Society STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES by Richard Holloway (Canongate £16.99, 272pp) How does a child begin to understand the stars, the menace of thunder — or the death of a grandparent? How can any of us explain human cruelty and can anything help us come to terms with suffering? Who can teach us how to … Read more
WHAT BOOK would comedian and presenter Julian Clary take to a desert island? Julian Clary is reading Babes In The Wood by Graham Bartlett and Peter James The comedian would take The Ultimate Insult by Maria Leach to a desert island Presenter said Mark Griffin’s All That Heaven Allows left him feeling cold By Daily Mail … Read more
Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces by Laura Tunbridge, a professor of music at Oxford, sees the author take nine pieces of music and use each one to illustrate a key theme of Beethoven’s life.
PICTURE BOOKS MINI RABBIT MUST HELP by John Bond (HarperCollins £12.99) Another outing for the willing but accident-prone Mini Rabbit who is tasked by his surprisingly trusting mother with urgently posting a very important letter in the nearby town . . . Chaos ensues, of course, but there’s a funny ending and the pictures are … Read more
Roger Alton picked out a selection of the best non-fiction books to read this summer. He says Nigel: My Family And Other Dogs by Monty Don is guaranteed to lift even the lowest spirit.
WHAT BOOK would novelist Oyinkan Braithwaite take to a desert island? Oyinkan Braithwaite is currently reading The Chain by Adrian McKinty She would take Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte to a desert island Novelist revealed Mrs Rochester by Hilary Bailey left her cold By Daily Mail Reporter Published: 22:02 BST, 2 July 2020 | Updated: 22:10 BST, … Read more
HISTORY THE NEXT FIFTY THINGS THAT MADE THE MODERN ECONOMY by Tim Harford (Bridge Street £20, 352pp) Who invented canned food? Who first thought of pensions? Whose idea was it that the first row on a typewriter should read QWERTYUIOP? These are things I didn’t know I didn’t know, and didn’t know that I wanted … Read more
MEMOIR THE BEATLES AND BEYOND by Don Short (Wymer £14.99, 254pp) This rollicking memoir — a veritable treasure trove of anecdote and gossip — is not so much a trip down Memory Lane as a star-strewn cavalcade down Memory Motorway. Don Short is the uncrowned king of showbusiness reporters. Anyone who grew up reading the … Read more
PSYCHOS By Christena Appleyard for the Daily Mail Published: 22:01 BST, 2 July 2020 | Updated: 22:01 BST, 2 July 2020 FINDERS, KEEPERS by Sabine Durrant (Hodder £14.99, 320 pp) FINDERS, KEEPERS by Sabine Durrant (Hodder £14.99, 320 pp) Verity Baxter is a lonely lexicographer and we are treated to a new word with its … Read more
DEBUTS By Fanny Blake for the Daily Mail Published: 22:01 BST, 2 July 2020 | Updated: 22:01 BST, 2 July 2020 THE MARGOT AFFAIR by Sanaë Lemoine (Sceptre £16.99, 336pp) THE MARGOT AFFAIR by Sanaë Lemoine (Sceptre £16.99, 336pp) Seventeen-year-old Margot Louve is the secret love child of Anouk, a celebrated stage actress, and Bertrand … Read more