The Radio 2 Book Club has just announced the Winter Season booklist! As well as coverage on Sara’s show, and other shows on Radio 2, there is a weekly podcast on BBC Sounds.
The Radio 2 Book Club’s weekly podcast will shine a light on some of the best new fiction being published in the UK, across all genres. The books are chosen with help from library staff and other reading experts from across the UK to ensure a fair and unbiased selection process.
As it always has done, the Radio 2 Book Club will champion new voices as well as featuring some of the most popular authors writing today, with a range of novels that listeners will love. Sara will also get an insight into the craft and writing process of the chosen authors and hear from listeners about what they have been reading and enjoying too.
We’re delighted to share the eight books that will be featured in this season of the Radio 2 Book Club with Sara Cox:
The Poet Empress by Shen Tao
Young rice farmer Yin Wei was forced to become concubine to Prince Guan Terren – a monstrous wielder of poetry magic, and heir to the Azalea throne – to save her family from the famine blighting the land of Tensha.
Now confined to the imperial court, Terren’s cruelty is not the only danger Wei faces. He and his honourable older brother are locked in a deadly succession war, while Terren’s thirty concubines are fighting a war of their own, for the position of future empress.
To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself – even if it means learning the one forbidden poem that can kill Terren and save both herself and the nation.
But there’s a problem – for the spell to work against a man she hates, it must be written with love.
Reader comments
“Absolutely packed full of action and emotion, this one had me on the edge of my seat!”
“The visuals in this book are gorgeous. I loved the way the fantasy setting allowed the author to amplify the beauty of the world.”
“This was such a well written, eloquent, immersive debut whose ending I did not see coming!”
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page
Twelve stories. Twelve months. Once chance to heal her heart…
When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her husband waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock. Partly, because she can’t remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. Mainly, because Joe died five months ago…
The gift is simple – twelve carefully chosen books from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him.
And so, begins a reading-inspired journey that takes Tilly around the world; from bustling sidewalks in New York and the tree-lined avenues of Paris to the tranquil Tuscan countryside and the white sands of Bali. With the help of the bookshop owner, Alfie, Tilly starts to discover who she is now, after Joe.
But can Tilly’s year of books show her how to love again?
Reader comments
“This was a heartwarming story that felt like a warm cup of tea.”
“I’d happily reread this book again and again and I’ll definitely be recommending this read for years to come, both personally and professionally.”
“Engaging and entertaining.”
Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson
In the smouldering ruins of post-war Germany, Ethel Gathers – an American woman longing for a child – spots a group of mixed-race children following a nun through the cobbled streets. Compelled by a force she can’t explain, Ethel follows them and uncovers a hidden community of abandoned children, born to Black soldiers and German women. Determined to help, Ethel’s actions set off a chain of events that will echo across generations.
In 1948, Ozzie Philips volunteers for the U.S. Army. But in Occupied Germany, he finds that the racism he tried to escape has crossed the ocean with him. Then he meets Jelka, a German woman navigating her own grief in a shattered country. Their connection, immediate and intense, changes everything.
By 1965, fifteen-year-old Sophia Clark is chosen to join a prestigious boarding school. When a chance encounter with a classmate reveals a deeply buried truth, Sophia begins a journey to unravel her past and find her place in the world.
Against the odds and across continents and decades, these three characters’ lives collide – their fates forever altered.
Reader comments
“Beautiful, engaging, heart-breaking and heart-warming. I loved it.”
“Each and every character’s storyline made me want to keep reading. Every one of them fascinated me and drove me to keep turning the page.”
“This book is very well written and emotional. I’d recommend it to anyone.”
Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise
In the wilds of Donegal, Ireland, 1999, Saoirse is an artist living an outwardly idyllic life. Her tender husband Daithí and two beloved daughters are regular subjects for her work, and in them she has found the safe home that she has always longed for. She tends not to talk about her past, and those that love her have learned to accept that the full story is too painful for her to disclose.
When her Dublin exhibition unexpectedly wins a prestigious award that invites a swarm of publicity, Saoirse is left panic stricken. The unanticipated recognition threatens to expose a decade’s worth of buried memories and past crimes. Because what her family and friends don’t know is that Saoirse has been on the run since she was seventeen, she has stolen an identity to survive, and whilst Ireland might now be her home, it wasn’t her first – and now her past life is poised to reclaim her.
The novel weaves between flashbacks to a complicated childhood in Michigan, and Saoirse’s journey to and in Ireland to forge safety for herself.
