World Book Day is upon us and will hopefully inspire a new generation of young people to start reading.
The event was created as a worldwide celebration of books and reading and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.
Although World Book Day focuses on kids, that shouldn't stop older readers from picking up a book or two for themselves.
Marie Moser, of Edinburgh Books, has suggested these novels that should be top of everyone's shopping list.
It includes Shuggie Bain by the Douglas Stuart. In addition to being her store's best seller it was also the 2020 Booker Prize winner.
Also on the list is Luckenbooth by another Scottish novelist Jenni Fagan, while Snow and the Works on the Northern Line by Ruth Thomas makes up the top three.
For kids, she has selected Arlo the Lion Who Couldn't Sleep by Catherine Rayner, The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter and the Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas.
An estimated 200 million print books were sold in the UK last year, according to book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan, the highest number since 2012.
Many in the industry agree 2020 has offered a very strong range of titles from authors such as Richard Osman, Hilary Mantel and Barack Obama.
The UK's top selling book last year was Charlie Macksey's illustrated book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse, underlining how important children's titles remain to booksellers.
West Indies v India - Third ODI
India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)
India won by 93 runs
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The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
School uniforms report
The five pillars of Islam
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Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
