Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club - David Bowie’s 100 Books to Have Read

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

In this week's episode Sara and Cariad peruse the list of David Bowie’s 100 Books to Have Read.Thank you for reading with us. We like reading with you!Follow Sara & Cariad’s Weirdos Book Club on Instagram @saraandcariadsweirdosbookclub and Twitter @weirdosbookclubTickets for Sara's tour show I Am A Strange Gloop are available to buy from sarapascoe.co.ukCariad's children's book Lydia Marmalade and the Christmas Wish is out in paperback here now. Recorded and edited by Naomi Parnell for Plosive.Artwork by Welcome Studio.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Pasco. And I'm Carriead Lloyd. And we're weird about books. We love to read. We read too much. We talk too much. About the too much that we've read. Which is why we created the Weirdo's Book Club.

A space for the lonely outsider to feel accepted and appreciated. Each week we're joined by amazing comedian guests and writer guests to discuss some wonderfully and crucially weird books, writing, reading and just generally being a weirdo. You don't even need to have read the books to join in. It will be a really interesting, wide-ranging conversation and maybe you'll want to read the book afterwards. We will share all the upcoming books we're going to be discussing on our Instagram, Sarah and Carriads, Weirdo's Book Club. Thank you for reading with us. We like reading with you. I'm so excited. Oh, that's good. Oh, how happy. Are you not excited?

Yes, now, yes. So David Bowie. David. Yeah, David Bowie. Favorite pop star, I'd say? Favorite musician, favorite human? It's more than that. It's significant. He's my take that. He's your love. He's your true love. Yes. So Pop Sal doesn't handle it. Okay. It's not enough. Okay.

It's big. Yeah. He means everything to you. He means a lot to me. He means everything to you. So how are we going to relate that to book? I don't remember David Bowie's novel. Well, in fact, what we have.

And this is, I think, such a cool thing to have done. Yeah, yeah. David Bowie listed his 100 must-read books. Yep. And we're going to go through them and chat about them. We're going to read. And then we should definitely take at least one away that we're going to read on David Bowie's recommendation.

Let's imagine in the chair. Hi, David. Thanks for coming in. I'm worried about this. We start imagining that he's in the chair because you once did an improvathon with David Bowie and it felt very real because you were awake for 24 hours. No, 53.

Okay, sorry, two days. So there's a thing called the Improatham where people, they do 50 hours straight. Improvisors, they are. Not everyone does the whole 50 hours. Some people do like 10 or 8, a few crazy people. I don't do this anymore. I see 50 hours.

In Canada, they do 53. because they started that idea. Yeah. So we used to do 50 out of respect to them. And this is the dynasty. The dynasty in Edmonton. And I went over and there was a very brilliant improviser called Bill Minsky who dressed as David Barry Labyrinthias.

And he was pretending to be David Bowie. And he had a plastic ball that he was like moving around in his hand. And because I hadn't slept for two days and our characters got together on stage. Inevitably. I thought that I was having an affair with David Barry for real. Yeah. And we all had to stand in line. at like three in the morning

and the director, there's a director who calls a scene. He said, you have to stand, step forward and say what you believe is real.

And my friend Paul had put apples up his sleeves to be muscles because he was playing Aquaman and he was like, I've lost the idea of what my arms are. I don't know what's real

and what's an apple. And I stood for and said, I genuinely think I'm having an affair with David Bowie. When I wasn't on stage, I was worrying. I genuinely was worrying

because I liked Iman. She was a really amazing woman very beautiful. She is, amazing woman. And that's David Burry's wife. That was his wife at the time when he was alive, his widow now. I was feeling really guilty that I'd done this to her. And it was going to be all over the world. It's going to be all over the papers. Not your own husband? I didn't think I was married at that point.

Okay, well, fuck him then. Yeah. He was my boyfriend. And I felt bad about that, but I thought he'd understand. Oh, yeah. I think if you'd sort of called him and said, guess what, I'm really sorry I got off with David Bowry. But it said it had to be like, it's a man pretending to be David Bowie. That's how easy it was to like distract me into madness. But yeah, I didn't sleep for 53 hours. So, yeah, that was another instance where David Bowie affected my life. So you already really, really, really admired and adored David Bowie, but also I think you've got some muscle memory of knowing him.

I feel like for a while it felt like he was an ex. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So here's his list of books. So you printed them out really helpfully. Yeah, I printed all 100 out.

So he wrote 100. And I also want to say, like, I think there's not many pop stars that you'd be that interested in their 100 list of top books. Well, I really like books. So actually, that'd be the most interesting thing any pop star could do for me. Christine Aguilera? Yep. You'd want to know? Yep.

