The Listening Books Podcast

A special festive episode discussing books that feature celebrations. Amy and Edward return for a final a face-off as Jess attempts to foil them with her literary quiz. Books mentioned: Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers The Party, by Elizabeth Day Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too). You can also give us a shout on Twitter or Instagram: @ListeningBooks Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12 We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks

Emily Woo Zeller is an American voice actress and audiobook narrator whose work has earned heaps of awards, including AudioFile’s prestigious Golden Voice Award. You may have heard her reading fantasy books like R.F. Kuang’s Poppy War series, romance novels like Helen Hoang’s The Bride Test, or perhaps a spy thriller like Chloe Gong’s Foul Lady Fortune. Today she tells us what she appreciates about those books, and a little of what she’s learned about creating a well-balanced life. Other books mentioned: Phoenix Extravagant, by Yoon Ha Lee The Stress Prescription: Seven Days to More Joy and Ease, by Elissa Epel The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer; by Elizabeth Blackburn, Elissa Epel Links! Emilly Woo Zeller and Gabra Zackman’s short-form romance and erotica: https://www.lovebytesoriginals.com/ AudioFile interview: https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/articles/interview-with-golden-voice-narrator-emily-woo-zeller/ Give the gift of audio this Christmas with a Listening Books gift membership: https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership Members' Choice Award To vote for your favourite audiobook to win the Members Choice Award, visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk/extra/members-choice-award We’d love to hear from you! If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too). You can also give us a shout on Twitter or Instagram: @ListeningBooks Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12 We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

Stephanie Cannon is an American voice actor, circus performer, and audiobook narrator living in England. In this conversation with host Jessica Stone, she tells us what that’s like, how walking on stilts complements reading in a box, which kinds of books she loves to narrate, and conversely which ones she'll take a pass on. We also discuss Kate Dylan’s cyberpunk dystopian novel Mindwalker and its sequel Mindbreaker, both narrated by Stephanie. Books and other recommendations: Links! For more of Stephanie’s work, head to her website www.sparkthecannon.com To vote for your favourite audiobook to win the Members Choice Award, visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk/extra/members-choice-award Give the gift of audio this Christmas with a Listening Books gift membership: https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too). You can also give us a shout on Twitter or Instagram: @ListeningBooks Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12 We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

Jane McDowell is a talented actress and narrator with many credits to her name, including the Dr Ruth Galloway mystery series by Elly Griffiths. In this conversation with host Jessica Stone, Jane tells us what it was like to record the last book of the series The Locked Room during a Covid lockdown, how animals help her create character voices, and what book was so moving that she wrote the author to thank her. Books mentioned, all narrated by Jane: The Locked Room, by Elly Griffiths Delicious, by Nicki Pellegrino Snow Widows, by Katherine MacInnes Curlew Moon, by Mary Colwell The Hidden World of the Fox, by Adele Brand The Confession of Katherine Howard, by Suzannah Dunn A Killer's Confession, by Karen Edwards Gift Membership Give the gift of audio this Christmas with a Listening Books gift membership: https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership Members' Choice Award To vote for your favourite audiobook to win the Members Choice Award, visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk/extra/members-choice-award We’d love to hear from you! If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too). You can also give us a shout on Twitter or Instagram: @ListeningBooks Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12 We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

Polly Lee is an award winning actress and narrator of over 200 fiction and non-fiction books. She has also narrated over 200 romance novels under the name Ashford McNab/MacNab. Raised in the UK, she has lived in the US now for 25 years working equally in both her British and American dialects. Today she tells us about some of the books that have stayed with her, including Soman Chainani’s School for Good and Evil series, and the voices she would have done differently if she’d known how the series would play out. Other books mentioned: A Place to Hang the Moon, by Kate Albus Better Late than Never: Understand, survive and thrive a midlife diagnosis of ADHD, by Emma Mahony and Sari Solden Members' Choice Award To vote for your favourite audiobook to win the Members Choice Award, visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk/extra/members-choice-award We’d love to hear from you! If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too). You can also give us a shout on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram: @ListeningBooks Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12 We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

