Featuring all episodes from series 1 of the podcast: Episode One: Horror Fiction - In this first episode, host Jessica Stone delves into the dingy depths of horror books with Claire Bell and Nik de Garis. Episode Two: 200 Years of Frankenstein - Abigail Jaggers tells Jessica all about the bizarre life of the writer Mary Shelley. Episode Three: C...

Through poetic experiments that blend the academic and the artistic, Rhiya Pau queries complex characters and tender landscapes. Routes journeys from Ba’s kitchen in Sonia Gardens to Independence hour in Delhi, across the pink shores of Nakuru, to meet a painter on Lee High Road. Celebrating fifty years since her community arrived in the UK,...

A powerful, moving and joyous memoir from Tommy Jessop, award-winning actor and activist. I'm a man on a mission to show that life with Down Syndrome can be exciting and is worth living so that other people understand and give us the chance to live life to the full and to be fulfilled. Tommy Jessop is a multi-award winning actor, theatre performer,...

The powerful, inspiring follow-up to the critically acclaimed, multi-million #1 bestselling memoir BecomingIn The Light We Carry, former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today's highly uncertain world.She considers the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build end...

On the most electric night in the history of British sport, Super Saturday 2012, Mo Farah braved the pain and punishment to seize Olympic gold in the 10,000m - and in the process went from being a talented athlete to a national treasure. Seven days later, Mo seized his second gold at the 5000m to go where no British distance runner has gone before....

"Taking on the Plastics Crisis delivers straightforward advise for getting involved in the global movement to eliminate single-use plastics." — Booklist, Starred Review"Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change."—Kirkus Reviews"Taking on the Plastics Crisis is a sobering and inspiring r...

Annie Aldington has voiced hundreds of audiobooks, and among them are some of the most popular titles in the Listening Books collection, including novels by Dilly Court, Martina Cole, Katie Price, Aoife Walsh, and Kitty Neale. Here Annie tells us how she happened into audiobook narration, shares her secret tricks for conquering difficult accents, a...

Clinical psychologist and author Dr Julie Smith joins Jess to share some of the practical wisdom from her bestselling book Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Want to know one of the most versatile tools to have in your mental health tool kit? Do you ever wish you could summon motivation when you need it most? Julie warns us of the pitfalls of chas...

Author Jonathan Whitelaw joins Jess for a cosy chat about cosy crime. He tells us how he landed such a fantastic narrator in Sid Sagar, how he approached character development in The Bingo Hall Detectives, why he chose the Lake District for the setting, and what we should be reading while we wait for his next book, The Village Hall Vendetta.

Author Florence Wilkinson talks about her book Wild City: Encounters with Urban Wildlife, giving lots of suggestions for noticing and encouraging the wildlife right on our doorstep.

Jess is joined by colleagues Amy and Lieve to talk about notable books adapted to film—for better and for worse! Of course, this is all just a warm-up for the true highlight, which is of course our Very Serious Literary Game. Will Amy triumph against her new opponent, or will Lieve take down the reigning champion?

Emilie Pine, author of the personal essay collection Notes to Self and her recently published novel Ruth and Pen, tells us what it was like to narrate her emotionally difficult first book, what factored into the casting of Ruth and Pen’s audiobook narrator, and the sometimes surprising responses she’s received from readers. There is als...

Natasha Lipman writes about what it means to live, and live well, with chronic illness. Here she talks to Jessica about the strategies she’s adopted to return her to the pleasures of reading.

Gail Pirkis and Hazel Wood are founding editors of Slightly Foxed, the quarterly magazine and independent publishing house. As specialists in books that have stood the test of time even while falling out of fashion, Gail and Hazel bring us titles so good, they deserve to be heard as audiobooks, too.

When I was 16 I dressed in Victorian clothing in a bid to distract people from the fact that I was gay. It was a flawed plan. No Shame is a very funny, candid and emotional ride of a memoir by one of our most beloved comedians. The working-class son of a coach driver and the youngest member of the Noel Coward Society, Tom Allen grew up in '90s subu...

HORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORTNUM & MASON DEBUT FOOD BOOK AWARD 2023 Growing up in a Chinese takeaway in rural Wales, Angela Hui was made aware at a very young age of just how different she and her family were seen by her local community. From attacks on the shopfront (in other words, their home), to verbal abuse...

In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever. This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose and my strength, but also to finding my voice...

“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.” So begins the riveting story of acclaimed actor Matthew Perry, taking us along on his journey from childhood ambition to fame to addiction and recovery in the aftermath of a life-threatening health scare. Before the freque...

This Is Going to Hurt was the publishing phenomenon of the century, read by many millions, loved by at least fifty of them, and adapted into a major TV series. But it was only part of the story. By turns hilarious, heartbreaking and humbling, Undoctored is about what happens when a doctor hangs up his scrubs, but medicine refuses to let go of him....

My Child and Other Mistakes is the honest lowdown on motherhood and all its grisly delights, asking the questions no one wants to admit to asking themselves - do I want a child? Do I have a favourite? Do I wish I hadn't had one and spent the money on a kitchen island instead? Stand-up comic, broadcaster and actress Ellie Taylor is relatable, clever...

WINNER OF THE 2022 BRITISH BOOK AWARDS AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR: NON-FICTION The funny, frank and full autobiography of the nation's favourite comedian. It's the first time I've done this. Other people have written about me - or for me - but this time, it's just my own life in my own words. In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and nat...