Bookclub

With James Naughtie.Khaled Hosseini talks about his global bestselling novel, The Kite Runner with a group of invited readers.The book describes how the happiness of an afternoon's kite flying competition in late-1970s Kabul is broken when young Amir fails to help his best friend Hassan avoid a terrible incident. The effects on the duo's friendship are devastating. Over 20 years later, Amir returns to Afghanistan from America, determined to redeem himself.Khaled Hosseini explains the unequal relationship between the two boys that lies at the heart of the novel, and how the reader has a sense of dread and impending catastrophe as the story develops. He says that although the West has a view of Afghanistan as a violent culture, he remembers that for most of the twentieth century, Afghanistan was a peaceful place, and that the West has exoticised Afghans as being 'warrior' like.March's Bookclub choice : Disobedience (2006) by Naomi AldermanProducer : Dymphna Flynn.

With James Naughtie.Donna Tartt discusses her cult debut novel The Secret History, first published in 1992."I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell."In a rare visit to the UK, Donna Tartt discusses The Secret History, which she has described as a 'why dunnit'. It's a murder mystery about a group of classic students at a privileged New England college; but from page one she discloses that the friends have murdered one of their number, Bunny. A literary thriller with allusions to Euripides and Dostoevsky, The Secret History was an overnight sensation and has gripped readers for decades.As always in Bookclub, a group of invited readers join in the discussion too.February's Bookclub choice : The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

With James Naughtie.Lee Child discusses the first in his hugely successful Jack Reacher series, Killing Floor, and published in 1997. He's now gone on to write 18 books featuring his grizzled action hero, a former military policeman of no fixed abode.Lee reflects on the genesis of Jack Reacher, who appeared when he decided to write fiction after being made redundant by Granada TV in 1995. Lee says that he and Jack were on a parallel journey in Killing Floor, as Jack has just left the military and is out in an unfamiliar world at the same time as Lee. As he looks back, he can see his own raw emotion in Jack, who in Killing Floor is a character full of fury. But by book seven, the frustration had abated and Jack's anger had calmed down.The books have gone on to sell over 60 million copies worldwide.As always on Bookclub, a group of invited readers join in the discussion.January's Bookclub choice : The Secret History by Donna TarttProducer : Dymphna Flynn.

With James Naughtie.Matthew Hollis discusses his Costa winning biography of the poet Edward Thomas, Now All Roads Lead to France.The book is an account of the final years of Thomas who died in action in the First World War in 1917.Although an accomplished prose-writer and literary critic, Edward Thomas only began writing poetry in 1914, at the age of 36. Before then, Thomas had been tormented by what he regarded as the banality of his work, by his struggle with depression and by his marriage.Inspired by his life-changing friendship with American poet Robert Frost, Thomas wrote poem after poem, and his emotional affliction began to lift.The two friends began to formulate poetic ideas that would produce some of the most remarkable verse of the twentieth century. But the First World War put an ocean between them: Frost returned to the safety of New England, while Thomas stayed to fight.Hollis is a poet himself and talks about the poetic life as well as the roads taken - and those not taken - that are at the heart of the book.Producer Dymphna FlynnDecember's Bookclub choice : Killing Floor by Lee Child.

With James Naughtie. The celebrated travel writer Paul Theroux discusses Dark Star Safari. The book is his account of an overland journey from Cairo to Cape Town, which he made 35 years after first living as a volunteer teacher in Malawi in the early 60s. In the programme he talks about the pleasures and hazards of travelling across countries that many consider no-go areas. He recalls the joy of wild camping by the little known pyramids of the Sudan, the peril of being shot at on the road, and how the continent has changed since he first knew it as a young man. He explains his theories on western aid, and how he manages the rigours of travelling. He says it's best to travel light and alone, with an open mind, a willingness to make friends - and to never forget a paperback.October's Bookclub choice : Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.Producer Dymphna Flynn.