Bonnie Garmus is the author of Lessons in Chemistry, the bestselling novel about a chemist named Elizabeth Zott who becomes the host of a cooking show in the 1960s. In this conversation with host Jessica Stone, Bonnie tells us about how her career as a copywriter shaped her approach to writing the novel, the one mispronunciation in the audiobook, and why she needed to break some rules to write this story. Other books mentioned in this episode: Chasing Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Members' Choice Award To vote for your favourite audiobook to win the Members Choice Award, visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk/extra/members-choice-award We’d love to hear from you! If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too). You can also give us a shout on Twitter or Instagram: @ListeningBooks Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12 We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

Gordon Griffin has narrated over 900 audiobooks and in 2017 received an MBE from Queen Elizabeth for his services to audiobooks. He tells us about that experience, how the industry has changed over the years, how he prepares for each audiobook, and what the secret is to being a truly good narrator. Books Mentioned Rooftoppers, Katherine Rundell Billy Elliot, Melvin Burgess The New Woman, Charity Norman The Final Testimony of Raphael Ignatius Phoenix, Paul Sussman For more about Gordon Griffin's work and workshops, visit gordongriffin.com. Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. For more information, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Annie Aldington has voiced hundreds of audiobooks, and among them are some of the most popular titles in the Listening Books collection, including novels by Dilly Court, Martina Cole, Katie Price, Aoife Walsh, and Kitty Neale. Here Annie tells us how she happened into audiobook narration, shares her secret tricks for conquering difficult accents, and reveals just how much fun peripheral characters can be. Books Mentioned Adams Family Series, Mary Jane Staples Polly of Penn’s Place, Dee Williams Voice and the Actor, Cicely Berry The Tulip Tearooms, Pam Evans The Good Time Girls, Fiona Ford Woolworths Series, Elaine Everest The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, Hallie Rubenhold Authors Mentioned Dilly Court Martina Cole Kay Brellend The Good Time Girls, Fiona Ford Jean Fullerton Kerry Barnes Edie Baylis Apps and Podcasts Mentioned The Accent Kit (app) Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast Scotland Yard Confidential Catford 6699 Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. For more information, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Clinical psychologist and author Dr Julie Smith joins Jess to share some of the practical wisdom from her bestselling book Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Want to know one of the most versatile tools to have in your mental health tool kit? Do you ever wish you could summon motivation when you need it most? Julie warns us of the pitfalls of chasing self-esteem and the rewards of living your life in line with who you want to be. You can find more of Julie's content on social media and on her website. Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. For more information, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Author Jonathan Whitelaw joins Jess for a cosy chat about cosy crime. He tells us how he landed such a fantastic narrator in Sid Sagar, how he approached character development in The Bingo Hall Detectives, why he chose the Lake District for the setting, and what we should be reading while we wait for his next book, The Village Hall Vendetta. Books Mentioned The Bingo Hall Detectives and The Village Hall Vendetta, Jonathan Whitelaw Rivers of London: Amongst Our Weapons, Ben Aaronovitch A Spoonful of Murder, J.M. Hall Her Majesty the Queen Investigates (series), S.J. Bennett The Marlow Murder Club and Death Comes to Marlow, Robert Thorogood Links Q&A with Ben Aaronovitch Conversation with Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. For more information, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Author Florence Wilkinson talks about her book Wild City: Encounters with Urban Wildlife, giving lots of suggestions for noticing and encouraging the wildlife right on our doorstep. Books and Apps Mentioned Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. For more information, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Jess is joined by colleagues Amy and Lieve to talk about notable books adapted to film—for better and for worse! Of course, this is all just a warm-up for the true highlight, which is of course our Very Serious Literary Game. Will Amy triumph against her new opponent, or will Lieve take down the reigning champion? Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. For more information, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Emilie Pine, author of the personal essay collection Notes to Self and her recently published novel Ruth and Pen, tells us what it was like to narrate her emotionally difficult first book, what factored into the casting of Ruth and Pen’s audiobook narrator, and the sometimes surprising responses she’s received from readers. There is also wisdom here for the aspiring writer, or anyone attempting something that feels too enormous to begin. Mentioned in this episode: Notes to SelfRuth and PenGood SexSmall: On motherhoodsUlyssesVirginia Woolf Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health condition, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. For more information, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Natasha Lipman writes about what it means to live, and live well, with chronic illness. Here she talks to Jessica about the strategies she’s adopted to return her to the pleasures of reading. Books Mentioned The Kites by Romain Gary The Paddington Series by Michael Bond, read by Stephen Fry The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland Important Links To subscribe to Natasha’s newsletter and to participate in online bibliotherapy on the 15th November, head to https://natashalipman.substack.com/ For more information about Listening Books, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is produced by Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. www.listening-books.org.uk

