Bookclub

James Naughtie talks to Colum McCann about TransAtlantic.

James Naughtie talks to China Mieville about The City and the City

James Naughtie talks to Tessa Hadley about Married Love

David Nicholls talks to James Naughtie and a group of readers about his novel One Day

David Nicholls talks to James Naughtie and a group of readers about his enormously successful novel One Day.The book has now sold over 5 million copies worldwide since its first publication in 2009. It's the will-they-won't they story of Dexter and Emma, who get together on their last day at Edinburgh University in the late 80s, and whom we meet in the novel every July 15th for the next twenty years. It is in turns moving, stylish and funny.David Nicholls discusses how cinema and tv and his work as an actor influenced the writing of this novel, as well as his love of Hardy and Dickens. Looking back at the novel, having not read it for four years, he is honest about how he might write it differently, if he was allowed.Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : David Nicholls Producer : Dymphna FlynnOctober's Bookclub choice : Married Love by Tessa Hadley (2012).

A M Homes talks to James Naughtie about her book May We Be Forgiven

Jon McGregor discusses his novel If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

With James Naughtie.Doctors work under the oath 'do no harm', but the neurosurgeon Henry Marsh says the decision whether to operate on a brain is rarely that simple.His account of his working life Do No Harm has caught the attention of readers all round the country since its publication a year ago and has this week Do No Harm won the South Bank Award for Literature, as well being shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson, Costa, and Wellcome book prizes this year.Henry discusses his memoir Do No Harm which is startling in its candour. He gives an extraordinary insight into his own thought processes as well as into the world of neurosurgical briefing meetings and hospital policies. Each chapter's starting point is a real-life case study and the book conveys his fascination with the human brain as well as the compassion required of a brain surgeon.Henry is honest about how a doctor must strive for balance between personal involvement with the patient and objectivity about their case. He talks about his failures, and the exhilaration of success.As always on Bookclub a group of readers, this month including members of the medical profession, join in the discussion.July's Bookcub choice : If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor.Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Henry Marsh Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

James Naughtie and readers talk to Hisham Matar about his gripping debut novel In The Country Of Men.This international bestseller is set in Colonel Gaddafi's Libya of 1979, as the narrator Suleiman looks back on his childhood summer and tries to makes sense of the bewildering world around him. His best friend's father disappears and is next seen on state television at a public execution, a mysterious man sits outside the house all day, gives him sweets and asks for the names of his father's friends; and it seems his father has finally disappeared for good.Hisham Matar explains now the novel is not autobiographical but that he remembers that time well, how life in Libya 'went indoors' with cinemas closed and access to bookshops restricted. He remembers how fears, secrets and betrayal threatened individuals and families. He also talks about how his own father disappeared in the 1980s.In The Country Of Men was shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize.Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Hisham Matar Producer : Dymphna FlynnJune's Bookclub choice is Do No Harm by Henry Marsh.

Adam Foulds discusses his Man Booker shortlisted novel The Quickening Maze with James Naughtie and a group of readers.Set in the 1840s, The Quickening Maze tells the story of the poet John Clare, and his incarceration at High Beach Asylum in London's Epping Forest. Run by the charismatic and reformist Dr Matthew Allen, its principles include occupational and talking therapies. Based on real life events, amongst the patients is Septimus Tennyson, brother to the young poet Alfred Tennyson. The Tennysons suffered from the English affliction : depression, and Alfred moves to be near his brother, and enjoy the peace of the forest. In the programme Foulds describes how his discovery of Tennyson and Clare being at the asylum at the same time inspired the novel, and how the closed world of the asylum is a gift for a novelist. He grew up on the edges of the forest himself and spent his teenage years birdwatching there, before he discovered a love of poetry. This intensely lyrical novel draws on John Clare's love of nature, how the Enclosure laws of the time contributed to his alienation and the deterioration of his mental health after a lifetime's struggle with alcohol and critical neglect. Foulds shows us Nature's paradise outside the walls, and Clare's dreams of home, of redemption and escape.May's Bookclub choice : In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar.Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Adam Foulds Producer : Dymphna Flynn.