You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.

My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.

The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.

With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to

helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put

together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,

check out 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, today a Persian king, a Greek witch, and a Baltimore computer

technician. With me to introduce their good read, our first, the novelist David Mitchell,

author of among many other titles, Number Nine Dream, Cloud Atlas and, most recently, Utopia Avenue,

about a fictional 1960s rock band.

With David is the broadcaster and author Yasmin Khan,

whose cookery books, The Saffron Tales and Zaytune, tell of culinary adventures in Iran and Palestine.

Yasmin's radio appearances include presenting the food programme on this very station.

David Mitchell, would you start us off? Your good read is what?

My good read for today is Circe by the American writer Madeline Miller.

Circe is indeed about the nymph from Greek myths. We encounter her in The Odyssey,

but her story in Madeline Miller's novel starts much earlier than that, and is about her life,

her banishment to the island of Ayaya, drugs, plants, herbalism.

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