The Joy of Books

Monica Galetti is an acclaimed chef, MasterChef: The Professionals judge and cookbook author. In this episode of The Joy of Books from the National Literacy Trust, she shares the books that have travelled with her from Samoa to New Zealand, across Europe and into London's top kitchens.

Monica remembers a childhood on a Samoan plantation, raised by her aunties among cocoa trees and family feasts. She moved to New Zealand at eight without speaking a word of English, and learned the language through Dr Seuss and trips to the library with her mum. She reads from The Cat in the Hat, Little Miss Sunshine and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the books she shared with her daughter Anaïs in their bedtime reading corner. She has since taken copies of The Very Hungry Caterpillar back to her old primary school in Samoa.

She also opens up about her faith and her daily Bible reading. She reads the poem that has comforted her through grief since the loss of her late partner, and explains how a notebook from a friend helped her write her way through it. Along the way she talks about the novels she escapes into on holiday, a much-loved Jay Rayner book given to her by Michel Roux Jr, and her early days at Le Gavroche. She also talks about Gathering, her most personal cookbook yet, which she started writing after her father died.
The Joy of Books with Gaby Huddart is a Pixiu Podcast for The National Literacy Trust.
For more information on The National Literacy Trust and The Joy of Books visit our website
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Actor and author Paterson Joseph, known for Peep Show, Wonka, Vigil and Boat Story, joins Gaby Huddart to talk about the books that shaped his life.
Paterson grew up in a busy St Lucian family above a shop on Willesden High Road. Kwéyòl was spoken at home until he was three. At school he felt overlooked, and by 13 he was skipping lessons to spend whole days reading in the reference section of Willesden Green Library. He talks about how The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe hooked him on reading, how he got through piles of Mills & Boon, and how he listened to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on tape every night for three years. He also explains how reading The Merchant of Venice aloud at 14 showed him that words could be performed.

He tells Gaby about finding his way into acting, playing Horatio opposite Ralph Fiennes on Broadway, and why he sees Julius Caesar as Shakespeare's African play. He also explains how his novel The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho and his children's book 10 Children Who Changed the World use "critical fabulation" to tell the stories of people history has left out.
The Joy of Books with Gaby Huddart is a Pixiu Podcast for The National Literacy Trust.
For more information on The National Literacy Trust and The Joy of Books visit our website
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, kept the nation moving through lockdown. In this episode of The Joy of Books from the National Literacy Trust, he tells Gaby Huddart about the books that helped him through a difficult childhood and the ones that have shaped the dad he is today.
Joe talks openly about growing up with a mum who struggled with OCD and anxiety and a dad who was addicted to heroin. School was his safe place, but he wasn't a reader. Even so, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory got his imagination going, and Of Mice and Men was the first book to move him to tears. Later, Anthony Kiedis's Scar Tissue gave him hope about addiction and recovery. Kate Silverton's There's No Such Thing as Naughty taught him to be "the wise owl" rather than shout, and he says it changed his life.

Joe has read 15 books in the past year. He talks about Empire of Pain, Careless People, Supremacy and Ultra-Processed People, the book that led to his Channel 4 documentary. He also explains the daily 6pm "phone-free dad" alarm that makes time for bedtime stories. Along the way, he reads from Roald Dahl, shares two poems tied to his dad's recovery, Footprints in the Sand and The Serenity Prayer, and reads out a shark-filled story by his six-year-old son Marley.

Joe is an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust's Go All In campaign for the National Year of Reading 2026. He talks about rediscovering his local library, his Burpee Bears children's books and his new family cookbook, Healthy Start. It's a warm, funny and honest conversation about how reading can change a life at any age.
The Joy of Books with Gaby Huddart is a Pixiu Podcast for The National Literacy Trust.
For more information on The National Literacy Trust and The Joy of Books visit our website
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Broadcaster Sophie Raworth joins Gaby Huddart on The Joy of Books to share the stories that have made her laugh, helped her through loss and kept her turning the pages — even on a 20-mile run.

From childhood memories of her father reading The Hobbit to the treasured books her grandmother gave her, Sophie reflects on a lifelong love of reading. She reveals why Lessons in Chemistry made her laugh out loud, how Lonesome Dove sparked an unexpected obsession with cowboys, and why When the Cranes Fly South moved her so deeply after her father’s death.

Plus, Sophie discusses her debut memoir, Running on Air, and the surprising connections between running marathons, presenting the news and finding the confidence to keep going. Expect heartfelt recommendations, much-loved childhood poetry and a story about diving with a young Jason Statham.
The Joy of Books with Gaby Huddart is a Pixiu Podcast for The National Literacy Trust.
For more information on The National Literacy Trust and The Joy of Books visit our website
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What do Sherlock Holmes, a childhood copy of The Wind in the Willows and a late-night reading habit have to do with becoming a space scientist?
In the first episode of The Joy of Books, from the National Literacy Trust, Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock shares the stories that sparked her imagination, offered an escape during a difficult childhood and helped her dream big.

From discovering Heidi while struggling with undiagnosed dyslexia to getting lost in science fiction, Maggie explores how books opened up new worlds—and why creativity is just as important in science as it is in storytelling. She also recalls reading by torchlight at boarding school, bringing bedtime stories enthusiastically to life for her daughter, and sharing her love of the Moon with Tom Hanks.

Along the way, Maggie reveals the treasured book she’d take into space, the poetry that inspires her and the novel she thinks every adult should read.
The Joy of Books with Gaby Huddart is a Pixiu Podcast for The National Literacy Trust.
For more information on The National Literacy Trust and The Joy of Books visit our website
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.