Back in November 2012, The Reading Room took part in National Short Story Week, where we broadcast 7 short stories over 7 days on Siren 107.3FM. One of these stories has never before featured on the podcast, so we thought we’d put it out for you now in a special mini-podcast. A Couple Of Stops is written and directed by Chris Whitwood.

This month, The Reading Room Book Group reconvenes to review young adult sci-fi novel The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore. Paul Tyler and regular reviewer Gill Hart are joined by Georgia Twynham who, as author of The Thirteenth series, knows a thing or two about writing for young adults.  There’s also poetry from Andrew Goulding and Jim Bob, former frontman with Carter USM and author of Driving Jarvis Ham, gives us his nomination for our list of 101 Books To Read Before You Die.

Click the player below to listen online, or subscribe using the links on the right.

In another of our special extended monologues, this month The Reading Room presents The Barraclough Newsletters….

Bunny Barraclough is a real pillar of her community - a leading member of the local amateur dramatics society and ladies luncheon club, respectable housewife and mother of two loving children. Join us for her bi-annual round-robin newsletters has she fills you in on the latest news of her perfect family…

The Barraclough Newsletters was written by Jim Gotts and performed by Mary Scott.

On this programme we present a specially produced story by writer and performer Gareth Calway.  A terrified grave robber comes across the severed mummified head of England’s greatest revolutionary - Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell’s head proceeds to tell him his life story - a tale of tyrannical kings, civil war and violent revenge!

On this month’s programme, the final Reading Room Book Group (for now at least) reviews The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, we talk to documentary maker Nick Gray about his book Escape From Tibet which tells the real life story of two young boys as they flee their homeland in order to escape Chinese repression.  John Mitchinson from Unbound gives us his nomination for our list of 101 Books The Read Before You Die, we have poetry from Brendan Cleary, and Jamie McKay brings us his Musings of a Muddled Mind.

In the second part of our special LIVE show recorded at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre we talk to Red Dwarf, Scrapheap Challenge and Carpool star Robert Llewellyn about his varied career and his writing. Robert talks about the return of Red Dwarf later this year, his love of electric cars and his past books including Sold Out and The Man Behind The Rubber Mask, before giving us an exclusive first reading from his new sci-fi novel News From Gardenia. The show also features music from Michael Reeve.

WARNING: Mr Llewellyn’s self-confessed “potty mouth” does put in an appearance during this show

In the first part of our live special recorded at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, we have poetry from John Osborne and Andrew Goulding, Abigail Tarttelin reads us two exclusive excerpts from her next novel Golden Boy which has just been snapped up by a major publisher, Jodie Orton reads us a fairy tale for grown ups, Reading Room regulars Gill Hart and Jamie McKay bring us live versions of their regular contributions and host Paul Tyler performs a piece of his own. Click on the player below to listen online…

And don’t forget to look out for Part 2 of the show in a couple of weeks time where Paul interviews Red Dwarf star Robert Llewellyn about his career and his writing, and Robert gives us an exclusive first reading from his new book News From Gardenia - subscribe to our feed to ensure you don’t miss it.

Massive thanks to all our contributors, including John Osborne (Radio Head, John Peel’s Shed), Abigail Tarttelin (Flick), Andrew Goulding, Jodie Orton, Michael Reeve, Gill Hart, Jamie MacKay and of course the magnificent Robert Llewellyn.

The first half of the show will be available as a podcast later this week, with the 2nd half following a fortnight later - subscribe to our feed using the links on the right hand side of the page to ensure you don’t miss it.

The whole show will be repeated on Sunday 3rd June at 10am on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln and around the world at Sirenonline.

On this programme we talk to ex-Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine frontman Jim Bob about his new novel Driving Jarvis Ham, then The Reading Room Book Group give their verdict on the book.  We also talk to John Mitchinson, co-founder of the revolutionary crowd-sourcing publisher Unbound, John Osborne gives us his nomination for our list of 101 Books To Read Before You Die and we have poetry from Andrew Goulding.

Click the player below to listen now or subscribe to our iTunes feed using the buttons on the right…

Driving Jarvis Ham

In the next edition of the programme, we’ll be reviewing Driving Jarvis Ham as well as talking to the creators of the crowd-source publisher Unbound and looking ahead to The Reading Room Live.

That’s live on Sunday 6th May 10am-12noon, repeated Tuesday 8th May 7pm-9pm on Siren 107.3 in Lincoln and around the world at www.sirenonline.co.uk.  The podcast version will be available shortly after the repeat.

