'Utterly Brilliant' by Timmy Mallett

For people of a certain age, Timmy Mallett on the telly was a fixture of childhood.  During the 1980s and early '90s, he hosted the Wide Awake Club on Saturday mornings and Wacaday during school holidays, bouncing around the studio in his fluorescent-coloured clothes and wacky spectacles, cheerfully striking everyone from pop princess Kylie to prime minister Margaret Thatcher over the head with Mallett's (foam) Mallet and delivering unashamedly dodgy puns and funny sketches.  Seeing his name on the book 'Utterly Brilliant: My Life's Journey' conjured up all sorts of memories, and I was intrigued enough to want to know what he'd been up to since last brightening our screens.

'The Woman Novelist and Other Stories' by Diana Gardner

I love a short story and admire anyone who can craft a successful one.  Thanks to publishers like Persephone Books and the British Library, it's becoming ever easier to find and enjoy works that would otherwise be lost to history.  Persephone has published quite a few short story collections, and I have recently finished 'The Woman Novelist and Other Stories' by Diana Gardner.

'Illuminations' by Alan Moore

I'd not read any Alan Moore before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked up 'Illuminations', his first collection of shorter fiction. Moore is best known for his comic books, including 'Watchmen', 'From Hell' and 'V for Vendetta', but as a fan of other graphic novel alumni such as Neil Gaiman, this just told me to expect something fantastical. But that was just the start of it.

'Broken Light' by Joanne Harris

As long term readers of this blog know, I'm a sucker for an interesting premise. So when I heard 'Broken Light' by Joanne Harris described as what would've happened if Stephen King's Carrie had gained her supernatural powers with the menopause instead of at puberty, I instantly wanted to find out more.

'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus

Sometimes, I hear about a book and think 'Ooh, that sounds interesting!', but become doubtful as I hear more and more about how wonderful it is. On the one hand, I know marketers can't perform (many) miracles, but I'm also well aware that it's easy to get swept up by a wave of excitement. This is why I hesitated before reading 'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus.

'Waiting' by Ha Jin

This post is about a book that I nearly didn't read. A spring clean had created a pile of books to donate to charity, some I'd read, but also ones I'd bought but thought I'd never get round to. Then I did that thing bookish people do; decided to try reading one or two, just to be sure. The first one I've finished is 'Waiting' by Ha Jin. 

'George: A Magpie Memoir' by Frieda Hughes

As I write this, I can hear a wood pigeon, a couple of sparrows and a blackbird. To be fair, everything's a bit quiet out there at the moment. When there's food and fresh water to be had, it's the bird equivalent of central Paris at rush hour, only instead of cars and tourists it's feathery fliers zooming about all over the place. The enormous corvids sit at the top of the pecking order - jackdaws, crows, rooks and, of course, magpies. Familiar yet enigmatic, I already wanted to know more about these intriguing birds when I heard about 'George: A Magpie Memoir' by Frieda Hughes.

'Nicholas Nickleby' by Charles Dickens

OK, so I cracked. There were just too many TV programmes praising that giant of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens, so I decided it was time to give him another go. I'm not saying I was bullied by a combination of Gyles Brandreth, Miriam Margoyles, Armando Iannucci et al, but...

'The Magpie Murders' by Anthony Horowitz

Watching an adaptation rather than reading the book always feels like cheating, but sometimes I can't resist.  There are just too many great stories out there and so many different ways to tell them well.  Besides, when the screenwriter is Anthony Horowitz and he's adapting his own novel, 'Magpie Murders', you know you're in safe hands.  Or as safe as they can be when there's a villain on the loose...

'The Stranger Times' by CK McDonnell

Do you believe in ghosts?  Monsters?  Things that go bump in the night?  Well, they exist - in the pages of fiction at least!  And many make appearances in the comic novel 'The Stranger Times' by CK McDonnell. 

'Panic as Man Burns Crumpets' by Roger Lytollis

When was the last time you read a local paper?  This week?  This year?  Never?  You're not the only one.  Our habits have changed a lot in the past 20 years and most of us are now more likely to get our local news from online sources than a physical, printed newspaper.  'Panic as Man Burns Crumpets' is Roger Lytollis' entertaining story of a life in local journalism and an insider's view of how the industry has changed in recent years.