Thanks to Cynthia L. Tarvin, Litigation Project Manager in Portland, Oregon, for giving me a little smack on the back of my legs, a gentle reminder that the pages really must start turning again in 2010.

She and her fellow litigators who lunch (and read) are absolutely right, but I want to reassure her that the pages never stopped turning at the end of 2009.

The winter weather (a few snow flakes) and the impending arrival of another junior reader has left me a little distracted.

But I have found a few forays into the world of fiction a very welcome distraction indeed.

The biggest hit for me at the end of the noughties was John Irving's captivating family saga A Widow for One Year, telling the story of Ruth Cole, her philandering, squash-obsessed dad, and her twin brothers that die in a car crash.

It doesn't sound a barrel of laughs but Irving has a special ability to create life-like fictional characters and the 600-plus pages flew by.

The novel is split into three times zones and for me the first section set in the 50s was the most engaging, although I loved all of it. I hope this recommendation isn't too gushing, but just go out and buy it.

Your copy will probably cost a bit more than mine (£1 from the Helen and Douglas House shop in Wallingford) but it will be worth it.

As I liked A Widow for One Year so much, I visited Oxford's cavernous central library at Westgate in search of Irving's back catalogue and was rewarded with a copy of Irving's new novel Last Night in Twisted River.

The story starts with the death of a kid in a log-rolling accident, but I'm not going to let that put me off.

Michael Palin's diaries covering the Python Years (69-79) have also kept me entertained.

Perhaps there is too much detail sometimes about the pay negotiations for the TV series, tours or theatre performances, but Palin also reflects on the times he is living in, and there are atmospheric accounts of him acting his way through the frequent power cuts and various strikes.

In the latest edition of Granta magazine, novelist Lionel Shriver penned a hilarious anecdote recalling how she freaked out when a plumber and his son accidentally smashed one of her precious sculptures.

And I have also embarked on the third, and possibly final instalment, of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, which I am surprised to say I am finding slightly hard going.

Perhaps that's because the author doesn't bother too much with the back story - he just launches straight in.

If you have any recommendations for 2010, then give me a shout. I'm hoping the new Martin Amis will be better than the last.