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This is the first of two books I was given for Christmas, and once I started reading it, it was never far from my side.  Adam Kay shares some of the notes that he wrote while working as a junior doctor in obstetrics and gynaecology (OB GYN), and his experiences range from slapstick comedy to heart-breaking stories when things go wrong. Most men have a real aversion to anything to do with OB GYN, so it is all the more interesting to read how a male doctor coped in this field.  The upside of the job is working on the maternity ward with the joy of delivering healthy babies to healthy mothers, but female anatomy does not always work in the ways we expect it to, and the OB GYN doctor may be called upon to save the day (and two lives), several times during one shift.  The doctors also have to deal with all the problems that can occur in our plumbing when we are not giving birth, and many of these are not for the faint hearted.  Some of the tools of the trade look as thoug...

To look at Rory you would imagine he would have to wrap up well to go to the local garage to buy a Kit Kat, but do not let his outward appearance deceive you.  Rory is as physically resilient as a mountain dog, and endowed with such a sense of self confidence that he believed he could walk for twenty months across the mountains of Afghanistan, through the winter, and not get himself killed.  Sometimes he came close to getting killed; and at various times he was shot at, punched, had stones thrown at him, and was threatened by random men brandishing weapons left behind by the Russians and the Taliban.  Whenever anything like that happened, he squared up to his assailants and insisted he was a historian writing a book, and he had every right to be there as he was carrying letters from various leaders he had stayed with along the way. Rory is indeed an historian, and the purpose of his walk was to follow in the footsteps of Babur, the first emperor of Mughal India.  He ...

I picked this up because I know all about Shearings coach tours.  I have travelled on Shearings or Wallace Arnold buses to the very places described by Ben Aitken, and I recognise almost every type of scenario he shares with us. I was in my early forties when we started booking Shearings holidays after we came across a brochure and couldn't believe how cheaply we could get all round Ireland or through Europe to Rome.  The vast majority of our fellow travelers had a good twenty or thirty years on us, but we had just become grandparents, so we felt we qualified. Ben seems like a nice young man, and he is careful not to make fun of his coach mates, but then he doesn't have to as they do that for themselves.  You really do meet some characters on a coach trip, but they are generally harmless, and a bond forms amongst the group as soon as you board the bus.  The drivers are the most tolerant people on the planet, and repeat everything they said about what t...

  When one of my sons asked me if I would like a book for Christmas, I chose this one, and I have not been disappointed.  Rory Stewart has written an excellent account of life in Parliament during the period between the UK leaving the European Union (Brexit), and Boris Johnson being selected as leader of the Conservative Party, and there was no shortage of startling material to write about. The book greatly increased my respect for Rory Stewart as he comes across as a very honest man who just wants to get things done without playing games.  It would be nice to think that he was one of many MPs who operate in this way, but political moves in recent years suggest otherwise. One of the most troubling messages that comes from his recollections is the apparent uselessness of Ministers of State.  People can be chosen for these high profile positions as a reward for loyalty rather than expertise in the political area they will represent, and many talented people are often o...

  As well as being a keen reader of fiction, I have a bit of a side hustle with current affairs and politics.  Usually I gather my information from magazine articles and news feeds, but when I saw this new book displayed in the library, I decided I felt up to a deeper dive.   I was drawn to this title because in recent years there has been a noticeable shift to the political right in a number of countries, and some hard-won societal changes are at risk of being taken away again.  Since the end of the Second World War we saw a global shift towards social liberalism, and most people saw that as a good thing, and embraced a more equal society with greater levels of acceptance of minority groups.  However, it turns out that not everyone is prepared to accommodate such rapid change and now some sections of society are looking for a way to not only put the brakes on, but to crash the gears into reverse and slam their collective foot down ...