Top 100? Yeah. It's all Agatha Christie. Great. What a twist. Yeah. But I think because I do feel like David is, David, is not just a pop star. Okay.

So what is he then? Musician. Musician, actor, writer, icon. So it's like, he was an artist. He's a quadruple threat. He's quadruple threat. But he's an artist. I have had to listen to you to a quite take that in the same resulted tones.

Oh, I know. Oh, I'm laughing because when I said quadruple threat, I imagined him auditioning for Britain's Got Talent and describing himself as a quadruple threat. So I was laughing my own imagination. I'm a quadruple threat, Sarah. Yeah. Don't worry. That's not proper singing. That's an X from me. That was, um. Amanda Holden.

Oh, I'm so sad. Amanda Holden just turned down David Bowie and my continuing. To try harder for Amanda. It's a really sorry, terrible impression. We should do this for comic relief though. I think it would be a wonderful skit. You as David Bowie and me as Amanda Holden. And Alan Carr as himself.

Alan Carr as himself. So you've got to have the real part. That's quite nice when they do that. Yeah, so Alan Carr, you'd be doing up your house. I mean, some clearly why David Bowie's there. Yeah. And also Anton Decker just sort of help it. When David Bowie cries, they're just hugging you and telling you.

I'm so sad, dick. I can't believe it. What will I do now? Such a bad David, my impression. But what I mean is, like, he's an avant-garde icon, so it's interesting. And the books that he has, I have not read a lot of these, to be fair. They're amazing. Everyone would say David Burry was very, very, very intelligent and, like, hugely creative.

Like, there are lots of the sort of clips and soundbites of him talking about his own work and his own imagination. There's an amazing array of books on here. So do you want to go through them like one by one? Susan Jacoby. The Age of American Unreason in a Culture of Lies, dumbing down in the future of democracy. I mean, it was written in 2008, but sounds pretty apt for right now.

The Brief Wonders Life, Oscar, you've read, The Coast of Utopia, a trilogy by Tom Stoppard. Very late Tom Stoppard, so I haven't read that. No, no, bye. Teenage, the Creation of Youth, 1875, 1945, John Savage. I've heard of that one, I haven't read it. I think it's supposed to be really interesting. Fingersmith, Sarah Waters.

Lovely. Would you put that in your top 100? But it is a brilliant book. Yeah. She's so readable that she's one of those people. We forget how much research it must have taken, all of those kind of things. We should do with Sarah Waters.

I remember really loving things. And lots of people have read that book as well, actually. The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens. He's problematic, isn't he? Yeah, yeah. He said women weren't funny. I mean, I know he did other stuff as well, but that's one. So when I just like comedy, both him and...

He's right about that stuff, Sarah. So that's important. Like, you can't... Come on. If only you hadn't undermined yourself by being funny as you said it. Yeah. Oh, I just got my big dick out again. I've got my big dick out again.

Mr Wilson's cabinet wonder, Lawrence Westler, how you say that? Yeah. Never heard that. People's Tragedy, the Russian Revolution, Orlando Feetheiders. Oh, that's a historian-history. This is like looking through your boyfriend's bookshelf, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.

And that's why you're going like, oh my God, you got that. Oh, then you've got a lot about Stalin. Have you got anna Fanda? No, just the men about Starlin. Do you want me just to literally read them all out? I do, yeah. Okay, fine. This is my idea of fun.

Well, listeners, I hope you agree with Sarah. The Insult by Rupert Thompson, Thompson, Thompson. Also why I think it's funny is because some of the listeners will go, I've read that one. And then if you have, feel free to message us. Tell us if you agree with David Bowie and if you think we should read it. Because we are going to pick one of these, one of the top 100 to read. This sounds like you'd like this.

The Insult is a 1996 novel by Rupert Thompson. The novel describes the life of Martin Blom, who is shot well walking to his car and consequently goes blind while being treated in a clinic he seemingly regained his vision, but only at night. What? That night bitch, but for boys.

That sounds good, doesn't it? That sounds good. Sounds interesting. Yeah, sounds like, oh, interesting. 1996, I was doing my GCSEs. It's probably why I didn't read it. Otherwise, I would have been on that. David.

What was that one called? That is the insult by Rupert. The insult. So then it is Wonder Boys by, I have not spelled like a, Wonder Boys by Michael Shabon. Oh, Shabon. Well, he's an amazing writer. So, yeah, the amazing Cavalier and Clay is the book. Oh, okay.

It's a really sizable one, but I read it on a flight to Australia and really, really loved it. The Bird Artist by Howard Norman. Tell you what this is smacking of as well. A lot of these are like 90s, 2000 and a little bit of like, oh no, they're in this. This is in chronological order. That's why it's in this order. Oh, I see. It's in chronological order.

