WHAT BOOK would thriller writer John Connolly take to a desert island? John Connolly is reading Bloody Sam, a biography of director Sam Peckinpah He would take George Eliot’s Middle or a DIY book to a desert island Thriller writer said Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner left him cold By Daily Mail Reporter Published: … Read more
HISTORY SICILY ’43 by James Holland (Bantam £25, 640 pp) Sicily was a tough nut to crack for the Allied forces from Britain, Canada and the U.S., who landed on the enemy-occupied Mediterranean island in the blistering summer of 1943. They came from fighting Rommel’s tanks on the wide open deserts of North Africa to … Read more
BOOK OF THE WEEK THE GRAN TOUR by Ben Aitken (Icon £14.99, 306 pp) When Ben Aitken discovers that for £109 he can get a four-night coach trip to Scarborough, with a cooked breakfast every morning, three-course dinner every night and excursions to York and Whitby, his first thought is: ‘That’s how much my sister … Read more
WHAT BOOK would author and illustrator Tony Ross take to a desert island? Tony, a resolute royalist, is halfway through Elizabeth II by Nicholas Davies He would take The Kenneth Williams Diaries by Russell Davies to a desert island The illustrator was first turned on to reading by his Rupert books He could not summon up any … Read more
FAMILY House of music by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason (Oneworld £18.00, 320 pp) When Dr Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason opens the bathroom door at her family home in Nottingham, she smiles at the pockmarked linoleum which gives the impression ‘a lively woodpecker has been at work’. The line of dents leads to the toilet seat where her third child, … Read more
NATURE Rewild Yourself by Simon Barnes (Simon & Schuster £8.99, 208 pp) How do you fancy sitting on a damp patch of ground for hours on end, not moving a muscle, unable even to scratch your nose when it itches? It may sound like a form of torture, but for Simon Barnes this ‘bottomless sit’, … Read more
SOCIETY Sealand by Dylan Taylor-Lehman (Icon £16.99, 320 pp) Sealand, ‘the true story of the world’s most stubborn micronation’ — a micronation being defined as ‘an invented country within the territory of an established nation, whose boundaries go unrecognised on the world stage’ — is a celebration of British eccentricity. The hero is Roy Bates, … Read more
MEMOIR NOT THE TYPE by Camilla Thurlow (John Blake £16.99, 288 pp) Camilla Thurlow was not exactly your average Love Island contestant when she appeared on the reality dating show in 2017. She was not, like many islanders, a personal trainer, sexy scaffolder or nebulous influencer. Thurlow’s job was far more dangerous: explosive ordinance disposal … Read more
BOOK OF THE WEEK Fatherhood by Charlie Gilmour (Weidenfeld £15.99, 288 pp) Featherhood, it would be tempting to say, is where Helen Macdonald’s H Is For Hawk meets Gerald Durrell’s My Family And Other Animals. But Charlie Gilmour’s memoir is so original and ingeniously wrought, it stands on its own as a book to which … Read more
What makes an Olympic champion: New book explores the common attributes of elite athletes – from being a younger sibling to loving the ‘agony’ of training Annie Vernon won two world championships and an Olympic silver for rowing She explores what makes elite athletes elite in a fascinating new book Author points out skills are … Read more
WHAT BOOK would journalist Sophia Money-Coutts take to a desert island? Sophia Money-Coutts reveals she is reading City Of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert The book she’d take to a desert island is Bill Bryson’s Notes From A Big Country And tells how Richmal Crompton’s Just William stories first got her reading By Sophia Money-coutts For The … Read more
Why bookshops are literally to die for: Martin Latham, who has sold books for more than 30 years, explores the history of books, and why we love them so much Martin Latham, manager of Waterstones in Canterbury, tells the bookseller’s tale He explores the history of book and packs the memoir with touching stories ‘Unstuffy’ … Read more
HEALTH The Lazarus Strategy : How To Age Well And Wisely by Norman Lazarus (Yellow Kite £14.99, 192 pp) The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, as W. C. Fields observed, ‘a man is lucky to get out of it alive’. When the coronavirus arrived, for example, and volunteers were needed to … Read more