Books that Helped Us Through: Comfort Reads

Blue Monday got you down? Jillian, Pete, and Conor share the ultimate comfort reads. The books that helped us through tough times and brought joy when we needed it most. Discover stories that soothe the soul and remind us why reading is the perfect antidote to winter blues. 

Carlo Gebler - Literary Connections

‘I write therefore I am’, Edna O’Brien, so Carlo Gebler has inherited his mother’s compulsion to write – and sits down with Jillian and Pete to talk about his own literary heritage as a writer, television director, and teacher. From the wilds of Fermanagh to the confines of prison walls Carlo tells how he has inspired and educated many.

James by Percival Everett - Our Book of the Month for January 2026

Join Peter and Jillian with the first of the New Year selection for Book of the Month. Here they meet up to discuss James by Percival Everett – shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2025, it is an alternative telling of the classic Huckleberry Finn told from the point of view of James, the runaway slave.

Looking forward – eagerly anticipated reads of 2026

Join Jillian, Pete and Conor as they wax lyrical about the books coming up in 2026. From debut authors to old favourites they reveal their very different tastes in books with their own special style of book banter covering everything from the past, the future, and the purely magical. 

Looking Back - the best books we read in 2025

Area Manager Becky joins Jillian and Pete in this episode to look back over some of the best books they have read in 2025. From thrillers and romantasy to palate cleansers and comfort reads, the trio cover a wide selection of popular choices!  

Jane Austen @ 250

We celebrate Jane Austen’s legacy - from Regency drawing rooms to Netflix adaptations. Why does she still captivate us? Celebrate 250 years of wit, irony, and unforgettable heroines with guest Jennifer Shepherd.

Irish writer Niall Williams

Niall Williams is an Irish writer of novels, plays, and non-fiction. He is known for his novels Four Letters of Love, As It Is In Heaven, Fall of the Light, History of the Rain, and This Is Happiness.

Festive Reads – What We’ll Be Reading This Christmas

Settle in by the fire as Conor, Jillian, and Peter share the immersive reads they’ll be enjoying this holiday season. 

From Detention to Devotion: Books We Learned to Love!

Area Manager Kendra joins Jillian and Conor to revisit the classics they once dreaded — and debate which ones finally won their hearts (and which didn’t).

Killing Time with Alan Bennett: Our Book of the Month

Join Jillian and Pete as they dive into our Book of the Month for November 2025 — Killing Time by the incomparable Alan Bennett. 

Prize Predictions: Inside the Booker Shortlist

Who will claim the Booker crown? Join Jillian, Pete, and Conor as they dive into this year’s shortlist, share their predictions, and debate the contenders ahead of the big announcement. 

Out of this World with RB Kelly

In this Bookcited podcast, Jillian and Conor sit down with Belfast sci-fi author RB Kelly. It’s a deep dive into imagination, genre-bending creativity, and the power of storytelling to connect and inspire.[Music by Shane M.] 

Writer. Musician. Civil servant. Rónán Hession brings it all to Bookcited

Quiet lives, loud impact - Rónán Hession on kindness, creativity, and 'Leonard and Hungry Paul'.[Music by Shane M.]

Author Jane Casey

Jane Casey talks to Jillian and Peter about the challenge of writing crime series, finding new stories to tell and maintaining the ‘will they, won’t they’ dynamic between Maeve and Josh, the two main characters.[Music by Shane M.]

Manga specialist Lucy Forrester. From Pow! to Plotlines - A Crash Course in Comic Culture. What Is a Graphic Novel?

Comic connoisseur Lucy, teams up with fellow aficionado Conor to guide Jillian through the colourful world of comics, graphic novels, and manga.[Music by Shane M.]

Author Jo Spain

Crime, characters, and killer twists! Jo Spain joins the Bookcited podcast to talk thrillers, screenwriting, and storytelling secrets. Don’t miss it![Music by Shane M.] 

Author Elly Griffiths

From romance to mysterious ancient remains with the Ruth Galloway series and now time travelling detectives, Elly Griffiths tells Peter and Jillian about her long and varied writing career. [Music by Shane M.]

Award-winning children’s author Piers Torday

Join Jillian and Pete as they deep dive into children’s author Piers Torday’s career – from vampires to werewolves and how engaging children in reading has become his life’s work. [Music by Shane M.]

Mystery, Maps, and a Baby in a Barrel – Garrett Carr’s Wild Literary Journey

Writer and mapmaker Garrett Carr takes us off the beaten track — from Killybegs to Belfast, from borders to barrels — and into the hidden stories of people and places. Now based in Belfast where he teaches Creative Writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University. Garrett’s debut novel, The Boy from the Sea, was named an Observer Best Debut of 2025.[Music by Shane M.]

100 years of The Great Gatsby

Jillian, Conor and Gatsby superfan Susan discuss a century of champagne, chaos and the American Dream - all set against the glittering backdrop of the Jazz Age.[Music by Shane M.]

Good Relations Week - Book recommendations with Karen Moreland

Book of the Month is The Lost Bookshop

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods is the Book of the Month for October - let Jillian and Pete whet your appetite for the story as they discuss everything from faeries to magical buildings, via Dublin and Paris.[Music by Shane M.]