It's a very revealing programme, With Great Pleasure (Tuesdays, Radio 4, 11.30am) – or maybe Ben Fogle is just a very open person. He certainly has an honest complexion. The adventurer launched the new season with a collection of books that included Enid Blyton, Barbara Kingsolver, Joe Simpson and WE Bowman. "When I read the list to my wife, over the satellite phone, there was a sharp intake of breath. 'Cor, they're a bit heavy, aren't they?'." I like the way adventurers can never use a satellite phone without mentioning the fact that it's no ordinary phone. And I also like the fact that his wife is clearly being sarcastic, and he hasn't noticed.

There was one heavy item, Ben Okri's The Famished Road, a rare book that creates an appetite for itself as it goes along. Like booze. Most extracts really don't make you want to drop everything and immediately read the whole book, but that's not really the point. If you want something to read, may I refer you to the oeuvre of Sue MacGregor? This is more a capsule-person, you can hear in a person's choices the way he wishes to be perceived (in this case, sunny, deep and, erm, adventurous), there's something naked about it, and endearing. I think, paradoxically, the lack of an interviewer makes the subject more talkative. Not that I'm trying to diss Desert Island Discs. God no.