Okay, this is great. We're starting with the 90s. The Bird Artist by Howard Norman. Kafka was the rage, a Greenwich Village memoir by Anatole Broiard. Beyond the Brillo Box, the visual arts in post-historic whole perspective, obviously referencing his friends, Andy Warhol. Yeah. Sexual persona, art and decadence, from Nefertiti to Emily Dickson, Camille Paglia. Oh, yeah, so the feminist writer, yeah.

David Bomberg by Richard. Cork. Confusing. Which one's the idea? Which is the title? You're going to get all sorts of trouble at the library. You're requesting that. Yeah. Sweet soul music, rhythm and blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom by Peter Garolnik. That sounds good. Because of course, you know, he did a lot of blue-eyed soul. Did he? What's blue-eyed soul? What's blue-eyed soul? No. So, I said I played the trumpet the other day, talking of, uh, hit me. When I did the inside number nine cameo. Oh, wow.

And I think I'm going to take up the trumpet because I fucking loved it. Wow. Imagine. Your dad is absolutely over the music. If he hears that news, you'd have become a jazz chomper. Imagine if I surprise him, the next time he comes over, and I'm like, Dad, bring your sax, let's jazz. I don't think he would love it at all. But as the sound came out, and I didn't think any sound was going to come out.

Did you do the special... Yes, I blew a raspberry. And it echoed around Milton Keynes. And the audience, I don't think... Did you get a good sound? Because it's hard. Yes. And I think it was... I think they then didn't realize they'd never played the trumpet before,

because they were completely non-reactive. And then when I was left on stage at the end, I really took him to task about that. I said, I've never even picked up a trumpet before, and it was so loud. And I played notes. You did like, bo-da-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b. And it felt amazing. Imagine that.

So I might do piano lessons and learn to play the trumpet, and that might be my new thing when the TV dries up. But if they can't see, you're absolutely dressed as a trumpet player today. Am I? This is jazz. Is it? Oh, it's a pure jazz outfit. I'm not a jazz tie, actually.

You've got like, it's like, B-B-Bop. It's coming out. It's coming out. It's coming out. This could be my new personality. My God, jazz. You're moving into a jazz era. No, not jazz. Just playing the trumpet. I'm going to play pop music on the trumpet.

Isn't it really pop-y? I'm very here for that. Thank you. My daughter is about to maybe start trumpet lessons. So maybe you could learn together. Do you imagine how uncool it would be for your daughter if I come with her to trumpet lessons? Yeah, she'd be upset. Any adult doing anything near her is upsetting to her.

Yeah. This is going to be a nightmare. Breathing near her. She said, can I come around being, we practice our trumpets? She said this morning, why do you look like you've been wearing goggles all night? I said, what? You look like you've been wearing my goggles all night. I was like, oh, it's just my face in the morning.

I was like, now go away. Oh, I know. The Songlines by Bruce Chapwin. That's an amazing book. This is what annoys me. If he was here, he'd be friends with you more than me. I know it. And then I'm like, br-bram.

You and here would be chatting and I'd be just going, I'd see you dick. It's an Australian classic book. Oh, yeah, travel writer, Bruce Chapman. And so Songlines is about First Nation people, Aboriginal people. It's a lot about walking. There were stuff in there that I remembered when I was pregnant because it's about how good walking in pregnancy is for, you know,

all of us, you know, when you're in utero, the movements of our mother's body. Walking is very calming. It's very, very good for creativity. And obviously for First Nation people, it's to do with memory, storytelling. They remember so they remember huge myths about places they have never been to because it is an oral tradition, but it's all connected to mapping out the world. So they can go to places they have never been to before because they know what to expect, because the story tells you what the world looks like.

So look, if that book is now problematic, I'm ever so sorry, I read it probably 15 years ago. So if you know that, no need to get angry with me. Because obviously it's a white man writing about... He's British as well. He's a British writer, Bruce Chapman. Well, double, double how dare he. A coloniser. Oh, God.

In the original. So I'm sorry if there's terrible appropriation or misinformation. in that book, but I did enjoy it at the time. Hawksmore, Peter Akroyd. We love Akroyd. Love Akrode. This is now, a lot of this is running with like, this would have been my dad's reading list. They're similar age, right?

Exactly, very similar age. My dad loves Peter Akroyd. He got me onto them probably just after my GCSEs. We did tour guiding, so London the biography is a really big. We both read London the biography. Yeah. And I remember two things. Okay.

