1. My favourite book of all time is Stephen King’s ‘It’.
I really enjoyed the way the story flipped back to earlier times from the character’s present, and the fact that all the strands of the story came together so well at the end.
A J Smith- father of Haydn
2. I love Agatha Christie books. I think the best is ‘Dead Man’s Folly, because Hercule Poirot is the detective and I love the way he thinks. He could solve all the murders!
Fred Jackson – grandfather to Cara O’Reilly
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3. If I had to just pick one, it would be ‘Espedair Street’ by Iain Banks.
It tells the story of a fictitious rock star in Glasgow. There is a tragic bit, but it is an entertaining read. The story jumps back and forth between the present and flashbacks. Occasionally the writer introduces something that it is assumed the reader knows already, but then explains it later
Richard James – father of Elizabeth James
4. I love books about war, and my favourite author is Sven Hassell. ‘Wheels of Terror’ is his best I think. It’s a great book, based on fact. For anyone interested in learning about the war and the German army, this has it all.
Will Ward – father of Alex Ward
5. I like factual books best. My favourite is ‘LostVoices of the Titanic’ by Nick Barrett which goes into detail about the crew of the ship, and their stories before the ship was built. It is not so much about the wreck, but more about the people, the conspiracy theory, and of course it’s based around Southampton.
Matt Archer – father of Ciaran
6. Can I pick two?
When I was younger my all time favourite was Roald Dahl ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’. I love the way the fox managed to trick all three farmers and I love Roald Dahl stories.
The first book I read when I recently got back into reading was Dan Brown’ The Da Vinci Code’. Very exciting and I liked it so much I went on to read all of his other books.
Michael Flatman – father of Lottie
7. My favourite is from when I was young. It is Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series. She could really conjure up the characters and had a good imagination.
Gregg Harvey- father of Ernest
8. I like anything about motor sport so my favourite books are biographies of racers.
I especially like Richard Williams ‘The Death of Ayrton Senna’. It explains his background, his religious beliefs and describes his aura. It covers his rivalry with Alain Prost, the cause and aftermath of his accident and the world’s reaction to his death.
Daryl Russell -father of Callum
9. I like sports biographies best. My favourite is about Michael Owen called 'Michael Owen Off theRecord.' He’s great. I even called my son Owen after him. I love sport, but I just watch it and read about it now!
Daniel Jones- father of Owen
10. I would have to pick the Irvine Welsh trilogy ‘Glue’, ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘Porno’. They are written in very broad Scottish and remind me of home.
I also really enjoyed Mark Haddon ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time’, so much so that I am now reading his next one ‘A Spot of Bother’
Ben Johnson – father of Chloe
Southampton City Council
