Episode 12

Joining Mariella in this week’s eclectic edition of The Book Show are Peter Ackroyd who talks about his biography of Edgar Allan Poe; GMTV presenter Penny Smith introduces her first novel; and Philip Pullman turns to the Wild West.

To read first chapters of the books featured in The Book Show for free, visit Lovereading.co.uk for a taste of what’s coming up!

If you liked Peter Ackroyd’s Poe: A Life Cut Short and your interest in Edgar Allan Poe has been awoken, why not try these:
The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Macabre parties in isolated castles, gruesome murders, talking ravens, hellish black pits and inncents buried alive all find a place in The Complete Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Prepare to be chilled to the core as Poe probes to the very depths of the human psyche.

Late Victorian Gothic Tales
The characters in this collection, which features stories by Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling and Henry James among others, are variously assailed by mummies, bewitched by pagan goddesses and doomed to inexorable decline by the misdeeds of their ancestors. The perfect bedtime reading for the fearless!

If you liked Penny Smith’s Coming Up Next and are after further witty and insightful glimpses of life behind the scenes in the media, here are a couple more to try:
Bill Flanagan: New Bedlam
Staying with the TV industry, New Bedlam is by former MTV executive Bill Flanagan. 33-year-old Bobby Khan is a glittering TV exec hailed as the unwed father of reality TV – until he gets fired. Moving to a small family run cable business based out in the sticks, he must now work with a  strange cast of characters –including the peculiar Annie who runs a pretentious arts channel. Pretentious? Arts channel?! Surely not!

Lauren Weisberger: The Devil Wears Prada
When a girl from a small town gets a job on a leading new York fashion magazine as a junior assistant, she finds the role is something of a poisoned chalice. Working for the grand and glacial editor (played magnificently by Meryl Streep in the film version), and surrounded by size zero glamourpusses, it seems the demands are endless and more than a little bizarre.

If you liked Philip Pullman’s Once Upon A Time In The North and are after more highly inventive tales that transport older children to magical worlds, try these:
Cornelia Funke: Inkheart
Inkheart is the first in a page-turning trilogy of magical adventure by Cornelia Funke featuring 12-year-old Meggie. She discovers that her father has a secret –by reading aloud he can make characters in books come alive. In this way she meets Dustfinger, a kindly fire-eater who longs to return to his own world. But she also encounters the villainous and scheming Capricorn who has a heart as black as ink. A film version starring Paul Bettany and Helen Mirren is out now.

Christopher Paolini: Brisingr
Influenced by Tolkein and by Philip Pullman, Brisingr is Christopher Paolini’s latest thrilling adventure featuring the teenage Eragon, his dragon Saphira and cousin Roran. Eragon must fulfil an oat to rescue Roran’s betrothed from a fortress but discovers that this undertaking exacts a terrible sacrifice…

Bedside Table – Kathy Reichs
Bestselling mystery novel writer and anthropologist Kathy Reichs tells us about her not-so-calming bedtime reading.

Book Club
This week we visit Gekoski Rare Book in London where Rick Gekoski offers his book club recommendation, Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair

Fine Line
Bestselling thriller author Ken Follett reveals his favourite line from a book

Write Place
We visit Wendy Holden’s study in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside where she writes in the most glamorous ‘garden shed’ The Book Show has ever witnessed.

Guests’ literary heroes and heroines
Every week our guests reveal their literary heroes and heroines. This week’s choices are as eclectic as ever! Peter Ackroyd’s favourite character is from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales; Penny Smith has a literary favourite in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; and Philip Pullman’s favourite character is from Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin. But who have they chosen?