Charles Manson: A Chilling Biography: Coming Down Fast – Simon Wells
Hodder & Stoughton, £12.99

This new biography of the man behind both the Manson Family and their horrific murders over the summer of 1969 concentrates less on the gore and more on the man. It doesn’t dwell on an ‘it was his mother’s fault’ blow-by-blow account of his childhood, but focuses on the time after he was released from 7 years in prison to find the 1960s in full swing and everything accompanied by lashings of LSD. All pop culture roads meet here, from Roman Polanski to the Beatles. The heady combination of good looks, an interest in psychological manipulation, and a taste for vulnerable 60s stoner drop-outs meant that Manson quickly picked up a following. The book’s focus on how he did this, and the manipulation involved is fascinating. He totally duped Denis Wilson of Beach Boys fame, conned fortunes out of people, and remains a menacing figure on the pop culture landscape. The way he is contextualised here makes this a gripping read.

Len Deighton’s Action Cookbook
Harper Perennial, £9.99

Len Deighton was the author of Michael Caine’s greatest role: Harry Palmer in the Ipcress File. He was also the cookery writer for the Observer in the 1960s. This re-release of his classic ‘Action Cookbook’ shows both his skill-sets at their finest. First published in 1965, it has groovy 60s design, including a cover featuring a dashing young men making spaghetti while wearing a gun. And it has charmingly nostalgic chapters about the need for a refrigerator or a ‘set of whirling knives in a heat-proof glass goblet’ (that’s blender to you and me). But best of all, it really teaches you how to cook: sets of simple cartoon illustrations with no more than 5 or 6 steps show everything from quick curries to delicious fish dishes. Jamie Oliver wishes he could be this informative while remaining as sexy as Harry Palmer. Use this book: women will love you.


The Talent Code – Daniel Coyle
Random House Books, £12.99

Ever wished you had a bit more talent? Fancied being really, really good at something? Well don’t panic, here’s your chance. Mr Coyle has discovered that the key to true skill is a substance called Myelin, a neural insulation that wraps around the nerve circuits in your brain while they’re zapping around sending electrical impulses while you learn. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But you have to practice in a specific way too – verrry slowly, and specifically. Coyle has travelled around the world, studying the likes of world-class musicians and Brazilian footballers. This is his guide to enhancing your skills. It makes for a great read – although perhaps not quite as good as Malcom Gladwell’s recent Outliers – but it doesn’t really allow for imagination. Because you can’t practice that, can you?

Spilt Milk, Black Coffee – Helen Cross
Bloomsbury, £14.99

Told from the perspective of three key characters, this second novel from the author of My Summer of Love is an equally classy read. Jackie Jackson is a larger than life character; she’s a slave to booze and men, and she’s not a very good single mum to her daughter Elle. But her colleague Amir is besotted by her – despite his own family trying to set him up with a series of sensible Pakistani women. What could have been a bunch of boring stereotypical tabloid clichés, is actually group of people you genuinely care about. Beautifully written but never boring, this is a special book.


How To Drink – Victoria Moore
Granta, £15.99

There’s nothing more annoying that being told how to do something you reckon you’re already ‘doing pretty well at thank you’, so Ms Moore’s book has the potential to seriously annoy. However, it’s actually very readable. Less of an instruction manual and more of a collection of interesting facts and snippets of advice, it covers everything from why ice from a machine is pointless, where to store your coffee and why rum ceased to be the official drink for the navy. It’ll give you lots to chat about between sips.

Grumpy Old Rockstar and other Wondrous stories – Rick Wakeman
Preface, £7.99

The jacket cover of this ‘Easy Jet orange’ paperback declares that Mr Wakeman is ‘simply one of the greatest storytellers of our age’. Not so. Sure, he’s had an interesting life, and has plenty of great anecdotes, but this book doesn’t make the best of them. It’s not quite a biography but more a scattered collection of stories from his ker-azy days in rock. It’s fun to read about his real-life-Spinal-Tap escapades involving inflatable dinosaurs as stage props and stolen KGB uniforms, but it’s nothing that we haven’t heard before from 70s rockers. You’re better off saving your pennies for an aging rocker who’s not quite so obviously cashing in…


Rob Da Bank’s A-Z of Festivals: My Life of Music, Mud and Mayhem in 26 Letters
Boxtree, £19.99

Bestival guru and Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank has teamed up with his illustrator wife (kerching!) Josie to put together this gorgeous-looking mini coffee table book, which talks you though the key music festivals of the year. From All Tomorrow’s Parties to Womad and everything in between, it’s an overview that will help you select where you might fancy and why. The cartoon illustrations make it a lovely object to own, even if it is undeniably one of the least practical things you could hope to have on you if the heavens open while you’re trying to get your tent up after a few too many pints of organic west country cider…

