If the lockdown is leaving you pining for outdoors, escape into the finest nature books ever written

Soar with the peregrine, be gripped with passion for the Cairngorms and marvel at how trees secretly communicate with each other — all from the comfort of your armchair with the very best in nature writing. Perfectly still water at sunset at Loch Morlich, Glenmore Forest, Cairngorms National Park The Peregrine by J.A. Baker ‘Wherever … Read more

If the lockdown is leaving you pining for outdoors, escape into the finest nature books ever written

Soar with the peregrine, be gripped with passion for the Cairngorms and marvel at how trees secretly communicate with each other — all from the comfort of your armchair with the very best in nature writing. Perfectly still water at sunset at Loch Morlich, Glenmore Forest, Cairngorms National Park The Peregrine by J.A. Baker ‘Wherever … Read more

Holly Willoughby shares Easter poem written by sister Kelly as they’re kept apart amid lockdown

They’ve always been extremely close, seeing each other as best friends as well as siblings. And on Sunday, Holly Willoughby, 39, took to Instagram to share a beautiful Easter poem written by her sister Kelly, 41, as they continue to be kept apart amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The TV presenter also expressed her longing … Read more

Nurse, 21, says she has already written her will as she fears for her life on coronavirus frontline 

Nurse aged just 21 says she has already written her will as she fears for her life on coronavirus frontline Kate O’Flaherty, 21, blasted the pay of nurses fighting on the frontline  She pointed out that medics are risking their lives in fight against Covid-19  Social media users praised her for bravery after hearing about … Read more

Keep laughing and read on!  our pick of the most riotously funny stories ever written 

What we all need in unsettling times like this is a good laugh. And in this cracking collection of comic novels you’ll find the dry, ironic wit of Jane Austen and her meddling heroine Emma; the knife-sharp comedy of Kingsley Amis and his hapless hero Jim Dixon; the eccentric absurdity of the Starkadders in Cold … Read more

‘Sing me a song or I’ll slit your throat’: Former inmate has written about his time in prisons

SOCIETY A BIT OF A STRETCH: THE DIARIES OF A PRISONER by Chris Atkins (Atlantic Books £16.99, 336pp)  Documentary maker Chris Atkins is in a rundown cell with a psychotic prisoner discussing the intricacies of quantum mechanics. He has more prison access than any journalist could dream of, but there’s just one catch: he is … Read more