New read: I remember watching two Robert Westall TV adaptations as a child - The Machine Gunners and The Watch House, moments from both have stuck with me ever since. And this was a novel I saw more than once in the visiting book stalls at school and shops and wanted to read.

New read: catching up a little with some spookier reads as the weather has made a turn for the colder... This one I picked up at a second-hand stall at Petts Wood May Day Fair when I was about 9, so has travelled quite a distance with me! I've read it several times, but fun to return to.

New read: a book I've had on my list for several years, and was a birthday gift from my brother this year - thanks Paul! Really enjoyable black comedy thriller which I whipped through in a couple of days. #newread #themanwhodied #anttituomainen #thriller

New read: there was one last dramatic read before heading back home yesterday - a classic. #newread #samuelbeckett #waitingforgodot #halftermreads

New read: ended Halloween with Hamlet, as it starts with a pretty strong ghost game. I've chosen to read along with a great BBC Radio version too. #newread #williamshakespeare #hamlet #bbcradio

New read: forgot entirely to bring any ghost stories on our half term break, so popped into a local indie book shop yesterday to see what I could find. This was appropriately the closest I got, given that we're in Cornwall. #newread #thebirdsandotherstories #daphnedumaurier #spookyreads #cornwall

New read: a really good half term adventure. I would have raced through it but for a few days when sleep was rather elusive, but I couldnt resist a story combining time travel and ancient Egypt. #newread #huntforthegoldenscarab #timekeys #mgleonard

This - in spades.

New reads: starting some spookier reads for Halloween on a trip up to London with a lost classic and an enjoyable retelling of Beowulf. Both enjoyable in rather different ways. #newread #theloststradivarius #jmeadefalkner #beowulfdragonslayer #rosemarysutcliff #spookyreads

New read: having enjoyed the last book a little less than hoped because it cut a bit too close to the bone at the moment (racism in small towns/villages), I went for this interesting little one as a bit of a firebreak. #newread #doctorwho #wearefallingthroughspace #jdavidreed

I had put a cheery little Lego set aside for a day that I found difficult. That day arrived recently - and now I have a couple of little desk buddies to keep me company. Feels like a win... #selfcare #lego

New read: facing some chillier weather with some cosy crime to start off with... #newread #simonbrett #thefetheringmysteries #thekillingatthecafe #guiltatthegarage

Finally got round to watching Rye Lane. I know, I'm a couple of years behind, but it's fantastic: funny, moving, charming and sharp, authentic in all the right ways and satisfying as they come. It's under 90 minutes but it feels effortless and like it has all the time in the world. #ryelane

New read: Another battered old Holmes Puffin Classics collection, but lovely to revisit some favourites through it. #newread #theextraordinarycasesofsherlockholmes #sirarthurconandoyle #puffinclassics

If you're going to post screenshots of things about particular politicians, fine: you do you. But please at least have the decency to add alt text so those of us who have muted their names can be spared seeing it...

New read: I have other full collections of the Holmes canon, but the old Puffin editions are still a really nice and satisfying way of revisiting some of the best known stories. #newread #sherlockholmes #sirarthurconandoyle #thegreatadventuresofsherlockholmes #puffinbooks

Absolutely endorse this suggestion - when I was studying it at uni I got hold of her reading to complement the paper version & it was superb.

New read: I've put off reading this for too long, I think, especially given how much I enjoyed Storyland (and there's a third, even more interesting one still to read!) #newread #wild #amyjeffs #earlymedievalbritain

New read: Always a good day when there's a new Thursday Murder Club to read. My only complaint is that it only took 2 days to read... Just the thing to get through a cold with! #newread #theimpossiblefortune #richardosman #thursdaymurderclub #crimefiction

New reads: with the recent news of Chrostopher H. Bidmead's passing, I revisited his most significant contributions to Who, which i am very fond of. Then, given the state of the world, stuck around for a little longer with Uncle Terrance. #newread #doctorwho

New read: Nipping back through time a few hundred years to visit St Erconwald's and the London of Sir John Cranston and Brother Athelstan. #newread #thehouseofshadows #pauldoherty #thesorrowfulmysteriesofbrotherathelstan #crimefiction

MY DOCTOR

New read: I was reading something else, but this arrived in the post, so I dropped everything and enjoyed this - really lovely little adventure, beautifully realised. #newread #whokillednessie #paulcornell #rachaelsmith #zoop

New read: suckered in by the cover, the setting, and the lofty promise of the review on the back cover: "Pleasant and enjoyable." This turned out to be quite good fun. #newread #buriedincornwall #janiebolitho #crimefiction

New read: the weather has turned (hooray!) and I was in the mood for a gentle return to non-holiday normal life. This very much fit the bill. #winterholiday #arthurransome #swallowsandamazons #newread