Dark Places – Gillian Flynn
Orion, £18.99

Libby Day is in her early thirties. She has never worked. Twenty-five years ago her mother and sisters were brutally murdered, and her older brother Ben has been imprisoned for the crime ever since. But the trust fund from well-wishers that she has been living off every since is down to the last few dollars. In desperation Libby goes to chat to a group of true-crime aficionados, in the hope of a small fee. But what she’s faced with is a group of geeks who are convinced her brother is innocent – and her evidence at the trial was coached out of her. Determined to prove them wrong, Libby decides to confront her past … with horrific consequences. Thrillers are rarely as gripping as this one but Gillian Flynn is a real talent. You’ll miss your bus stop, you’ll forget your train, you’ll get sunburned reading it on the beach. This woman writes so well I’d read her shopping lists.


Butterfly – Sonia Hartnett
Hamish Hamilton, £12.99

It’s a long, hot, boring summer in the middle of nowhere and fourteen-year-old Plum is suffering the agonies of being a teenager. She’s scared of her gang of friends at school, the age gap between her and older brothers make it clear she’s a ‘mistake’ and she desperately wants a new TV. But things look up with the sophisticated next-door neighbour befriends her … but is she all she seems? Before long she’s persuading Plum to change her name to ‘Aria’, encouraging her not to eat and suggesting all sorts of ways to be a ‘grown-up’. This a beautifully written tale of teenaged hell, with a creepy air and a way of sticking in your mind after you’ve put it down.


How to Be a Better Person – Seb Hunter
Atlantic Books, £12.99

Seb Hunter is a freelance writer who has published books on music including being a heavy metal addict. This time, he decides to get involved with the world of volunteer work in order to feel like he’s a ‘good’ person, rather than just one who does some recycling and buys free trade chocolate. He works in his local Oxfam, hospital radio and an Independent Custody Visiting Centre. It all makes for great anecdotes, and volunteer work is a genuinely wonderful cause to be drawing attention to … but there’s still a sneaking suspicion that he was doing it for material to write about, and that we should be helping out not reading the book itself. A small quibble though, as it’s mostly fun.


The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work – Alain de Botton
Hamish Hamilton, £18.99

Alain de B has made his name by taking complicated subjects such as philosophy and architecture, and writing about them in a way that makes them feel accessible and open to everyone. This time he does it the other way round – taking a load of ‘ordinary’ jobs and writing about them in a somewhat frilly way. It’s all a bit geography text book when he follows a tuna from the ocean to the shipping plant, the UK and then a boy’s dinner table in Bristol. He also goes to accountancy firms, career counsellors and a biscuit factory. But because he’s never had to work (his dad is a super-rich Swiss banker) it all feels a bit patronising. This is a book that smells of the kind of expensive aftershave that no-one can afford any more.


Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Quirk Classics, $12.95

What’s the only book more loved by the Brits than a Jane Austen classic? A Jane Austen classic with zombies in! Keeping 80% of the original text, and all of the plot we know and love, US screen writer Seth Grahame- Smith has simply shoved a load of zombie scenes and references in, making this a kind of literary mash-up. It could have been irritatingly childish and ruined a perfectly good story, but he’s understood the humour of the original and stuck to it. The characters daren’t say the work ‘zombie’, but just discuss ‘the unmentionables’ and Elizabeth Bennett is very feisty with a sword. There are some brilliantly gory line drawings of zombies in frocks as well. This is everything Lesbian Vampire Killers could have been.

Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole and Oliver Reed – Robert Sellers
Preface, £7.99

Shunning the boring bits such as childhood and career, this is basically a list of the greatest drinking exploits of the four ‘greatest’ drinkers that the 20^th Century ever saw. From the time O’Toole went for a beer in Paris but woke up in Corsica to the day Reed decided to drink 126 pints in 24 hours (that’s one every 12 minutes) before doing a horizontal handstand on the bar, it’s a truly impressive list. However, it doesn’t really dwell on the fact that they were all suffering from a chronic disease that eventually killed three of them (O’Toole is only still standing because he had to give up). There’s a bit of an early 90s Loaded vibe about the whole book, but you can’t deny the anecdotes themselves are truly spectacular..


The Flying Troutmans – Miriam Toews (pronounced TAVES)
Faber & Faber, £12.99

It’s impossible to tell whether Toews had seen ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ when she set about writing this – but the similarities are uncanny. Yet that’s no bad thing, as it still has the special indie charm of a book pressed in your hand by a loved one. Recently dumped 28-year-old Hattie heads back to Canada from Paris when her older sister Min has a nervous breakdown. Stuck with Min’s two quirky adolescent kids, Thebes and Logan, she decides to take a road trip to find their dad, and they end up driving down the west coast of the US. Falling on just the right side of quirky, it’s a heart-warming read, regardless of cinematic similarities.


