Books recommended in this episode
Marian Keyes (Author)
'How did it end up like this? Twenty-seven, unemployed, mistaken for a drug addict, in a treatment centre in the back arse of nowhere with an empty Valium bottle in my knickers . . .'
Meet Rachel Walsh. She has a pair of size 8 feet and such a fondness for recreational drugs that her family has forked out the cash for a spell in Cloisters - Dublin's answer to the Betty Ford Clinic. She's only agreed to her incarceration because she's heard that rehab is wall-to-wall jacuzzis, gymnasiums and rock stars going tepid turkey - and it's about time she had a holiday.
But what Rachel doesn't count on are the toe-curling embarrassments heaped on her by family and group therapy, the dearth of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll - and missing Luke, her ex. What kind of a new start in life is this?
Bryony Gordon (Author)
“You’re so desperate to make everybody else happy that you’ve forgotten what makes you happy. You’ve not just forgotten it, you’ve abandoned it, on a bonfire full of all your other hopes and dreams. A bonfire you’re too scared to light in case the neighbours report you to the council.”
---
Olivia Greenwood has been trying very hard to please people for a very long time.
But today is going to change Olivia in a big way. A soul-crushing career disappointment, a fiery young woman with a chip on her shoulder and a cigarette in her hand, and one single blue hallucinogenic gummy all lead to a raucous night out and one hell of a hangover. And when Olivia wakes up the next morning, it seems she’s unable to please anyone but HERSELF.
So who actually is Olivia Greenwood, when she’s not trying to be what everyone else wants her to be?
Jessica Stanley (Author)
** THE PERFECT MOTHER'S DAY GIFT FOR FANS OF ONE DAY AND NORMAL PEOPLE **
Discover the joyful, funny love story everyone is falling for
A NATALIE PORTMAN'S BOOK CLUB PICK
'A MUST-READ . . . LIKE ONE DAY AND NORMAL PEOPLE' THE TIMES
'FUNNY, SMART AND MEMORABLE . . . A DELIGHTFUL NOVEL' NEW YORK TIMES
'AS WARM AS A DAVID NICHOLLS NOVEL' STYLIST
'A BRILLIANT BOOK THAT HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, BOOK OF THE MONTH
'THIS BOOK IS PERFECTION' SUNDAY TIMES STYLE
'A DELIGHTFULLY GROUNDED ROMANCE AND A TREASURE . . . VERY HUMAN' GUARDIAN
'CHARMING . . . WITH QUIET INGENUITY AND COMPASSION' OBSERVER
'A DEEPLY ENJOYABLE MIX OF ROMANCE, SOCIAL COMEDY AND POLITICAL SATIRE' SUNDAY TIMES
'I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END' LIANE MORIARTY, internationally bestselling author of BIG LITTLE LIES
'CLEVER, JOYFUL AND SO FUNNY' NINA STIBBE, author of LOVE, NINA
'DEEPLY APPEALING AND WINNING' MEG WOLITZER, New York Times bestselling author of THE INTERESTINGS
What happens when you find love, but life gets in the way?
When Coralie arrives in London in 2013, she’s ready for a change. Then she meets Adam: clever, witty and very slightly taller than the average British male, with a charming four-year-old daughter in tow.
Over the next decade, they weather the glorious chaos of small children, school runs, and the minor warfare of a kitchen renovation – all against the surreal theatre of British politics.
But when they resurface, something is missing from the life Coralie and Adam have built.
Or maybe, having gained everything she dreamed of, Coralie has lost something she once had: herself.
***
'Sweet and tender' PANDORA SYKES
'Ringingly original and just absurdly good' CATHERINE NEWMAN, New York Times bestselling author of WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS
'I'm annoyed I didn't write this book myself' MADELEINE GRAY, author of GREEN DOT
‘So astonishingly clever, but with a core of love. I adored it’ DAISY BUCHANAN, author of INSATIABLE
‘Oh, how I loved and empathised with Coralie!’ JENNIE GODFREY, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS
'So well-drawn it was like peering through someone’s kitchen window' CLAIRE DAVERLEY, author of TALKING AT NIGHT
READERS LOVE CONSIDER YOURSELF KISSED . . .
‘I predict this will be the book of the summer’ *****
‘So much more than a romance. Delightful, refreshing and thoughtful’ *****
‘Funny, insightful and thoroughly enjoyable’ *****
‘Exceeded my expectations and lifted me out of a real reading rut’ *****
‘The kind of book you want to share with everyone’ *****
‘An engaging and thought-provoking book about the messiness of love, the complications of family life, and the quiet losses that often go unnoticed until it’s too late’ *****
Joseph Knox (Author)
'What happens to those girls who go missing? What happens to the Zoe Nolans of the world?'
