Twelve days of Christmas with Laura Barnett, A literary postcard from Moscow; Best of 2021's non-fiction

Available for over a year

Johny Pitts talks to Laura Barnett, whose previous books include The Versions of Us and Greatest Hits, about her seasonal novel Gifts. Inspired by The Twelve Days of Christmas, Gifts weaves a festive paper chain of stories, as twelve interconnected characters in a small Kent village search to give a perfect gift. From neuro science to nature writing to literary biography and memoir; Johny discusses some of the best non-fiction titles of the year with writers Sathnam Sanghera, Kate Summerscale, and environmentalist Anita Roy. Yana Vagner’s debut book ‘To the Lake’ tells the story of a deadly flu epidemic sweeping through Moscow. Yana sends a literary postcard from her home city, taking us back to childhood memories of her favourite bookshop. Presenter: Johny Pitts Producer: Kirsten Locke Book List – Sunday 19 December and Thursday 23 December Why I Adore the Night by Jeanette Winterson Gifts by Laura Barnett The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett To the Lake by Yana Vagner: Translated by Maria Wiltshire Ain’t I a Woman? by bell hooks Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale A Year in Kingcombe by Anita Roy Gifts of Gravity and Light and Pippa Marland by Anita Roy This Lonely Century by Noreena Hertz Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout Islands of Abandonment by Carl Flynn I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain by Anita Sethi Return of a Native by Vron Ware A Thing of Beauty: Travels in Mythical and Modern Greece by Peter Fiennes The Sleeping Beauties by Suzanne O’Sullivan It’s All in Your Head by Suzanne O’Sullivan Maybe I Don't Belong Here by David Harewood The Selfless Act of Breathing by J.J Bola Burning Man by Frances Wilson Finding the Mother Tree: Uncovering the Wisdom and Intelligence of the Forest by Suzanne Simard My Mess is a Bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett Sidesplitter by Phil Wang Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Book details for Anita Roy https://www.waterstones.com/book/gifts-of-gravity-and-light/anita-roy/pippa-marland/9781529363159 for Gifts of Gravity and Light, and https://anitaroy.net/2019/12/a-year-in-kingcombe-the-wildflower-meadows-of-dorset/ for Year in Kingcombe.