450: David Szalay - Flesh - Booker Winner 2025

In the final show this year recorded in Scotland's Book Town, we chat to author Annaliese Avery about her new series, The Wycherleys, storyteller Renita Boyle has some Wild Words and listener Charlotte Bennie, and her guide dog Christie, tell us what the Wigtown Book Festival is like for accessibility. Plus as always, we find some new books in the RNIB Library.

Today Robert Kirkwood chats to Nicholas Jubber about Monsterland, a journey around the world's dark imagination and he also talks to an author with two heads ... those being that of Christopher Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman AKA Ambrose Parry, about the latest Raven and Fisher mystery, The Death of Shame. We also travel to the RNIB Library to find some brand new books.

On today's Read On a long chat with the winner of the Booker Prize 2025, David Szalay. Robert Kirkwood chats to David about the life of his character István, and how he seems to live in the gaps between chapters, and about the narration of the audio version by Daniel Weyman. We also find some brand new books in the RNIB Library.

Full interview on Friday - but for now huge congratulations to David Szalay for his Booker win for Flesh - available in audio and Braille from RNIB Library.

Today a supercut of interviews with all six Booker shortlisted authors for 2025 with Susan Choi on Flashlight, Kiran Desai on The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, Katie Kitamura on Audition, Ben Markovits on The Rest of Our Lives, Andrew Miller on The Land in Winter, and David Szalay on Flesh. All books on the shortlist are available both in audio and Braille from RNIB library.

In today's episode from Scotland's Book Town we chat to friend of the show, and author of over 300 books, Vivian French. We chat end of the world survival with author Robert Twigger and hear about King Charles' book collection from The Royal Butler, Grant Harrold. Plus we find new books in the RNIB Library.

Today on Read On from the Wigtown Book Festival, we have some journeys, conversations and stories after dark in Dan Richards' book, Overnight and chat to Suzanne O'Sullivan about The Age of Diagnosis: How the Overdiagnosis Epidemic is Making Us Sick. Plus we'll find some brand new books in the RNIB Library.

In an episode recorded on location at the Wigtown Book Festival, Robert Kirkwood talks to Louise Minchin about 'Isolation Island', a novel inspired by both Agatha Christie and her time on I'm A Celeb, and to historian Lucy Hughes-Hallett about her book 'The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham' plus we find new books in the RNIB Library.

With the Booker shortlist released recently we look at who is up for the prize this year, and listen to some past winners including Shehan Karunatilaka, Paul Lynch, Douglas Stewart, Margaret Atwood & Bernardine Evaristo plus some book recommendations from last year's winner, Sam Harvey.

Today we chat to poet and author Elspeth Wilson about her debut novel, These Mortal Bodies, a gripping and atmospheric dark academia novel about toxic female friendships and obsession. Plus we find some brand new books in the RNIB Library.