Author Viv Groskop helps select the best political, poetical and fictional reads to keep you in touch with the world
Q: What can I read to stop my brain turning to mush on maternity leave?
Teacher, 39
A: Journalist and comedian Viv Groskop, author of How to Own the Room: Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking (Bantam, £12.99), writes:
First, an important corrective. I don’t want to berate you, dearest new parent and teacher, but I must challenge you on the premise of your question. Who told you your brain turns to mush on maternity leave? Why is it necessary to buy that myth? In my experience, becoming a parent sharpens your instincts, gives you laser-like focus and makes you use whatever time you can find for reading – and for yourself – far more efficiently than you ever dreamed possible.