BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week

[ShellShock]

Every week in the UK the BBC broadcasts on Radio 4 excerpts from the "book of the week"; generally the book is non-fiction, with an understandably British bias (but not exclusively so). You can find out more about the programme here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qftk.

I rarely listen to the broadcast, but I do use the programme's web site for book recommendations - now when I am looking for a good (non-fiction) book to read, I simply browse through the list of previous episodes (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qftk/episodes/guide) to see if anything takes my fancy. I have not been disappointed so far, and I read a much more eclectic list than I would have otherwise. Generally the books are well written, very readable, and deserving of a wider audience than they would normally get.

I have just finished Gold Fever (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gold-Fever-M...rds=gold+fever), which was book of the week last week, and I can recommend it:

One Thursday in 2008 the price of gold went above a thousand dollars an ounce for the first time in history. All over the world, at least in countries with gold-bearing soil, people with no experience of prospecting began shopping for shovels and pickaxes, gold pans, tents, generators and all manner of equipment they had no idea how to use. And off they went mining.

Steve Boggan followed them, packing his bags and flying to San Francisco to join the 21st century’s gold rush in a quest to understand the allure of the metal – and maybe find a bit for himself, too. He also takes us back in time to the original San Fransiscan gold rush, two centuries ago, and gets a crash course in the science and economics of gold. Written with Boggan’s characteristic wit and self-effacing charm, Gold Rush is a hugely entertaining travelogue and a unique insight into the history and future of the world’s most seductive metal.

There are wealth of other good books to choose from on the Book of the Week web site. Of course you still need to go to your favourite book provider to actually buy them.