Deborah Moggach talks about her bestselling novel Tulip Fever, a story of love, greed and betrayal in 17th Century Amsterdam.Artist Jan van Loos falls for his married subject Sophia during 'tulipomania'. Prices for the recently introduced flower reached extraordinarily high levels - one bulb could fetch thousands of pounds - and then suddenly collapsed.James Naughtie and a group of invited readers discuss the story and its resonance with 21st century boom and bust economies, as well as the paintings that inspired Deborah to write the novel.September's Bookclub choice : Dark Star Safari by Paul TherouxProducer : Dymphna Flynn.

Audrey Niffenegger discusses her bestselling novel The Time Traveler's Wife with James Naughtie.It's a romantic story about a man - Henry - with a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and the complications it creates for his marriage to Clare.The book opens when they meet in a Chicago library, and they both understand that he is a time traveller. But Clare knows much more than this about him as he has not yet been to the times and places where they have met before, and she remembers him from when she was just six years old.He falls in love with her, as she has already with him, but his continuing unavoidable absences time travelling - and then returning with increasing knowledge of their future - makes things ever more difficult for Clare.Audrey Niffenegger explains how she created a set of rules for the book, such as there would be no sex between the couple before Clare reaches 18; and how Henry's disorder is genetic rather than magical, meaning that when he time travels he arrives naked and with no money or useful possessions. She also talks about the morality of her tale - the consequences of Henry's criminal behaviour, and how she dealt with a male character who effectively moulds the character of Clare as she grows up.Recorded at BBC Broadcasting House in London, Bookclub with Audrey Niffenegger includes questions from the studio audience.August's Bookclub choice : Tulip Fever by Deborah MoggachProducer : Dymphna Flynn.

Jim Crace talks about his novel Quarantine. The novel is a re-working of the biblical account of Jesus' forty days spent in the wilderness; and, he says, has its roots in a 'Care in the Community' hostel in Moseley, Birmingham.First published in 1997, it was shortlisted for that year's Booker Prize for Fiction.James Naughtie presents and a group of readers ask the questions. Recorded at the Stratford-Upon-Avon Literature Festival.July's Bookclub choice : The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

The National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke discusses her collection Ice which was shortlisted for last year's TS Eliot prize.Inspired by the snowy winters of 2009 and 2010, the poems in Ice move through the seasons : from Gillian's experience of being snowed in to the sound of an icicle as it begins to melt. From the bluebells of Spring (inspired by a Renoir painting at the National Museum of Art in Cardiff) through to a hot summer's day and on to the harvest moons of autumn to New Year's Eve.They also include Gillian's earliest childhood memories, such as the opening poem Polar, which recalls the toddler Gillian lying on a polar bear rug which her father bought in a junk shop; and memories of a more collective nature - mining disasters and ancient British mythology.The land, language, history and myths of Wales are all present in these poems.Gillian says a love of language and an inherent ability to articulate is something the Welsh are brought up with, learnt from the early days of attending Chapel; and she says that being National Poet of Wales is no different than getting up at a family occasion and giving a verse or two, a tradition which lies at the heart of her culture.James Naughtie presents and a group of readers ask the questions. Recorded at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea.June's Bookclub choice : Quarantine by Jim Crace.Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Turkey's leading female novelist Elif Shafak discusses her novel The Forty Rules of Love.The novel is about finding love and is written in two strands. One is the friendship between a whirling dervish and the Sufi poet Rumi in 13th century Anatolia; the other is about a mother in contemporary America who finds inspiration in the historical story to break away from an unhappy life.Amazingly, Elif wrote the book in English, which she first learnt at the age of ten. She then worked with professional translators to write it again in Turkish.Elif Shafak explains the importance of Sufi mysticism in the novel and in her life. She talks about the influence of her grandmother's superstitions, about the transformation of modern Turkey and how she was prosecuted - and acquitted - in 2006 for 'denigrating Turkish national identity' because of her writing.First published in 2010, The Forty Rules of Love has now been translated into over 30 languages.James Naughtie presents and a group of readers ask the questions.May's Bookclub choice : Ice by Gillian ClarkeProducer : Dymphna Flynn.