Gail Pirkis and Hazel Wood are founding editors of Slightly Foxed, the quarterly magazine and independent publishing house. As specialists in books that have stood the test of time even while falling out of fashion, Gail and Hazel bring us titles so good, they deserve to be heard as audiobooks, too. Books and Authors Recommended Humour My Grandmothers and I, Diana Holman-Hunt A Boy at the Hogarth Press, Richard Kennedy The Empress of Ireland, Christopher Robbins Natural History & the English Countryside Adrian Bell Trilogy: Corduroy, Silver Ley, The Cherry Tree James Rebanks: English Pastoral, A Shepherd’s Life Lark Rise to Candleford Trilogy, Flora Thompson: Lark Rise, Over to Candleford, Candleford Green The Brensham Trilogy, John Moore: Portrait of Elmbury, Brensham Village, The Blue Field Children’s Books BB (Denys Watchkins-Pitchford): The Little Grey Men, Down the Bright Stream Ronald Welch’s novels Rosemary Sutcliff’s Roman and post-Roman novels* Memoirs & Diaries Blue Remembered Hills, Rosemary Sutcliff A Late Beginner, Priscilla Napier A Sort of Life, Graham Green Roald Dahl: Boy, Going Solo The House of Elric, Gavin Maxwell Giving Up the Ghost, Hilary Mantel Conundrum, Jan Morris Nella Last’s War, Nella Last Recommended Audiobooks Richard Crompton’s Just William series, read by Martin Jarvis Anthony Trollope: The Barsetshire Chronicles, The Pallisers, read by *Timothy West Will She Do, Eileen Atkins, read by the author In My Mind’s Eye: A Thought Diary, Jan Morris, read by Phyllida Nash A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth For more information about Slightly Foxed, visit foxedquarterly.com. Who Are We? The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 115,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. For more information, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Amy, Edward, and Jessica are back for this summer special filled with all the books they’ve got lined up for the sunshine and the sea shore. Come for the stellar book recs. Stay for the most unfair literary game in history (our history anyway). The Listening Books Podcast returns in September for a new monthly series! Edward is reading: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro The Secret History by Donna Tartt The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann Amy is reading: Dead Famous by Greg Jenner To the Greatest Heights by Vanessa O’Brien Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams I’ll Be You by Janelle Brown Jessica is reading: Home Stretch by Graham Norton The Master by Colm Toibín The Magician by Colm Toibín Ulysses by James Joyce as read by Friends of Shakespeare and Company Read Ulysses Who Are We? Edward Herring is Membership Support Officer at Listening Books. Amy Flinders is Publisher Relations Manager. And Jessica Stone is Audio Producer, and host of the Listening Books Podcast. For more information about Listening Books, whether you’re interested in our Sound Learning initiative or our collaboration with PressPreader, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

