Advertise on podcast: The Radio 2 Book Club

Marian Keyes is a huge champion of books and reading - so who better to help us celebrate Book Week on Radio 2! She chats to Sara about the joys of books and gives some great tips on how to get back into reading, if you've fallen out of the rhythm of it. Marian also teases us with news of a NEW NOVEL! (but she can't say much about it...yet) and gives us a great book recommendation as well! (we pack a lot in!)

Bestselling author, Donal Ryan, joins Sara in the Book Club to chat about his new novel, "Where Are The Kings". He reveals what inspired this book and why he very nearly didn't write it at all. There are lots of elements of Donal- and his own son - in the main character, which make this a deeply personal book. He also talks about balancing humour with the serious subjects of loss and grief. Donal gives us a cracking book recommendation - and we get to hear a short snippet of the audiobook too. Here's a little more info on Donal's novel: Something terrible has happened to Jack but no one seems to want to talk about it. His uncles can tell him about everything from quantum physics to how to hunt for deer, but they can’t seem to tell him anything about their own sister or why Jack doesn’t feel sad for her in the way he should, or why Grandad tries to shoot Jack’s dad when he gets out of the hospital. Still, there’s work to be done in the oily wonderland of his uncles’ garage; there’s his beautiful aunt Rose to hypnotise him and his loving grandparents to console him; then there’s JJ, who wants to fight him one day and save him the next. But with so many questions, in a family with so many secrets, it is difficult for Jack to understand the person he is becoming. How can a simple boy learn to become a king?

The Queen Of Crime - Val McDermid - and winner of our Radio 2 Book Club Award - Roisin O'Donnell - join Sara for some good ole book chat. Sara hosts this very special edition of the Radio 2 Book Club from the BBC Sounds Garden at Radio 2 In The Park - Stirling - in front of a live audience. She chats to the authors about their latest novels, their inspirations, why Scotland is such a good setting for crime fiction - and gets some brilliant book recommendations from them too! Roisin is the inaugural winner of our Radio 2 Book Club Award - and managed to bring her trophy, all the way from Dublin, to show off! Apparently airport security had a few questions... Here's more info on our guests' brilliant books: SILENT BONES - BY VAL MCDERMID When torrential rain causes a landslide on a motorway in Scotland, it reveals a crime scene: someone hid a body in the tarmac eleven years before. Journalist Sam Nimmo had been the prime suspect in the murder of his fiancée when he disappeared, and now DCI Karen Pirie and her Historic Cases Unit must find out who buried him, and why. Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, new evidence reopens a closed case and the accidental death of a hotel manager starts to look like murder. But what did Tom Jamieson's book club have to do with his demise - and what will they do to keep their secrets? Karen and her team begin to untangle a web of lies, one that connects their murder cases with Scotland's rich and powerful. They will be tested to their limits - and possibly beyond . . . NESTING - BY ROISIN O'DONNELL On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe. This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another. What will it take for Ciara to rebuild her life? Can she ever truly break away from Ryan’s control – and what will be the cost?

Sara welcomes international bestselling author Robert Harris to the Book Club. This is Robert's FIFTH time on the Radio 2 Book Club, making his the author with the most appearances to date! They discuss 'Agrippa', his new novel, which sees Robert return to Ancient Rome - something he hasn't done since his Cicero trilogy in 2015. They chat about Robert's fascination with the character of Agrippa, why he's not as well-known as Augustus Caesar, and how you get in the mind of a person like that as a novelist. (turns out, all you need is a giant bust of the persons head on your desk!) We also hear a clip from the audiobook - narrated beautifully by Simon Russell Beale - and get a top book recommendation from Robert as well. Here's a little more info on 'Agrippa': Julius Caesar is dead, and the lives of two teenaged boys are about to be changed forever. One is Caesar’s 17-year-old nephew, Octavius, whom he has made his heir. The other is Octavius’s closest friend, Agrippa. To claim Octavius’s inheritance, they must fight the giant figures of the Roman Empire – and, against all odds, they win. Octavius becomes the Emperor Augustus. For twenty years, they rule the world together. Now Agrippa is fifty. Ailing and alone, betrayed by his wife’s infidelity, he takes refuge in his house on the Bay of Naples and begins to write his memoirs. Yet to stir up the past can be dangerous. From his earliest meetings with Julius Caesar, through the epic conflict with Mark Antony and Cleopatra, the great naval battle of Actium and the endless wars to expand the empire, he describes how one man has dominated his life: the cunning, ruthless, unknowable Octavius. When it comes to power, does friendship exist at all?