The Optimist – Laurence Shorter
Canongate, £10.99

Laurence Shorter was getting more and more depressed by the bad news every morning, and even more depressed by the way that it was somehow becoming ‘uncool’ or ‘silly’ not to be cynical and pessimistic. So he decided to investigate optimism, convert himself and then try to spread the word. He hunts for famous optimists such as Desmond Tutu and Bill Clinton, and also speaks to the more wacky Californian gurus of the world. This would be a deeply irritating book if it wasn’t for the fact that he has his heart broken half way through, so we feel genuine sympathy for him. This book won’t change you’re life, but you’ll certainly feel happier while reading it.


Ten Storey Love Song – Richard Milward
Faber & Faber, £10.99

This is Richard Milward’s second novel and he’s only 23. Sickening. Luckily, it’s good enough not to inspire total disgust. Written in one continuous paragraph – no breaks, no chapters – it looks like it’s going to be hard work, but don’t panic! The sparky characters, unique style and authentic voice make this fun. Set almost entirely in a Middlesborough tower block, it looks at the loves and lives of a group of its inhabitants, particularly Bobby, a wannabe artist with a drug problem. He unexpectedly make it big in the art world when dealer Bent Lewis discovers his work. But at what cost?


Sex, Drugs & Chocolates: The Science of Pleasure – Paul Martin
4^th Estate, £16.99

Bored of your New Year resolutions? Worried that there’s not going to be any fun in this recessiony year? Me too. But don’t panic: read this. Mr Martin knows everything there is to know about pleasure, where to find it – and how not to get carried away by it all. It’s all to do with dopamine pathways apparently. But most importantly of all, remember the difference between desire and actual pleasure. Sex and chocolate are the key to a happy life apparently, and there are some fabulous facts about both here.


Burial – Neil Cross
Simon & Schuster, £12.99

Eleven years ago Nathan went to a party that got seriously out of hand. A girl died and he is persuaded by his new friend, the exuberant but terrifying Bob, to bury the body. Now Bob is back, saying that the woods are being dug up for a housing development. Neil Cross is a writer on Spooks, so as you can imagine the plotting and the dialogue here is tense and tight. You don’t want to be supporting Nathan, as he finds himself in a terrifying dilemma and makes a series of increasingly bad decisions … but you find yourself doing just that.


Fat Bloke Slims: How I Lost Three Stone – Bruce Byron
Penguin, £6.99

Bruce Bryon was heading for middle age with a 40 inch waist and decided it was time to sort his diet out. BORING! Except, not really, because he seems like a genuinely nice bloke, and well .. he’s a bloke. So instead another tedious January diet book filled with panic about size 8 jeans and munching on organic lettuce, this is filled with sensible advice and a friendly tone. There’s not much info you didn’t know anyway, but hearing it from someone so normal makes a difference. The only problem is that he had to finish writing before he finished the diet, so you don’t know if he managed it. (He did. George called him to find out..)

It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music – Amanda Petrusich
Faber, £14.99

Twenty-something Brooklyn-based music journo Petrusich travelled the US in search of the history of Americana music and where it might be going next. It’s a great potted history of roots music from Leadbelly and The Carter Family to Bonnie Prince Billy and Fleet Foxes, but there’s also a lot of her driving around looking at scenery. If you’re interested in this genre of music, there is some great stuff her, but you can’t help wondering that no matter how good a writer Petrusich is, you might have liked someone more experienced to have made this journey.


My Word is My Bond: The Autobiography – Roger Moore
Michael O’Mara Books, £18.99

Aaaah, the classic old school Hollywood biography. Filled with behind the scenes anecdotes, well-cut suits, and barely a snarky word about anyone, Moore keeps it classy throughout. Those under 30 might find him somewhat irrelevant but the one-time 007 still has a mischievous sense of humour, so while he’ll appeal to your granny he’s still got a twinkle in his eye for everyone else.

Look Who It Is! My Story – Alan Carr
HarperCollins, £18.99

Carr doesn’t have much of a dramatic life story to tell, but because his comedy revels in the mundane, this doesn’t really matter. This reads like much of his stand-up: looking at the tedious details of life and turning them into something hilarious as well as a little bit touching. Cheaper than going to see him live, but just as much fun.

Dear Fatty – Dawn French
Century, £18.99

Don’t panic about giving this as a gift! The ‘Fatty’ of the title actually refers to long-term comedy partner Jennifer Saunders… French is one of the few celebs to try and do something a bit different with her autobiography, as it’s structured as a series of letters, to friends, family, colleagues and random celebrities she feels like ‘touching base’ with. In parts it’s incredibly moving, but some of the babbling about Madonna doesn’t really work. It would be a cold, cold, festive heart that didn’t love this book.