In the early hours of Saturday, December 17th, 2011, Zoe Nolan, a 19-year-old Manchester University student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months.
She was never seen again.
C.S. Lewis (Author)
,
Maurice Denham (Read by)
,
Full Cast (Read by)
An absolute must for fans of The Chronicles of Narnia, this is a beautifully rendered performance of every single volume in this beloved series. Balancing a solid narrative that relies on fantastical action sequences with an overarching mythology, this magical, immersive performance is not to be missed.
C.S. Lewis's acclaimed and universally loved novels spring to life in these spellbinding full-cast BBC dramatisations.
Anyone who's visited Narnia wants to go back again, and these radio dramas make for a hugely entertaining first-time or return journey, with a cast including Bernard Cribbins, Maurice Denham, Richard Griffiths, Martin Jarvis, Sylvester McCoy, John Sessions, Fiona Shaw and Timothy Spall.
The Magician's Nephew: When Polly and Digory discover some magic rings, they begin the most exciting and dangerous journey of their lives - and encounter the mighty lion Aslan...
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Lucy, Peter, Edmund and Susan enter a magical world of talking fauns and flying horses, where the evil White Witch has cast Narnia in perpetual winter.
The Horse and His Boy: Shasta and his talking horse Bree flee from a life of slavery and head for the freedom of Narnia, facing many perils along the way.
Prince Caspian: Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund are called upon to help Caspian free Narnia of his evil uncle's regime and reclaim freedom and happiness.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: Edmund, Lucy and Eustace join King Caspian on a perilous mission to find his friends, the seven lost Lords of Narnia.
The Silver Chair: Jill and Eustace set out to find King Caspian's lost son, and in the grim land of the Earthmen they encounter the wicked Green Lady.
The Last Battle: The King is in danger, and Narnia faces its darkest hour. Eustace and Jill must help its people fight for the future of the once-glorious kingdom.
©2014 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2014 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Frances White (Author)
To mark the thousandth year of peace in the Empire of Concordia, the emperor's ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage. Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique magical ability known as a Blessing.
Except one: Ganymedes Piscero.
When a beloved heir is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Stuck at sea and surrounded by powerful people, odds of survival are slim. But as the bodies pile higher, Ganymedes must become the hero he was not born to be and unmask the killer before he ends up the next victim of their bloody crusade.
Matt Dinniman (Author)
You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic, intergalactic game show. That’s what.
Join Coast Guard veteran Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game-like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy.
Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.
Roald Dahl (Author)
,
Quentin Blake (Illustrator)
Matilda Wormwood's father thinks she's a little scab. Matilda's mother spends all afternoon playing bingo. And Matilda's headmistress Miss Trunchbull? Well, she's the worst of all. She is a big bully, who thinks all her pupils are rotten and locks them in the dreaded Chokey. As for Matilda, she's an extraordinary little girl with a magical mind - and now she's had enough. So all these grown-ups had better watch out, because Matilda is going to teach them a lesson they'll never forget.
Lisa Ridzén (Author)
,
Alice Menzies (Translator)
THE PHENOMENAL SUNDAY TIMES WORD-OF-MOUTH BESTSELLER. A profoundly moving and life-affirming novel about the multitude of stories contained within a life, and the big things for which we have no words.
‘So heartbreaking and funny and beautiful and wise… an extraordinary book’ RICHARD OSMAN
'You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to buy twenty copies and give them to everyone you love’ FREDRIK BACKMAN
‘The most moving book I’ve ever read.’ JACQUELINE WILSON
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize & Waterstones Book of the Month
Finalist in the Nota Bene Prize, voted for by readers, 2026______
Bo is determined to live his own life in his own way. But his son has other ideas...
Bo lives a quiet existence in his small rural village in the north of Sweden. He is elderly and his days are punctuated by visits from his care team and his son. Fortunately, he still has his rich memories, phone calls with his best friend, and his beloved dog Sixten for company.
Only now his son is insisting the dog must be taken away. The very same son that Bo is wanting to mend his relationship with before his time is up. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotions and makes Bo determined to resist and find his voice...
'A novel anyone will take to heart' Patrick Gale, Guardian
'A magical reading experience; among the most moving things I’ve ever read' No.1 internationally bestselling author Camilla Läckberg
____
Readers love When the Cranes Fly South:
'What makes this novel truly remarkable is the way it explores universal themes...readers will find themselves deeply connected to [Bo's] journey of emotional reckoning'
‘It is impossible not to be moved by this book’
'This is not just a story about a man and his dog; it's a story of family, of relationships tested by time and distance, and the effort to find peace within the limits of one's existence'
'A story that will connect to all of us in some way'
'Not only touches the heart but also invites deep reflection on what it means to truly live and love'
Claire Daverley (Author)
Will and Rosie meet as teenagers. They're opposites in every way, but over secret walks home and late-night phone calls, they become closer, destined to be one another's great love story.