On this programme we talk to crime author Elly Griffiths about her popular Ruth Galloway series, we have a short story from John Baird and find out what happened when Paul visited the Phoenix Writers Circle. We also have poetry from Adrienne Silcock, Jamie McKay’s Musings of A Muddled Mind and author Nikki Valentine gives us her nomination for our 101 Books To Read Before You Die.

On this programme, The Reading Room Book Group review the latest novel from Secret Diary of Adrian Mole author Sue Townsend, The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year. and we talk to Georgia Twynham, author of The Thirteenth about the third book in her teen fantasy series, Nyteria Rising. We also have poetry from Adrienne Silcock and Peter Kerr gives us his nomination for our 101 Books To Read Before You Die.

• Coldplay - Paradise
• Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
• WU LYF - Spitting Blood
• The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??
• Changing Horses - Cut All Strings (Not on Spotify - but available as a free download Here)
• David Bowie - Heroes
• Anais Mitchell - Coming Down
• Carter USM - The Only Living Boy In New Cross
• Plan B - Ill Manors
• Blondie - Union City Blue
• Funeral Party - Finale

Click here to view on YouTube

On this programme we talk to Radio Head author John Osborne about poetry and his new one man show John Peel’s Shed, Niki Valentine (The Haunted) provides our short story, we have flash fiction from Abigail Tarttelin (Flick) and crime author Elly Griffiths (A Room Full of Bones) adds her choice to our list of 101 Books To Read Before You Die.  We also announce further details of The Reading Room LIVE - click here for tickets: http://www.lpac.co.uk/whats-on/spoken-word

After a tense wait, the results of the European Podcast Awards have finally been announced - and we’re proud to say we came second in the UK Professional category, beating podcasts from BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time and The Guardian.  We were only pipped to the post by the hugely popular Answer Me This podcast.

We actually received the highest number of public votes in our category, so a big thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for us.

This month The Reading Room Book Group discuss Pantheon by Sam Bourne, Booker prize nominated author Jon McGregor talks about his new collection of short stories This Isn’t the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You, we get another nomination for our list of 101 Books To Read Before You Die from poet Luke Wright, and we have poetry from Elaine Kazimierczuk.

On Saturday 12th May, The Reading Room once again takes to the stage with a special LIVE radio broadcast, this time from the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre.  We’ll again be featuring the best up and coming performers in spoken word and poetry, as well as live music… plus a very special guest: star of Red Dwarf, Scrapheap Challenge and Carpool, Robert Llewellyn! Robert will be talking to host Paul Tyler about his work and career, including his new book News From Gardenia.

The show starts at 7pm (live on air at 7.30pm) on Saturday 12th May at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre (LPAC).  Tickets cost just £5 (£5.50 with booking fee) and are available here.

• The Clash - London Calling
• The Maccabees - Feel To Follow
• The Bluetones - Slack Jaw
• Talking Heads - And She Was
• Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out (accoustic)
• The Klaxons - Golden Skans
• De La Soul - The Magic Number
• The Ting Tings - Silence
• Semisonic - Secret Smile
• First Aid Kit - Blue
• Gaz Coombes - Sub-Divider (not on Spotify, but available as a FREE DOWNLOAD)
• The Beatles - Get Back (not available on Spotify)
• Cults - Go Outside
• Green Day - American Idiot

For the full Reading Room experience, music and all, you need to listen to our live show on the first Sunday of each month, repeated the following Tuesday, on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln or around the world at Siren Online.

In this programme, performance poet Luke Wright talks about his work and the trials of curating the poetry arena at the Latitude Festival, and we have a preview of his new spoken word album We’re All In This Together (available now from iTunes and shortly from Nasty Little Press).  Our short story comes from Flick author Abigail Tarttelin, we have poetry from Andrew Goulding, another nomination for our 101 Books To Read Before You Die, and Jamie MacKay brings us his Musings of a Muddled Mind.

This month, The Reading Room Book Group take a look at stand-up comedian Stewart Lee’s new mini-book, The ‘If You Prefer a Milder Comedian Please Ask For One’ EP, bestselling action thriller writer Matthew Reilly discusses killing off well loved characters and transferring his high-octane books to the screen, we have poetry from Andrew Goulding, and another nomination for our 101 Books To Read Before You Die from Writer and Historian Tracy Borman.