Things The Grandchildren Should Know – Mark Everett
Little, Brown, £14.99

The best and most interesting celeb autobiography of the year comes (of course) from the least famous of the bunch. Mark Everett, best known as ‘E’ from Eels, has had an extraordinary life and what’s more he has the writing skills to do it justice. Almost everyone in his family has died tragically, he has had a fascinating ride through the ever-erratic music industry, and he has a magical mind filled with ideas. Give this one to the person you’d really like to have a Happy Christmas this year…

Leon – Allegra McEvedy
Octopus Books, £20

It looks gorgeous, it’s filled with healthy food and even Ernest Hemingway with a four-year-old assistant can manage to make their tasty meatballs. What more could you ask for from a cookery book? Well … it is a bit over-designed, and some of the endless recipes for juices are a bit much … but it would still make a cracking gift.

Jamie’s Ministry of Food – Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph, £25

It’s all too easy to get exhausted by Oliver’s perfect lifestyle and sweary ways, but just as I’d decided to hate him forever it turned out that this is actually a book that is more than fit for purpose: it’s easy to follow, it looks good and the recipes are tasty. And there’s much less of Jamie faffing about in his garden than the last one.

Delia’s Frugal Food – Delia Smith
Hodder & Stoughton, £17.99

First published 32 years ago, Delia’s thrifty classic is back with a snazzy redesign. No longer working from a kitchen made entirely of brass, she’s dusted off her cheap but tasty recipes in a book that looks all Credit Crunch Chic. And because each dish as so few ingredients, it’s seriously easy to make the dishes.

How to be a Better Foodie – Sudi Piggot
Quadrille, £4.99

Everyone knows a would-be chef who somehow reckons they’re above needing actual recipes, and so this is the book for them. Filled with advice for serious culinary gurus, it can tell you everything you need to know from what kind of milk makes the best cappuccino to what kind of pig you should breed if you fancy some classy bacon. It’s as snooty as it sounds, but does have a sense of humour and its, um, tongue in its cheek..
Outliers: The Story of Success – Malcom Gladwell
Allen Lane, £16.99

George’s favourite cultural commentator, intellectual adventurer and author-of-books-that-make-you-look-good-if-you-carry-them-around is back with his third book. This time, he is looking at what makes us successful, and how it’s not just a big dollop of genius, but that circumstance, location and 10,000 hours of practice are equally important. From the hours that the Beatles spent slogging away in Hamburg clubs to perfect their live act to the fact that Bill Gates had access to a main-frame computer from the age of nine, he uses examples that make you feel you might just be able to hit the big-time yourself. As such, it’s a joy to read.

When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin – Mick Wall
Orion, £20

You’d be in trouble if you wrote a Zeppelin biography and managed to make it dull, but Mick Wall has been in the industry for years and has interviewed the band and those around them on countless occasions, so this is the real deal. From Page’s fascination with the occult to the heady days of Spinal Tap-esque excess in the 1970s, and of course their uniquely mighty sound, there is plenty of detail on everything that matters. Fans will be satisfied by the level of detail while newcomers will be left in no doubt about their influence. And everyone will enjoy the photos of the private jet and its fur lined double bed within. Rawk.

Texas Death Row – ed, Bill Crawford
Penguin, £

This is a collection of the prisoners that have been executed in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977: their age, what they were sentenced to death for, their last meal and their last statement, if any. We’re given no other details, no opinions and no wordy moralising essay, but the lack of judgment actually makes this a compelling and even moving book. From the youngsters that seem not to have been given a chance and the staggeringly gruesome details of some of the crimes to the sincere apologies that some of them made, it makes for compulsive if uncomfortable reading.

Mister Roberts – Alexei Sayle
Sceptre, £12.99

Everyone’s favourite 80s-comedian-turned-acclaimed-author is back and this time it’s with a joyfully bonkers novel, rather than the short stories he has become known for. Set largely among a British expat community in Spain, it’s part coming of age story and part crazy aliens from outer space story. But all of it is fun, and it’s surprisingly tender as well. Don’t let the cold weather get you down – curl up with a cup of hot chocolate, pop your Totes on and let this lush slice of storytelling take you to another world altogether.


Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns n’ Roses – Stephen Davis
Michael Joseph, £18.99

It would be hard to mess up a biography of Guns n’ Roses as they have made a good fist of living the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll trajectory. From Axl Rose (or Bill Bailey as he was then) rebelling against his strict Pentecostal upbringing, to them selling 100 million albums before falling apart in spectacular fashion, there’s no denying this is a compulsive read. But it does feel a bit like a round-up of all the stories, rather than a bit of investigation on Davis’ part. Never mind, kick back with some Dr Pepper, pop Chinese Democracy on, and enjoy…

Buy-ology – Martin Lindstrom
Random House, £17.99

What do you mean, you’re not excited by the world’s largest neuromarketing study? How can this be so??? Oh well, you’ll probably enjoy the affably bonkers Mr Lindstrom’s evangelical waffle anyway. He has done lots of crazy-sounding brain experiments on people watching anti-smoking ads and unbranded episodes of American Idol, and concluded that we are all slaves to marketing. Or are we? If anti-smoking ads make smokers want light up and sales of Reece’s Pieces tripled after ET was released, it seems we’re all getting a little bit more sophisticated…


The Way I Am – Eminem
Orion, £20

Celeb autobiographies dart about wildly between over-designed coffee table books that reveal nothing about their subject to waffly confessionals that tell you way too much, but every now and then there's a cracker. This is one of them. It's enormous, it's stunning to look at and it comes with a dvd. And on top of that, it sees Eminem being startlingly honest about his life so far, from groupie sex to high school anxieties and drug experimentation to grieving the loss of his friend Proof. I guess we shouldn't be too surprised that someone so lyrically inventive has come out with a good book, but it really is a cracker.

The Future of Modern Policing: 1981 Edition – Gene Hunt
Bantam Press, £9.99

Fans of this spring's Ashes to Ashes may be relieved to know that we can all now reach the incomparable professional standards of DCI Gene Hunt with this nifty little guide. Complete with coffee stains, bang-on 80s fonts and doodles from colleagues it is a great piece of witty design for hardcore fans. But it will mean absolutely nothing to anyone who didn't love the series and without the great hunk of man that is Philip Glenister to vocalise them, some of Hunt's comments fall flat on the page. A stocking filler for the devoted, but one to miss otherwise.


Playing the Game - Belle de Jour
Orion, £12.99

It’s never really clear if Belle de Jour really is a high class call girl, or if she’s just a dirty old man with a well-thumbed thesaurus. Whether the diaries were fake or not, she’s now moved into ‘fiction’. Although it’s still a book about a girl called Belle. Confused? You should be. She’s now trying to go back to a 9 to 5 job, but she can’t quite give up the perks of her old one. So what should be a saucy book about classy shenanigans actually just ends up being one about a girl struggling with her work/life balance. Which isn’t much fun really…

StarStruck: Fame, Failure, My Family and Me – Cosmo Landesman
Macmillan, £12.99

Everyone sometimes reckons their parents are embarrassing but Jay and Fran Landesman really excelled. Their son Cosmo, now the film critic for the Sunday Times, recounts growing up with two parents whose lust for fame and fortune was (..is?) far greater than any inclination towards parenting. They nearly made it several times – success in 50s New York never panned out so they moved to Swinging London before becoming hippies as the 70s appeared. Friends with the likes of Peter Cook, Jimi Hendrix and a host of other cultural icons, they were nearly-famous for years but never really lived the dream. Funny and stuffed with good anecdotes, anyone who has ever been shamed by their parents will love this – and it makes a refreshing look at 20^th century celebrity culture.


Love Letters of Great Men – Ursula Doyle (ed)
Macmillan, £9.99

Anyone’s who has seen the Sex & The City movie will remember this romantic book that Carrie was constantly referring to with a wistful look in her eye. And those who haven’t can now pretend that they have. Basically, the compendium of romantic letters didn’t exist when the film was made, but the sly dogs at Macmillan realised that as all the letters were out of print anyway, they could just make it themselves. So here it is. Some of the letters are funny, some are gorgeously romantic and some are just a bit bizarre. But luckily this has been put together beautifully so that each letter’s introduction means the romance is in context. Anyone who has to write a speech at a forthcoming wedding will be laughing with this in their grip.

Liver – Will Self
Penguin Viking, £18.99

Will Self seems to think that if he turns up on enough panel shows with some good gags and wry asides, he can pretty much do what he likes the rest of the time, and his publishers clearly agree as they’ve let him write four stories inspired by our largest internal organ: the liver. Okay… Set variously in a Soho drinking den, a junkie’s veins and in the life of a woman who is dying – then recovering – of liver cancer, these are amazingly inventive stories, and Self’s writing is as ingeniously thesaurus-like as you’d expect. But there’s no pretending that this is a light read for on the bus.


