You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.

I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.

I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,

relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.

So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,

and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.

So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

Hello, I'm Harriet Gilbert.

Thank you for downloading a good read, the podcasts,

where two guests and I recommend books we love and describe why we love them.

We don't always see eye to eye, but I hope you'll find

some great reading suggestions here. Hello, with me today, the writer Muriel Gray, one-time

presenter of Channel 4's seminal live music program, The Tube, and the author among much else

of three non-fiction books and three horror novels. The most recent of those, the ancient, was described

by Stephen King, no less, as scary and unput-downable. With Muriel is Lear Davis, the voice of

late nights on Capital Extra, where she plays smooth R&B tracks. Lear also founded and hosts the Capital

Extra Book Club, which aims to give black authors a platform to share their work.

Muriel Gray, would you start us off?

What is your choice of a good read?

Well, I've chosen the collected ghost stories of Edith Wharton,

whom I absolutely adore.

...