Michael Morpurgo and Sara Maitland

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 book, House-Bound by Winifred Peck, is described by all three as a real oddity, a book unlike any other - but a rather good oddity.

And Harriett Gilbert picks The Sickness by Alberto Barrera Tyszka, a slender novel about a man with a terminal illness, which turns out to be surprisingly gripping.

Producer: Beth O'Dea

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.