New read: I've had this copy of Betjeman's Cornwall for more than 30 years. It's yellowing, but otherwise doesn't show the multiple readings I've subjected it to. Revisiting it yet again as a way of pretending I'm still in North Cornwall. #newread #betjemanscornwall #johnbetjeman #cornwall

New read: a book I excitedly ordered immediately on discovery and then saved for holiday. Enjoying it now, between staring at either the sea or the heavy rain today! #newread #bentonandhawthorneinvestigate #lucymccaul #candyjarbooks #doctorwho

Now on holiday, and it isn't a proper break without a Christie... #newread #agathachristie #themovingfinger #missmarple

New read: returning to a favourite series for an easy, enjoyable read. #newread #simonbrett #thefetheringmysteries #thepoisoninginthepub #crimefiction

New read: enjoying going back over this great new series through the novel. #newread #bookish #markgatiss #matthewsweet #crimefiction

New read: A little excursion with unfamiliar characters, but enjoyably familiar all the same. #newread #agathachristie #themaninthebrownsuit #crimefiction

Happy National Relaxation Day to all those who celebrate.

I just backed The Comics Code - A podcast on Kickstarter. While I don't have an in-depth knowledge or interest in comics, I know from Graeme's previous projects how high quality the research and storytelling of this will be. Please do back it too! www.kickstarter.com/projects/gra...

New read: I will miss ITV's coverage of the Tour de France very much, the sights and sounds of which have soundtracked my Julys for as long as I can remember. So I wanted to hold onto some of those voices a bit longer this year, by reading this. #newread #nedboulting #howiwontheyellowjumper

New read: a good graphic novel adaptation of The Famous Five, taking some visual cues from Herge, but since when was that a bad thing?! #newread #famousfive #fiverunawaytogether #enidblyton #bejaandnatael #graphicnovel

New read: can't remember where I found the recommendation for this from, but it certainly seems like my kind of thing... love a green Penguin too, which is a bonus! #newread #elleryqueen #thedutchshoemystery #crimefiction

New read: entirely new ground for me in the worlds of Doctor Who, and, I hope, fun new territory! #newread #doctorwho #UNIT #thebentonfiles #timgambrell #johnpeel

New reads: a couple of graphic novels started while away in Devon for the weekend - one a bit thin and airy, the other deep, rich and affecting. Satisfying to have read them in that order, too. #newread #graphicnovel #aredmassformars #jonathanhickman #ryanbodenheim #daytripper #fabiomoon #gabrielba

New reads: raided the local library for a couple more unknown-to-me Wodehouses, which were enjoyable discoveries. #newread #pgwodehouse #thesmallbachelor #adamselindistress

I really wish the delay repay scheme took into account not just the time you were delayed but also that it was over 30 degrees out, the air con wasn't working for my whole 2 &1/2 hour journey and they kept delivering the free water to the opposite end of the 8 carriage train to where I was.

New read: Sometimes the only answer to the real world is to turn to Wodehouse - like being served a tissue restorer in bed by one's valet. I found this Blandings novel squirrelled away in a dark corner of the shelves - delighted, because it's one I've never read.

New read: One final visit to Sicily, with the last Montalbano. I've loved this series, with only a couple of minor gripes, but the warmth and humour has kept me invested enough to keep returning. I'm sure I'll revisit some but I'm hoping this is a suitable goodbye to a group of friends

New reads: The last two Montalbanos I did not already have access to, thanks to Dorset Libraries, which means that the next read will be the final Montalbano. The last one I read ended with a change I wasn't particularly happy about, but these restored some of the warmth and cheer for me. #newread

New reads: another Vigata trip (almost there now, 3 more to go) and then trying another by an author I've quite enjoyed before. #newread #inspectormontalbano #andreacamilleri #sweetsweetrevengeltd #jonasjonasson

Hey @theguardian.com, it might be good to clarify that the lead photo used for this article isn't actually from the film The Ladykillers as it implies, but some of the cast meeting the then Miss Jamaica who was visiting the studio. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ju...

New reads: two lovely quick reads from last week, and the current - another trip to Vigata to visit Montalbano - only four more to go after this one... #newread #doctorwho #markgriffiths #daverudden #inspectormontalbano #andreacamilleri

Rounding off a good birthday with a trip to the BFI to see one of my favourite movies with a G&T. #getshorty #thecadillacofminivans

New read: vicariously living out a minor dream and visiting Denmark by book for a bit. #newread #theyearoflivingdanishly #helenrussell #denmark

New read: slowly enjoying a Chekhov I had never read before to close out May. #newread #antonchekhov #theshootingparty

New read: the other script I picked up at the NT at the weekend, and a fascinating blast from the past. #newread #thepitchforkdisney #philipridley #theatre