Mishal Husain: BBC journalist shares her six favourite books
Newsreader and Radio 4 presenter picks works by Louisa May Alcott, Jamil Ahmad and more

The journalist, newsreader and presenter of BBC Radio 4's "Today" chooses her six favourite books.
Her new memoir, "Broken Threads: My Family From Empire to Independence", is out now.
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott, 1868-1886
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Not so much the best-known first one, but the follow-ups, in which Jo sets up a school with her husband, and Alcott charts the lives of the boys who come there. I loved the entire quintet through my teenage years.
The Wandering Falcon
Jamil Ahmad, 2011
This can be seen as a novella or a series of linked short stories, but either way it's a poignant portrait of life in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are age-old customs, social mores and privations, as well as conflict with nation-state ideology. The "falcon" of the title is actually a little boy, struggling to survive.
The Past Is Myself
Christabel Bielenberg, 1968
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
I read this autobiography of a British woman's life in Nazi Germany after seeing "Christabel", the BBC series it inspired, in the 1980s. Written with simplicity, directness and humanity, it laid the ground for my own interest in history as reflected in family stories.
The Ordinary Princess
M.M. Kaye, 1980
A children's story about a princess whose fairy godmothers turn up at her christening, bestowing gifts such as wit. The final one, Crustacea, arrives in a bad mood and gives the baby ordinariness instead.
King Leopold's Ghost
Adam Hochschild, 1998
A horrifying, brilliantly told account of colonialism as a personal enterprise, describing the Belgian king's "acquisition" and brutal plunder of Congo.
Selected Poems
Louis MacNeice, 1944
This volume by the under-appreciated, Belfast-born MacNeice contains the lyrical "Autumn Journal", written in – and about – the autumn of 1938. It powerfully conjures up ordinary life in England amid the hovering threat of war.
-
10 concert tours to see this fall
The Week Recommends Concert tour season isn't over. Check out these headliners.
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful north
The Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashion
In the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Video games to curl up with this fall, including Ghost of Yotei and LEGO Party
The Week Recommends Several highly anticipated video games are coming this fall
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fans
The Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'
The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painter
The Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
Born With Teeth: ‘mischievously provocative’ play starring Ncuti Gatwa
The Week Recommends ‘Sprightly’ production from Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe