Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems

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November, Enid Blyton died. “ The Final Famous Five Books” tells a story by successive titles: “ Five Go Hang-Gliding Together / Four Attempt a Spot of Whitewater Rafting / Three Go to Guantanamo Bay / Two Experiment with Crystal Meth / One is a Good Boy, a Really Good Boy”. I like Brian Bilston. He really does have a poem for all occasions. However I did struggle with a full year's worth in one go. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie is one of many amazing Agatha Christie books. Originally published in 1920, The Mysterious Affair at Styles was a wonderful production. Queueing for an Ice Cream (6th June) – a fine example of Bilston’s autobiographical efforts, focusing on his grandad’s D-Day memories.

Days Like These is a triumph that I felt could be more triumphant but that is quite forgivable. I recommend it to fans of Bilston's verse and those who would like to read an amusing and/or thought-provoking poem every day of the coming year. Bilston's poems are often fun, but I think he's at his best when he adds some snark or political satire (rare in this collection) or comes up with odd rhymes and wordplay.A poem a day for a year, written to fit something related to the day, whether historic, strange, or silly, as explained in a paragraph before each one. A brilliant way to brighten each day. In this playful, innovative collection, Brian Bilston writes a poem to accompany every day of the year. In this playful, innovative collection, Brian Bilston writes a poem to accompany every day of the year. Each poem is inspired by a significant – often curious – event associated with that day: from Open an Umbrella Indoors Day to the day on which New York banned public flirting; from the launch of the Rubik’s Cube to the first appearance of the phrase, ‘the best thing since sliced bread’. January, world’s first underground railway opened. It was the Metropolitan Line, but “ Love Notes from the Underground” comprises puns using stations on many different Tube lines. “ Hainault, I wasn’t Holborn yesterday / and I know you like Stanmore than me / but don’t let our futures be Edgeware, or leave me Barking up the wrong tree. / It’s true, I may not be a Richmond / but you can Bank on me.”

November, King Canute died. “ Not Reigning but Drowning” is a parody of Stevie Smith's famous verse. Voted the best crime novel ever written by the Crime Writers’ Association: “ B reathless reading from first to the unexpected last.”— The Observer Since then he has set himself the task of writing a poem a day for each day of the year. This is more flexible than it sounds - poems about the Ides of March, Halloween and Remembrance Day jostle next to poems about historical events both big and small - the Boston Tea Party, the birth of King Canute (title: ‘Not Reigning but Drowning’), the release of Abbey Road, and the day the first loaf of sliced bread was sold. November, Shakespeare's wedding anniversary. A possible clerical error in the paperwork inspired Marriage Vows for the Uncommitted. It starts, “ I pledge my undying love to you, / Insofar as it's possible to guarantee anything these days.”

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December, Emperor Nero born. Roman history in verse, “ Julio-Claudian Clerihews”. For example, “ Augustus Caesar, / a formidable geezer, / stamped out civil wars and riots. / He loved a bit of pax and quiet.”.