That's it. The Farting Club? No, I remember that St. Giles was originally. a very poor Irish area. Wow. So I loved the bit about the clubs, the gentleman's clubs, that you had the farting club,

you had the everlasting silence club where someone always had to be there and you weren't allowed to talk because it was how you escaped your wives. And then the merger was club where you had to have killed a man to get in. That's the chapter I remember being really racing. I wish I'd remember that.

I was up to date a couple of years ago. I'd read all of them. Oh, he's hard to keep up with God. Yeah. And then he wrote The Limehouse Gollum, that's my favourite. And then they made a film with Bill Nyey. Oh, yeah.

Nowhere to Run, the Story of Soul Music by Jerry Hershey. I'd love to even. Sounds great. Love Soul Music. Oh yeah, we skipped over that. So Young Americans, one of his famous albums, is known as Blue-Eyed Soul because it took a lot of the soul tracks at the time,

but he also worked with a lot of African-American musical musicians at the time and brought them in. But it became known as Blue-Eyed Soul in the same way that Elvis Presley had made like Blue-Eyed Rock and Roll that you take the track that, the amazing rhythms, the amazing music that's being played in predominantly black areas. And then you put a white man singing it. He did kind of acknowledge that. but and that's how he also began working with Nile Rogers

from, yeah. So it's a form of appropriation, even though the artists themselves probably had huge respect and thought they were joining in, you know, we're artists too joining in, but it's just that... I think with Barry, it's very, it's difficult. It was called Blarice over,

he very much went out to be like, I'm making a record with these people that sounds like this, and young Americans was like, again, completely sounded different to all the other albums he'd done before, which is such a genius. Now, next one.

Yeah. Knights at the Circus, Angela Carter. Oh, fucking hell, that's a brilliant book. It's a really brilliant. I'd love to reread, like, Nights at the Circus. This is one, this is a problem. People say, how do you read so much? I don't remember anything.

Well, I went to see a play of it. Yes, we went to see it. We went to see it. With the girl from... Lyric Hammersmith. Yes, and she's really amazing, that actress, and she was in about a boy. But also Angela Carter, who's such a brilliant writer, Knights at the Circus is like, I just wanted it to be real.

I wanted it to be real. I loved it so much. And we went to see it. Will we read? And they had a swing on stage. Yes, she had the most amazing, a trapeze, sorry, she had the most amazing wings on that looked, it was such a beautiful outfit.

I remember having that pure act to envy, where I was like, I would like that costume. Money by Martin Amis. I haven't read that one. I have read it, a long time ago, yeah. Martin Amos, people aren't really pushing into your hands anymore unless they're Dolly Alderton, because I've read the Rachel papers. I'm not a fan, I have to say.

Most women aren't. No. But maybe we should, we've said that for a while, maybe we should give it a go. White Noise by Don DeLillo. Yes, I read that one as well. He's a very famous. Yes, he's very famous. writer, but I can't remember anything about white noise.

I think it's a bit on a beach. But it's about music. That is about music. There's a record on the cover. Flobe's parrot, Julian Barnes. I love that book. And I really love Julian Barnes. I associate that book with you.

Yeah. You carry that book around. Oh, but that's such a little... You'd like that one. That's such a tiny book. Yeah. But I feel at university, that's what you were reading. And I'd never heard of...

I was like, I'd never heard of Flober, and I'd never heard of Julian Barnes. So none of the words on the books made sense. I was like, what is Flober, Parrot and Juliet? But, like, who... What is this? So here's again, very much in my dad's bookshelf territory. The most famous book, I think while we were at university,

was the history of the world in 10 and a half chapters. I think there's a very male-leaning. And this does make sense because David Bowie is a man. This is a very male-leaning list. It's very male-leaning, yeah. The Life in Times is Little Richard by Charles White. Now, I would recommend that you watch the documentary. There's an incredible documentary about Little Richard.

I think it's probably just called Little Richard that came out. I would say maybe last year. And it is unbelievable. he has had he was he was he was a drag queen in the 30s he was openly gay and then not openly a gay he became religious he denied everything he'd done it was a lot of drug like this documentary but he was a musical genius and so much was wrapped up in his life and if you're one of those people like me who gets fascinated by people's bios it's a really good documentary i can't recommend it enough imagine that book is very similar because it's it's shocking what what happened to him

was so shocking for someone he was so So talented. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Oh yeah. So that's like Robin Insel and all those guys love Howard Zinn. A Confederacy of Dunst is. I've said, I've bought you for your birthday the other day. What's that for me?

John Kennedy Choole, 1980. So he only ever wrote one book before taking his own life. Wow. Confederately. And people think of him as a genius and it's a work of genius. I reread it recently just as we started this podcast actually. And it's one of the books where I thought, when we were calling that the weirdos book club

it fits so perfectly you bought it for my birthday it's on the pile so let's do that one yeah interviews with Francis Bacon does what it says on the Tim yeah

Darkness at Noon by Arthur Costler I'm not heard of that is a novel by Austrian-Hungarian-born novelist Arthur Costler first published in 1940 Tale of Rubik who was arrested in prison and tried for treason against the government he helped to create

ooh that sounds like a good you know if you like your communist Eastern European writers Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess Well Anthony Burgess is my dad's favorite writer I've never read earthly powers I'm trying to remember I've definitely got it

so I read the Shakespeare ones and the Marlow ones Earthly Powers is about a journalist man I feel like I have read earthly powers But again at university and I can't remember But obviously Clockwork Orange is his most famous book Andy Burges But I can see that's on the list as well

Clockwork College Yeah it comes up later Earthly Powers Panoramic saga novel The 20th century first published in 1980 Raw a graphics magazine Viz magazine

1979 Is the present Is a difficult part of the list Why did I say 100 Why didn't I say 82? Homes and Gardens Heat magazine A position of the Fort Mike

Take a break TV quick Does crosswords count The Crosswords magazine Is that No it's more of a Yeah I did a book of the docus

I guess he found Viz very funny. I guess Raymail. Yeah. Sorry, I just read the Lex one wrong. And it's the Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagles. But I thought it was the Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Page. That would be great. I was like, wow, Alain Page.

The Gnostic Gospels. I've never heard of that. That sounds interesting. Metropolitan Life, Rand Lever Witts, 978. In Between the Sheets, Ian McEwen. Have you read that? No. No, I haven't read that.

Writers at Work, the Paris Review Interviews, 1977. This is very 70s, isn't it? The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind by Julian Janes. My dad would have read that book 100%. Yeah, they're into that. Tales of Beatnik glory, Ed Saunders, mystery train, Grail Marcus.

I don't think there are many stories of glory in the beatniks. I think it's all a bit dirty and embarrassing now, isn't it? Selected poems by Frank O'Hara. Before the Deluge, a portrait of Berlin in the 1920s. Very interesting, specifically. historical period, isn't he? Bluebeard's Castle, some notes towards the redefinition of culture by George Steiner. Oh, I wonder that's Steiner's call, man. Also, but also the fact that it's Bluebeard's Castle. So that is the castle where it's the women, the wives have all been murdered

and the new wife is told you're not allowed to look in there and there's blood seeping out of the floor. So I'm just interested in why that is the reason. David. David, Silasmore. Octobriana and the Russian underground, Peter Sadeki. The Sound of the City, the Rise of Rock and Roll by Charlie Gillett. So again, there's lots of... Reading about music, eh? He likes his music, don't it? Dancing about architecture.

Reading about music. Well, again, but he's not... That's the next level of musician, isn't it? It's like he wants to like... What's the cultural importance of what happened and what was... What did it mean? Sound of the City, rise and rock and roll. The Quest for Krista T by Krista Walsh

A Wabababababam Boom The Golden Age of Rock by Nick Cohn Sounds great Master of Margarita Oh Mikhail Bulgakov We loved that book I read it such a long time ago And I have no memory of it at all

No but we loved that book And your husband Ben has read that book as well Yes he loves that book yeah So that's one of the classics Magic Realism Yeah And we're moving into 60s now Last Exit to Brooklyn

Hubert Selby Jr. In Cold Blood, Truman Capotee. I mean, one of the best true crime books ever, if not the best. Amazing. Do you know what I'm reading at the moment is in the Garden of Good and Evil, which is apparently nearly as good as in Cold Blood, and it's compared to it because it's written by a man who's moved to Southern America, Southern States of America, but recommended by Sally when she came on.

Sally Phillips? I was going to say Rooney and I was like, she hasn't been on yet. Sally Rooney. Oh yeah, did you miss that one, guys? Go back for our 5-5 when Sally Rooney came on and told me to read in the Garden of Good and Evil. She probably would. City of Night, John Recky.

Hurtzog by Saul Bello. Oh, yes, that won the Nobel Prize. So again, this is men of that age now. Yeah, yeah. Because about 80% of these, I'm like, so Herzog by Saul Bellow, my dad loved it so much and I thought it was a bit slow.

But then probably read it at the wrong age. Puckoon by Spike Milligan. Have you read Spike Milligan? No. We should reason Spike Milligan. Should we? I love Spike Milligan. Yes.

