SHELFIE

Actor, writer and comedian, Rhiannon Neads, an alumna of Royal High School like it, is priceless. Every page is so unbearably honest and relatable. There is a particularly memorable passage about motherhood where Caitlin describes her newfound ability to chuck her child’s excrement across a room without a second thought or regard for dignity. I read it to my own mother and we both fell about laughing - her a little too hard, I might add. And no, I didn’t ask.

Bath, shares some of her favourite reads, and why they resonate with her.

Lungs Duncan Macmillan

A Song For Summer Eva Ibbotson

Every summer, my mum would take me to the treasure-trove second hand bookshop in Bath to choose a stack of books for our annual camping holiday. By far and away my favourite was A Song for Summer. It starts out as a magical story of a young woman who goes to work in a school for performing arts in Austria on the cusp of WW2 and ends up as a quietly heroic tale of human bravery and the endurance of love. I don’t think it was entirely age appropriate for a 10 year old, but it’s a book I have returned to many times over the years (as my well-thumbed copy will attest). I read it any time I’m in need of something that feels like a big hug.

The Chrysalids John Wyndham

I’m a massive fan of sci-fi, and this one is a true classic. Set some years after what we are led to believe has been a massive ‘radioactive event’ we meet communities in fear of mutations. Our protagonist is different - a 6-fingered psychic, whose powers and differences must be kept secret out of fear for his life. It’s a thrilling page turner with an important central message that will keep any reader hooked.

How to be a Woman Caitlin Moran

I was gifted this book when I was going through a tough time with my mental health, and it was such an escape. To find a book so funny that you laugh out loud, even when you don’t feel

Lungs is a two-hander play (made more popular by a recent production with Claire Foy and Matt Smith... but in true cliché style ‘I knew it before it was famous’). It’s a relatively simple play - a couple seen at various vignettes throughout their lives, focusing on the decision to have a baby and the impact this would have on the environment. The dialogue is so richly woven, so truthful, that it leaps off the page. The older I get the more I connect with the central themes, which I think is the sign of an enduring piece of art.

Winnie The Pooh A A Milne

Winnie the Pooh isn’t a children’s book, it is a masterpiece. Reading it as an adult you are struck by just how funny and dry the humour is. A particular favourite story of mine is when melancholic Eeyore has been bounced into the river by an excitable Tigger. Every line of his is dripping with delicious sarcasm. When Rabbit asks him what he is doing in said river, he responds, "I'll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak-tree? Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right. Give Rabbit time, and he'll always get the answer.” Perfection.

Howell’s School, Llandaff

On the morning of Friday 25 November it was a pleasure to welcome Howell’s alumna Kate Strong (Class of 1997) to Howell’s. Kate is a world champion triathlete, engineer, plant-based adventurer, coach and consultant, entrepreneur, reiki master, philanthropist and three-times cycle world record holder. She joined the school for a very special assembly, during which she talked about the Challenge 3000 she will be undertaking.

This June, Kate will embark on a 3,000 mile cycle, on her sustainable bamboo bike, around the coastline of England, Scotland and Wales. As she travels, she will be stopping at 30 different locations visiting sustainability projects, hosting climate talks and engaging communities, councils and companies in workshops to mitigate climate change. Howell’s wishes Kate the very best of luck in this epic challenge and looks forward to following her progress.

Rhiannon Neads

Rhiannon Neads is a LAMDAtrained actor and writer, who has worked across radio, stage and screen. She is one half of award-winning musical comedy duo, Stiff & Kitsch, whose work has been featured on BBC Three and The New Show (BBC Radio 4). You can catch her now in her award-nominated play, SUPERNOVA, at the Omnibus Theatre, Clapham, from 25 April to 13 May. www.omnibusclapham.org/supernova

@RhiannonNeads

@StiffandKitsch

@felixdewolfe

3,000 mile cycle stopping at 30 different locations