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, it's good to be back and joined today first by

Piano Man, Extraordinaire Neil Brand, perhaps most widely known for such BBC 4 series as Sound

of Cinema, the music that made the movies, and most recently Sound of TV.

Neil's a long-time silent film accompanist, while his many compositions include orchestral

scores for Hitchcock's silent movie Blackmail and Charlie Chaplin's Easy Street.

With him is the comedian, actor and writer Tiff Stevenson, a familiar presence on panel shows such as Mock

the Week. Tiff's also performed live stand-up around the globe from Melbourne to Edinburgh,

has acted in sitcoms such as The Office and is currently working as a writer on the second season of

Avenue 5, Amanda Janucci's HBO series. Tiff, would you start us off? What is your choice of a good read?

I know why the cage bird sings by Maya Angelou. It's her life from the age of three when she turns up in

...