Zoe Ball’s favourite reads from childhood to the present day

From being spooked as a teenager by Agatha Christie whodunnits to chuckling over a collection of Jeeves and Wooster books that her dad Johnny gave her, Zoe Ball has always loved reading. But it’s been a relatively solitary pursuit – until now. For ten weeks this summer, as part of her ITV Sunday morning show, the presenter will be hosting The Zoe Ball Book Club, in which she’ll work her way through a list of sensational summer reads with help from celebrity bookworms, including comedians Ralf Little and Frank Skinner. The diverse selection includes novelist Maggie O’Farrell’s pin-sharp memoir I Am, I Am, I Am, Will Dean’s atmospheric Scandi-noir debut Dark Pines and Gavin & Stacey star Ruth Jones’s raunchy first novel, Never Greener. But what about Ball’s own favourites? Here, she shares the ten books that have shaped her life.

For ten weeks this summer, as part of her ITV Sunday morning show, the presenter will be hosting The Zoe Ball Book Club

My childhood crush

My favourite book when I was a child was The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It’s humorous, it’s touching, it’s joyous; I could read it again and again. My dad read it to me when I was about three or four. He was away for work quite a lot so that time together was a real treat. There’s something irresistible about the characters. I think we’ve got a bit of Mr Toad in all of us. He’s such a fool and so naughty, but he does find redemption in the end. My dad used to do amazing voices and I think I’m the same. I get really into character until my eight-year-old daughter, Nelly, begs me to read normally.

The one that made me cry

Stoner by John Williams. It’s about an English professor in turn-of-the-20th-century America looking back over the disappointments of his relatively mundane life. It’s so moving but it’s hard to explain why. I finished it on a really long flight back from a holiday. I sobbed my heart out. Everyone woke up to me with this big puffy face so there were a few, ‘Are you all right, love?’ comments. I thought about it for weeks afterwards.

'Andy Stanton’s Mr Gum series. It’s about an evil old guy, the eponymous Mr Gum, and the ridiculous inhabitants of his village'

‘Andy Stanton’s Mr Gum series. It’s about an evil old guy, the eponymous Mr Gum, and the ridiculous inhabitants of his village’

My holiday fling

On a trip to Jamaica I came across Grace Jones’s autobiography, I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, in the hotel shop. She’s from Jamaica so it was the best thing you could read there, with plenty of history of the island. I was three-quarters of the way through and I heard this voice on the beach. ‘No way,’ I thought. It was Grace Jones herself. She was there looking incredible in her fabulously ageless way. I never talk to celebrities if I spot them out and about, but my friend badgered me into doing it this time. I ended up having a really funny conversation with Grace. I started babbling about how I was reading her book and I’d got to the bit where she moved to Paris and was living with Jerry Hall. She seemed to find me amusing.

The one I read to my kids

Andy Stanton’s Mr Gum series. It’s about an evil old guy, the eponymous Mr Gum, and the ridiculous inhabitants of his village. It’s kind of The League Of Gentleman for kids. Completely hilarious. There are jokes in there for the parents as well. My son is 17 so he’s past the being-read-to phase, but my daughter still lets me share books with her. We’re also reading a bit of Harry Potter together at the moment.

'My favourite book when I was a child was The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It’s humorous, it’s touching, it’s joyous'

‘My favourite book when I was a child was The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It’s humorous, it’s touching, it’s joyous’

Stoner by John Williams

This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay

Stoner by John Williams (left); This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay (right)

The one that scared me

We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver. I couldn’t sleep for days, weeks… I was so disturbed by it. It’s about a mother’s relationship with her sociopathic son, who was the shooter in a high-school massacre, so it’s unnervingly timely. Is it her fault, or is it not her fault? The little sister is involved, too. I was on holiday with my kids when I read it, so the set-up properly horrified me. I had to sleep with the lights on. It’s truly horrific while being completely amazing. If you can bear to read it, read it – but it will chill you to the bone.

The one I’m reading now

The first book for the ITV book club, This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay, the author’s account of his time as a junior doctor on the frontline of the NHS. Kay’s a very funny writer but also very sensitive. As in most of life, terrible things happen and you have to have a sense of humour about it. We all know the pressure that NHS staff are under but it reminds you of that very effectively. You also realise how clever doctors are. They read it all in a book and do some practice, but then they’re on the ward, saving people’s lives.

Zoe Ball she shares the ten books that have shaped her life. 'I like looking in old bookshops and finding beautiful copies of the classics'

Zoe Ball she shares the ten books that have shaped her life. ‘I like looking in old bookshops and finding beautiful copies of the classics’

The one that made me laugh

I love PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster books. Right Ho, Jeeves is a particular favourite. I just bought a collection of ten of his books tied up with string with lovely orange covers. My dad first introduced me to them and they made me laugh out loud. I love that era and the language and the characters, along with the fact that Jeeves has a completely other life.

The book I give as a gift

I like looking in old bookshops and finding beautiful copies of the classics, so probably an old volume of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. I’m always moved by how she wrote it so young – it was published when she was 29, the year before she died. I find the Brontë sisters in general very impressive, as they managed to be so industrious in a time when women had so few opportunities.

'On a trip to Jamaica I came across Grace Jones’s autobiography, I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, in the hotel shop. I was three-quarters of the way through and I heard this voice on the beach. ‘No way,’ I thought. It was Grace Jones herself'

‘On a trip to Jamaica I came across Grace Jones’s autobiography, I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, in the hotel shop. I was three-quarters of the way through and I heard this voice on the beach. ‘No way,’ I thought. It was Grace Jones herself’

'There was so much hype about Fifty Shades Of Grey, but it’s completely terrible. Having said that, I got quite into the movies'

‘There was so much hype about Fifty Shades Of Grey, but it’s completely terrible. Having said that, I got quite into the movies’

The one I rowed about

There was so much hype about Fifty Shades Of Grey, but it’s completely terrible. If you’re reading a book you should be completely lost in it but the writing was too jarring for that to happen for me. I couldn’t believe the characters, either. Having said that, I got quite into the movies. The presence of Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey might have helped.

The one that opened my eyes

Lost Connections by Johann Hari, which looks at the causes of depression and casts doubt on the use of antidepressants. Hari has lived with depression since he was a child and had been on antidepressants since adolescence. As an adult he started investigating whether what he’d been told about the illness was correct. He says reconnecting with nature and with each other could be another way to treat it. It’s a brilliant book for gaining a better understanding of mental health. 

The Zoe Ball Book Club, in association with Specsavers, is on ‘Zoe Ball On Sunday’ from today until August 19. ‘Zoe Ball on Saturday and Zoe Ball on Sunday’ is on ITV at 8.30am every weekend. Catch up on ITV Player

 



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk