The Book Show - Season 4

23. Episode 23

Aired: 10/15/2009

For the new series' first episode, Mariella Frostrup (right) is at the 60th Cheltenham Literature Festival.

24. Episode 24

Aired: 10/22/2009

Iranian-born comedienne Shappi Khorsandi, veteran journalist Harold Evans, and Melvyn Bragg

25. Episode 25

Aired: 11/5/2009

Ian Rankin and Tracy Chevalier

26. Episode 26

Aired: 11/26/2009

Dr Brooke Magnanti, 34, works at St Michael's Hospital and wrote best-selling books about her time as a prostitute as she struggled to make ends meet. Also, Booker Prize-winner Hilary Mantel.

27. Episode 27

Aired: 12/3/2009

John O'Farrell, Conn Iggulden, and Alison Weir

28. Episode 28

Aired: 12/10/2009

Michael Palin, Andrew Marr, and John Banville

29. Episode 29

Aired: 2/25/2010

At the start of a new run Mariella Frostrup recaps some of the highlights from the series that has got people talking about books again. These include conversations with Dr Brooke Magnanti, the real-life Belle De Jour and inspiration for Billie Piper's character in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Ben Elton, Sue Townsend and Robert Harris.

30. Episode 30

Aired: 3/4/2010

Robert Harris, William Boyd, and Lynn Barber

31. Episode 31

Aired: 3/11/2010

Looking back over the best bits from the first half of series four. Patricia Cornwell, Sue Townsend, Ian Rankin, and the almost ubiquitous David Mitchell all pop in for literary chat.

32. Episode 32

Aired: 3/18/2010

33. Episode 33

Aired: 3/25/2010

Antonia Fraser, Ian McEwan, and Joanna Trollope

34. Episode 34

Aired: 4/1/2010

Fantasy sage Terry Pratchett. Orange Prize-winner Andrea Levy discussing her new novel, The Long Song. Marina Lewycka talks about the inspiration for her book We Are All Made of Glue. Plus, Sebastian Barry takes us to Ireland and the place where he wrote his prize-winning novel The Secret Scripture, and we discover Cherie Blair's bedtime reading.

35. Episode 35

Aired: 4/8/2010

Philip Pullman, who is creating a stir with his new book about Jesus. Pullman retells the gospels with Jesus and Christ as brothers and two distinct characters. Rose Tremain talks about the follow up to her Orange prize winner. Plus, Lemony Snicket with his bedtime reading suggestions and award-winning debut novelist Neel Mukherjee.

36. Episode 36

Aired: 4/15/2010

Upper-crust socialite and interior designer Nicky Haslam recounts anecdotes from his biography, and thriller writer Philip Kerr recommends reading Michel De Montaigne's essays when you are "feeling a bit thick". Monty Don talks about gardening, and a dry and unflappable Lionel Shriver talks about the American healthcare system in relation to her new novel, So Much for That.

37. Episode 37

Aired: 4/22/2010

John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas; American novelist Joshua Ferris; and politician Shirley Williams

38. Episode 38

Aired: 4/29/2010

Roddy Doyle on his fictional trilogy exploring what it means to be Irish; feminist Natasha Walter on the hypersexual society; John Lanchester on his bedtime reading (Tolstoy); and Martin Amis on women's liberation, the sexual revolution and autobiographical fiction.

39. Episode 39

Aired: 5/6/2010

David Nicholls, Alistair Campbell, and Simon Kernick

40. Episode 40

Aired: 5/13/2010

Authors George Pelecanos and Joanne Harris, and poet Simon Armitage

41. Episode 41

Aired: 5/20/2010

Blake Morrison, Maggie O'Farrell, and Ben Macintyre

42. Episode 42

Aired: 5/27/2010

Episode 24 "final episode of the series" - Professor Robert Winston on liabilities, Joseph O'Connor on love stories, and Jonathan Coe on loneliness. Plus, Martina Cole talks trade secrets.

43. Episode 43

Aired: 5/29/2010

The Book Show at Hay: Turner winning ceramicist Grayson Perry, journalist Tony Parsons, and well travelled honorary Englishman Bill Bryson. Plus contributions from Jerry Hall and Beth Orton.

44. Episode 44

Aired: 5/30/2010

The Book Show at Hay: Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Nadine Gordimer, and Christopher Hitchens. Music from Alex Valentine.

45. Episode 45

Aired: 5/31/2010

Antony Beevor replacing Gary Kemp on the show tonight. Other guests are Audrey Niffenegger, Jo Brand & Dennis Rollins.

46. Episode 46

Aired: 6/1/2010

Simon Schama, Joss Ackland, and Rob Brydon are the guests on Mariella's sofa today. Music from Thea Gilmore.

47. Episode 47

Aired: 6/2/2010

The Book Show at Hay: William Dalrymple, Jacqueline Wilson, and Sir Ian Blair. Music is from the ever excellent Orquesta Buena Vista.

48. Episode 48

Aired: 6/3/2010

The Book Show at Hay: Louis de Bernières, who has taken a shot at writing about rural England in the 1960s in his new book, Notwithstanding; Allegra Huston, author of the memoir Love Child; and the current children's laureate Anthony Browne.

49. Episode 49

Aired: 6/4/2010

The Book Show at Hay: Brian May, Virginia McKenna, and Alexander McCall Smith talk animals, including a dog bugged by MI5. Music from the truly brilliant Toumani Diabate, and mathematician Alex Bellos teaches us how to cut a cake in a mathematical fashion.