What's on my bedside tabe: Jenny Colgan
Show 4: The chick-lit author on the 95 books beside her bed...
"If someone would pay me to read all day, that's what I'd do. I read in the bath; I read when I'm brushing my teeth; drying my hair... People say "I don't have time to read books", but you've just got to squeeze it in. I've got about 95 books beside my bed..."
The Road to Nab End by William Woodruff
Normally, I don't like these misery memoir-type books, but this is brilliant. Woodruff is an academic who moved to America after growing up incredibly poor in the mill towns of Lancashire. It's beautifully told, really engrossing stuff and I'm really enjoying it.
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
This requires no introduction whatsoever to book lovers. It's Kate Atkibnson's latest novel: I would read a menu if Kate Atkinson had written it. I just think she's the most marvellous writer: she's funny; she's moving; she's poignant; she's got everything. It's got her trademark mix of humour, wisdom and fabulous plotting skills. Can you tell I'm really, wildly jealous?!
The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This is actually beside the bed of my two year-old. It's actually the first chapter in Hiawatha's childhood. I loved the Hiawatha stories when I was a child and now I'm reading them to my two year-old...
