Kate Garraway: My six best books – Pride And Prejudice, Birdsong and more

BIRDSONG by Sebastian Faulks Vintage, £8.99 My all-time favourite. He was a journalist so his language is unflowery yet wonderfully romantic. It’s a love story set in the First World War, a mesmerising period for me. My grandfather lost his parents in the war. His dad died digging tunnels, described so well that you’re there, then his mother died of a broken heart. 

THE BOLDS by Julian Clary Andersen Press, £6.99 This is a brilliant piece of children’s literature. My son particularly finds it hilarious. The Bolds are a family of hyenas masquerading as humans and living in Teddington. It looks in a very funny way at how we judge people. 

MARGE AND THE GREAT TRAIN RESCUE by Isla Fisher Piccadilly, £5.99 I’ve just read this to my children. Marge is an eccentric babysitter with coloured hair who can’t resist an adventure. At bedtime we read two pages each and I do different voices. 

WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Brontë Vintage, £6.99 The book I loved when I was a child. We were camping in Brontë country and the way she describes the landscape turned a wet holiday into a brooding, romantic storm of excitement. 

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen Vintage Classics, £7.99 I didn’t like this at school. I found it annoying and petty but I feel awful about that. I see it differently now. I came to it after watching the TV version which found the humour and passion beneath. 

DREAMS FROM MY FATHER by Barack Obama Canongate, £9.99 A great example of a genre I love: political autobiographies. I know the politics is often skewed and they’re representing their own history in the best light but people who have risen to power and struggled to do good work in public life are fascinating.


🕐 Top News in the Last Hour By Importance Score

# Title 📊 i-Score
1 'Time to increase pressure on Moscow,' Ukrainian minister says 🔴 78 / 100
2 How Trump’s Tariffs Could Hobble a U.S. Battery Boom 🔴 75 / 100
3 Brit tourist lashes out at 'rip off' fee for a sachet of HP sauce in Benidorm… and is ridiculed online 🔴 72 / 100
4 The future of luxury travel: Near-supersonic jet that can fly from London to New York at speeds 'not seen since Concorde' features a full-size kitchen, cinema, and an anti-jetlag lighting system 🔴 65 / 100
5 Piers Morgan sparks fury with fans on Donald Trump's global tariffs verdict 🔴 65 / 100
6 Spain could include Camp Nou final in bid to host 2035 Rugby World Cup 🔴 62 / 100
7 Adam Devine Recalls Being Told He Was Dying Last Year 🔵 60 / 100
8 Ancient DNA sheds light on origins of 7,000-year-old Saharan mummies 🔵 55 / 100
9 Nvidia Finally Spills The Beans On What's Powering The Switch 2, Promises '10x' Graphics Performance Of Original Switch 🔵 52 / 100
10 USA Fencing disqualifies female fencer for refusing to fight trans opponent 🔵 45 / 100

View More Top News ➡️