MUSTREADS

Out now in paperback

THIS IS GOING TO HURT by Adam Kay

(Picador £8.99) COMEDIAN and scriptwriter Adam Kay comes from a family of doctors, so medicine, he writes, was ‘the default setting for my life’ — until, one dreadful day, he walked out of his job.

Kay’s specialism was obstetrics, chosen partly because he ‘liked that in obstetrics you end up with twice the number of patients you started with’.

However, the reality was anything but life-enhancing. Whether he is describing the Eiffel syndrome, common in patients with foreign objects lodged in their orifices (‘I fell, doctor! I fell!’), or the terrible names people inflict on their babies ( LeSanya, pronounced ‘lasagne’), Kay is laceratingly funny.

But just beneath the comic surface is a devastating account of the frustration and exhaustion of a junior doctor’s life.

No wonder readers at book signings ask him for two copies — one for themselves, and one for Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

EMPIRE OF BOOZE by Henry Jeffreys

(Unbound £9.99) IF YOU were asked to guess which nation had the greatest influence on alcohol across the centuries, you might choose France.

But, Henry Jeffreys argues, that honour belongs to Britain. ‘ The British,’ he observes, ‘have a whole smorgasbord of drinks to make life’s realities a bit more bearable . . . one can literally taste Britain’s history.’

In this deliciously vinous stroll, Jeffreys traces the special relationship between cider and champagne (the secret is in the bottle), and Londoners and gin ( Dickens and Dostoevsky gave heartrending accounts of the lamentable effects of gin on the populace).

With recommendations for tasting at the end of each chapter, Empire Of Booze is a sparkling invitation to raise a glass. WONDERLAND

by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss

(John Murray £10.99) WESTWOOD and Moss both grew up on the outskirts of a city — Birmingham in the former’s case, West London in the latter’s.

Their suburban childhoods fostered a passion for the natural world that eventually burgeoned into careers with the BBC’s Natural History Unit.

In this account of a year in the UK, they tell us: ‘Wildlife is everywhere . . . all we need to do is step outside and look and listen in a different way.’

Their book is an inspiring guide to exploring, starting with a short history of British naturalists.

For each day of the year they offer a brief, informative essay on a plant or animal, from the obscure (snow fleas) to the exotic ( feather- footed flower bee).

Even if you saw only a fraction of the species, your year would have been immeasurably enriched.