**SPOILER ALERT: The interview with Matthew Reilly contains spoilers, including revelations about the deaths of characters in past Scarecrow books, so if you’re not up to date with those books, you might want to skip 19m 35s - to 21m 05s!**

• Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
• Kaiser Chiefs - Modern Way
• Bright Eyes - First Day Of My Life
• Ocean Colour Scene - The Day We Caught The Train
• WU LYF - L Y F
• The Strokes - Someday
• Madness - Baggy Trousers
• Sister Sledge - Lost In Music
• Blur - There’s No Other Way
• First Aid Kit - Emmylou
• The Cribs - Men’s Needs
• The Blues Brothers - Shake Your Tail Feather (sadly unavailable on Spotify…)

And remember, the only way to get the full Reading Room experience is to tune in to our live show on the first Sunday of each month 10am-12noon on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln or online at www.sirenonline.co.uk.

In another of our short videos, The Reading Room’s presenter Paul Tyler ruminates on the connected influence two books have had on his life: The Gobbler by Adrian Edmondson and Memoirs of a Fruitcake by Chris Evans.

On ROOM 18 we talk to author Niki Valentine about her psychological horror The Haunted, we look back to some of our favourite books of the last year and Gill Hart gives us a sneak peek at some of the titles to look forward to in 2012 (scroll down for more on this…). Our atmospheric short story comes from Richard Barter, and we have poetry from Elaine Kazimierczuk and John Welsh and another addition to our 101 Books To Read Before You Die.

To listen to the podcast, click the player below or subscribe to us using the links on the right…

The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year

by Sue Townsend

Townsend is one of Britain’s favourite comic novelists, perhaps best known for the hugely popular Adrian Mole books, which this year celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Adrian’s first appearance in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4. In The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year, she deconstructs modern family life in a funny and touching novel about what happens when someone refuses to be the person everyone expects them to be. It tells the story of Eva who, on the day her children finally leave home, gets into bed and stays there. And from this odd but comforting place she begins to see both the world and herself very, very differently.

Publication date: 1^st March 2012 | Price: £18.99

The Gallows Curse

by Karen Maitland

Local novelist Karen Maitland visited The Reading Room back in ROOM 12. Her latest book, The Gallows Curse, is set in a fear-ravaged and spiritually desolate 13^th Century England populated by desperate priests, scheming herbalists, torturous conspirators and a plot of treason against the King. First published in 2011, the paperback version is published in March, offering an opportunity for new readers to discover this increasingly popular historical novelist.

Publication date: 15^th March 2012 | Price: £7.99

Blue Remembered Earth

by Alastair Reynolds

In the first volume of his new trilogy, Sci-Fi author Alastair Reynolds traces the Akinya family across more than 10,000 years of future history. This first volume begins 150 years from now in a world where Africa is the dominant power and where crime, war, disease and poverty have been banished to history. Geoffrey Akinya wants nothing more than to be left alone to continue his studies of the elephants of the Amboseli Basin – but his family, the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans for him…

Publication date: 19^th January 2012 | Price: £18.99

A Room Full Of Bones

by Elly Griffiths

The fourth novel in the Ruth Galloway crime series set in atmospheric Norfolk. It is Halloween night and the local museum in Kings Lynn is preparing for an unusual event – the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop. But when Dr Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise, she finds the museum’s curator lying dead beside the coffin. Soon the museum’s wealthy owner lies dead too, and when threatening letters come to light, events take an even more sinister turn.

Publication date: 5^th January 2012 | Price: £16.99

Tom-All-Alone’s

by Lynn Shepherd

2012 is the bi-centenary of Charles Dickens’ birth and this Victorian murder-mystery from the author of Murder at Mansfield Park engages with Dickens’ world, being set in the grimy world of Dickens’ Bleak House. In Lincoln’s Inn Fields the affairs of the mighty Dedlock family are not the only concern on the mind of formidable lawyer Edward Tulkinghorn. He has other clients’ interests to safeguard, and other deadly secrets to hide… Described as “Dickens but darker”, you don’t need to know Bleak House to enjoy this book, but Dickens fans will find it a creative and fascinating response to the events and themes of Dickens’ masterpiece.

Publication date: 2^nd February 2012 | Price: £12.99

On ROOM 17 the Reading Room Book Group review Haruki Marakami’s epic international bestseller 1Q84: Books 1 & 2 – is the world about to change?  We also talk to poet Hannah Jane Walker about what it means to say “sorry”, we have poetry from Paul Eteng, and film critic Mark Kermode gives us his nomination for 101 Books To Read Before You Die.

