After admiring the many animal artefacts dotted around Dougie’s flat – from a saber-toothed tiger’s skull to glass cases filled with extinct insects - he and Mariella settle down to chat about the McFly star’s favourite books of all time. A whopping three tales are dedicated to one of his biggest interests in life: dinosaurs! Whilst discussing Michael Crichton’s 1990’s fictional classic “Jurassic Park”, his most loved non-fiction book “The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs” by Stephen Brusatte, and...

After winding through the sunny streets of Bristol to the O2, Mariella finds NAO fresh from her sound check in a cosy, dark corner of the venue’s bar. As the pair discuss NAO’s female-focused book choices, they uncover interesting themes from her life. Her astonishing personal story is slowly explored, with NAO discussing her journey from growing up sharing a bed with her siblings, to getting a prestigious scholarship to the Guildhall, becoming a SoundCloud sensation, to starting her own...

After escaping from the rain in Brian’s tree house hotel, Mariella sets out to discover the books that have shaped the life and brain of Britain’s favourite physicist. As a precursor to listing his choices, Brian explains the important link between the arts and the sciences, explaining how he has always combined the two fields when searching for the answers to the big questions that form the basis of his work: ‘why are we here?, what’s the meaning of life?, how did it all begin?’ This...

Travelling by train to Somerset, Mariella visits Carlos Acosta in his secluded fairy tale home. Managing to sneak away from his doting children, the pair settle down to discuss his books to live by. From the first book he ever read at 25 years old (following a tough childhood in Havana that excluded reading) to the books he himself has gone on to author, Carlos details his extraordinary life story and the role that reading has played throughout it. Through his choices learn how his tough,...

Oscar winning star Cate Blanchett invites Mariella to her home in the South Downs to peruse her bookshelves. After being greeted at the door by Doug the Pug, the pair settle down to discuss Cate’s most loved books, discovering the role they’ve played throughout her life – whether as part of her Australian childhood or influencing her performances on stage and screen. In her picture book choice you’ll meet the Bunyip – a mythological creature whose story she loved so much she now reads it...

Join Mariella as she visits the rural retreat of Dominic West, star of The Wire and Les Misérables, to unveil his secret hopes and fears through the books he loves. You’ll discover his favourite story to read his children, the travel classic that sent him on his way and the surprising autobiography he highly rates. Stick around and you’ll even witness him reading aloud his most treasured graphic erotic poetry. Mariella learns how these books have inspired and guided him throughout his...

Hear about the books that have shaped the lives of globally celebrated movers and shakers, as Mariella visits them in their homes, hotels and dressing rooms to find out why their reading matters.