Books and Authors

Kate Atkinson talks to Mariella Frostrup about her new book Life After Life. We discuss classic and modern Western novels with Michael Carlson and novelist Ace Atkins. And Graham Sharpe, Media Relations Director of William Hill, shows how betting on the winning author of a literary prize can be more difficult than picking a winning horse at the races.

Robert Peston chooses, 'The Cruel Mother', written by his late wife, Sian Busby. Bernardine Evaristo chooses, 'The Boy Next Door' by Irene Sabatini and Harriett Gilbert's choice this week is 'Hons and Rebels' by Jessica Mitford.

Novelist A L Kennedy talks to Mariella Frostrup about her book On Writing which is based on her Guardian blog. Pankaj Mishra and Sri Lankan novelist Roma Tearne discuss how much literature can play a role in exposing human rights violations. And author Justin Cartwright provides a Readers' Guide to the Nobel Prize and twice Man Booker winning writer J M Coetzee, as he publishes his new novel The Childhood of Jesus.

Harriett Gilbert is joined by poet Daljit Nagra and journalist and radio critic Susan Jeffreys.This week's recommended books are by Edna O'Brien, Margery Allingham and the anonymous author of a controversial memoir, A Woman in Berlin.

TV presenter Alistair Appleton and psychologist Professor Simon Baron-discuss their favourite paperbacks with Harriett Gilbert: Notes From An Exhibition by Patrick Gale, Enduring Love by Ian McEwan and Operation Pax by Michael Innes.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Maggie O'Farrell about her new novel Instructions For A Heatwave, set during the drought of 1976 when it didn't rain in the UK for 16 weeks. With over a quarter of adults in the UK officially classed as obese, writers Jami Attenberg and Michael Kimball discuss the way in which fiction is responding to a world of fast food, compulsive eating and morbid obesity. And journalist and ex-editor of The Bookseller Neill Denny looks at how one of the UK's most iconic retailers, WH Smiths - over a quarter of whose sales are books - is surviving the the recession.

Harriett's guests this week are Sarah Moss and Francis Spufford. Sarah suggests The Grasmere Journals by Dorothy Wordsworth and Francis picks Mistress Masham's Repose by T. H. White. Harriet has been reading Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald.

Mariella Frostrup discusses what defines a Jewish novel with stand up comedian, tv presenter & novelist David Baddiel and writer & broadaster Naomi Alderman, as Jewish Book week begins in London. Jim Crace talks about his new novel Harvest, which will also be his last as he has announced he is retiring as a novelist. And Indian writer Amit Chaudhuri explains why, after setting three novels in his native Calcutta, he has turned to non-fiction in his new account of the city.

Harriett Gilbert is joined by writer Meg Rosoff and comedian Sara Pascoe to talk about the books they love - which in Sara's case is controversial: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Meg chooses the lyrically beautiful Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. And Harriett recommends An Education by Lynn Barber, which was made into an acclaimed film starring Carey Mulligan. Producer Beth O'Dea

Mariella Frostrup talks to Ali Smith about Sylvia Plath's ground breaking novel The Bell Jar, fifty years after it was first published. With the announcement of the Goldsmiths Prize for writers of boldly, original fiction - writer and broadcaster Alex Preston and author, poet and Profesor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths, Blake Morrison, consider what being experimental and innovative means for 21st century novelists. And in his 17th novel, Bedlam, Scottish crime writer Christopher Brookmyre turns to science fiction for inspiration.

Comedian Miles Jupp and singer Barb Jungr talk to Harriett Gilbert about the books they love. Barb brings The Corrections: Jonathan Franzen's critically acclaimed blockbuster. Miles - who plays Nigel the lay reader in Rev - plumps for Spies by Michael Frayn and Harriett's choice is the dark and satirical Death And The Penguin by the Ukrainian Andrey Kurkov - which features a penguin called Misha who almost steals the show. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Mariella Frostrup talks to novelist Thomas Keneally, publisher and writer Carmen Callil and critic Geordie Williamson about Australian classic novels asking if Australia has neglected its literary heritage. Robert Hudson tells us about his hilarious new novel The Dazzle - a fishy tale set in 1930's Scarborough. And the latest developments in literary neuroscience - what exactly is the human brain doing when we are reading a good book?

Mariella Frostrup discusses Chinese literature and how we can view this emerging superpower through its novels, with author Mo Yan's translator Howard Goldblatt and novelist and film maker Xiaolu Guo. Eleanor Updale talks about how she tells a story in the space of one minute in her latest novel, The Last Minute. And literary critic Suzi Feay delves into the world of the debut novel examining the latest Waterstones' 11 list of new fiction writers, how well their past predictions have done and why she feels now is a good time to be a debut novelist.

To mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Mariella Frostrup travels to Austen's home in Chawton to discover why this novel has remained so universally popular, the story around its publication and what it has to say to modern readers.

Authors James Runcie and Naomi Alderman and the editor of The Bookseller Philip Jones join Mariella Frostrup to discuss the literary trends of 2012. Themes include EL James's 50 Shades of Grey and the rise of the bonkbusters, Hilary Mantel's historic second winning of the Man Booker Prize and what that means for historical fiction, and how self-publishing is helping to change what and how people read.