Whether writing her recent advice column in the Daily Telegraph or penning her successful books - Everything I’ve Ever Learned About Love and Everything I’ve Ever Done That Worked - Lesley Garner is a font of sound, witty and frank counsel and straightforward common sense. It has made her a voice to be listened to and to learn from. In her latest book she has produced something rather special. As she explains, it is based on four deeply-held beliefs : ‘We cannot change others, only ourselves. We know more than we think we do. We find the answers in stillness. And, the fourth truth, which I have learned from thousands of people: we are not alone.’ Come and enjoy and truly rewarding hour.

Pram-friendly event. A room will be set aside for those who need to park a pram, so that you can enjoy some stimulation in a relaxed atmosphere without feeling awkward about dipping in and out.

Life Lessons - Things I Wish I’d Learned Earlier - Hay House
Sponsored by Joules Clothing

Relax, have a cup of coffee, admire the view and enjoy the wonders of the spoken word. Nothing typifies the values and traditions of the Festival more than the River Readings. Some of the greatest poetry written is about love and war and this year Nansi Diamond has made her evocative selection of prose and poetry from this rich creative seam. Join leading actor Jeremy Child, Sally Nesbitt, Richard Howard, Susie Fairfax and Fiona Hayden-Cadd as the boat gently drifts downstream and enjoy some of the greatest lines ever written.

In a touching and amusing memoir, playwright and actor Terence Frisby recalls being evacuated with his brother Jack from their home on the outskirts of wartorn London to a Cornish village. Their mother sent them with a postcard code - one kiss meant she should come and get them, two meant it was all right and three kisses that it was fine. The boys sent a postcard covered in kisses. Terence - who will be introduced by Andrew Trotman - wrote the hit West End comedy, There’s a Girl in My Soup, made into a film with Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn.

Kisses on a Postcard - Bloomsbury

The much-loved, much-read columnists from The Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine, Lucy Cavendish and Bryony Gordon, bring their double act of Country Mother of Four and Single Girl About Town to Henley. Will Bryony ever find love? Will Lucy ever find her children’s socks? And see how art mirrors life in Cavendish’s latest book, A Storm in a Teacup - Penguin, where heroine Samatha Smythe heads off to the seaside with her four children in tow in the belief that the holiday will somehow resolve all their problems. Naturally, her husband is absent at all moments of crisis. The dynamic duo will be interviewed by Lesley Ebbetts

Pram-friendly event. A room will be set aside for those who need to park a pram, so that you can enjoy some stimulation in a relaxed atmosphere without feeling awkward about dipping in and out.

Sponsored by Joules Clothing

Poets from Reading’s own Two Rivers Press read their river poetry in company with popular Festival contributor Jane Draycott. T S Eliot Prize nominee and poet in residence at the River & Rowing Museum. Featuring Kate Noakes and Lesley Saunders’ new work Waterscape, Peter Robinson’s atmospheric river poems about the Kennet, Thames, Mersey and other waterways, and the widely acclaimed performer AF Harrold reading from his latest book Flood

The enthralling and amusing school inspector turns his attention to growing old. In his case, it is not about a leisurely walk to the pub for a game of dominoes or snoozing in his favourite armchair. This sparkling collection of the cream of his best-selling, humorous writing looks back over more than 60 years of family life, teaching, inspecting schools, writing and public speaking. Brimming with nostalgia, gently mocking life’s absurdities, twinkly-eyed Phinn is never shy of an opinion.

Out of the Woods But Not Over the Hill - Hodder
This event is sponsored by the Best of Henley

No matter if you’re a daily addict, a Sunday omnibus fan, or only an occasional listener, the Archers are part of Britain’s broadcasting history. And here is a lady who has played the role of Peggy Archer for an astonishing 60 years. A sprightly 91 years old, she is the only remaining member of the original cast. There’s nothing about Ambridge that she doesn’t know but there’s much more to her than Peggy Archer. ‘She hasn’t much of a sense of humour,’ says Spencer. ‘Thank goodness I have – and often at the most inappropriate moments.’ Join her for an exclusive preview of her autobiography where she will be interviewed by the Daily Telegraph's Gillian Reynolds.

