Podcasts: books

We’re talking about reading longer texts, like novels, in English. Language editor Joanna Westcombe explains that this kind of “extensive reading” can help you improve your English in many ways.

In the September issue of Spotlight magazine, we’re taking a journey to England to learn about a writer loved by countless people around the world: Agatha Christie.

In Spotlight plus this month, we explore phrases and idioms that have to do with books and reading. Let’s practise a few of these. I’ll read a sentence with an idiom, and give you two possible meanings.

The cover topic of the June Spotlight is summer reading for 2011. Let's listen to an excerpt from the audiobook of one of our recommendations: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, by David Sedaris.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible translation. Let’s listen now to two passages from the King James Bible, read by David Case from Britain.

His wife once described him as "short, fat, balding and Catholic", but he is also known as Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes and, more recently, as Baron Fellowes of West Stafford.

The Old Farmer's Almanac proves that information for farmers doesn't have to be boring, as we learn in this week's podcast.

Are you as much a fan of crime writing as our deputy editor, Claudine Weber-Hof? Test your knowledge against hers in a quick quiz now.

This month's Travelogs is about the relationship that American writer Ernest Hemingway had to a great European city: Venice. Here's Claudine Weber-Hof with more.

Let's follow Anne Alexander Sieder to Los Angeles for a mystery lover's tour of the city. As you listen, try to find the answer to this question: In what year did L.A.'s biggest unsolved murder mystery happen?