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Books addict Andrew Ffrench wants to know what you are reading - if you've got a recommendation then let him know

Birdsong and thunderstorms

I was rudely awoken by an insomniac coal tit at 3.40am this morning and took a moment to think about books.

Patsy riding by

Imagine my surprise this morning as the Volvo dragged itself onto the A34 to see former child actress Patsy Kensit bedecking the side of a lorry.

Motion goes back to his roots at Radley

After Poet Laureate Andrew Motion haunted my dreams the other night, I discovered that he is coming to Oxfordshire.

Goodbye to Ballard

I don't remember my dreams much these days but the other morning I woke up and recalled that I had been having a chat (in my dream) with the poet laureate Andrew Motion.

Bear necessities

I enjoyed a pleasant chat the other day with Ted Dewan, who writes children's books and lives in North Oxford.

Back in the bunker

When I complained to one of my colleagues I was suffering a touch of Bank Holiday jetlag, he called me a tired old hack.

Tarka the 'Otter

When I told a colleague I was going for an Indian tonight he immediately replied: "Don't have a chicken tikka, have a chicken tarka - it's much 'otter."

Finding fiction difficult

It's quite frustrating when you find a good novel, start to read it, get hooked and then have to stop for some reason.

Paulo Coelho and the black roll neck

Intrigued by Nick Hornby's selection of 40 titles for a special Waterstone's table, I picked out Stasiland by Anna Funder.

The Greatest Manager England Never Had

Cracking documentary on Brian Clough on ITV last night, and at the end of it I couldn't resist the temptation to try out my best Cloughie impression.