No, but his books about the war. Okay. Oh my God, there's a lot of them. Pacuna think is maybe the first one, most famous one. And so these are humorous? Very funny. Yeah. Like, it's Dad's Army, but like much, much realer and funnier and rorer of like how

fucking mental it was. Okay. What the fuck was going on? I would love to read that actually then. A bunch of, like, 20-year-old men, this is not what anyone should be doing. This is fucked. And it's very, very funny. I remember reading them again.

And I read them a long time ago, and I remember finding them very funny. He's an amazing writer, Spike Milligan. I really love Spike Milligan. Okay. I've really... Spike Milligan's on the list. Yeah, I think... You know what?

It's short. The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford. Ho! Oh, here we go. Now we're getting into... Carrying trousers. Carrying trousers are on. This is an interesting one to read because...

So, look, the Mitford Sisters, if you don't know anything about, the amazing British upper class, there was five of them I think one was a fascist. Diana Mitford, she was best friends with Hitler. That will happen in any family. Happen in any family. Too many siblings.

Yeah, exactly. And the other one, Jessica Mitford, also known as Decker Midford, ran away from her heiress life to fight against the fascist in Spain. Eventually she ended up in America. She lived there her whole entire life. She was best friends with civil rights activists.

And she wrote this book called The American Way of Death in 1963. And you have to think they didn't really have like expose a television then. So basically she exposed the funeral industry and how much they were ripping off people that they would charge like hundreds of dollars for coffins for poor people who didn't need them, that they were lying about what they were, how they were embalming people. And she just, it was like in a, what now would probably be like a heavy guardian article. But it changed the entire way of death, how they did it. It like, it was huge. And that's like

one of the things she did as well as she, you know, she wrote a memoir, Ones and Rebels. She was, yeah, fighting. Which one is this? Deca. Jessica. Is she your favourite? She's the one that you really should like in this day and age. I would say she is my favourite. But yeah, it's difficult to like the one who killed herself because the Nazis were going to lose. Did she? Unity. Oh, you shot herself in Ed. Sorry, didn't kill herself. Gave herself brain damage. Okay. Because she realized that we were going to war with Germany.

So she tried to kill herself and it didn't work. That's unity. Diana was the one who was put in prison because she was married to Oswald Mosley. Okay. She was very beautiful. she was absolutely a fascist and one of my favourite facts is that unity mitford is one of the only people who was friends with Hitler and Winston Churchill

so she used to write to Winston and say I've just spoken to him, he's lovely, come on can't be at war with this person her name was unity her name was genuinely Unity Valchari Mitford and that was not named obviously she was named before the war began

they just called her Valchrie so the regular way of death I think would probably be quite hard to read these days because it's like a 1960s, it's a bozo, but it's a very important book. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima. That sounds good, doesn't it? That sounds good, yeah. Thriller Mystery, I think it was turning to a film.

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Oh, James Baldwin is a fantastic writer. I've not heard of that one. I think that's, a lot of these, I feel like David Bowie's gone. Everyone's read, do-da-da by Anthony Burgess, but will you have read, this one? Yeah. Oh, The Fire Next Time is nonfiction book containing two essays. My Dungeons shook, letter to my nephew, and down at the cross letter from a region of my mind.

Oh, that sounds amazing, doesn't it? I know people say James Baldwin is stunning, stunning writer. Next level, yeah. That sounds really good. A clockwork orange. Yep. Absolutely, absolutely brilliant. And I couldn't watch the film of it.

I wouldn't want to watch a violent film, but I can read. I'd want to be in his mind, you know. Would you never want to see the film? It's a classic. I want to, when I'm playing the trumpet and playing, piano, I'm going to start to become more visual. And then I'm probably going to start watching films and be into films. It's complete personality change.

Yeah. It's going to be just like stage two. And people will see. Like Taylor's new era, yeah. Like, which did Babler. Even more than that. Even more than that. The film is incredible.

And it, like, the violence is done. And, you know, again, it's like. I just think there might be a bit with a dog. No, I'm thinking of an American psycho. Yeah. No, it's very old film. No, he doesn't hurt a dog, does he? Not in, not in a lot.

It's just, it's Malcolm McDowell. There's two children. Yeah, no. Anyway, Inside the Whale and Other Essays by George Orwell. Oh. I don't have heard of that group of that set of essays. The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, Murals Bar. Yeah.

Love that book. Yeah, it's a great recommendation. I was on the train coming back from a gig. And I did something, which we all do, right? There was a mum and a daughter, weren't me? And they were both on their phones, not really talking. I'm older. So, like, older, mom, like, the daughter was, like, our age.

And then they were just mostly talking about shopping. And then suddenly she just got out of Prime and Miss Jean Brody. He was old woman. Started reading. You know, we just like would never have put, that was the book that you're going to go in there. Of your bag. I thought, shame on me. Yes, shame on me.

