Welcome to "Desert Island Books".

In this new format Eastbourne Literary Festival podcast episode, people are asked to share with us the 5 books that mean the most to them and why. This episode explores 5 books that mean the world to author and technologist, Charles Humble, including:

• "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame
• "Last Chance to See" by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine
• "The Passion" by Jeanette Winterson
• "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" by Carlo Rovelli
• "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel

For our 10th episode we are joined by the wonderful M.J. Buckman, local author of the award winning book “Bent is not Broken” and recently her second book, “Women of Note”.

Some of the references from this show:

• "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder
• "Bent is not Broken" by M J Buckman
• "Women of Note" by M J Buckman

For our ninth episode we are joined by a local Eastbourne writer whose debut work, it’s not exaggeration to say, defies convention and reshapes genres. Ed Bingham is the author of Broadlake — an extraordinary novel written entirely in verse, where poetry and storytelling converge to unravel a haunting mystery from beyond the veil of death.

Ed has also just published a picturebook especially for a younger audience called “The Kind Wasp” and is working on a new novel “The Five O’Clock Club” to be published in 2026.

Some of the references from this show include:

• "Broadlake" by Ed Bingham
• "The Kind Wasp" by Ed Bingham
• "A Night at the Opera" by Queen
• "Telegraph Road" by Dire Straits