To listen to the podcast, click the player below or subscribe to us using the links on the right…

• The Pogues Featuring The Dubliners - The Irish Rover (**because The Pogues are NOT just for Christmas…**)
• British Sea Power - Observe The Skies
• The Beatles - You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
• The Pixies - Here Comes Your Man
• Delilah - Go
• The Doors - Riders On The Storm
• New Order - True Faith
• The Avalanches - Since I Left You
• Real Estate - It’s Real
• Morrissey - Suedehead
• Tim Minchin - White Wine In The Sun
• Foo Fighters - Walk

…And remember, for the full Reading Room experience, music and all, you need to tune in on the first Sunday of each month 10am-12noon on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln or around the world at www.sirenonline.co.uk

On our second programme for November we speak to performance poet, comedian and musician John Hegley, historian Tracy Borman talks about her new book on William the Conquerer’s wife, Matilda: Queen of the Conquerer, we have poetry from Elaine Kazimierczuk, writer and comedian Tony Hawks gives us his nomination for 101 Books to Read Before You Die, and Jamie Mackay brings us his Musings of a Muddled Mind.

To listen online click on the player below or use the links to the right to subscribe. And don’t forget to join us for our next programme on 4th December….

On the first of our new twice-monthly podcasts The Reading Room Book Group discuss The Bees, Carole Ann Duffy’s first collection of poetry since becoming Poet Laureate. We also talk to travel writer Peter Kerr (Snowball Oranges) about his move towards writing fiction, our Remembrance-Sunday themed short story comes from Jim Gotts, and actress and author Abigail Tarttelin (Flick) gives us her nomination for 101 Books To Read Before You Die.

To listen online click on the player below or use the links to the right to subscribe. And don’t forget our next programme will be along just 2 weeks from now….

• Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
• Friendly Fires - Paris
• Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
• M83 - Raconte -Moi Une Histoire
• Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - AKA… What A Life!
• John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom
• Elvis Costello And The Attractions - (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding
• The Cranberries - Dreams
• Laura Marling - Salinas
• Soft Cell - Bedsitter
• Elbow - the night will always win
• Dusty Springfield - Just A Little Lovin’
• Primal Scream - Country Girl

…And remember, if you want the full Reading Room experience, music and all, you need to tune in on the first Sunday of each month 10am-12noon on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln or around the world at www.sirenonline.co.uk

This month we talk to BBC film critic Mark Kermode about his latest book The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex, comedian, musician and writer Tony Hawks tells us about the trials of turning his bestseller Round Ireland with a Fridge into a film, Science Fantasy author Marie Harbon talks about her book Seven Point Eight, our short story comes from Louis Malloy, and The Reading Room Book Group review Flick by Abigail Tarttelin. All this, plus more Musings of a Muddled Mind with Jamie McKay and poetry from John Welsh.

Listen online by clicking on the player below, or subscribe using the links on the right…

• The Wombats - Moving to New York
• Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
• Beach Boys - God Only Knows
• Captain - Broke
• Tony Bennett featuring Lady Gaga - The Lady Is A Tramp
• Nirvana - Come As You Are
• Viv Murrell - Charms
• Badly Drawn Boy - You Were Right
• The Last Shadow Puppets - Standing Next To Me
• S4wtOOth - Hands Up!
• REM - It’s The End Of The World As We Know It And I Feel Fine

This month the Reading Room Book Group take an outing to the cinema to watch the film adaptation of One Day by David Nicholls, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Will Hollywood ruin one of our favourite books - or bring a whole new audience to it? We’ll also be talking to actress and writer Abigail Tarttelin about her first novel Flick, Claire Kinton returns with the first chapter of her book Dead Game, we find out how thebookpond.com helps students swap academic books, and our tea break story comes from Jim Gotts. All this plus more 101 Books To Read Before You Die, poetry from Paul Eteng and Jamie McKay brings us Musings of a Muddled Mind.