Yes, we teach ourselves a lesson sometimes. I was like, oh. Yeah. Can you read him your response? That's not what I was thinking you were going to pull out your bag. Whereas sometimes I romanticised men on the tube because of what they're reading. Yeah, you mustn't do that. I think, oh, Dostoevsky's the idiot.

We'd be best friends. Of course I wouldn't. Go to prison with the rest of them. Private eye. magazine, 1961 to now. Which, end of the show, Andrew Hunter Murray, still writes for. Still going. I've still never read it.

You still never read it? No. I've not read any magazines apart from the old days. I don't read a magazine now. My God, what am I? A child. They like a magazine. I miss magazines.

I really love magazines. But that's what Instagram is for me as a magazine, which is not right. Would you put Instagram me your top 100 books? Or Instagram from. From 2016 to 2017, there's some really lovely articles about how to use colour as a block in a setting as a home. On having no head, Zen and the rediscovery of the obvious Douglas Harding. My dad had so many books on fucking Zen. Zen and the artist's motorcycle maintenance was the main one.

That's the only one I've read. I think I read it and was just like, oh. That's not what I thought it would be. Silence, lectures and writing, John Cage. Oh, my dad's bloody favourite. Yeah, they love John Cage. These men of a certain liberal arts age. Strange people, Frank Edwards.

The divided self, R.D. Lang. Ardi Lang. We had to read that for university, didn't we? So his approach to psychology was really groundbreaking. He didn't do a huge amount of studies for empirical evidence, but he did believe that schizophrenia was a state of being. So lots of it's very useful and interesting to read about in terms of widening our minds about mental health.

All their Empress Horses, David Kidd. That's a famous book. Yeah, that's a famous one. I've not read it. Billy Lyre, Keith Waterhouse. I've only seen the film. I don't know it. Oh, the film is great.

The film is great. It's a British film and it's got... Billy Lyia, Keith Waterhouse. Who's Keith Waterhouse? So he's the writer. Yeah. And he's a famous British writer. And it's...

The film was Tom Courtney and Julie Christ. directed by John Schlesinger. The film was 19... When did this book? So Billy Lies, 959. Sorry, the book is 959. The film is 1963.

If you haven't seen Billy Lai, it's such a good film. It's black and white. It's pure British 60s. It's like so of the genre. And it's just delightful. It's so, so good. But I haven't read the book.

And I'd be interested to me, it's such a visual... Like, it's so of the time, stylishly, stylistically. So I'd be interesting to read the book. The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa. Oh yeah, another famous one. A famous one.

On the road. Jack Carrarack. Yeah. There isn't a student in the land who isn't forced to read that. But what do you think? I wonder what it's like to reread. I wonder if it feels... I would be really interested to reread it.

It must feel dating. I think we'd keep rolling our eyes at it in. Yeah, I think so. But I thought it was very cool at the time, Jack Carowac. I'm reading Jack Carowac. Yeah. Knowing who the Bignix were. Yeah.

But also, there's an amazing book called Minor Characters by Joy Johnson, which we should do, which is Jack Kerak's girlfriend. And she's writing about what it was like to be around them. He wasn't wearing deodorant. His socks were just turned inside out. Well, all the drugs they were taking and how misogynistic it was, how she was a minor character in his life. It's a really good memoir, actually. So we'll have to do like an episode where we do double, read them both.

Oh, that would be good. I'd love to do that because her book is, yeah, I really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed her book. The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard. People would be shouting at us for not only. Room at the Top, John Brain. A grave for a dolphin. Alberto Dendid D.

Now it sounds like he's making up a few books just to pad it out. A grave for a dolphin. Room at the Top. The outsider. Yes. That's another... My favourite. Colin Wilson.

Lolita. Yes, well, one of the best books I've ever read. Do you still think? It does last time you read it? Well, I read at university, but I don't know. I have re-read it maybe six years ago. and I didn't feel about it now that it was a love story, but I think Nabokov is the best at writing.

I'd like to read it, especially because we talked about it with Claire Dedera's book. Yes. Monsters. Maybe that's when I reread it. Yeah, it'd be interesting because she talks about it so much in that amazing book. If you haven't read that one, that's amazing. Yeah. 1984.

Yeah, classic. Classic. Absolutely classic. Love it. The Street by Anne Petrie, 1946. And also it's a woman for 94th. Oh my goodness, this looks interesting for our go modern classic.

Oh, The Street is a novel, published in 19446 by African-American writer Anne Petrie set in World War II era Harlem. It's a commentary on the social injustices that confront her character. Wow, I've never heard of that. That sounds really interesting, doesn't it? Thanks, David.

