A Good Read Folgen

Katherine Rundell and Nathan Filer bring their favourite reads to Harriett Gilbert. Katherine has chosen the poetry of John Donne, Nathan loves The Shapeless Unease by Samantha Harvey, and Harriett is keen to hear everyone's views on Sylvia Plath's only novel, the Bell Jar. Producer Sally Heaven

'How can you feel fed up?' when you read PG Wodehouse is Alan Titchmarsh's answer when asked why he chose Summer Lightning. Harriett remarks that Wodehouse has been chosen on the programme twice in the last year and wonders if many of us are seeking the simplicity of Wodehouse's writing about the pre-internet days of rural Shropshire as 'comfort reading' during worrying times. Amanda Owen is best known as the Yorkshire shepherdess who runs a remote hillfarm and whose family life is featured on television's Our Yorkshire Farm. She is also a writer and has appeared on BBC 4's Winter Walks. Perhaps unsurprisingly her choice of a good read is the account of her role model Hannah Hauxwell whose life story is told in Seasons of My Life. Hannah lived a solitary existence without water and electricity on a farm high in the Yorkshire Dales. When television director Barry Cockroft made a programme about her in the 1970s she received fame and recognition as an extraordinary woman from a bygone age. Most of us probably haven't given a lot of thought to the act of the handshake. Perhaps we only really considered its importance after we were told not do do it at the start of the pandemic. Harriett's choice of book is the fascinating and witty exploration of The Handshake by Ella Al-Shamahi.Producer: Maggie Ayre

Three strange, fantastical novels, all very different, are the book choices for this week.Liam Williams is perhaps best-known for the BBC series 'Ladhood'. He picks 'Bartleby, the Scrivener' by Herman Melville, a dark tale about the monotony of office work and people who quietly buck the system. The musician Kate Stables AKA This is the Kit is a self-confessed huge fan of Ursula K. Le Guin, and she chooses 'The Word for World is Forest' to share with Liam and Harriett. It's a book which draws heavily on the Vietnam War to comment on the nature of humanity. Harriett's pick is Requiem by Antonio Tabucchi, a tale of unexpected encounters on the streets of Lisbon, as the narrator goes in search of a lost love.Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Toby Field