Colin Dexter has a bit more time on his hands of late, thanks to his semi-retirement from the world of veritable Inspector Morse, but he still keeps busy with a pile of books on his bedside table. The three that are currently top of that particular teetering tower are not necessarily what you might expect, though the doughty Inspector would no doubt have approved...

Seigfried, the opera by Richard Wagner. "This is the book of the opera that I'm going to see shortly and my German is not wonderfully good - although I did spend time in Germany in the army - and wanted to re-acquaint myself with the German text."

Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri. "I think everyone will be reading Camilleri, especially if you're a deckchair crime devotee because he's wonderfully funny and quirky. i think he's going to be a very big thing in English crime."

Richard Ingrams' The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett is a great biography of a wonderful man who championed the cause of the poor and the underprivileged. I found it a joy because he meets many of the people I used to meet in history books when I was at school, although my history lessons always finished at the battle of Waterloo - nothing happened after 1815. It's a very splendid biography."

Opera scores and librettos from specialist bookshops and websites
Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri: RRP £7.99
The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett by Richard Ingrams: RRP £8.99