The Stargazers Guide: How To Read Our Night Sky – Emily Winterburn
Constable £14.99

What looked like it was going to be a tedious Christmas cash-in on last year’s Cloudspotter’s Guide is actually a fun read. Admittedly, astronomy isn’t as mainstream as it was back in the 1700s but hey, this book makes it seem like fun. Organised month-by-month, it makes the mind-blowing enormity of the various black holes and galaxies out there seem pretty approachable. Next time you’re in the middle of a field and can see some stars, they might make a little more sense, thanks to Ms Winterburn’s chatty tone. And there is some fun info about the history and names that inspired the Mars chocolate empire. It’s just facts…

Doors Open – Ian Rankin
Orion, £18.99

Rankin’s Rebus novels are one of the biggest brands in UK crime fiction, but last year the iconic detective hit retirement age, leaving Rankin with a bit of a problem. Luckily he’s had the dignity not to make Rebus shuffle around Edinburgh with nothing to do, and has instead come up with this heist caper. A gang of unlikely art-loving would-be criminals decided to relieve the city’s art gallery of some priceless classics, and enlist a local gangster for support. It’s all a bit of a lighthearted caper compared to the brilliance of the Rebus books, but sub-standard Rankin is better than most writers can dream of, so it’s a cracking read nonetheless.


Class – Jane Beaton
Sphere, £6.99

These days books set in boarding schools are all Hogwarts and Quiddich, but it was Enid Blyton’s mighty Mallory Towers that really kicked things off. And Class is a throw-back to those books: a posho school that looks like a castle, a headmistress with a secret, a new teacher with one eye on the homework and one on the English teacher from the boys’ school across the road … and lots of hormonal girls battling it out on the front line of teen-dom. This has retro fun, a kind heart, and big knowing wink to ye olde Enid Blyton’s finest hour. Indulge!


Bringing Nothing To the Party: True Confessions of A Media Whore – Paul Carr
Orion, £14.99

Paul Carr was a journalist covering the first dot com boom when he was in his early twenties. But before long he realised he wanted a piece of the action himself. Reckoning he’d hit upon his Big Idea (creating books from blogs) he decided to make the dream come true … with mixed results. What follows is a techie version of How To Make Friends and Alienate People: Carr demystifies the extraordinary way that companies are valued (no-one knows what their doing), pokes fun at the internet millionaires who are barely out of school, and causes general mayhem at a very fancy conference hosted by Google. He makes a likeable guide to a ludicrous world.


The Private Patient – PD James
Faber, £18.99

Rhoda Gradwyn is a successful investigative journalist who decides to get the horrific facial scar that she has had since childhood removed. So she goes to the best surgeon on Harley Street, and then has the operation done at the clinic in his countryside manor. But she dies before she checks out – strangled in the night. The list of suspects basically consists of those in the manor house that night: the owner, his disgruntled girlfriend, the cook or the woman whose family used to own the house. Everyone has a story to tell…PD James is 88, and she most definitely hasn’t lost her touch, as this is like the best game of Cluedo come to life, showing you just can’t beat a classic country house murder mystery.


Sleepwalk and other stories – Adrian Tomine
Faber, £9.99

This collection from US author Tomine seems quite slight, but actually it packs a surprising emotional punch. At between three and six pages each, these aren’t full stories, but little snapshots at relationships. With smooth, clean line drawings and lots of US hipsters with asymmetrical haircuts and glasses like Lisa Loeb, it borders on smug-chic, but the brevity of the pieces and Tomine’s insight means these stories might surprise you. Remember, it’s not a comic, it’s a haiku, folks.

We Need To Talk About Kevin Keegan – Giles Smith
Penguin, £7.99

Giles Smith is a sports writer at The Times and this ‘Bumper Book of Football Writing’ is a collection of his columns on football over the last few years. And when he says ‘football writing’ he doesn’t just mean the offside rule and transfer gossip – he means WAGs, Mourhino’s dog and the endless stream of footballers’ biographies. He clearly knows his stuff, and is very committed to being flippant about it. If you only watch big international matches, you’ll learn enough to sound smart in the pub, but if The Beautiful Game is your main source of pleasure, there’ll be plenty to chortle at too.

In the Dark – Mark Billingham
Little Brown, £14.99

When a car is shot at late at night in Hackney, it seems like it’s a case of a gang initiation situation. But instead of the woman driving the car being killed, an innocent man standing at a nearby bus stop is run down and dies of his injuries. A freaky co-incidence? When it turns out that he’s a cop, and that his recent dealings with London’s criminal underworld might not be whiter than white, things start to get a bit confusing. Told from the perspective of the victim’s pregnant girlfriend, and Theo, the gang member who fired the shots, this is a tense, pacey thriller – but perhaps one a bit too influenced by The Wire?

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami
Harvill Secker, £9.99

I can’t lie to you. If you have no interest in running and you’re no fan of Murakami, this book might not be for you. But … if you like a jog and you’ve ever wished you could read something a bit more expressive that testosterone-pumped health magazines, it’s a treat. As close to a memoir as Murakami has said he’ll get, it’s a collection of writing about the great Japanese novelists’ long-term hobby of running marathons. He’s got over 25 over his belt, and an ultramarathon (64 miles!), so he knows what he’s talking about. And, as ever, he puts it beautifully.