Edward, Amy, and Jessica round up the books that have been bringing them joy this year . . . ‘joy’ veering very occasionally into malevolent glee, and Edward and Amy face off in a festive literary quiz. The audiobooks (or plays!) bringing Edward joy Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout Right Ho, Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse The audiobooks bringing Amy joy Short Stories by Roald Dahl, especially ‘The Way Up to Heaven’ Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Pérez Anything by Caitlin Moran! The Descent of Man, Grayson Perry Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman The Silver Linings Playbook, Matthew Quick Crooked Heart, Lissa Evans The Midnight Library, Matt Haig A Streetcat Named Bob, James Bowen The audiobooks bringing Jessica joy Light a Penny Candle, Maeve Binchy Circle of Friends, Maeve Binchy The Frayed Atlantic Edge, David Gange (You can hear Jess’s conversation with David in an earlier episode) When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Judith Kerr (You can hear Jess’s conversation with narrator Helen Barford in an earlier episode) Who Are We? Edward Herring is Membership Support Officer at Listening Books. Amy Flinders is Publisher Relations Manager. And Jessica Stone is Audio Producer, and of course, host of The Listening Books Podcast. For more information about Listening Books, whether you’re interested in our Sound Learning initiative or our collaboration with PressPreader, head to www.listening-books.org.uk. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube.

‘I have to say as an editor, I was very pleased when I saw “flensing”. I thought, “Yes exactly! That’s exactly . . . Hurrah! Yes!” Publisher Cherry Potts from Arachne Press and indigenous Mexican Latinx author Marina Sánchez talk with Jess about the newly published anthology Where We Find Ourselves: Stories and Poems of Maps and Mapping from UK Writers of the Global Majority. The poems you hear are Geography Lesson, by Marina Sánchez, read by Marina Sánchez; and Departure Lounge, by Rhiya Pau, read by Farhana Khalique. Marina recommends the Zapotec poet Irma Pineda, and Cherry recommends Jay Bernard’s debut collection of poetry, Surge. *** We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube. For more information about Listening Books, whether you’re interested in our Sound Learning initiative or our collaboration with PressPreader, head to www.listening-books.org.uk.

Do you think we'll ever really belong anywhere?'I suppose not,' said Papa. 'Not the way people belong who have lived in one place all their lives. But we'll belong a little in lots of places, and I think that may be just as good.' Actor Helen Barford talks with Jessica about Judith Kerr's classic children’s novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, which she narrated for Listening Books' Sound Learning production. Helen also shares some good advice for anyone interested in taking up audiobook narration. Books Helen and her children recommend for the Audiobook Listening Challenge Beast Quest (series), Adam Blade Harry Potter (series), JK Rowling The Secret Seven (series) and The Famous Five (series), Enid Blyton Julia Donaldson’s books, especially Tyrannosaurus Drip and What the Ladybird Heard Roald Dahl’s books, especially Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett The Railway Children, Edith Nesbit We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube. For more information about Listening Books, whether you’re interested in our Sound Learning initiative or our collaboration with PressPreader, head to www.listening-books.org.uk.

'My reading experience with poetry is that I'm in the presence of some...body and we're in that kind of potentially ... it might be that slightly late night kitchen table moment where you've sort of got through all the news and the stuff and you actually enter into where you really are, and what's going on, and what you really need to talk about.' Poet Fiona Bennett and Actor Michael Schaeffer talk with Jessica about how The Poetry Exchange began, why the poems are introduced as friends, and how the way we encounter poems can shape our experience of them. Fiona’s recommendations for the Audiobook Listening Challenge Rapture, by Carol Ann Duffy A Sleepwalk on the Severn, by Alice Oswald The poem that has been a friend to Jessica We’d love to hear from you! Here’s a good place to review the podcast. You can also give us a shout on Twitter: @ListeningBooks, Or Instagram: @ListeningBooks, Or Facebook, And we also have some content on YouTube. For more information about Listening Books, head to www.listening-books.org.uk