WHATBOOK..?

. ..are you reading now?

GOODBYE, Columbus by Philip Roth. Many authors please me and a few make me awestruck. I read most of Roth’s books years ago, but somehow missed this golden oldie. I love his vivid and passionate stories about Jewish-American families, often set in New Jersey where he was born. While I’m reading I feel as if I was born there, too (although I was actually born in Cardiff).

His sex scenes are quite explicit, which is the only good way to write about sex — no pounding surf or trains in tunnels.

My favourite is American Pastoral. The only one I didn’t like was The Great American Novel, which I found unreadable.

. ..would you take to a desert island?

PHILOSOPHICAL Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Most philosophers try to tell you what the truth is, but Wittgenstein just points to something curious and interesting, and invites you to share his puzzlement.

You don’t agree or disagree with him as he doesn’t lay down the law. Instead, you’re left pondering. I’d need something to think about on the island and this is the most thought-provoking book I’ve ever read.

. . . first gave you the reading bug?

NODDY Goes To Toyland by Enid Blyton. My parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts all read to me, and it was never enough. One of my earliest memories is of desperately wanting to be able to read for myself. My mother taught me when I was four, a year or so before I went to school.

Blyton was my favourite author. I loved Dame Washalot, The Famous Five and The Secret Seven, and The Adventure Series with Kiki the parrot, who made me laugh.

I’m awestruck by Blyton’s ability to write for children of all ages. I read her until I was 12 and discovered James Bond — but that’s another story.

. ..left you cold?

DISGRACE by J. M. Coetzee, the 1999 Booker prize winner. He’s greatly respected, but I’ve read several of his books and have never liked one. They’re all about people who are suffering but don’t do anything to help themselves. It’s hard to sympathise with them. I feel like telling them to pull themselves together. n NEVER by Ken Follett is published in paperback by Pan at £9.99.