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The Radio 2 Book Club

The Radio 2 Book Club

By: BBC Radio 2
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The Radio 2 Book club celebrates the best in new fiction and recommends great reads. Sara will be interviewing top authors about their latest novels, and she’ll be catching up with librarians and reading groups from across the UK. Whether you’re after a summer blockbuster, a twist-filled thriller, or want to curl up with a heart-warming love story, Sara has you covered!

(C) BBC 2025
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Episodes
  • Superstar Librarian Luke shares his Top Five Reads
    May 20 2025

    Luke Burton is one of our Superstar Librarians who helps choose our Radio 2 Book Club titles.

    He's now a big cheese at Arts Council England, and talks to Sara about the importance of libraries and...how he comes from a family of qualified librarians (so it really is in his blood!)

    He shares his Top Five Reads - and the books he's looking forward to reading this year.

    Here is his list:

    'In the Blink of an Eye' by Jo Callaghan

    'What a Way to Go' by Bella Mackie

    'The Masquerades of Spring' by Ben Aaronovitch

    'Killing Thatcher: The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown' by Roy Carroll

    'American Dirt' by Jeanine Cummins

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    12 mins
  • 'The Book Of Guilt' by Catherine Chidgey
    May 13 2025

    Sara welcomes author Catherine Chidgey to the Radio 2 Book Club.

    They discuss her new novel, 'The Book Of Guilt', which is an eerie, dark, chilling story set in England, in the late 1970s (but a slightly different England to what we know now)

    Catherine talks about her inspirations, the things she does in the name of research (going on a rollercoaster even though she's terrified of them) and how she created the unnerving feeling in her books.

    She also gives us some great book recommendations too!

    Remember you can join in the conversation at any time - the email is radio2bookclub@bbc.co.uk

    Here's the blurb for The Book Of Guilt:

    England, 1979. Vincent, Lawrence and William are the last remaining residents of a secluded New Forest home, part of the government’s Sycamore Scheme. Every day, the triplets do their chores, play their games and take their medicine, under the watchful eyes of three mothers: Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night.

    Their nightmares are recorded in The Book of Dreams. Their lessons are taken from The Book of Knowledge. And their sins are reported in The Book of Guilt.

    All the boys want is to be sent to the Big House in Margate, where they imagine a life of sun, sea and fairground rides. But, as the government looks to shut down the Sycamore Homes, the triplets begin to question everything they have been told.

    Gradually surrendering its dark secrets, The Book of Guilt is a profoundly unnerving exploration of belonging in a world where some lives are valued less than others.

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    16 mins
  • Listener Reviewer Stef Loughrey
    May 6 2025

    Listener Reviewer, Stef Loughrey, shares the five books she has loved reading recently.

    She also tells Sara about her job as a TV producer, sharing books on Insta - and - which new novels she's looking forward to coming out this year...

    Here are her picks:

    Penance by Eliza Clark

    Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

    All The Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman

    The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

    Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth

    Show More Show Less
    15 mins

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