Books to dip in to

Books

Books to dip into

Sometimes we just can’t face a whole novel or autobiography. With these books, you can dip in and out whenever you have a spare five minutes. By Kate Duggan

Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You By Adam Kay

Adam Kay brings us a series of essays and musings from a range of household names, from Malala Yousafzai to Dame Julie Walters and Johnny Vegas. Each tale is about how the NHS has stepped in to help the writer. There’s a story of a suspected heart attack that turned out to be trapped wind, several about household accidents (often involving kitchen knives) and plenty of sentimental stories to boot. Plus, all profits go to charity.

Encounters: A Photographic Journey By Levison Wood

Award-winning reportage photographer Levison Wood has travelled to more than 100 countries over the last ten years. Encounters brings together 140 of his images, along with text about each one. You’ll meet a young shepherd girl in Ethiopia, resourceful teenagers in the Congo, stranded nomads, fishermen in Yemen and families surviving in war-torn regions.

The Repair Shop: Tales from the Workshop of Dreams

If you love the TV series about expert craftspeople restoring much loved family heirlooms, you won’t want to miss the accompanying book. It goes into more detail about some of the most interesting items shown in the series, from a rusty miner’s helmet to a circus performer’s dress. It’s the book version of a mug of tea and hot buttered crumpet. Toksvig’s Almanac 2021 by Sandi Toksvig

Fancy ‘An Eclectic Meander Through the Historical Year’? The main focus is on women that have been all but forgotten. There’s Begum Samru – an Indian dancer who led an army of mercenaries, Ida B. Wells – an activist and suffragist who cofounded the largest civil rights organisation in the US, and Annette Kellerman, whose stunts included diving from 60 feet into a pool of crocodiles. There are also poems, trivia and fascinating snippets.

Back to Nature: How to Love Life and Save It By Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin

Whether you’re an avid nature lover and wondering how to stop the catastrophic decline in biodiversity, or you’re feeling disconnected from the wild and want to reap the benefits of it once again, this is a great book. There are lots of interesting titbits to digest over a coffee and plenty of ideas for how to take action.

Sapiens: A Graphic Novel By Yuval Noah Harari et al

The original Sapiens is fascinating, but there’s an awful lot of information to take in. If you’re interested in the origin of humans, but want something a little easier to digest, try this instead. It’s the first volume in a graphic-novel adaptation of the global bestseller. Full-colour illustrations and straightforward text take the reader on a journey from the very birth of humankind. It’s absorbing, suitable for older children as well as adults and has a good spattering of humour throughout.