Carson McCullers. Producer: Toby Field ...
Nov 15, 2011•28 min
Harriett Gilbert is joined by actor David Morrissey and Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Trevor Phillips to discuss some of their favourite books. David Morrissey's choice is the 1934 crime classic 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' by James M Cain. Trevor Phillips chooses 'The War of the End of the World' by Peruvian Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. Harriett's choice this week is 'A Handful of Dust' by Evelyn Waugh. Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in ...
Nov 08, 2011•28 min
Harriett Gilbert is joined by the BBC's Economics Editor Stephanie Flanders and novelist and journalist Roisin McAuley to discuss favourite books. Stephanie Flanders' choice is 'The Great Crash 1929', a classic account of financial disaster by one of the twentieth century's most influential economists, John Kenneth Galbraith. A witty and elegant analysis which is compelling even to those who can't tell their leverage from their margins. Roisin McAuley chooses a novel by the award-winning Patrici...
Nov 01, 2011•28 min
Christopher Frayling, Professor Emeritus at the Royal College of Art, and broadcaster Nikki Bedi talk to Harriett Gilbert about the books they love. Christopher's recommendation is a passionate political polemic: Ill Fares The Land: A Treatise On Our Present Discontents, by Tony Judt. Nikki picks The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, the story of a boy growing up in an Indian family in America. Harriett's choice is the first in the celebrated Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin. Producer: Beth...
Oct 25, 2011•28 min
Chef Rick Stein and Michael Dobbs, author of House of Cards, recommend favourite books to presenter Harriett Gilbert. Rick Stein talks about Lifting the Latch (A Life on the Land) by Sheila Stewart, which he enjoyed because it's set in the area of Oxfordshire in which he was born and spent his childhood. The true-life story of rural labourer Mont Abbott, It's been described as a rival to Lark Rise of Candleford. Lord Dobbs' choice is Train to Trieste by Domnica Radulescu, a powerful love story s...
Oct 18, 2011•28 min
The classicist Mary Beard and writer Bidisha talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books, in an edition recorded in front of an audience at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Books discussed: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Publisher Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons Publisher The Odyssey by Homer Publisher Producer: Beth O'Dea First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2011.
Oct 11, 2011•28 min
Former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo joins short story writer Sara Maitland and presenter Harriett Gilbert to talk about the books they love, and share their enthusiasm for their choices. Their favourite books cover the globe from Venezuela to Edinburgh to Steep in Hampshire, where Michael Morpurgo and the subject of his book both lived. He chooses Under Storm's Wing by Helen Thomas, a collection of her memoirs and letters about life with one of Britain's best-loved poets. Sara Maitland's...
Oct 04, 2011•28 min
Harriett Gilbert talks to Alexander Waugh and Xanthe Clay about their favourite books. Letters Between a Father and Son by VS Naipaul Publisher: Picador Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book by Jane Grigson Publisher: Penguin A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf Publisher: Penguin Producer Beth O'Dea First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
Jul 26, 2011•28 min
Harriett Gilbert talks to polymath Raymond Tallis and political journalist Allegra Stratton about their favourite books. Giving up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel Publisher: Fourth Estate The Walk by Robert Walser Publisher: Serpent's Tail What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt Publisher: Sceptre Producer Beth O'Dea First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
Jul 19, 2011•28 min
Satirical writer John O'Farrell and historian Juliet Barker talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books - all of which use an unusual blend of fact and fiction. They evoke the lives of the Brontes, the worst civilian disaster of World War II and the British mandate in Palestine. The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan Publisher: Headline Review The Report by Jessica Francis Kane Publihser: Portobello Books Panther in the Basement by Amos Oz Publisher: Vintage Producer Beth O'Dea First broadc...
Jul 12, 2011•28 min
Fay Weldon, Louise Welsh and Harriett Gilbert discuss favourite books by Lionel Shriver, HG Wells and Jean Rhys. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Publisher: Penguin Fay Weldon's choice: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells Publisher: Penguin We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver Publisher: Serpent's Tail Producer: Beth O'Dea First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
Jul 05, 2011•28 min
Broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli and comedian Simon Evans talk to Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books. Producer Beth O'Dea.
Jun 28, 2011•28 min
Harriett Gilbert discusses favourite paperbacks with writer Fleur Adcock and comedian Laura Solon. Their choices include a modern classic by Evelyn Waugh and two coming-of-age novels, one set in France and the other in the north of England. Harriett Gilbert's choice: The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden Publ. Pan Laura Solon's choice: Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh Publ. Penguin Modern Fleur Adcock's choice: Bilgewater by Jane Gardam Publ. Abacus Books Producer: Christine Hall...
Jun 27, 2011•28 min
Harriett Gilbert and her guests - actor Bill Paterson and travel writer Dea Birkett - discuss favourite paperback books by Bernhard Schlink, John Steinbeck and Richard Holme. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink Publisher: Phoenix Cannery Row by John Steinbeck Publisher: Penguin Modern Classics Footsteps by Richard Holmes Publisher Harper Press First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011.
Jun 14, 2011•28 min
Harriett Gilbert and her guests - politician, Lord Chris Smith and novelist, Mavis Cheek - discuss their favourite books by Robert Macfarlane, Frances Kay and Jackie Kay. Trumpet by Jackie Kay Publisher: Picador The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane Publisher: Granta Books Micka by Frances Kay Publisher: Picador First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011.
Jun 07, 2011•28 min
Journalist and critic James Walton and Lindsey Davis, creator of the ancient Roman detective Falco join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books by Richard Hughes, Nicholson Baker and Georgette Heyer. A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes Publisher: Vintage Classics James Walton's choice The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker Publisher: Pocket Books Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer Publisher: Arrow Books First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011.
May 31, 2011•28 min
