Simon Mayo's Books Of The Year

Wally Funk was among the Mercury 13, the first group of American pilots to pass the Woman in Space programme. Wally sailed through a series of rigorous physical and mental tests, with one of her scores beating all the male Mercury 7 astronauts', including John Glenn's, the first American in orbit. But just one week before the final phase of training, the programme was abruptly cancelled. A combination of politics and prejudice meant that none of the women ever flew into space. Undeterred, Wally went on to become America's first female aviation safety inspector, though her dream of being an astronaut never dimmed. In this offbeat odyssey, journalist and fellow space buff Sue Nelson joins Wally, now approaching her eightieth birthday, as she races to make her own giant leap, before it's too late. Covering their travels across the United States and Europe - taking in NASA's mission control in Houston, the European Space Agency's HQ in Paris and Spaceport America in New Mexico, where Wally's ride into space awaits - this is a uniquely intimate and entertaining portrait of a true aviation trailblazer.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chloe's book The Arsonist is Simon and Matt's favourite of the year so far. Here she talks us through her favourite authors and books.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Arsonist tells the real-life story behind one of Australia’s darkest days and the deadliest bushfire disaster in Australia’s history, Black Saturday. On the scorching February day in 2009 that became known as Black Saturday, a man lit two fires in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, then sat on the roof of his house to watch the inferno. In the valley, where the rates of crime were the highest in the state, more than thirty people were known to police as firebugs. However the detectives soon found themselves on the trail of a man they didn’t know.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Two hugely successful authors have a crack at our book Q&A  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michelle Paver is an international bestselling author with over 3 million copies of her books sold in 37 countries across the globe. She writes for both adults and children and her work includes two of the most critically and commercially acclaimed ghost stories of modern times, Dark Matter and Thin Air and the prize-winning, million copy selling, children’s series, Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. Her new book Wakenhyrst, set in Edwardian Suffolk, was inspired by a series of real events and fuelled by secrets from her maternal past.   John Boyne returns to the show. He is best known for his phenomenal bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which has sold an astonishing 9 million copies worldwide. His latest book, My Brother's Name Is Jessica, is an urgent call to arms for better empathy and understanding around the complexity of gender identity, and is full of John’s trademark warmth, humour and emotion.    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Science writer Prof Lewis Dartnell tells Simon and Matt about his favourite books and writers. And how long you could survive in a supermarket after The Apocalypse.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The best selling author of Origins: How The Earth Made Us - the story of the human species as shaped by the environment. Prof Lewis Dartnell is a research scientist, presenter and author based in London. He has published four books including The Knowledge - which was a Sunday Times Book of the Year and international bestseller.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Broadcaster and journalist Anita Anand picks her favourite books and authors - including Roald Dahl, Gitta Sereny, Emily Eden and Fern Riddell.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Anita Anand tells the remarkable story of one Indian's twenty-year quest for revenge, taking him around the world in search of those he held responsible for the Amritsar massacre of 1919, which cost the lives of hundreds.    The Patient Assassin shines a devastating light on one of the Raj's most horrific events, but reads like a taut thriller, and reveals some astonishing new insights into what really happened.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Find out the reading habits of thriller writer (and Guardian journalist) Jonathan Freedland  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian journalist who has written 7 thrillers under the name Sam Bourne. To Kill the Truth springs from one question. What if, in this era of post-truth, someone tried to destroy all evidence of the past – starting with the records and documents by which we know what is true and what is false? Thanks to galloping technology – which now makes fake ‘archive footage’ possible, along with bogus sound recordings of historical figures saying things they never said – and governments bent on spreading fake news, the truth is under assault like never before. It no longer seems far-fetched to imagine a plot to kill it off forever.   The result is To Kill the Truth, a novel which opens with the murder of an eminent historian. Soon more historians are found dead, along with aged survivors of some of history’s greatest crimes. And then libraries – in America, in Britain and around the world – are burned to the ground, the archives they hold turned to dust.   Once again, at the centre of the action is Maggie Costello, the former White House operative who tried to avert an assassination in Sam Bourne’s previous bestseller, To Kill the President. She understands early that it’s not just buildings and digital databases that are the target of this mysterious plot. It is an attack on the knowledge we have about our world – and the very idea of truth.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The author of "Last Train To Hilversum - A Journey In Search Of The Magic of Radio" talks us through his favourite books and authors  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Charlie Connelly is a bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster. His many books include Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round The Shipping Forecast, In Search of Elvis: A Journey To Find The Man Beneath The Jumpsuit and Our Man In Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish And Me. Three of his books have featured as Radio 4′s Book of the Week. His book Gilbert: The Last Years of WG Grace was shortlisted for the 2016 MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year. The book he wrote with his friend Bernard Sumner, Chapter And Verse: New Order, Joy Division And Me was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the NME Awards, while his most recent co-writing project, Winner: A Racing Life with the champion jockey AP McCoy is shortlisted for Sports Autobiography of the Year. His latest solo effort is a love letter to UK radio - Last Train To Hilversum.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The author of one of the most anticipated thrillers of 2019 - The Silent Patient  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Listen to author Alex Michaelides talk about his favourite books and authors. His debut novel THE SILENT PATIENT has been sold to over 30 countries and the film rights have been optioned by the makers of 12 Years A Slave Alex studied English literature at Cambridge University and got his MA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He wrote the film The Devil You Know (2013) starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Con is On (2018), starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey and Sofia Vergara.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.