The singer-songwriter, whose album "The Last Ship" will be released this week, says his favorite novels are really extended songs: "What is ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude' if not an opera?" I enjoyed Hilary Mantel's "Bring Up the Bodies," almost as much as I enjoyed its predecessor, "Wolf Hall." Her portrait of Thomas Cromwell is complex and largely sympathetic to a character that is usually cast darkly and exclusively as Henry VIII's "muscle." I enjoyed Nathaniel Philbrick's treatment of the American War of Independence in "Bunker Hill" for similar reasons, a well-researched story proving to be more nuanced and compelling than a well-established myth...

Sting will be appearing on the Today show on 24 September and be making an appearance on the Letterman show on 30 September. Check your local TV listings for timings!