Author Simon Wroe joins Sara for a chat about his new novel, 'Ghost Month'. They discuss ghosts and spirits and the inspirations behind this story. The novel is set in London and told from four different character perspectives. Simon tells us about each character and how he formed them, as well as some real-life experiences which influenced him too. He also recommends us a book he's enjoyed reading recently - and - we hear a clip of the audiobook too! Here's a little more about 'Ghost Month': Every September, the spirits of the dead return before vanishing four weeks later in a puff of green ash. The haunting has become a holiday - part Christmas, part Halloween, full of annual reckonings with the past. The ghosts aren't real in any way that can hurt you, so it's hard to tell the silent spectres from ashen commuters: they linger on train platforms, they crowd buses, they take up space on your sofa. The proper term these days is 'people without pulses'. This year, four strangers prepare for a visit from their dearly departed. The season forces them to confront all the things that haunt them, not just their dead. As suppressed truths emerge from the shadows, each of them will end Ghost Month changed in ways they never imagined. Happy Haunting.

This week, Sara is joined by one of our Superstar Librarians - Evie Loy O'Neill. They chat about her job at Richmond Libraries, the Radio 2 Book Club Panel - and - the books that have been flying off the shelves this summer. She also tells us her Top Five Reads of the Year (so far!): 1. 'Where Are The Kings' - Donal Ryan 2. 'The History of Sound' - Ben Shattuck 3. 'The Rom-Commers' - Katherine Center 4. 'Main Characters' - Bobby Palmer 5. 'Ultra Women: The Trailblazers Defying Sexism in Sport' - Lily Canter & Emma Wilkinson

Debut author, Max Doty, joins Sara for a natter about his horror novel 'The House That Eats The Dead'. They discuss his love of the genre, the inspiration for this story (spoiler alert, his wife sparked the idea!) and how it started life as a short story on the internet. Max also talks about power shifts, the lengths people will go to to protect themselves and their lives, and classic horror authors he loves. As well as this, Max recommends us a book he recently read - and - we hear a clip from the audiobook too. Here's more info on 'The House That Eats The Dead': The new house is a fresh start for Claire and her family. It’s a move towards the quiet suburban life she has craved since her turbulent childhood; a step up the corporate ladder for her husband, Tom; and a safe haven for their two children. Yet, as they unpack their boxes, she senses something is wrong . . . Fresh flowers dry up, store-bought eggs are inexplicably hollow and her daughter’s favourite toy disappears. Claire soon confronts a series of impossible truths: the house is hungry. It’s devouring anything that was once alive. And only Claire and Tom, the owners of the house, will remember that this ‘food’ ever existed. When Claire exploits the house’s power in a moment of weakness, she and the house forge a fragile bond. But as its hunger intensifies and Claire starts to lose control, she fears who else might be drawn to her home – and what sinister appetites they’ll bring.

Author Frances Quinn joins Sara in the studio to discuss her new novel, 'The Scandalous Ladies Football Club'. They chat about the real-life inspiration behind the story, how she nearly gave up writing the whole thing because of a sticky plot point - and why she hides ABBA references in all her books. (yes, she's a mega fan) Sara also asks her about her Tonkinese cats and her 'other job', writing food packaging for a well-known supermarket. (apparently she loves using the word 'buttery') We also get a great book recommendation from her - and - hear a clip from the audiobook too! Here's a little more info on Frances' novel: London, 1897. Minnie Newton – twenty-eight-year-old schoolteacher and women’s rights advocate – has a passion for football. But in Victorian society, football is a men's game. That is, until Minnie decides to take matters into her own hands and place an ad in the newspaper, asking for volunteers to join the first ever women’s football team. From a motley collection of replies, Minnie puts together a squad. Most of the women have never kicked a ball before – but a little thing like that isn’t about to stop them. And when they take the game public, it isn’t long before they are drawing huge crowds, stirring controversy across the capital and beyond. But Minnie is hiding an explosive secret. Soon, all the attention the club is getting begins to threaten the life she has built for herself. Can she walk the line between independence and safety, or will the truth about who she really is finally come out? And is the beautiful game enough to save her freedom?