Goodbye 20^th Century: Sonic Youth and the Rise of the Alternative Nation – David Browne
Piatkus, £16.99

Author David Browne has previously written on Tim and Jeff Buckley, and he’s certainly done his research with this comprehensive biography of both the band itself and the various members that have been a part of it. Focussing (naturally on Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore) it does a great job of telling the human story and putting the band in context. Browne is passionate about the huge part that Sonic Youth played in influencing today’s music and art scene and he makes a good argument about their influence. It might be all a bit too detailed to convert newcomers though.


Elephants on Acid … and Other Bizarre Experiments – Alex Boese
Boxtree, £10

Ever wondered if a severed head retains consciousness long enough to see what has happened to it? Or if it’s possible to reanimate a kitten, creating a tiny fluffy zombie? Wonder no more. Punningly named Mr Alex Boese has compiled a gripping but energetically written compendium of some of the strangest experiments ever conducted in the name of science. Some are horrifying (the kitten), some are hilarious (cockroach Olympics!) and most are completely fascinating (what does happen if you stay awake for eleven days?). It ain’t going to help you win the science section in the pub quiz any time soon but it will certainly mean you can avoid a buying a round by having the best stories to tell.


The Broken Window – Jeffery Deaver
Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99

Lincoln Rhyme is back and he’s as grumpy as ever. When his estranged cousin Arthur is suddenly arrested for a brutal crime, it seems ridiculous that such a gentle man could have committed the offence. But the forensics suggest an airtight case. Forced to admit that his beloved evidence may be at fault for once, Rhyme uncovers a case that seems to be result of identity theft – if you know exactly how someone lives their life, you can frame them for any crime. The murky world of data mining might sound like geeks on laptops, but it is made utterly terrifying here. Deaver perfectly combines the trusty NYPD procedural with the sheer horror of ID theft, creating a page-turner that will make you shiver no matter how sunny it gets this week.


Eccentric Glamour: Creating an Insanely More Fabulous You – Simon Doonan
Simon & Schuster, £14.99

A cross between Gok Wan and Barry Humpries, Simon Doonan is ‘fabulous’ and big in the US, but he was still born in Reading. Pushing that small fact aside, he is on a mission to rid the world of ‘hooker chic’ and make us all dress like bigger individuals. With advice on everything from how to chose your perfect handbag to when to select your ‘signature lipstick’ as well as interviews with the likes of Dita von Teese and Tilda Swinton, this is part-rant and part-self-help book. Some might just want to chuck it out the window but we must rejoice that he’s promoting uniqueness. It should be pressed into the hand of every girl to leave the Big Brother house…


Life With My Sister Madonna – Christopher Ciccone (with Wendy Leigh)
Simon & Schuster, £17.99

Somebody’s brother is feeling left out …*really* left out. After a good fifteen years as Queen Madge’s dresser, set designer, tour director and all-round-good-guy, it seems that her brother has had enough, and he’s ready to spill the beans. Landing the blame squarely in Guy Ritchie’s lap for causing a rift between them (and having a good old dig at Kabbalalalalbalba along the way) Ciccone chronicles everything from their childhood, their early days in NYC and the opulent wedding in the Scottish Highlands. Guess what? Madonna can be difficult to deal with! There’s something mesmerising about the level of trivial detail – it’s clear that this is a book that could only have been written by a sibling – but the sheer amount of personal information and the constant referencing of finances leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.


Instructions For Living Someone Else’s Life – Mil Millington
W&N, £10

Author of the splendid website Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About is back with his fourth book. This time, it’s a time travelling mid-life-crisis epic. It’s 1985 and Chris is a 25 year old in a slick but cheesy advertising gig. One night he gets incredibly drunk, then wakes up the next morning in bed with a mysterious 43 year old woman and a profusion of new body hair. It’s twenty years later…There’s a cute storyline about being a young man in a middle-aged man’s body, but the strength of this book lies in Millingon’s humour and his eye for detail. The Austin Powers-esque look at modern life is fun, and his take on modern relationships is as sharp as ever.


Crime - Irvine Welsh
Jonathan Cape, £12.99

Fans of Trainspotting and Filth will be disappointed by Welsh's latest. However, fans of cliché, over-use of the word nonce and Miami Vice rip-offs will be overjoyed. Ray Lennox takes compassionate leave after working on the shocking case of Britney Hamil – he heads to Miami with his fiancée for some rest, before long an argument has lead to a trip to strip club … which has leads to the discovery of a paedophile ring. Luckily for us, Ray has time in between coke, booze and tedious football reminiscing to sort everyone out. Shame he couldn't sort out the writing too. There are way better reads about Scotland, about crime and about Miami. Trust Ernest on this one.


