THE great and the good of Birmingham have hailed the beauty of books after backing a new fundraising drive to help Alzheimer’s Disease patients.

Asked to select their favourite reads, there was no surprise over former Bishop of Birmingham Dr John Sentamu’s choice, with the current Archbishop of York and former Bishop of Birmingham picking The Holy Bible.

He chose the biggest-selling book of all time, because it “inspired my life”.

On a lighter note, former Birmingham student Chris Tarrant, a keen reader, revealed a deep-seated hatred of kids’ favourite Paddington Bear.

“For some reason, I always hated anything with Paddington Bear, Rupert Bear or Pooh Bear,” he said.

“That is very strange because I absolutely love bears and have spent hundreds of hours watching them in the wild in Canada and Alaska.”

The Tiswas and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire star named Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Thomas Harris’ Silence of the Lambs among his favourites.

“I have always read avidly since I was a young boy and now my own son, Toby, is also a very keen reader,” he said.

“I like to see it. I think it’s very healthy. Too many kids spend too much time staring mindlessly at TV screens these days and reading is altogether better for them.

“As a teenager, I became very keen on Thomas Hardy books, the Brontë sisters’ Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre and even Dostoevsky.

“The book that stands out in my mind the most, and I read it before I’d ever heard of the film, was Silence of the Lambs. It frightened the life out of me but I was gripped and couldn’t put it down for two days.”

Tarrant and Dr Sentamu’s selections feature in Celebrities’ Favourite Books, compiled by Jeff Thornburn, whose mother-in-law Evelyn Doughty suffered with dementia, in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society.

Thorburn will be signing copies of this book at Borders in the Bullring tomorrow from 1pm to 3pm.