What book does celebrity chef and host Dave Myers take to a deserted island?

… are you reading now?

I am currently reading a lot while undergoing cancer treatment. I’m currently reading Stephen Leather’s True Colors, his tenth in the Spider Shepherd series. He went from being a SAS guy now in MI5 to being a cop.

It’s a fantastic series that will get you hooked. There are 9 more to go, so there is a sense of security that it will continue. Great escapism and well written. I love finding series like this. It’s like watching a series on TV all at once.

I promise to read more of his novels someday, so I’ll bring my complete collection of Charles Dickens

…can you take me to a deserted island?

I promised to read more of his novels one day, so I’m bringing along my complete collection of Charles Dickens. A Christmas alone with Ebenezer Scrooge would be a great solace.

I took a postgraduate course in art history and instead planned to be a permanent student taking another postgraduate course studying Victorian morality until I landed a job at the BBC. Dickens gave me a glimpse into Victorian life. Warts and all.

…did you tell me the reading bug in the first place?

I first caught the bug in middle school when I was reading Richmal Crompton’s Just William book. i loved them.

As a teenager, I graduated to Edgar Allan Poe — a gothic teenager with eerie vibes and purple bedrooms.

I was reading about a working-class, naughty middle-class youth in the North, and it was interesting.After all, they had a maid, who was friendly with Violet Elizabeth Bott. William’s favorite drink

“Grog” is made by soaking licorice roots in water.

I made a bottle to drink while getting lost in his adventures.

As a teenager, I graduated to Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a gothic teenager with an eerie vibe and a purple bedroom.

Mask of the Red Death and Fall of House of Usher were my favorites.

…I caught a cold?

That’s what I did for my A Level English: The Return Of The Native by Thomas Hardy. The characters haunted me.

It looks like Eustacia Vye did a great job and Diggory Venn needed to tell a good story. And why would Clym Yeobright leave Paris and return to the brooding Egdon Heath?

I don’t remember much about it, but it seemed to keep me away from Hardy for the rest of my life.

School also turned me away from Shakespeare with constant analysis of Shakespeare’s plays. But later I thought it would be really exciting to experience Shakespeare on stage.

In my early days working as a make-up artist for the BBC, I had a job on a Shakespearean play and hearing great actors perform in front of me was truly magical.

n THE Hairy Bikers: Brilliant Bakes by Dave Myers and Si King, published by Seven Dials for £25.