Series 3: Episode 9
Coming up in the next episode of The Book Show - tune in 7pm 18 Dec, Sky Arts
Joining Mariella Frostrup in this week’s Christmas special edition of The Book Show are the master of the past Simon Schama; the author of The Sunday Times’ Humour Book of the Year, Mark Crick; and the goddess of glamour and good grub, Nigella Lawson.
Tune in at 7pm 18 December, Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts HD for the full story
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 Simon Schama’s the American Future: A History and his stories have awaken the historian in you, here are a couple more to try:
Barack Obama: Dreams from my Father
For a slice of American history in the making, why not try Barack Obama’s very personal memoir Dreams From My Father. Written when he was 33, Obama, the son of a black African father and a white American mother, explores his divided inheritance. Just two when his father left, he traces his roots from both sides of the family through Kansas, Hawaii and Indonesia, and finally travels to Kenya to confront the truth about his father’s life.
Andrew Marr: A History of Modern Britain
On the other side of the pond, there’s A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr who casts his journalistic eye over the 60 odd years of British history from the end of the Second World War. Decade by decade, Marr follows the political and economic stories while mixing in the social highlights of the age. He shows how great political visions and ideals have ultimately been defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification.
If you liked Mark Crick’s Satre’s Sink, and are after further literary guidance, why not try these:
Pierre Bayard: How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read
A runaway bestseller in France, Pierre Bayard’s book proved equally popular over here. It suggests that there is no need to feel ashamed about the number of great classics we’ve failed to open, for most people who claim to have read them, haven’t. Really. The trick is to give the impression that you have. As well as relieving us of literary guilt, Bayard examines what reading means and its importance to us.
Alain de Botton: How Proust Can Change Your Life
And in How Proust Can Change Your Life, the philosophical Alain de Botton explores how a careful reading of Proust can help us to solve some of life’s little problems, like being a good friend, how to be happy in love, how to take time and enjoy life and even how to suffer successfully. Whist occasionally a bit on the gloomy side, Proust was always a keen and insightful observer of others, and de Botton re-reads Proust so we don’t have to.
If you liked Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Christmas, here are a couple more culinary extravaganzas to devour:
Yotam Ottolenghi: Ottolengh: The Cookbook
Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi reveal the secrets of the superb sweet and savoury recipes, previously only to be sampled in their restaurant. These inventive yet simple dishes are inspired by their native Jerusalem but draw on numerous other traditions ranging from North Africa to Lebanon, Italy and California.
India Knight: The Thrift Book
If you’re more worried by the credit crunch than crunching the latest exotic vegetables, then try The Thrift Book by India Knight – a blueprint for living beautifully while saving money. India Knight shows how to make wonderful dinners with very little money, how to dress on a budget and still look fabulous, and how to grow things – and we don’t mean mould!
Malorie Blackman’s Christmas recommendations for teenagers:
Tanya Landman: Apache Girl Warrior
Alan Moore & David Lloyd: V for Vendetta
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Daphne Du Maurier: Rebecca
Quentin Letts’ Christmas recommendations of non-fiction books:
Charlotte Higgins: It’s All Green to Me
Rose Prince: The New English Table
Bernard Donoughue: Downing Street Diary
Ferdinand Mount: Cold Cream
Matthew Parris & Phil Mason: Mission Accomplished
Simon Callow visits Charles Dickens’ study
Guests’ literary heroes and heroines:
Simon Schama’s favourite character is from Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace; Mark Crick’s fictional favourite is from Alexandre Dumas: The Count of Monte Cristo; and Nigella Lawson finds her favourite character from Philip Roth: Exit Ghost – but who are the characters from these books that they’ve all chosen?
Tune in at 7pm 18 December, Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts HD for the full story
