Episodes
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Film director Carol Morley and comedian Will Hislop discuss their favourite books.
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Carys Davies on her new novel, Clear. Plus Annie Ernaux and photography
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Missing episodes?
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Jonathan Buckley, Lit Crit and David Baddiel
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JUST KIDS by Patti Smith, chosen by Lindsey HilsumMAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING by Viktor E. Frankl (trans. Ilse Lasch), chosen by Christopher EcclestonTOWARDS THE END OF THE MORNING by Michael Frayn, chosen by Harriett Gilbert
The television journalist and actor share favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.
Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor of Channel 4 News, loves Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids, her account of coming to New York as a young woman and of her relationship with the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. It's a coming-of-age story set against the heady backdrop of 1970s counterculture; it's a story of becoming an artist; and it's a love story that turns into an elegy.
The actor Christopher Eccleston chooses Man's Search for Meaning, the psychotherapist Viktor Frankl's account of his time in Nazi concentration camps and how those experiences informed his belief that man's deepest need is to search for meaning and purpose. It's a powerful book about retaining one's humanity in the face of unimaginable suffering and degradation.
And Harriett Gilbert chooses Towards the End of the Morning, Michael Frayn's 1967 satire about journalists working on a newspaper during the heyday of Fleet Street.
Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio
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Art historian Katy Hessel and author Amy Blakemore discuss their favourite books.
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Open Book explores Daphne du Maurier and the enduring qualities and appeal of her writing
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ON WRITING by Stephen King, chosen by Kathryn WilliamsTHE BITCH by Pilar Quintana (translated by Lisa Dillman), chosen by Harriett GilbertON THE BEACH by Nevil Shute, chosen by Andrew McMillan
The singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams loves books about the craft of writing and her choice of a good read is 'On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft', by the master of horror, Stephen King. The book gave her practical tools and advice which helped her to write her debut novel, The Ormering Tide. She also loves what we learn about King's life - from his flatulent childhood nanny to the devastating 1999 accident which almost ended his life.
Harriett's choice this week is The Bitch by Colombian author Pilar Quintana, translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman. In a village on the Pacific coast of Colombia, between wild jungle and wild seas, a childless woman develops a complicated relationship with an orphaned puppy.
And the poet and novelist Andrew McMillan chooses On the Beach by Nevil Shute. In Australia, a group of people try to come to terms with the end of the world. A nuclear war has wiped out all life in the northern hemisphere and the radiation is drifting steadily south. What would you do if you knew that you, and everyone you know, had only months to live?
Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio
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More books worth reading chosen by well known guests
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Kate Davies talks to Chris Power about her new novel, Nuclear Family.
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An actor and singer and a computer scientist and author pick their favourite books.
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Sheila Heti on her new experimental book, Alphabetical Diaries.
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The frontman of Idles and the artistic director of Bristol Old Vic share book choices.
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Madeleine Gray on her witty, heartbreaking novel, Green Dot, about a young woman's affair
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a former professional footballer and a film critic pick their favourite books.
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The crime writer and the singer aka Mull Historical Society choose favourite books
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Michael Cunningham speaks to Johny Pitts about his new novel, Day.
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Gerald Murnane talks to Chris Power about his writing life.
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Pulitzer Prize winning author, Hisham Matar, discusses his new novel My Friends.
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Chris Power is joined by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Aminatta Forna & Lucy Caldwell
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Chris Power shares some of the highlights of the year on Open Book.
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