Oh, thanks, David. Tells the heart-bane story of Lutie Johnson. A young black woman has spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence. Okay, that sounds like it's going to be heart-wrecking. Yeah. And the last one is Black Boy by Richard Wright, which, let's have a look at that to check what. Black Boy by Richard Wright.

Memoir by American author Richard Wright detailing his upbringing, describing his youth in the south, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. And his eventual move to Chicago where he established his writing career and becomes involved with the Communist Party. Ooh, that also sounds really interesting. Really, really good. And I'd never heard of those books. I guess they sound like they're bigger American books. Oh, and that's so the book, the. The year, the first one is 95. That's where he began. When does, when was David Barry born?

And what star sign was he? And when did he write this list? Okay, I can tell, I'm pretty sure he's a Gemini. Let's check. He'd better be. He's the 8th of January. It's a Capcom. Oh, lovely. Eight of January, 97. So this earliest book is two years before he's born, but he's a Capricorn. And he's the same birthday as Elvis. Ooh, yeah. And Peter Andre. I'm joking. It would be funny if there was a third. Yeah. My friend, Chris.

Yeah, but someone who's also in music saying, guess who's got the same birthday is me, Elvis and David Bowie. And Dane from Blue. Yeah, yeah. Dane Bowers. Dane Bowers. Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it? So there's some amazing, it's an amazing list.

It's amazing list. It's great. And doing these kind of lists are really fun because you, whoever you are listening, I could do this kind of list and then discuss it with a friend. Because it's fun to think, yeah, okay, what's really staged moving, what do I remember, like, loving at the time and thinking that straight in the top three. But I think he's done, it's a good list.

It covers like history, music, and his genuine interests. He's interested in America. He's interested in Russia. He's interested in 1920s Britain. And there is something online called the Bowery Book Club where I think they read them all. Yeah. And it took them eight years to read. Okay.

I hope they don't listen to this episode. Well, they think they read them and went through them. Do they have then recommendations from the 100? So I think he did this. 2013. That's why none of our books are mentioned. Yeah, that's, yeah, why didn't he mention that? That's weird, because I know he loved, he loved Animal, didn't he? Oh, he just, um, tweeted me about it. Oh, yeah, he sent you a DM, didn't he? But yeah, I think it's a very, I think it's a solid list. It's really, really good. Not enough women. There's probably not enough women on there, to be fair.

There's, like, maybe four women. Yeah. Yeah, David, not enough women. But like, but probably honest to what he has also read, because I'd face it more if he just, tried to, for instance, evenly split the genders for the sake of it. Yeah. I enjoyed that and we've got some book recommendations. What would be on your list, Sarah, can you think? I think this is what we should do for Patreon.

I think we should do like 10 of our faves. Okay, so that sort of moulded us. So heat now, more, Ms, bliss, sugar. And then chuck a book in. And then gives me three books. Instagram. Instagram and a book. Also the one show.

and friends. It's still going to be a fun Patreon episode to talk about. Yes, we'll do it on Patreon. We'll do it on Patreon. And let's know if you've read any of those. I want to know there's one we skipped over that you were like, I can't believe you didn't talk about the leopard in more detail. Tell us.

Tell us. And now, if I was you, I would now put on station to station. Just sit there and listen to the entire album. Don't move because it's one of those albums that you can just sit there. There's like 50-minute tracks on this area. Is that the last album he made? No, no, no. That's Black Star.

Well, actually, well, okay. You know, guys, don't start quoting me. Yeah. I get confused between the one before he found, he knew he had cancer, and then the actual last one, which I think is Black Star, but I know someone's screaming at me now, so now I have to Google that. No, no one's screaming. Oh, they would be.

And then if after that, you want to put on Back for Good or, it only takes a minute, girl. Yeah, Black Star was the last album, so. But you won't be sitting still listening to that. You'll be up on your feet, having a boogie. The next day. The next day is the one he released the year before he died. And then Black Star came out after he died.

Black Sal came out like a couple of days before he died, I think. And I remember listening to it. And because I'm terrible at listening to lyrics, I listen to Melody, this apparently is slightly neurodiverse thing. My husband turned around and was like, this whole album is about death? Because he only listened to it. I was like, is it?

I've just been listening to the lovely tune. And then the next day it was announced to him that he died. Oh. Oh, because he was like, yeah. Thank you, David. It's really nice to spend some time with you. Oh. Goodbye, Sarah.

Goodbye. Goodbye, Carrie. I'm Amanda Holden. I'm Amanda Holden. Goodbye.