Reading Matters (week 17) April 21 2026

Our gut controls everything, from the way our brains function to our weight. And the hot new word for good guts is fermentation.

Chronic disease, we learn in Gut Health: The South African Guide, (Jonathan Ball) has risen sharply in the past 50 years. Vickie de Beer, an award winning food writer who has bridged the gap between culinary creativity and medical science told me that the simple act of cooking from scratch can transform our, and our family’s health, forever. She has co-written the book with gastroenterologist Dr Stephen Schmidt, who says that real healing doesn’t come from a prescription pad, “it begins in the gut.” This beautifully produced book includes 80 gut-healing recipes.

I gave a sneak preview into neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst Mark Solms‘ book, The Only Cure (Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Jonathan Ball). What a title, what a book from the expert on Sigmund Freud. Can’t wait to read it and interview Solms.

David Attenborough turns 100 on 8 May and part of the extensive celebrations for this modest and world-changing author and scientist is, Ocean: Earth’s Last Wilderness. (John Murray / Jonathan Ball) It is co-written with Colin Butfield, co-founder of Open Planet. David has filmed in every ocean habitat on our planet and his vast knowledge, combined with his warmth and intelligence reveals, ‘our most vital habitat’ and the extraordinary creatures within it. Mind boggling and incredibly informative. Get it.

Reading Matters with Sue Grant-Marshall