 |
The Book Show on Sky Arts
|
|
Please find below all the books reviewed on the Sky Arts Book Show - click on the Month you would like to see more information on.
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
|
Darwin's Island
Steve Jones
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 19 March 2009.
Darwin’s Island is an enthralling book, a wonderful look at Darwin, how England and especially his home in Kent inspired his work. Most valuable is the way Jones has...
Format: Hardback - Released: 29/01/2009
|
|
All the Nice Girls
Joan Bakewell
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 5 March 2009.
The journalist and broadcaster at long last turns her hand to fiction with this story set in the Britain of 1942. This is a lovely novel, very evocative of...
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/03/2009
|
|
Stepping Stones
Dennis O'driscoll
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 19 March 2009.
The fascinating life of The Nobel Prize winning poet is revealed through these interviews with Dennis O'Driscoll. The book also features a large number of photgraphs, many of which...
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/11/2008
|
|
The Life in My Years
Virginia Mckenna
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 19 March 2009.
The much-loved actress recalls her life and charitable conservation work. Part of the proceeds from each book sold will go to support Born Free Foundation campaigns.
Format: Hardback - Released: 19/03/2009
|
|
My Secret Diary
Jacqueline Wilson
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 12 March 2009.
In her second memoir the wonderful Jacqueline Wilson recounts her teenage years. A highly enjoyable read, the book also includes extracts from her real 'secret' teenage diaries.
Format: Hardback - Released: 12/03/2009
|
|
Making an Elephant
Graham Swift
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 12 March 2009.
A rich collection of essays, portraits, poetry and interviews that deal with the author's life and his inspirations as a writer. A very personal book and his first ever...
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/03/2009
|
|
Leaving the World
Douglas Kennedy
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 12 March 2009.
Douglas Kennedy's superb new novel deals with themes of fate and how the choices we make play out in our lives. It charts the story of Jane Howard and...
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/03/2009
|
|
My Driver
Maggie Gee
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 5 March 2009.
This is a very enoyable mix of comedy and danger. Through a series of errors, an accident-prone writer attending a writers' conference in Uganda finds herself caught up in...
Format: Hardback - Released: 19/03/2009
|
|
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith
Longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010.
February 2009 Book of the Month.
Winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2008.
Winner of the Galaxy New Writer of the...
Format: Paperback - Released: 19/02/2009
|
|
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Alan Sillitoe
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 26 February 2009.
A classic of the “angry young man” era, this is a great commentary on the social history of 1950’s Britain. This is a new edition to mark the 50th...
Format: Paperback - Released: 15/05/2006
|
|
Mr Toppit
Charles Elton
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 26 February 2009.
Fantastic characterisation and plotlines make this an unputdownable read. A brilliant satire on celebrity culture, thoroughly recommended.
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/02/2009
|
|
Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly & Gravy
Michael Rosen
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 26 February 2009.
If you only want one collection of poetry on your child’s bookshelf then it has to be this stunning collection by best-selling author Michael Rosen and illustrator Quentin Blake...
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/10/2006
|
|
A Darker Domain
Val McDermid
Longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010.
Val McDermid is the winner of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award
2010, which honours outstanding achievement in the field of crime
writing.
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts...
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/09/2008
|
|
Choral Society
Prue Leith
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 19 February 2009.
Three single women join a choir all looking to find different things, a new challenge, friendship, a new man. What they do find is each other and come together...
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/02/2009
|
|
The Secret Scripture
Sebastian Barry
Winner of the Independent Booksellers’ Book Prize 2009 (Adult category).
Winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award 2008.
Winner of the Costa Novel Award 2008.
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2008.
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on...
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/05/2008
|
|
Flesh House
Stuart Macbride
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 12 February 2009.
The fourth book from an author who deserves to be up there with the big names. A gloriously gory case when a serial killer released on appeal seems to...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/01/2009
|
|
Fire and Sword
Simon Scarrow
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 12 February 2009.
The third in Simons Scarrow’s quartet about Napoleon and Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington. Great historical detail and plenty of action and adventure make this a real...
Format: Hardback - Released: 08/01/2009
|
|
One of Us
Melissa Benn
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 12 February 2009.
One of Us is an insightful and poignant novel that concerns the conflict between political ambition and private lives. The author is Tony Benn's daughter and the novel has...
Format: Paperback - Released: 08/01/2009
|
|
Remember Me...
Melvyn Bragg
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 5 February 2009.
The fourth in a series of semi-autobiographical novels. A fabulous portrait of 1960’s London and a passionate and tragic love story, told with a raw emotion that takes your...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/02/2009
|
|
The Other Half Lives
Sophie Hannah
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 5 February 2009.
Sophie Hannah's The Other Half Lives is a lengthy and complex crime thriller that will keep you guessing to the end. It begins with the revelation of a guilty...
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/02/2009
|
|
The Truth About Love
Josephine Hart
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 5 February 2009.
It has been a little while since we had a novel from this author but it has been worth the wait as she returns with an emotional and remarkable...
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/02/2009
|
|
Byron in Love
Edna O'brien
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 29 January 2009.
This is a wonderfully vivid account of the paradoxical life and loves of Lord Byron. It focuses on the women in his life and in particular the notorious ménage...
Format: Hardback - Released: 15/01/2009
|
|
Past Imperfect
Julian Fellowes
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 29 January 2009.
Snobs, his first novel, was brilliant and Past Imperfect is better and coming from ‘the bottom end of the gentry’ gives Julian’s a voyeuristic authenticity! In the late...
Format: Hardback - Released: 30/10/2008
|
|
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Lionel Shriver
Narrated by a mother, Eve, in letters to her estranged husband, this is a truly horrific story of a 15-year old boy’s killing spree but it is more the tale of how he got there than of the crime itself....
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 09/05/2006
|
|
Once Upon a Time in the North
Philip Pullman
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 22 January 2009.
A wonderful tale from a master storyteller, giving us, just as Lyra’s
Oxford did, more extraordinary insight into the world of Pullman’s
‘Dark Materials’. This one tells the...
Format: Hardback - Released: 03/04/2008
|
|
Coming Up Next
Penny Smith
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 22 January 2009.
A presenter on GMTV news, the author uses her inside knowledge to great effect in this astute, romantic tale of the pitfalls of the industry.
Format: Paperback - Released: 21/07/2008
|
|
Poe : A Life Cut Short
Peter Ackroyd
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 22 January 2009.
Peter Ackroyd has written a gripping account of the hugely influential master of macabre. It begins with the mystery surrounding Poe's death and tells the fascintating life story of...
Format: Hardback - Released: 07/02/2008
|
|
A Simple Act of Violence
R.J. Ellory
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 15 January 2009.
This is a big book by an author with a big future. He is one of my
favourites and has now become one of the nation’s favourites too since
his
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2008
|
|
Horrid Henry Rules The World
Francesca Simon
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 15 January 2009.
Ten favourite Horrid Henry stories have been enriched by new colour illustrations by Tony Ross. As ever, Horrid Henry subverts every possible occasion – with hilarious results for everyone...
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/07/2008
|
|
Somewhere Towards the End
Diana Athill
Winner of the Costa Biography Award 2008.
The sixth instalment of this great lady’s life. She was the backbone of the publishing house Andre Deutsch and even though, being in the business, I am naturally drawn to this, I do heartily...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/01/2009
|
|
The Outcast
Sadie Jones
Winner of the Costa First Novel Award 2008.
Shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2008.
Costa Book Awards 2008 Judges' comment: "The repressive society of ordinary people is elegantly portrayed in an assured novel of great note."
An incredibly moving story...
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/09/2008
|
|
Sartre's Sink
Mark Crick
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 18 December 2008.
A surprise bestseller for English Language students who also like DIY! With tongue firmly in cheek read Emily Brontë explaining how to bleed a radiator Hemmingway on hanging wallpaper...
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/10/2008
|
|
Nigella Christmas
Nigella Lawson
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 18 December 2008.
Please note that we are currently unable to provide an extract from this title.
Nigella takes her inspirational yet no nonsense time saving approach to ‘de stress’ Christmas food. Everything...
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2008
|
|
The American Future
Simon Schama
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 18 December 2008.
Simon Sharma traces the conflicts in Americas history to put 2008, an historic election year, into context.
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2008
|
|
Frank Skinner on the Road
Frank Skinner
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 11 December 2008.
One of the UK’s best loved and funniest comedians tells us about going back on the road touring after 10 years away from stand up. As you would expect...
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2008
|
|
The Stepmother's Diary
Fay Weldon
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 11 December 2008.
A story not of a wicked stepmother but more a wicked stepdaughter. Fay Weldon gets right to the heart of this dysfunctional family, making the hairs stand up on...
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/09/2008
|
|
A Scandalous Man
Gavin Esler
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 11 December 2008.
An excellent debut with the perfect combination of politics, sex and scandal. The narrative gives a fast pace to the story and the reader gets a real sense of...
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/11/2008
|
|
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
Kate Summerscale
Winner of the Galaxy Book of the Year and Popular Non-Fiction awards 2009.
Reviewed on Richard & Judy's Book Club 2009 on Wednesday 28 January.
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 4 December 2008.
This reads like a first rate...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/01/2009
|
|
Angels Over Elsinore
Clive James
Shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award 2009.
Costa Book Awards 2009 Judges' comment: "Beautifully written, intelligent, full of ideas clearly communicated and feelings perfectly encapsulated - these are proper poems with musical structure that are clever, moving and memorable."
Featured on...
Format: Hardback - Released: 07/11/2008
|
|
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars
Gervase Phinn
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 4 December 2008.
A delightful anthology with stories taken from Phinn's books about his teaching in the Dales but also some of his poems from his popular poetry books for kids. We...
