A Good Read Folgen

Janet Ellis and Jason Arday join presenter Harriet Gilbert to discuss The Cut Out Girl by Bart van Es; Rise, the memoir of South African rugby player Siya Kolisi and Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. Three readers choose favourite books and discuss themes of war, rugby and tightrope walking.Writer and former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis chooses The Cut Out Girl by Bart van Es, the true story of a Dutch Jewish girl during the Second World War. Cambridge's youngest black professor Jason Arday champions Rise, the memoir of South African rugby player Siya Kolisi who went from a tough start in a township to the very top of his game. Harriett's choice, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, tells the story of a tightrope walk between the twin towers and the lives unfolding on the ground below.Producer Sally Heaven, BBC Audio Bristol

Journalist India Knight and writer Emma Dabiri talk to Harriett Gilbert about favourite books. India chooses The Tap Dancer by Andrew Barrow, while Harriett has gone for Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, the novel Anne Tyler considers her best work. Emma champions Claire Keegan's short but powerful story, So Late in the Day. Themes of food and family emerge from all three books. Producer for BBC Audio Sally Heaven

The violinist Nigel Kennedy is in the UK playing several concerts and takes time out to join Harriett Gilbert and actor Clare Perkins to talk about one of his favourite books. It's Confessions of A Mask by Yukio Mishima - the coming of age and sexual awakening story of a young boy in post war Japan. Nigel says he began exploring Japanese fiction and is interested in how many Japanese authors explore the inner lives of their characters.Actor Clare Perkins goes for Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - a story she finds hopeful for humanity, despite being about a hostage situation where a group of party guests find themselves at the mercy of terrorists in an unnamed South American country. Harriett opts for Franz Kafka's novella Metamorphosis - a story first published in 1915 about a young salesmen who wakes up one morning to find he has changed into a monstrous insect.Photo of Nigel Kennedy: Carly HydeProducer: Maggie Ayre