Category: 3-BookTalkSometimeCommentary

Harriett Gilbert and an audience at the Drill Hall Theatre in Central London talk to bestselling Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie about her internationally acclaimed novel Burnt Shadows.

Spanning much of the 20th Century and into the 21st, Burnt Shadows is an epic narrative of disasters evaded and confronted, loyalties honoured and betrayed, and loves lost and found.

In the devastating aftermath of the second atomic bomb, Hiroko Tanaka leaves Japan in search of new beginnings.

From Delhi, amid India's cry for independence from British colonial rule, to New York City in the uncertain wake of 9/11, to the novel's nail-biting climax in Afghanistan, a violent history casts its shadow over the entire world over.

(Photo: Kamila Shamsie. Credit: Reuters)

In this week's audio book club, DoubleX's Emily Bazelon and Hanna Rosin and The New Yorker's Margaret Talbot discuss Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. The novel follows Patty and Walter Berglund's failing marriage and serves as a commentary on how we live.

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This month's World Book Club comes from the Jesus Centre in London.

Harriett Gilbert and readers talk to bestselling writer Barbara Kingsolver about her internationally acclaimed novel The Poisonwood Bible.

Having sold four million copies around the world, Kingsolver's most ambitious novel paints an intimate portrait of a crisis-ridden family amid the larger backdrop of an African nation in chaos.

In 1959 an overzealous Baptist minister Nathan Price drags his wife and four daughters deep into the heart of the Congo on a mission to save the unenlightened souls of Africa.

As his plans unravel in tandem with the country's dreams of becoming an independent democracy, the five women narrate the novel, each in their own inimitable voice.

Jacob Weisberg, Jody Rosen and Troy Patterson discuss Gary Shteyngart's book, Super Sad True Love Story. We recommend, but don't insist, that you read the book before listening to this audio program

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Julia Turner, June Thomas and Troy Patterson discussTom Rachman's book, "The Imperfectionists." We recommend, but don't insist, that you read the book before listening to this audio program

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Stephen Metcalf, Troy Patterson, and Michael Agger discuss Bret Easton Ellis’ book, Imperial Bedrooms. We recommend, but don't insist, that you read the book before listening to this audio program

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Part stunning literary thriller, part gothic novel, the book The Shadow of the Wind is a page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.

It is a potent mix of a coming-of-age novel and a tragic love story set in Barcelona's post-war years. Harriet Gilbert puts questions from the audience to the author Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Meghan O’Rourke, Troy Patterson and Jody Rosen discuss David Shields’ book, Reality Hunger - A Manifesto. We recommend, but don't insist, that you read the book before listening to this audio program

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DoubleX editors Hanna Rosin and Emily Bazelon, along with The New Yorker's Margaret Talbot, discuss Rebecca Skloot's new non-fiction book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

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Harriett Gilbert talks to David Mitchell about his novel Cloud Atlas.