Until, one day, tragedy strikes, and any possibility of them being together shatters.
But that tragedy - and their history - is what will connect them forever...
Claire Daverley (Author)
Countless readers fell in love with Talking at Night. Now, pre-order People in Love: a love triangle that will split your heart in two.
‘Tender and compelling’
ALICE WINN, AUTHOR OF IN MEMORIAM
'Pure heartache, pure poetry. I couldn't wait to see what would happen, even though I never wanted it to end’
CATHERINE NEWMAN, AUTHOR OF SANDWICH
Full of warmth and the everyday intimacies that make a life'
FLORENCE KNAPP, AUTHOR OF THE NAMES
‘Beautiful, brimming over with heart and heartbreak'
BOBBY PALMER
‘I adored this gorgeous, grown-up love story’
DAISY BUCHANAN
'Claire Daverley - queen of tugging at heart strings - has done it again.'
ROXY DUNN
A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING MOST ANTICIPATED NOVEL OF 2026
One bright blue day, on a bench by the river, Nora’s partner Robin proposes.
It is unexpected; they’d always agreed that they didn’t need a wedding. But after a decade of in-jokes, dancing in the low-lit kitchen and sharing morning toast in bed, Nora says yes. Why wouldn’t she?
The answer lands on the night of their engagement party, when Bren turns up on her doorstep.
Growing up, Bren and Nora were the sort of best friends who everyone swore would end up together. But when a sudden heartbreak turned their lives upside down, Bren left, Nora stayed, and the silent longing between them remained unspoken.
Now, he’s back, and their tentative yet undeniable spark reignites, forcing Nora to ask herself:
How can you know your heart, if it feels like it’s split in two?
Tender and compelling, People in Love is a story about what-ifs and maybes, and the moments of misunderstanding that can shape our lives. It’s a book about living one life while musing on another, exploring how our choices shape our relationships and inform our regrets, and revealing, in the end, that the real love story is not always the one you'd expect.
PRAISE FOR TALKING AT NIGHT
'I was rapt'
ANN NAPOLITANO
'A perfect thing'
CHRIS WHITAKER
'So gorgeously harrowing and romantic'
CATHERINE NEWMAN
'Tender and true, this is a stunning debut that reminded me of Sally Rooney'
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
'A classic love story in every sense, and yet in Claire Daverley's hands, it felt entirely new'
MARY BETH KEANE
'A beautifully observed, tender love story'
JOJO MOYES
'A passionate, page-turning debut'
DAILY MAIL
Graeme Simsion (Author)
Meet Don Tillman.
Don is getting married.
He just doesn't know who to yet.
But he has designed a very detailed questionnaire to help him find the perfect woman.
One thing he already knows, though, is that it's not Rosie.
Absolutely, completely, definitely not.
Sometimes, though, you don't find love: love finds you...
Graeme Simsion (Author)
Meet Don Tillman.
Don is getting married.
He just doesn't know who to yet.
But he has designed a very detailed questionnaire to help him find the perfect woman.
One thing he already knows, though, is that it's not Rosie.
Absolutely, completely, definitely not.
Sometimes, though, you don't find love: love finds you...
Bill Bryson (Author)
The ultimate eye-opening journey through time and space, A Short History of Nearly Everything is the biggest-selling popular science book of the 21st century and has sold over 2 million copies.
'Possibly the best scientific primer ever published.' Economist
'Truly impressive...It's hard to imagine a better rough guide to science.' Guardian
'A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide' The Times
Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us.
Bill Bryson's challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. As a result, A Short History of Nearly Everything reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.
Stella Gibbons (Author)
'We are not like other folk, maybe, but there have always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm...'
Sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste has been expensively educated to do everything but earn a living. When she is orphaned at twenty, she decides her only option is to descend on relatives - the doomed Starkadders at the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm.
There is Judith in a scarlet shawl, heaving with remorse for an unspoken wickedness; raving old Ada Doom, who once saw something nasty in the woodshed; lustful Seth and despairing Reuben, Judith's two sons; and there is Amos, preaching fire and damnation to one and all.
As the sukebind flowers, Flora takes each of the family in hand and brings order to their chaos.
Cold Comfort Farm is a sharp and clever parody of the melodramatic and rural novel.
