Out of print I met Beverly many years ago when I was filming Hearts Of Gold.
It’s the story of how she went to work in a Romanian orphanage and ended up adopting one of the children, who had spent his early years with his legs tied around his neck so it was easier to wipe his bottom.
A profound read as I was very pregnant at the time.
CLARICE BEAN, THAT’S ME by Lauren Child Orchard, £6.99
I love the illustrations and clever way these books are written.
In this Clarice talks about how her brother lies in bed all day because his mother says he’s in the dark tunnel of adolescence.
For a parent reading it, it’s hilarious.
DON’T LET GO by Harlan Coben Century, £20
I have read almost all his books.
I’m a holiday reader and I know I’m going to be gripped from the first page. I love a good murder and you never know whodunnit until the last pages.
I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT by Allison Pearson, Vintage, £8.99
I annoyed everyone when I was reading this because of my constant giggling.
It’s about bringing up children while having a career. She talks about the “Muffia”: women at the school gates who make you feel inadequate because they’ve baked everything from scratch and whose kids’ projects look like something by Stephen Hawking.
BACKLASH by Lynda La Plante S&S, £7.99
She got me with Prime Suspect on TV in the 1990s.
This one has a girl disappearing and features detective Anna Travis.
People underestimate her because she looks like a girl but she’s as tough as old boots.
LIFE & LAUGHING by Michael McIntyre Penguin, £8.99
I bought this as an audiobook and played it in the car on long journeys.
We cried with laughter because his delivery brings it to life, from choosing the perfect paint colour for his office to his teenage fumblings trying to pull girls while looking like “a fat Jackie Chan”.
I love his simple observational humour.
