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A Good Read

BBC Radio 4
A Good Read
Latest episode

29 episodes

  • A Good Read

    Raymond Antrobus and Guy Gunaratne

    2026/10/19 | 27 mins.
    Lively conversation around three book choices. Presenter Harriett Gilbert talks to two guests about books they love.
    Raymond Antrobus chooses Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
    Guy Gunaratne chooses The Use of Photography by Annie Ernaux and Marc Marie
    Harriett Gilbert chooses The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
    Raymond Antrobus is a poet whose memoir The Quiet Ear, which investigates the intersection of race and deafness, was published in 2025. His choice for the programme, Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, is the startling story of a severely disabled woman who blogs pornography from her care home.
    Guy Gunaratne is a prizewinning novelist who has chosen Annie Ernaux and Marc Marie's work which explores sex, ill health and photography over the course of their relationship.
    Harriett nominates The Mars Room, a novel which looks at the lives, experiences and motivations of the inmates of an American women's prison.
    Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Heaven
    Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc
    Photo credit: Marco Giugliarelli
  • A Good Read

    Andrea Wulf and Selina Brown

    2026/10/12 | 27 mins.
    Lively conversation around three book choices. Presenter Harriett Gilbert talks to two guests about books they love
    EUPHORIA by Lily King
    HUNGER PAINS by Derek Owusu
    LOVED AND MISSED by Susie Boyt
    Selina Brown has written three children's picture books. She is the founder and CEO of the Black British Book Festival. Her book recommendation is Hunger Pains by Derek Owusu - a novel that puts the growing trend of male obsession with appearance and fitness under the spotlight.
    Fellow guest Andrea Wulf is author of eight books, including the Founding Gardeners and The Invention of Nature. Her latest, The Traveller, is about the life of ethnographer George Forster, She chooses the novel chooses Euphoria by Lily King. It's based on the life of the life of the American explorer and anthropologist Margaret Mead.
    Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt is Harriett's choice - a poignant story about the fierce love of a grandmother who brings up her troubled daughter's child.
    Producer: Maggie Ayre, BBC Audio Bristol
    Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc
    Photo credit: Antonina Gern
  • A Good Read

    Dr Vee Kativhu and Susie Riddell

    2026/08/03 | 27 mins.
    Guests discuss books they love. This time: 
    Loving and Giving by Molly Keane, chosen by podcaster and Archers actor Susie Riddell
    The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré, chosen by education activist Dr Vee Kativhu
    The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller, chosen by presenter Harriett Gilbert
    Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sarah Goodman
    Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc
  • A Good Read

    Lauren Child and David McAlmont

    2026/07/27 | 27 mins.
    A sharing of book recommendations and lively discussion. Harriett Gilbert is joined by children's author Lauren Child and musician David McAlmont to talk about books they love by George Orwell, Elizabeth Strout and Alan Bennett.
    The books are:
    Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout, chosen by Lauren Child
    Burmese Days by George Orwell, chosen by David McAlmont
    Killing Time by Alan Bennett, chosen by Harriett Gilbert
    Producer for BBC Audio Bristol: Sally Heaven
    Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc
  • A Good Read

    Cariad Lloyd and Geoff Dyer

    2026/07/20 | 27 mins.
    Writer, actor and comedian Cariad Lloyd and writer Geoff Dyer join Harriett Gilbert for an enthusiastic and robust discussion about favourite books.
    The books are:
    The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard, chosen by Geoff Dyer
    Question 7 by Richard Flanagan, chosen by Harriett Gilbert
    The Others by Sheena Kalayil, chosen by Cariad Lloyd
    Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Eliza Lomas
    Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc
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About A Good Read
Find reading inspiration with favourite books chosen by our guests.
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A Good Read: Podcasts in Family