Click the player below to listen online, or subscribe to our feed using the buttons on the right…

• Martha Reeves and the Vandellas -Nowhere To Run
• Bombay Bicycle Club - How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep
• Let’s Buy Happiness - Devil Show
• The Enemy - We’ll Live And Die In These Towns
• Foo Fighters - Walking After You
• Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
• The Beautiful South - You Keep It All In
• Fine Young Cannibals - Suspicious Minds
• James - Born Of Frustration
• Suzanne Vega - Marlene On The Wall
• Idlewild - Roseability
• TV On The Radio - Second Song
• Faces - Stay With Me

And remember - to get the full Reading Room experience, you need to listen to us live on the first Sunday of each month 10am-12noon GMT (repeated the following Tuesday 7pm-9pm GMT) on Siren 107.3FM or online at www.sirenonline.co.uk.

On August’s podcast we talk to historical fiction author Karen Maitland about how and where she finds her inspiration, poet John Welsh tells us about his third book Manic Reflections and how being bipolar affects his creativity, author Claire Kinton talks about the writing process of her first novel Dead Game which was inspired by the death of her cousin whilst serving in Iraq, our Tea Break Story comes from Joe Evans, and the Reading Room Book Group discusses The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Click the player below to listen online or subscribe to the podcast using the buttons on the right…

Here’s a list of what’s included….

• Amy Winehouse - Monkey Man
• Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
• Stevie Wonder - Uptight (Everything’s Alright)
• The Strokes - Someday
• The Delgados - American Trilogy
• Barenaked Ladies - One Week
• The Cardigans - Lead Me Into The Night
• The Style Council - Walls Come Tumbling Down
• Two Door Cinema Club - Do You Want It All ?
• The Raveonettes - Love In A Trashcan
• Supergrass - Richard III

To hear the show in its full glory, listen live on the first Sunday of the month 10am-12noon, repeated the following Tuesday 7pm-9pm, on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln or online at www.sirenonline.co.uk.

Here’s an overview of the event…

On June’s programme, The Reading Room Book Group review Margrave Of The Marshes, the autobiography of much missed radio legend John Peel, written shortly before his death in 2004 and completed by his wife Sheila.  We also talk to author Henry Hemming about his book In Search of the English Eccentric, Lincolnshire’s new Poet Laureate Joel Stickley performs his first specially commissioned poem “Theddlethorpe”, we hear from New Writers UK, further nominations for our 101 Books To Read Before You Die come from comedian Richard Herring and our very own Gill Hart, and our Tea Break Story comes from Sarah Ann Juckes.

Click on the player below to listen online or subscribe to the podcast using the buttons to the right…

• Joy Division – Transmission
• The Housemartins – Happy Hour (A Capella version)
• The Clash – Complete Control
• Arab Strap – The First Big Weekend
• Jimi Hendrix – Day Tripper
• PJ Harvey – You Said Something
• Wedding Present – A Million Miles
• Mogwai – Hunted By A Freak
• Pulp – Common People
• The Smiths – This Charming Man
• The Fall – Hey! Student
• Viv Murrell – Changing Over (from The Reading Room LIVE)
• The Undertones – Teenage Kicks

Remember – for the full Reading Room experience, you need to listen live on the first Sunday of each month on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln or around the world at www.sirenonline.co.uk

We hope you enjoyed Part 1 of The Reading Room LIVE - now here’s the second half of our special live show transmitted from the Bishop Greaves Theatre on 15th May.  This part includes a specially written piece on The Former Poet Laureate from our very own Paul Tyler, plus:

Ann Featherstone

Paul Eteng

Louis Malloy

Brian Rance

Gareth Calway

And more music from singer/songwriter Viv Murrell

Click on the player below to listen online or subscribe to our feed using the buttons on the right hand side of the page…

Welcome to the first half of our special show broadcast LIVE from the Bishop Greaves Theatre in Lincoln on Sunday 15th May as part of the Lincoln Book Festival.

The line-up for his half includes…

Jayne Stanton

Georgia Twynham

Fiona Linday

Viv Murrell

Paul Eteng

Eireann Lorsung

Ben Atkinson

Richard Barter

CLICK ON THE PLAYER BELOW TO LISTEN ONLINE…

The second half of the show, featuring Ann Featherstone, Paul Eteng, Louis Malloy, Viv Murrell, Brian Rance and Gareth Calway will be available to download at the end of the week - please check back here then or subscribe to our feed using the links on the right.

This month on the Reading Room we talk to comedian Richard Herring about his book How Not to Grow Up, John Grubb fills us in on what to expect at this year’s Lincoln Book Festival, there’s poetry from Lisa Denholm, and the Reading Room Book Group review Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down. Also, young author Ben Atkinson talks about his book Walking On Cinders, and our tea break story comes from Richard Barter.

