Read On - The Audiobook Show from RNIB
RNIB Connect Radio
A weekly show all about audiobooks recorded at the RNIB Talking Book studios.
We talk to your favourite authors and narrators, along with reviews and news about new audiobooks.
Presented and produced by Robert Kirkwood, you'll find a new episode here every Friday at 1pm plus bonus content such as longer uncut interviews and episodes of our occasional extra show, The Book Group.
Talking Books is a free service from RNIB giving access to over 40,000 fiction and non fiction books for adults and children. Find out more by searching for RNIB Library.
Get involved and join the conversation by emailing radio@rnib.org.uk or find Robert on Twitter @Talking_Books
Other great podcast channels from RNIB Connect Radio
Connect - Our main channel with news, features and articles on sight loss.
Conversations - Blind and partially sighted people speaking about a wide range of topics.
Tech Talk - Technology for blind and partially sighted people.
Sport - See sport differently.
The Happy Hour - Mental health, mindfulness, and overall wellbeing.
Tracks of My Life - Take a journey through our guest's life.
Support - Other podcasts from RNIB.
TV Guide - Daily audio TV listings
We talk to your favourite authors and narrators, along with reviews and news about new audiobooks.
Presented and produced by Robert Kirkwood, you'll find a new episode here every Friday at 1pm plus bonus content such as longer uncut interviews and episodes of our occasional extra show, The Book Group.
Talking Books is a free service from RNIB giving access to over 40,000 fiction and non fiction books for adults and children. Find out more by searching for RNIB Library.
Get involved and join the conversation by emailing radio@rnib.org.uk or find Robert on Twitter @Talking_Books
Other great podcast channels from RNIB Connect Radio
Connect - Our main channel with news, features and articles on sight loss.
Conversations - Blind and partially sighted people speaking about a wide range of topics.
Tech Talk - Technology for blind and partially sighted people.
Sport - See sport differently.
The Happy Hour - Mental health, mindfulness, and overall wellbeing.
Tracks of My Life - Take a journey through our guest's life.
Support - Other podcasts from RNIB.
TV Guide - Daily audio TV listings
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 15, 2022 • 58min
280: Frances Liardet and Rebecca Stott
Frances Liardet explores old wounds and new beginnings in the follow-up to her international bestseller 'We Must be Brave' .
Rebecca Stott transports us back to derelict London, 100 years after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, in her new novel 'Dark Earth'.
And we return to Frances Liardet for the Books of Your Life.
Jul 8, 2022 • 58min
279: Travel with Jason Roberts, Jasper Winn, John Keay and China Vision
Jason Roberts talks to Red Szell about his biography of the blind traveller James Holman (Starts at 1.00)
Jasper Winn on his sea kayak adventure documented in his book 'Paddle, A Long Way Around Ireland' (Starts at 28.00)
John Keay chats to Robert Kirkwood about his books China, and Eccentric Travellers. (Starts at 38.00)
Chris McMillan talks about China Vision and the importance of literacy (starts at 43.00)
Jul 1, 2022 • 58min
278: Ruta Sepetys, Varsha Shah and David Farrier
This week we'll be considering some of the less savoury consequences of human civilization:
Ruta Sepetys takes us behind the Iron Curtain and back to Ceausescu’s Romania, in her gripping new novel 'I Must Betray You'.
We visit the slums of modern day India through the pages of Varsha Shah’s dazzling debut 'Ajay and the Mumbai Sun'.
David Farrier considers how the items that we discard will inform on us for generations to come in 'Footprints'.
And we return to Varsha Shah for the Books of Your Life.
Jun 24, 2022 • 58min
277: Yoto Carnegie Medal Ceremony: Yusef Salaam, Jason Reynolds and the winner!
This week we're coming from The British Library, and the award ceremony for this year’s Yoto Carnegie Medal.
Yusef Salaam tells us about his experience as a member of the Exonerated Five and how it fed into 'Punching the Air'.