Reader comments
“I enjoyed this compelling tale of reinvention, love and triumph over the odds.”
“This is a quietly haunting but beautiful novel.”
“A wonderful quiet book that explores the nuances of life and how events can expose secrets. So beautifully written: very evocative prose with a plot that is relevant and believable.”
Minbak by Ela Lee
Incheon, South Korea, 1985. The country is revolting against a dictatorship, but in the local boarding-house, the chaos inside is only just beginning. When Hana is pulled from school to work in her family’s minbak, all she wants is to escape her small town. When she finally does, she leaves as an exile, a ruin, or a martyr, depending on who you ask. Her mother Youngia is left behind with the torment of both of their decisions.
London, 2008. Ada knows little about her mother, Hana. When tragedy hits, Hana has no choice but to move her daughter and ailing mother into a single room and turn the rest of their home into a minbak. As the past collides with the present, Ada is determined to unearth her mother’s secrets. But her obsession will lead to a discovery that unravels not just her family’s dark past, but that of an entire country’s.
From Korea’s industrial estates to London’s suburbs, the three women cross continents and generations to find truth, forgiveness and compassion.
Reader comments
“Poignant and immersive, Minbak confirms Ela Lee as a writer deeply attuned to the emotional undercurrents of family, history, and the search for self.”
“This book made me walk a mile in another’s shoes.”
“There’s a lot in this book and it is moving and engrossing.”
This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum
Benny and Joy like to say that they’ve been saving each other’s lives since the moment they met…
Until the day Joy disappears and Benny is accused of her murder.
Best friends Benny and Joy host a beloved ‘comedy survival’ podcast, gleefully finding life-affirming humour in near-death experiences.
When Benny arrives at Joy and her husband’s home one morning to record, he finds shattered glass and an empty house.
With Joy missing and the hours ticking by, not even their most devoted fans could guess the terrible secrets they have hidden from the world – and from each other.
If Benny wants to find Joy in time, and clear his own name, he’ll have to solve the highest stakes survival story yet.
Reader comments
“This was fresh, innovative, I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like it before.”
“I absolutely devoured this book—it was one of those rare thrillers that pulls you in from the very first page and doesn’t let go.”
“Fantastic debut novel about two friends who run a comedy survival podcast, finding life-affirming humour in near-death experiences.”
Under Water by Tara Menon
When six-year-old Marissa loses her mother, she is taken by her father to live on a small Thai island in the Andaman Sea. There, she forms a deep friendship with Arielle and together they explore the fragile wonders of its forests, reefs, and beaches. Holding their breath for minutes at a time, they learn to dive into the deep, as effortlessly synchronized as the manta rays they come to know by name. Then, on Boxing Day 2004, when the Indian Ocean tsunami makes landfall, they are swept up by the first wave and separated.
Eight years later, Marissa is living in New York. She spends her days wandering through the city and her nights seeking solace in the beds of strangers. As the city prepares for a devastating storm, Marissa reflects on her past and learns how to sustain herself in a precarious world.
Reader comments
“The whole book is written with such a light hand. But you will come away with lots of thoughts.”
" The ebb and flow of the anecdotes was like the sea – which is very central to the story."
“A beautiful novel of grief, nature and the devastating effects of the Boxing Day Tsunami.”
Love Lane by Patrick Gale
A reunion. A journey. A longing for a place called home…
When veteran Canadian wheat farmer, Harry Cane, is obliged to sell up and sail home to an England transformed by two world wars, his arrival triggers unwelcome self-examination for the family he abandoned, and for whom he has never been more than a distant myth.
His daughter feels duty bound to take him in but is riven with doubt and ambushed by a long-buried anger she has never before expressed. Harry’s effect on the next generation is less predictable, and enables his granddaughter to deal with an unspeakable trauma, while her gentle husband feels seen for who he truly is.
Can Harry stay and make a new life before it’s too late, or will he find himself cast out again, punished for having witnessed and understood too much?
Reader comments
“This is a beautiful story of love, loss and what it means to find contentment, acceptance, and happiness.”
“A story of escape and entrapment, and a powerful exploration of what home and family can really be.”
“The story is told with such ease that it lulls you into thinking it’s nothing special, but the impact is strong, and the messages well-delivered.”
For all the latest Book Club content, including interviews with the authors, visit BBC Sounds. You can even subscribe, to make sure you never miss an episode!
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