In this bumper episode of the Radio 2 Book Club, Jeremy Vine visits the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. It's the world's largest crime writing festival, which welcomed over 20,000 crime fiction fans over four days, at the Old Swan Hotel (the hotel where Agatha Christie was found after she went 'missing' for 11 days, in 1926). Jeremy chats to some of the biggest names writing crime fiction today: David Baldacci, Denise Mina, Vaseem Khan, Anthony Horowitz, Ann Cleeves, MW Craven, Anthony Horowitz and Tim Sullivan. They discuss their new books, the joy of the festival, the popularity of crime fiction in the UK and how they keep coming up with murders! David Baldacci (who has sold over 200M books!) won the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award this year - and talks about the threat of AI on writers. Vaseem Khan discusses his new series of books, which he's writing for the Ian Fleming estate, featuring the Bond character, Q. Ann Cleeves is a stalwart of this festival, and was their first writer in residence, so as well as telling us about her new novel - and working with Brenda Blethyn on 'Vera' - she also sums up what this celebration of crime fiction is all about. Tim Sullivan self-published his first books, because agents didn't want them, but is now a million copy bestselling author - and he talks to Jeremy about that journey. Denise Mina's new book asks lots of moral questions of the reader - which she gets into - as well as revealing the treats she got from Betty's. Anthony Horowitz talks about meta fiction, writing himself into his books and writing a book within a book - whilst keeping it simple! And MW Craven reveals how he started taking writing seriously after nearly dying from a tumor - and why writing his character, Washington Poe, was so cathartic! There's something for everyone in this bumper edition!

Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos (aka Ellery Lloyd) join Sara for a natter about their new novel, 'Time To Burn'. Paul and Collette not only write together, but are married too - and Sara has A LOT of questions! Their new novel is about time travel gone wrong, so we delve into their inspirations for the book, how important the history was, and just how they plot and plan (and write) between the two of them. Plus, we hear an extract from the audiobook - and - get two cracking book recommendations too! Here's a little more about Ellery Lloyd's latest novel, 'Time To Burn': If the past catches up with you, time travel can be murder . . . London, the present day: commercial time travel is a reality. Tempus Tours – owned by controversial tech entrepreneur Inigo Frank – offers the wealthy a chance to witness pivotal moments in history. To immortalise his achievement, Frank enlists award-winning filmmaker Phoebe Hunt to create a fly-on-the-wall documentary. On her first day shadowing Inigo, she is set to witness the return of a billionaire property developer and his family from their trip to the past. But instead of their awe-filled return, she captures the group arriving bloodied and traumatized, with one of their number missing. Not only that, but Phoebe recognizes the missing woman. She knows not only that she's not who she claims to be, but that the woman has every reason to harbor a grudge against her. And as events begin to unravel in the present day, it seems increasingly clear that the woman had sinister motives for returning to the past – and that people close to Phoebe are in danger. Can Phoebe stop the ripple effect before she loses everything – and everyone – she holds dear?

Debut novelist, Anna Goldreich, joins Sara in the Book Club to discuss 'The Leveret'. They chat about her inspirations behind the story, farming, baby hares, grief, queer love and much much more. Anna is also a keen twitcher - and runs a queer bird watching group in Norfolk - which Sara gets very interested in! We also hear a clip of the audiobook - and - get a cracking book recommendation too! Here's a little more about 'The Leveret': Moving to the countryside is supposed to fix Clare and Phoebe’s relationship. A fresh start, a change of scenery, a chance to heal after the miscarriage of their baby girl. Instead, Phoebe feels suffocated. Back in the rural community she ran from at seventeen and unable to face the partner she cannot help, she throws herself into work on the family farm. Clare is a stranger in the village, uninitiated and out of place. She spends her days drifting around the cottage, its walls groaning and shifting as she withdraws into a world inside her head. One day, wandering through the forest nearby, Clare finds a leveret – her own little Isla. A surrogate to lick and love. A way to feel whole again. But as Isla grows into an adult hare she becomes wild and unruly – a kicking, biting, scratching creature. With Clare’s grasp on reality growing ever more tenuous, Phoebe begins to question whether Isla is the cure for grief Clare is searching for as she desperately clings on to the woman she loves . . . With this bruisingly tender love story, debut author Anna Goldreich has conjured a hazy dream of a novel about the fantasies we create as a refuge from grief. The Leveret is a heartbreakingly gorgeous and lyrically haunting hymn to queer love and the power to rebuild from the wreckage of a relationship.