We go back to 2021 winner, Jason Reynolds, who examines the walk home from school in 'Look Both Ways'.
Lynne Livingstone, Manjeet Mann and Derek Atta stop by for a quick chat at the awards.
And we speak to the 2022 winner on the excitement of winning - and the Books of Their Life!
Jun 17, 2022 • 58min
276: Thriller Special: Scott Kershaw, CJ Tudor & Femi Kayode
A Thriller Special!
Scott Kershaw reveals how a spate of dog-nappings inspired his chilling high-concept thriller ‘The Game’.
Femi Kayode transports us to Nigeria for his tense thriller, ‘Lightseekers’.
CJ Tudor tells us how an innocent game with her daughter morphed into her creepy debut 'The Chalk Man'.
And we return to Scott Kershaw for the Books of His Life.
Jun 10, 2022 • 58min
275: Yoto Carnegie Medal: Katya Balen, Phil Earle & Sue Divin
This week we will be taking a look at more of the books short-listed for this year’s Yoto Carnegie Medal.
Katya Balen helps us find some inner-city wilderness and ponders our possessions in 'October, October'.
Phil Earle takes us to London during the blitz, where a gorilla changes the life of an angry boy in 'When the Sky Falls'.
Sue Divin looks to bridge sectarian divides in her Derry-based debut 'Guard Your Heart'.
And we return to Katya Balen for the Books of Your Life.
Jun 3, 2022 • 58min
274: Platinum Jubilee Special
This week we're celebrating The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
We hear about ‘Her Heart For a Compass’.
Robert Kirkwood discovers some Crown jewels in the RNIB Library.
Onjali Q Rauf takes us on a right royal adventure as ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class' struggles to keep a royal appointment.
Hannah Tausz celebrates some of the great reads from across The Commonwealth among the 70 titles selected for The Big Jubilee Read.
And we return to Sarah, Duchess of York, for the Books of Your Life.
May 27, 2022 • 58min
273: Boswell Book Festival 2022
Robert Kirkwood takes us to Dumfries House in Ayrshire for the Boswell Book Festival, the world's only festival of biography and memoir.
We hear from Keith Brymer Jones, host of the Great Pottery Throwdown and author of Boy in a China Shop,
Katherine McInnes tells us about the Snow Widows left behind by Scott's ill-fated South Pole mission,
Andrew O'Hagan talks about his book Mayflies and his old job at Blind Veterans UK,
Emma Soames edits her mother's diaries for Mary Churchill's War,
Giles Milton has some Fascinating Footnotes from History,
Frank Skinner and Denise Mina talk about retracing Johnson and Boswell's Grand Tour of Scotland,
Lady Glenconner talks about her depiction in The Crown and narrating an audiobook at 89, and we return to Keith Brymer Jones for the books of his life.
May 20, 2022 • 58min
272: Yoto Carnegie Medal: Julian Sedgwick, Manjeet Mann &Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
The first of our Yoto Carnegie Medal specials!
Julian Sedgwick blends prose and manga to revisiting the aftermath of the Fukishima nuclear catastrophe in 'Tsunami Girl'.
Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock tackles teen issues in her series of short stories 'Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town'.
Manjeet Man explores the things we have in common, no matter where we come from, through her verse novel 'The Crossing'.
And we return to Julian Sedgwick for The Books of Your Life.
May 13, 2022 • 58min
271: Blind Authors: Fiona Scott-Barrett, Mark Hardie, Jill Fry and James Thurber
This week, we’re focussing on blind authors:
Fiona Scott-Barrett charts the journey of her book ‘The Exit Facility’ from first concept to fully accessible print and audiobook.
84-year-old debut author Jill Fry describes what life was like for her as a low-vision child in her memoir ‘Born Too Soon’.
Blind crime writer Mark Hardie shares some of the tricks of his trade.
I dust off a gem written by a man who lost his sight when his brother shot him in the eye with an arrow!
And we return to Fiona Scott-Barrett for the Books of Your Life.