Ambridge: My Life with Peggy Archer - JR Books

Lucy Mangan and Imogen Edwards-Jones come together to talk about their knowledge of weddings - the disasters and the triumphs, the laughter and the tears. Mangan’s The Reluctant Bride - John Murray is subtitled One Woman’s Journey (Kicking and Screaming) Down the Aisle. She’s not pregnant, in debt or in need of a passport, so what makes a marriage sceptic finally decide to tie the knot and go through the kind of activities she has spent her entire adult life avoiding. In the latest of the hugely successful Babylon series, Wedding Babylon - Corgi, Edwards-Jones lifts the veil on the excesses of the wedding industry - the scams which inflate the prices of everything from flowers to cakes to marquee hire. It highlights how the dream day is never far from becoming a nightmare. Do bridesmaids’ dresses always have to be so hideous? And does the best man’s speech really need to be so awful? Lucy and Imogen will be interviewed by journalist and novelist Jane Gordon.

Pram-friendly event. A room will be set aside for those who need to park a pram, so that you can enjoy some stimulation in a relaxed atmosphere without feeling awkward about dipping in and out.

Sponsored by Joules Clothing

Two best-selling authors whose latest books are centred on romance, intrigue and temptation are interviewed by Lesley Ebbetts, about what inspires them, how they go about their craft, and the margins between fiction and real life. Santa Montefiore’s The Affair - Hodder tells how happily married Angelica meets a charismatic South African - and what starts as a long distance friendship grows into something deeper. In The Last Letter from Your Lover - Hodder, Jojo Moyes delves into what happens when a journalist looks through her newspaper’s archives for a story and discovers a letter from 1960, written by a man asking his lover to leave her husband.

Pram-friendly event. A room will be set aside for those who need to park a pram, so that you can enjoy some stimulation in a relaxed atmosphere without feeling awkward about dipping in and out.

Sponsored by Joules Clothing

When Thomas Sackville bought Knole as his family home in Kent in 1604, he little thought that 13 generations of his aristocratic family would live there for over 400 years. One descendant, the novelist Vita Sackville-West, saw the Sackvilles as ‘too amorous, too weak, too indolent and too melancholy; a rotten lot, and nearly all stark staring mad.’ Robert, the current Baron Sackville, will be interviewed by Andrew Trotman as he takes us through the vivid family history of Knole, known as the ‘calendar’ house as it is reputed to have 365 rooms and 52 staircases.

Inheritance - The story of Knole and the Sackvilles - Bloomsbury

From famous faces to local heroes, professional portrait photographer Charles Glover has spent the last decade capturing people’s lives with his lens. He has built up a collection of striking portraits that give new insights and challenge our preconceptions of people we might think we ‘know’ - from Sir Bob Geldof to Sir Richard Branson, Andrew Motion to Sir Steve Redgrave. He will be interviewed by Lucy Cavendish.

One of Fleet Street’s finest photographers,Clive Limpkin is obsessed with India and travels there regularly. His visits have produced a stunning book of photographs with his own poignant and witty commentary. He will be interviewed by one of the outstanding names of British and Indian music,the song-writer,producer and composer Biddu.

India Exposed - The Subcontinent A - Z - Abbeville Press

Come along with a pad, pen and sense of humour. Like flash dating but in the world of fiction, Lucy describes it as 'the best fun I've had in one night!' A fun, exciting way to get writing as fast as possible, meet new people and unleash the talent within. This event will last around two hours, and refreshments will be available.

Actor, author, playwright, director, producer and photographer Steven Berkoff returns to London’s Jewish East End for his memoir of a misspent youth. It is nostalgic, but not in the way of warm beer and endless summers. We learn how the man, born Leslie Berks two years before the outbreak of WWII, lived a hand to mouth existence. His family dodged the bombs when the Blitz started, moved to Luton when their home was destroyed, and joined the street celebrations when VE Day finally came. Berkoff’s early years were tough; his mother caring to the point of doting but his often absent father aggressive - until Steven outgrew him at 14 and the violence ended. An upbringing that helped define one of our leading theatrical figures who will introduced by the Daily Telegraph columnist Gillian Reynolds.

Diary of a Juvenile Delinquent - JR Books

No one who listened to John O’Sullivan at last year’s Festival will forget his passion, his humour, his intensity and that wonderful lilting Irish voice as he read his very personal poems. Born in Sligo, this extraordinary man toured the world and went to 55 countries before settling in Bali. Listen to him in the intimate surroundings of the Hot Gossip café.

Indian food has a very special place in our culture, but how many of us actually cook it at home? Help is at hand courtesy of the Kaul sisters - Priya, Sereena and Alexa - born in Kashmir and brought up in Derbyshire. It all began for them when they would rush home from school to watch their mother make delicious dahl, korma and rogan josh with fresh spices brought from Kashmir. They now have a spice box of their own with thirteen essential spices and have collected 100 simple-to-make family recipes. And to show how easy it is, the three sisters will be demonstrating their family skills - prepare those taste buds.

The Three Sisters Indian Cookbook - Simon Schuster