Eoin Colfer (Author)
,
Douglas Adams (Author)
,
Jane Horrocks (Read by)
,
Sandra Dickinson (Read by)
,
Mark Wing-Davey (Read by)
,
Geoffrey McGivern (Read by)
,
Simon Jones (Read by)
,
Full Cast (Read by)
,
Ed Byrne (Read by)
,
Lenny Henry (Read by)
The brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast series based on And Another Thing… the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker’s Guide “trilogy”.
Winner of the 2019 Audie Award for Science Fiction.
Forty years on from the first ever radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent and friends return in six brand new episodes, in which they are thrown back into the Whole General Mish Mash in a rattling adventure involving Viking Gods and Irish Confidence Tricksters, with our first glimpse of Eccentrica Gallumbits and a brief but memorable moment with The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast Of Traal.
Starring John Lloyd as The Book, with Simon Jones as Arthur, Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sandra Dickinson and Susan Sheridan as Trillian, Jim Broadbent as Marvin the Paranoid Android and Jane Horrocks as Fenchurch, the cast also includes Samantha Béart, Toby Longworth, Andy Secombe, Ed Byrne, Lenny Henry, Philip Pope, Mitch Benn, Jon Culshaw and Professor Stephen Hawking.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018, the series is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. This edition also includes over 50 minutes of unbroadcast bonus material.
Listeners are reminded that the relaxed attitude to danger provided by Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses is no substitute for running around, screaming.
Music by Philip Pope
Production research by Kevin Jon Davies
Written and directed by Dirk Maggs
Based on the novel And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer, with additional material by Douglas Adams
Recorded at The Soundhouse Ltd. by Gerry O'Riordan
Sound Design by Dirk Maggs
Produced by Dirk Maggs, Helen Chattwell and David Morley
A Perfectly Normal Production for BBC Radio 4
Eoin Colfer (Author)
,
Douglas Adams (Author)
,
Jane Horrocks (Read by)
,
Sandra Dickinson (Read by)
,
Mark Wing-Davey (Read by)
,
Geoffrey McGivern (Read by)
,
Simon Jones (Read by)
,
Full Cast (Read by)
,
Ed Byrne (Read by)
,
Lenny Henry (Read by)
The brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast series based on And Another Thing… the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker’s Guide “trilogy”.
Winner of the 2019 Audie Award for Science Fiction.
Forty years on from the first ever radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent and friends return in six brand new episodes, in which they are thrown back into the Whole General Mish Mash in a rattling adventure involving Viking Gods and Irish Confidence Tricksters, with our first glimpse of Eccentrica Gallumbits and a brief but memorable moment with The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast Of Traal.
Starring John Lloyd as The Book, with Simon Jones as Arthur, Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sandra Dickinson and Susan Sheridan as Trillian, Jim Broadbent as Marvin the Paranoid Android and Jane Horrocks as Fenchurch, the cast also includes Samantha Béart, Toby Longworth, Andy Secombe, Ed Byrne, Lenny Henry, Philip Pope, Mitch Benn, Jon Culshaw and Professor Stephen Hawking.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018, the series is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. This edition also includes over 50 minutes of unbroadcast bonus material.
Listeners are reminded that the relaxed attitude to danger provided by Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses is no substitute for running around, screaming.
Music by Philip Pope
Production research by Kevin Jon Davies
Written and directed by Dirk Maggs
Based on the novel And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer, with additional material by Douglas Adams
Recorded at The Soundhouse Ltd. by Gerry O'Riordan
Sound Design by Dirk Maggs
Produced by Dirk Maggs, Helen Chattwell and David Morley
A Perfectly Normal Production for BBC Radio 4
Chris Chibnall (Author)
Parkwood Holiday Village in west Dorset is a tranquil escape — until, early one summer morning, a body is discovered in the pool complex.Detective Nicola Walker, already stretched by troubles at home, faces a resort full of suspects. Guests and staff alike are hiding secrets: a husband with an alibi that doesn’t hold, a high ropes instructor with unexplained scars, a new manager with a dark past.But as Nicola digs deeper, she uncovers a chilling truth — this isn’t the first murder at Parkwood.And if she doesn’t catch the killer, it won’t be the last…
Chris Chibnall (Author)
When Detective Nicola Bridge moves back to Dorset from the big city, the last thing she expects is for the picturesque village of Fleetcombe to become a grisly crime scene.
Jim Tiernan, pub landlord, is dead, the body staged with macabre relish on an isolated country road. Nicola soon realises everyone in the village has something to hide.
The hairdresser. The delivery driver. The farmer. And even the little girl, hidden at the top of the playground slide.
Whispers. Rumours. Lies. And somewhere among them, a killer hiding in plain sight.
Because sometimes the smallest villages hide the darkest secrets...