Format: Hardback - Released: 07/11/2008
|
|
Twiggy : A Guide to Looking and Feeling Fabulous Over Forty
Twiggy
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 27 November 2008.
Please note that we are currently unable to provide an extract from this title.
This is not just a fashion guide but also a book of anecdotes from the fashion...
Format: Hardback - Released: 25/09/2008
|
|
Past-it Notes
Maureen Lipman
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 27 November 2008.
This is a collection of some of Maureen Lipman's best writing, taken from previous books along with new stories and anecdotes. Some of the old stories are reworked here...
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/09/2008
|
|
Entirely Up to You, Darling
Richard Attenborough, Diana Hawkins
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 20 November 2008.
A memoir from one of Britain's finest actors and directors with an abundance of stories, anecdotes and personal dramas to write about. Richard Attenborough has been acting for over...
Format: Hardback - Released: 11/09/2008
|
|
My Judy Garland Life
Susie Boyt
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 20 November 2008.
A book about celebrity obsession but also about human nature. Susie Boyt has loved Judy Garland from a young age and in this book comes across others who have...
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2008
|
|
The Other Queen
Philippa Gregory
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 20 November 2008.
A former Author of the Month on Lovereading Philippa Gregory is back with another fantastic historical novel, this time the focus in the "other queen" Mary Queen of Scots....
Format: Hardback - Released: 21/08/2008
|
|
Girls are Best
Sandi Toksvig
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 13 November 2008.
Women gladiators, women in the Bayeaux Tapestry, women inventors, Sandi Toksvig uncovers them all in her light hearted approach to the serious message of this book – women have...
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/11/2008
|
|
The Edge of Madness
Michael Dobbs
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 13 November 2008.
Dobb's latest thriller is set in the world of cyber-warfare. The plot is very plausible for today, a war that takes place in cyber-space is a chilling premise and...
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/10/2008
|
|
The Business
Martina Cole
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 13 November 2008.
Another gem from the queen of gritty East End crime novels. Set at the end of the 70’s and moving up to the present day following the Dooley family....
Format: Hardback - Released: 16/10/2008
|
|
All in the Mind
Alastair Campbell
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 6 November 2008.
Alastair Campbell's first novel looks at mental illness in a sensitive and very insightful way. Having drawn from his own experiences he makes the characters and their problems wholly...
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/11/2008
|
|
Just Me
Sheila Hancock
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 6 November 2008.
In Sheila Hancock’s second memoir she looks at her life moving on, after the death of her husband John Thaw. Both funny and sad this is a book about...
Format: Hardback - Released: 18/09/2008
|
|
Dead Line
Stella Rimington
October 2008 Book of the Month.
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 6 November 2008.
Interestingly as this author changes publisher so too does she change style. Although this is still...
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2008
|
|
Slapstick
Roger Mcgough
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 30 October 2008.
The poems of Roger McGough are always a joy to read and accompanied by fantastic illustrations this is a book you will want to open up again and again...
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/08/2008
|
|
Testimony
Anita Shreve
October 2008 Book of the Month.
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 30 October 2008.
A sex scandal rocks the sheltered world of a private Vermont school, affecting students, parents and...
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2008
|
|
Love All
Elizabeth Jane Howard
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 30 October 2008.
This is Elizabeth Jane Howard’s first novel for 9 years and it is like welcoming an old friend. This is the story of a group of people brought together...
Format: Hardback - Released: 03/10/2008
|
|
The Private Patient
P D James
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 23 October 2008.
PD James is still at the top of her game at the ripe old age of 88. Great plotlines of murder and mystery and plenty of characters to get...
Format: Hardback - Released: 28/08/2008
|
|
Liver
Will Self
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 23 October 2008.
Please note that we are currently unable to provide an extract from this title.
An amazing jacket which can't help but catch your eye brings you to four new short...
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/09/2008
|
|
Half of a Yellow Sun
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Shortlisted for the Best of the Orange Best 2010 by the Orange Prize Youth Panel.
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 23 October 2008.
Shortlisted for Author of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards 2008.Winner...
Format: Paperback - Released: 15/01/2007
|
|
|
 |
 |
Mariella Frostrup hosts the UK’s only dedicated TV book show, featuring an array of A-list authors and other big-name guests in the studio, discussing their favourite reads and their own works.
Away from the studio guests the series will get out and about, finding out what books your favourite authors currently have on their bedside tables, getting recommendations from bookshop owners and peeking behind the closed doors of where top authors choose to practice their craft.
The Book Show will review, preview and ensure that no page is left unturned in this essential series for book lovers everywhere!
You can watch The Book Show on Sky Arts on Thursdays at 7pm on Sky Arts 1 (256) or in high definition on Sky Arts HD (258)
On the TV series’ official website you can find more information on the show and watch any interview or feature from any previous series of the show.
|
 |
|
Categories
Will Self 
Share this page