To listen to the podcast, click on the player below, or subscribe using the links on the right hand side of the page…

• Blur – There’s No Other Way
• The Vaccines – If You Wanna
• Frank Turner – I Still Believe
• Madonna – Borderline
• Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah
• Bloc Party – So Here We Are
• Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
• Ben Folds/Nick Hornby – From Above
• Divine Comedy – Everybody Knows (except you)
• Viv Murrell – Charms **Viv will be performing at The Reading Room Live on 15th May 2011**
• Green Day – Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
• Foo Fighters – Bridge Burning **Heart Starter**

On this month’s edition of The Reading Room we talk to Irish poet Brendan Cleary who also performs two of his poems (including a world premiere just for us!). We also hear from our Australian namesakes thereadingroom.com who tell us all about their book-based social network, the Reading Room Book Group discuss A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka and our poignant short story this month comes from Louis Malloy and is set in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake of 1923. We also hear 101 Books To Read Before You Die nominations from regular contributor Steven Lawrence and “The Thirteenth” author Georgia Twynham, and we offer you the chance to be in the audience for our exclusive LIVE show on 15th May where we may or may not be performing nude…

To listen to this month’s show, click on the player below, or subscribe to our feed using the links on the right.

Click below to join our friends at TheReadingRoom.com…

• David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
• Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn
• Billy Bragg – Greetings to the new brunette
• Noah & The Whale – L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
• Elbow – Open Arms
• Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
• Soft Cell – Tainted Love
• Voice Of The Beehive – Don’t Call Me Baby
• Modest Mouse – Float On
• The Beatles – Can’t Buy Me Love
• The Longpigs – She Said **Heartstarter**

On March’s programme we tell you all about what we got up to on World Book Night when we gave away 48 copies of One Day by David Nicholls. We also speak to Ugandan poet Grace Atuhaire, Joe Evans provides our Tea Break Story and talks about his writing, we have further nominations for our list of 101 Books To Read Before You Die, and the Reading Room Book Group will be reviewing Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Click on the player below to listen online or subscribe to our podcast using the links on the right…

• The Futureheads - Hounds of Love (Originally by Kate Bush)
• Arctic Monkeys - Diamonds Are Forever (Shirley Bassey)
• The Wombats - Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis)
• American Music Club - Goodbye To Love (The Carpenters)
• The White Stripes - Jolene (Live Under Blackpool Lights) (Dolly Parton)
• The Flaming Lips - Can’t Get You Out Of My Head [Live] (Kylie Minogue)
• The Communards - Don’t Leave Me This Way (The Blue Notes)
• Nada Surf - Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode)
• Cake - I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)
• Beautiful South - Lean On Me (Bill Withers)
• Johnny Cash - One (U2)
• Frente - Bizzare Love Triangle (New Order)
• The Lemonheads - Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel) **Heart Starter**

Remember - if you want to enjoy the full Reading Room experience, you need to listen live on the first Sunday of each month 10am-12noon on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln or online from anywhere in the world at www.sirenonline.co.uk

On February’s programme we launch our brand new feature 101 Books to Read Before You Die - Paul, Jonny and Joanne from thebookpond.com have picked the first three books for the list which will continue to grow each month. We also have an interview and fantastic short story from Sarah Ann Juckes, poetry from Paul Eteng and ex-football club chairman Rob Bradley talks about his new book of short stories Taboos, Troubles and Trusts. All that, plus a look at what books we got for Christmas, news about World Book Night when we’ll be giving away 48 copies of One Day by David Nicholls, and we’ll be previewing our Book Group selections for the next year and telling you how you can get involved.

Click on the player below to listen online, or subscribe to our Podcast using the links on the right.

Sadly, for copyright reasons, we have to edit these out of the podcast - but here’s the full list of what we played on February’s show…

• Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher
• Funeral Party - Where Did It Go Wrong
• REM - Near Wild Heaven
• Adele - Someone Like You
• Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
• The Pogues - Sally MacLennane
• The Cure - Pictures Of You
• Fun Boy Three - Our Lips Are Sealed
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Fault Line
• British Sea Power - Georgie Ray
• Blondie - Picture This
• Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town
• The Stone Roses - She Bangs The Drums **Heart Starter**

Remember - if you want to the full Reading Room experience you need to tune in on the First Sunday of each month, 10am-12noon on Siren 107.3FM in Lincoln, or listen online.

