Should you read this book?

Probably don't read it. I enjoyed listening to it - partly for work. Got quite into the tension and the bits that are surprisingly different to the films (series of letters etc). It was well read on Audible. The reader sounded like David Walliams in drag for the female voices though. Summary: fine for the already interested.

Hmmm not sure if you should read this one. She's engaging and interesting, including her early life in WH Smiths and as a cinema usher. No airs, graces or inverted snobbery to be found. A little bit of over sharing (surprise surprise) and each chapter ends with a summary of self help points which are only a tiny bit cringe. Probably went on a bit.

Yes this one's a must read. Bit frightening though as he goes through all the ramifications of being on our own compared to in a big trading block. Well written, accessible and head in hands time.

Yes you should read this one - you probably need a bit of interest in history though. It is sort of docudrama. He's a Professor of History and in each chapter he does the first bit like the straight history, then goes on to the characters he has created and what they're thinking and feeling. Gives it a bit of colour and helps me understand it. The bit when they knew the plague was coming and went praying and doing pilgrimages was intense. Also they refused to meet any other people at all when the plague was at its worst - apart from going to Mass. God caused the plague - surely he wouldn't let you catch it at mass. Then afterwards with no one to do the farming and all the dead animals around....didn't think of that one. The amount of work they had to do for the lord of the manor was insane. Stuff like that I thought was really interesting.

I must admit I stopped reading this after about the first third. But it was a great third. Got a bit samey. BUT.....I'm recommending it to all and sundry. The analysis of why abused women don't leave their husbands is excellent and should be posted everywhere (reason number one, they might die, and they're right). I'm also still amazed at the way she is treated - brayed at - by other, ok male, MPs.

A huge yes to this one. Diaries of an Obs and Gynae Doctor who has given it up and turned to writing. He writes for Mitchell and Webb among others. Yep, it's that good. Hang on, thinking about it, if you are or might ever become pregnant, may be give it a miss. For everyone else it's a fascinating, thoughtful look at people in extremis, from funny anecdotes to heart break. I listened to it and walked many a long mile very happily.

I'm totally recommending this one as a new way of looking at things. The main memory I have from it (come on it was weeks ago that I read it) is about the tutors at a flight school. A lecturer in education went in and told them that the only way of helping pilots to learn faster was to encourage them. Everything else was useless. They vehemently disagreed. They said that every time they praised their tutees, their performance got worse, and every time they bollocked them they got better. The lecturer went away and thought hard about why this should be. Then he realised the pilots were merely reverting each time to their average performance. If they did particularly well, they would revert to doing less well next time, and if they did badly, they would revert to doing their (average) performance soon enough, bollocking or no bollocking. This has really killed all the illusions of teaching for me. Ofsted and therefore all Senior Managers want this story "They were at X stan