The Radio 2 Book Club

Mar 05 2025 26 ep. 19 mins 23
The Radio 2 Book Club Podcast artwork

The Radio 2 Book club celebrates the best in new fiction and recommends great reads. Sara will be interviewing top authors about their latest novels, and she’ll be catching up with librarians and reading groups from across the UK. Whether you’re after a summer blockbuster, a twist-filled thriller, or want to curl up with a heart-warming love story, Sara has you covered!

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A World Book Day Special: with Stephen Mangan

Mar 05 2025 36 mins  
To celebrate World Book Day, Sara is joined by actor, screenwriter and children's author Stephen Mangan. His new book, 'The Fart That Broke World Book Day', was written specifically for...well you guessed it...World Book Day, alongside books by Julia Donaldson, Bluey, Paddington and many more. We sent his book to a school in Sheffield, for our Junior Book Club reviewers - Noah, Lil

Listener Reviewer, Rebecca, gives us her Top Five Reads

Feb 25 2025 12 mins  
This week on the pod we welcome listener reviewer Rebecca Chalmers. She gives us her Top Five Reads of the year (and last year) so far - as well as a bit of Argentine Tango chat. Yes! Her choices are: 1. You are here - David Nicholls 2. The Women - Kristin Hannah 3. A Very Private School - Charles Spencer 4. Nesting - Roisin O’Donnell 5. Water - John BoyneSara also asks her what

Seth Insua discusses his debut novel, "Human, Animal"

Feb 18 2025 13 mins  
Debut novelist and illustrator, Seth Insua, joins Sara for the Radio 2 Book Club to discuss his book "Human, Animal" He talks about his inspirations for the book, from growing up in rural England to the Brexit vote of 2016. They discuss his publishing journey and how, after many years of thinking about it, the book was written in such a short time.Seth is also an illustrator, but w

Listener Reviewer: Harriet Thomas

Feb 11 2025 19 mins  
This week's episode is all about recommendations! Listener Harriet Thomas joins Sara to go through her Top Five Reads of the year (and last year) She picks: Demon Copperhead by Barbara KingsolverThe Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell. The Unseen by Roy Jackobson Shuggie Baine by Douglas StewartA Fortnight In September by RC SherriffPlus, we get her thoughts on our latest Radio

Sara welcomes debut novelist Roisin O'Donnell to the Radio 2 Book Club to talk about 'Nesting'

Feb 05 2025 19 mins  
Our latest Radio 2 Book Club choice is 'Nesting' by Roisin O'Donnell. It is a beautiful but tense novel about hope and resilience, which contains themes of coercive control. Roisin has been wanting to write ever since she was really young, but only started taking her writing 'seriously' a few years ago. She worked on writing short stories to hone her craft, before sitting down to w

Sara is joined by listener reviewer Fiona Buckland, who gives us her Top 5 Reads of the Year (well, 2024)

Jan 28 2025 10 mins  
Listener Fiona Buckland joins Sara in the Radio 2 Book Club to give us some fab recommendations. Being a voracious reader, she has very broad taste - as her list shows! Her Top 5 Reads of the Year are:The Salt Flats by Rachelle Atella Weyward by Emilia Hart How We Named The Stars by Andres N Ordorica Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan Slum Boy by Juano DiazShe discusses these books in deta

Author Asia Mackay talks about 'A Serial Killer's Guide To Marriage'

Jan 20 2025 20 mins  
Our latest Radio 2 Book Club choice is 'A Serial Killer's Guide To Marriage' by Asia Mackay. Asia was a runner up of the CWIP prize back in 2018, which gave her the confidence to write more - and that eventually led to her getting a publishing deal.Sara chats to Asia about her writing journey, why she is drawn to slightly dark subject matters and if she gets funny looks at the scho

The Radio 2 Book Club Christmas Special

Dec 17 2024 11 mins  
Jeremy Vine, Angela Griffith, Dermot O'Leary, Mark Goodier, Shaun Keaveny and The Reverend Kate Botley share their favourite festive fiction with Sara. Maybe you'll discover a book for your own stocking!?

Author Marjan Kamali discusses her new novel 'The Lion Women Of Tehran'

Dec 10 2024 18 mins  
Marjan Kamali joins Sara from Boston USA to talk about her brilliant new novel, 'The Lion Women Of Tehran'. This book has been four years in the making and Marjan is thrilled to have it out in the world. It's a story of friendship, feminism, and political activism, set against three transformative decades in Tehran - and we think it's a cracking read! Marjan interviewed her Mum a l

Bestselling author Niall Williams joins Sara for a chat about his new novel, 'Time Of The Child'

Dec 02 2024 18 mins  
Niall gives us some brilliant writing tips - and shares a little of his own writing routine too. As well as talking about his brilliant new novel, which takes place in the same village as his previous. He tells Sara about his fascination with this made-up village - Faha - and why he doesn't want to leave it on the page. The novel tells the story of Doctor Jack Troy and his daughter