The Reading Room has announced the books we will be reviewing over the coming months.  The list includes titles by Nick Hornby, Lionel Shriver and Karen Maitland amongst others.  Click here to see the full list.

In February’s show we’ll be launching a brand new feature - The Reading Room’s 101 Books to Read Before You Die - and we need YOUR help.  Click here to find out more…

• Tony Bennett – Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
• Arcade Fire – Ready To Start **Steven’s Track of the Year**
• Weezer – The Christmas Song
• Duels – Do You Hear What I Hear?
• Third Degree – Mercy **Paul’s Track of the Year**
• Eels – Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas
• Trash Can Sinatras – To Sir With Love
• The Wombats – Is This Christmas? [Radio Edit]
• Ben Folds – Lonely Christmas Eve
• Frightened Rabbit – It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop
• The Killers – Don’t Shoot Me Santa
• The Divine Comedy – At The Indie Disco **Jonny’s Track of the Year**
• Gabriella Cilmi – Warm This Winter
• Darlene Love – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
• Tim Minchin – White Wine In the Sun

Remember, if you want the full Reading Room experience, you need to listen live via Siren FM on the first Sunday of every month 10am-12noon GMT.

Something a bit different for our last show of the year - it’s The Reading Room Christmas Special!  No Book Group this month - instead we have Christmas poetry from Dave Wood, a short story from Richard Barter, and a special Christmas story written and performed by the pupils of Peirrepont Gamston Primary School.  We’ll also be talking about our favourite books of the year and looking ahead to what we’ve got planned for The Reading Room in 2011.

Click on the Player below to listen online, or subscribe to our monthly podcast using the links on the righthand side of the screen.

On December’s programme best selling author Simon Scarrow talks about his popular Eagle series of books, local author G L Twynham tells us about The Thirteenth series and reads from the first chapter of The Thirteenth, we have an interview and short story from Louis Malloy, and The Reading Room Book Group review Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy.  Click on the player below to listen online, or subscribe to our Podcast using the links on the right.

Click here to buy Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy

Click here to buy The Legion by Simon Scarrow

Click here to buy The Thirteenth by G L Twynham

• The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
• Camera Obscura – French Navy
• Ben Folds and Nick Hornby – From Above
• The Smiths – Sheila Take A Bow **Literary Link**
• Teenage Fanclub – Sometimes I Don’t Need To Believe In Anything
• Velvet Underground – Sunday Morning
• Badly Drawn Boy and Jools Holland – Come On Eileen
• Adele – Make You Feel My Love
• The XX - Islands
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps
• Wombats – Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)
• The Jam – Town Called Malice **Heartstarter**

The Reading Room’s podcast has been featured on the North American Guide to Online Schools website’s list of the Top 100 Literature Podcasts.  The full list can be found here - we came in at number 12 in the Best of the Rest list.

Cate Newton of the Guide To Online schools said: “We hand-picked a list of our favorites and outlined the unique reasons why we love them. We love that you share your passion for books with other book lovers.”

Guide to Online Schools exists to connect students with colleges and universities. They work with hundreds of schools across the US and Canada, presenting information on thousands of degree and certificate programs.

In November’s programme, the Reading Room Book Group review Black Swan Green by David Mitchell and we take a look at the books that inspired the hit TV series The Wire. A packed programme also includes an interview and story from writer Richard Barter, poetry from Katherine Sankey, the final part of our series of interviews with romantic fiction author Sue Moorcroft and a brief chat with former Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton.

Remember - if you have any comments on the show, or if you’d like to take part, email us at readingroom@sirenonline.co.uk

Click here to buy Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets by David Simon

Click here to buy The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighbourhood by David Simon and Ed Burns

Click here to buy Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

Ára bátur by Sigur Ros is quite possibly the finest piece of music in my collection. Every time I hear it (which is a lot) it never fails to make me feel reflective and a little damp around the eyes. It’s over eight minutes long and I can’t help but wonder where else, other than a great community radio station like Siren FM, we would be given the freedom to ensure that this music gets broadcast following such a beautifully written story.

