Reading - October 2026

The Time Traveller's Guide to Regency Britain by Ian Mortimer (2021)

I've said before that I love the concept behind these books (this is the fourth I've read), but I feel it's only adhered to sporadically. For most of the book, Mortimer is just telling us about the facts of Regency Britain. That's fine, and I found it interesting, but if you're going to present it as a travel guide then I think it needs a different structure and more details. Still, enjoyable reading and a good length (by which I mean, as usual, not too long!)

Scattershot by Bernie Taupin (2023)

Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood - for about four weeks - but this never grabbed me and I ended up returning it to the library without finishing it.

Night People by Mark Ronson (2025)

This, on the other hand, is great and I raced through it in about three days.  I love Mark Ronson's music and image but I hadn't realised to what extent he'd started and operated as a successful club DJ before becoming a producer. Regardless of what you think of his privileged upbringing, that's not something you can get into, coast through or sustain via family connections. Entertainingly and economically told, shot through with a self-deprecatory humour that seems genuine and surprisingly candid about his time in night-time New York as a young man, this was a great read.