Phil The Shelf

Phil the Shelf is the BBC Radio Wales book programme written and presented by Phil Rickman - basically the antidote to all those terribly-earnest book programmes you might have yawned through elsewhere. Phil the Shelf is about the books people actually read, as distinct from the ones they say they read or are told they should be reading.

This is the programme which will sometimes tell you which massively-promoted, fulsomely-reviewed bestsellers are actually deeply tedious. Sometimes we also tell the authors. Some well-known authors won't speak to us any more. Fortunately, as we don't broadcast from London, we know we're unlikely to run into them at a cocktail party.

The one disadvantage of not broadcasting from London is that, if you don't live in Wales, the western half of England, or South West Scotland, you may not be able to pick us up on 882 or 657 medium wave or 93-96 and 104 FM.

However, you should be able to listen in online at www.bbc.co.uk/radiowales.

Or, if you're in Britain with a digital TV, there's also digital satellite 867.

Apparently.

You can find out when the current or the next series of Phil the Shelf is running by emailing radio.wales@bbc.co.uk

There you are, then: BBC Radio Wales: Your Nation, Your Station. or, if you're outside Wales, Their Nation, Your Station.