Here’s the full track list for ROOM 5:

• Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
• British Sea Power - Waving Flags
• Dusty Springfield - I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten
• Solomon Burke - Fast Train
• The Divine Comedy - Time To Pretend
• Sigur Ros - Ára bátur
• Madonna - Into The Groove
• The Cure - Just Like Heaven (Album Version)
• David Rotheray and Julie Murphy - Taller Than Me
• Eels - Your Lucky Day In Hell
• The Walkmen - The Rat (Album Version)

We were lucky enough to grab an interview with ex-Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton before a recent gig in Sheffield to promote his second solo studio album Acid Country.  November’s edition of The Reading Room will feature a short extract from the interview - but here it is in full.

October’s programme includes poetry from Katherine Sankey, Fiona Linday talks about and reads from her book Get Over It which is aimed at adults dealing with bereavement, The Reading Room Book Group discuss The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, and we have more from Sue Moorcroft on the art of writing romantic fiction.

Remember - if you have any comments on the show, or if you’d like to take part, email us at readingroom@sirenonline.co.uk

Click here to buy The Jane Austen Book Club

Click here to buy Get Over it (Adventures)

• Crowded House - Weather With You
• Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love
• The Beatles - Getting Better
• PJ Harvey - Good Fortune
• James - Sit Down (Literary Link)
• Paul Heaton - The Ladder’s Bottom Rung
• Mystery Jets - Flakes
• James Brown - I Got You (I Feel Good)
• Fleet Foxes - He Don’t Know Why
• Phillip Selway - By Some Miracle
• Manic Street Preachers - Some Kind of Nothingness
• Maximo Park - Our Velocity (Heart Starter)
• They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul (**special bonus track!**)

September’s programme includes award-winning documentary maker Sam Pidoux talking about historical fiction, Dave Wood discusses Poetry, The Reading Room Book Group with Cheryl Cliffe and Gill Hart reviews Forever Today by Deborah Wearing and Sue Moorcroft tells us about the process of writing romantic fiction.

Click here to buy All That Mullarkey

Click here to buy Forever Today: A Memoir Of Love And Amnesia

Click here to buy The Boleyn Inheritance

After we have our Tea Break (short story or poem) we like to play something that’s inspiring and moving and this month we played Elbow - The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver (Live from Abbey Road), a song that I never get tired of hearing. Elbow are a band I’ve liked since they’re first album ‘Asleep at the Back’.When they won the Mercury Music Prize a couple of years ago - it felt like your team winning the cup. Although as a Lincoln City supporter I can only imagine that feeling.

Here’s the full track listing:

• REM - Losing my Religion
• Mystery Jets - Dreaming of Another World
• Paloma Faith - Upside Down
• Badly Drawn Boy - Silent Sigh (Literary Link)
• Depeche Mode - Everything Counts
• Elbow - The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver (live at Abbey Road)
• Paul Weller - No Tears Left to Cry
• Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
• David Rotheray (with Kathryn Williams) - Crows, Ravens and Rooks
• Squeeze - Up the Junction
• Carole King - So Far Away
• The Third Degree - Mercy (Heartstarter)

Here’s the podcast of our second programme for your listening pleasure.  This month, our producer Jonny Haw looks at eBooks, we have another short story from the Lincoln Phoenix Writers Circle, The Reading Room Book Group review Narrow Dog to Carcassonne by Terry Darlington, Melanie Carroll reviews three books looking at the Church and technology, and we have an, albeit extremely brief, interview with Katie Price as she promotes her new book, Paradise.

Click here to buy Narrow Dog To Carcassonne

Click here to buy Paradise

• Beautiful South - Old Red Eyes Is Back
• Camera Obscura - Super Trooper
• Waterboys - Fisherman’s Blues
• Dusty Springfield - I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself
• Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
• Noah & The Whale - Blue Skies
• Sister Sledge - Lost In Music
• The Drifters - There Goes My Baby
• Elbow - Station Approach
• Plan B - She Said
• Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness

Our first ever programme features Poetry from Jim Gotts, an interview with the Lincoln Phoenix Writers Group and an original story from one of their members, Renewal Costs by John G Stead, The Reading Room Book Group reviews Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss, and we speak to Aimee Wilkinson from the Derby-based spoken word collective Hello Hubmarine.

Click here to buy Eats, Shoots and Leaves

• The Beatles - In My Life
• Ellie Goulding - Guns and Horses
• Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
• Ben Folds - In Between Days
• We Are Scientists - Jack and Ginger
• Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)
• Blondie - Union City Blue
• The Flaming Lips - Race for the Prize
• Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
• Otis Redding - These Arms of Mine
• Laura Marling - Devils Spoke
• Teenage Fanclub - Ain’t That Enough
• Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run