ADVENTURER, story-teller and film-maker Leon McCarron doesn't know what it's like to do 'ordinary' holidays, although when he returns from one of his long-distance expeditions, he must often feel in need of one.

AS CHILDREN growing up in Waterford, we were brought on summer holidays to Downings, Co Donegal.

IT'S hard to speak to Lauren Child without humming the Charlie And Lola theme tune in your head.

BOOK OF THE WEEK Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks, published in hardback by William Heinemann HE'S a two-time Oscar winner, Hollywood royalty and widely considered an all-round nice guy.

"SHALL we go back to the wake for the craic?" It was some opening line for a teenage date.

IF IT'S good enough for Irish writer John Banville, then it's good enough for Harry Potter creator JK Rowling – both eminent writers have enjoyed success with their crime-writing alter egos.

"Luck and being in the right place at the right time plays a major part,'' she admits, "but once you've got your luck, you've got to work hard to retain it.''

The book, In The Name Of The Son, tells the story of Gerry Conlon after he was released from jail following a miscarriage of justice.

Wildlife presenter and environmentalist Chris Packham, who has written the foreword to a new book, Natural Wonders Of The World, reveals five of his own favourites: 1.

A new book, In The Name Of The Son, tells the story of Gerry Conlon after he was released from jail following a miscarriage of justice.

Hollywood movie star Johnny Depp has described miscarriage of justice victim Gerry Conlon as his “long lost brother”.

Miscarriage of justice victim Gerry Conlon spent the best part of £120,000 in six weeks on crack cocaine as he struggled to come to terms with life outside prison.

Richard O’Rawe’s new book about his childhood friend Gerry Conlon provides a fascinating insight into his life.

HANNA Sheehy Skeffington is Ireland’s best-known campaigner for votes for women.

FRANK Ormsby does not want to be known as the 'Parkinson's poet', though, of all the poems in his new collection The Darkness of Snow, he's had the biggest response to those about his condition.

You are the creator and executive producer of Disney Junior's animated preschool series Henry Hugglemonster, based on your book I’m a Happy Hugglewug.

1. At My Table by Nigella (Chatto & Windus, £26) The queen of food is back with this sumptuous collection of home-cooked classics, all generously sized.

THE poetry of both Patrick Kavanagh and Seamus Heaney is inspired by the everyday life of their local rural communities.

The Darkness of Snow, by Frank Orsmby, published by Bloodaxe Books FRANK Ormsby has had a long and illustrious career in northern Irish letters (as the editor of various anthologies and periodicals, and an accomplished poet in his own right).

NUALA Byrne was, by her own account, still very young when she first started hearing things that other people didn't hear – although, at first, she confused the voices she heard with "living voices" and would answer someone "who wasn't really there".