Sara heads to Sheffield, for the Crossed Wires Festival, to speak with international bestselling author Lisa Jewell, in front of a live audience. Lisa chats about her new thriller, 'It Could Have Been Her', as well as her writing inspirations, the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and how she turned from writing commercial 'women's fiction' to dark psychological thrillers. She also reads us a short extract of the novel, recommends us some books and takes audience questions too. Here's a little more info on Lisa's new novel: Jane Trevally, newly divorced and feeling a little lost, agrees to accompany a man she doesn't know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath. She's offered a drink, goes in, and then - a scream and the sound of something falling upstairs - Jane senses she's in a bad place. She runs. Twenty five years later, Jane finds herself outside the same house, this time to return a small white dog who's been found near her home in the country; a dog whose owner has just been reported missing. A fleeting glimpse of a haunted looking woman through the window sends Jane on a mission to uncover the house's secrets - secrets more terrifying than she could have ever imagined, especially when she realises it could have been her. .

Fantasy author Sunyi Dean joins Sara for the Book Club, to chat about her new novel and the inspirations behind it. They chat about Hong Kong, myths, legends, ghosts and dim sum! We also hear a clip from the audiobook (*which has references to drowning) and get some great book recommendations from Sunyi too. Here's a little more info on 'The Girl With A Thousand Faces': Mercy Chan is a triad exorcist with a mysterious past. After washing up on the shores of Hong Kong with no memory during World War II, she found a home in Kowloon Walled City, an infamous, ghost-infested slum full of lost and traumatised civilians. Since the war ended, Mercy has rebuilt her life and found work as a ghost-talker for the local triad, dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt this place. But the past she can’t remember won’t let her go. An unusually powerful ghost lurks in Kowloon’s waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. Unnervingly, it claims to know Mercy – and her forgotten childhood. As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realise that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making.

Emily Howes returns to the Radio 2 Book Club to discuss her new novel, Mrs Dickens; a fictional story about the life of Kate Hogarth - who was married to the author Charles Dickens for 22 years. Sara chats to Emily about writing women back into history, who were written out in their own lifetime, and the challenges that come with writing real-life figures in fiction. We also hear a clip from the audiobook - and get some great book recommendations too. Emily was last on the Book Club back in 2024 for her debut novel, 'The Painter's Daughters' - and you can hear that chat on BBC Sounds too! Here's a little more info on 'Mrs Dickens': London, 1835. Nineteen-year-old Kate Hogarth falls in love with the young journalist Charles Dickens. In the early days of their marriage, Charles is infatuated with his bride and Kate delights in her new life, the balm to her husband's irrepressible spirit. But as he finds fame as a novelist and the family rise through the ranks of Victorian society, Kate becomes increasingly aware of his frustration that real people cannot be manipulated as easily as his characters. Meanwhile, in the East End slums, a young orphan named Anne Brown has lost everything, but is determined to make her way in the world. A chance encounter with the Dickens family transports her to the heart of the household, opening up a world of privilege, travel and remarkable company. But her newfound freedom has come at a cost she cannot always ignore. As the years go by and the family expands, the cracks in the Dickens's marriage deepen. Kate seeks comfort and companionship in her trusted servant, but whilst Anne has come to care deeply for Mrs Dickens, her loyalties are tested to breaking point as Charles takes control of their future . . . Vibrant, witty and deeply moving, Mrs Dickens traces a long marriage in all its tenderness, grief, romance and fury. It illuminates the life of a complex, forgotten woman whose voice often went unheard, but whose story deserves to be told.

Sara welcomes international bestselling author, Douglas Stuart, to the Book Club. They discuss his beautiful new novel - John Of John - and his inspirations behind the story. Douglas tells Sara about his epic trip to the Scottish Islands, the people he met there - and what he learned about sheep farming and textile making (all of which made it into this new book). He also chats about exploring the theme of masculinity and how not growing up with a father figure helped shape and create the central relationship in his novel. Douglas also gives a great book recommendation - and - plays us a short extract from the audiobook too. Here's a little more info on 'John Of John': Out of money and with little to show for his art school education, John-Calum Macleod takes the ferry home to the island of Harris to find that not much has changed except for him. In the windswept croft where he grew up, Cal resumes his old life, caught between the two poles of his childhood: his father John, a sheep farmer, weaver, and pillar of their local Presbyterian church, and his Glaswegian grandmother Ella, who has kept a faltering peace with her son-in-law for decades. While Cal wonders if any lonely men might be found on the barren hillsides of home, John is dismayed by his son’s long hair and how he seems unwilling to be Saved. As the seasons pass, everything is poised to change as the threads holding together the fragile community become increasingly entangled.