The Undercover Scientist - Peter J Bentley
Random House Books, £12.99

Bentley is a man with a degree in artificial intelligence, so He Knows Science. And he's decided to share it with us. Taking the example of someone having a shocker of a day, he reveals the secret science behind everything we do.. Ever over-slept? Slipping on shower gel in the bathroom? Or dropped a wine glass and wondered why is smashed that way? Bentley has the answers. Now you'll know why you're eyes feel hot if you chop a chilli then rub them (even though they aren't hot!). It might be a bit much to read all in one go, as there's a lot of info in there, but this is a book that opens up the world to you. Factalicious.


Trauma – Patrick McGrath
Bloomsbury, £15.99

Charlie is a shrink with a lot on his plate. It’s early 1970s New York City, his mother has just died, his ex wife is giving him the run around, and he’s got a new girlfriend who seems as if it’s a doctor she needs, not a boyfriend. To make things worse, he’s haunted by the work he did with traumatised veterans of the Vietnam war – and the results that he had. This is a tense, atmospheric read – a little bit sexy and a whole lot creepy, it’s not a traditional page-turner but it certainly gets under your skin.


The Importance of Being Trivial – Mark Mason
Random House Books, £11.99

Mark Mason loves facts. He doesn’t think trivia is trivial, and he goes on a mission to prove it. Searching for the perfect fact he discovers that Jack the Ripper was left-handed and Keith Richards was a chorister at the Queen’s Coronation. More importantly, he delves into why it is that good facts make us feel so tingly, why the perfect trivia nugget can win such respect in pubs and how men and women process knowledge so differently. It’s fun, it’s charming and it’s stuffed with golden facts. It makes your brain itch for more.


Freddie & Me – Mike Dawson
Jonathan Cape, £14.99
If you’ve ever worried that the memoir format needed a bit of livening up, then panic no more – because here’s Mike Dawson and his ‘graphic memoir’. No, not a raunchy Belle du Jour diary but a charming account of growing up in the 80s … obsessed with Freddie Mercury. The images are fab (particularly a laid back Andrew Ridgley taking the break-up of Wham in his stride) and there are some genuinely touching moments of teen angst, making it a warm and fuzzy nostalgia-fest without comic book cred.


The Invention of Everything Else – Samantha Hunt
Harvill Secker, £12.99

Without Nikola Tesla there would be no George Lamb show. Because no matter what underhand shenanigans Mr Marconi went on to dabble in, it was Tesla who invented radio (along with AC electricity and remote control). His grasp of patents was rubbish though. This gorgeous read sees Mr Tesla living out his final days in the Hotel New Yorker, where he’s been living for 10 years. No-one to go quietly, he’s befriending a chambermaid and experimenting with time travel. All of which makes for a gripping read that’s as bonkers as it is inspiring.


Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook
Collins, £14.99

Whether you know Mr Reggae Reggae through his music or only came across him when he made his show-stealing appearance on Dragon’s Den, it’s hard not to love this book. If you are a supremely lazy would-be chef you can just follow his recipe for Jamaican Coffee (put rum and cream in it), or if you’re a little bit more adventurous there are plenty of tasty variations on his Notting Hill Carnival treats. But what gives the book a real kick is the way his life story is woven throughout – from his early days in the Jamaican village of Content to his parents’ emigration to London and his darker times in the 90s, it’s an inspiriting story told with a healthy dollop of humour and warmth.


Real Men Eat Puffer Fish: And 93 Other Dangerous Things To Consider – Robert Twigger
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £9.99

Frankly, with a show of George’s high standards, the Dangerous Book For Boys just wasn’t going to seem all that dangerous for long. Even though there is now an avalanche of guides to being a better man, this is the one that really ups the ante – teaching you how to achieve the perfect intimidating stare (go to the zoo), and how to swim in an ice hole (take your shorts off straight away), and most importantly how to eat a puffer fish without dying (DON’T EAT THE LIVER!). This fills the gap between retro-tedium and techie manuals a treat.


Crap At the Environment – Mark Watson
Hodder, £12.99

The world o’ books hasn’t been slow to catch onto the fact that these days we’re all keen to save the planet with minimum fuss and bother, and this time they’ve sent a lovely comedian to rescue us from the more self-important wafflers out there. Stand-up, writer and all round Decent Bloke, Mark Watson ‘came out’ as being Crap at the Environment and very quickly found others around him admitting to their confusion too. This recounts the year he spent trying to Be Less Crap. It’s funny, warm and might teach you some useful stuff without making you feel like a school kid being told off.


The Pirates! In an Adventure With Napoleon – Gideon Defoe
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £7.99

Times are hard for the Pirate Captain – he's spectacularly failed at the Pirate of the Year competition and he's losing respect fast. Clearly, the answer is to go eco, and move to St Helena to keep bees. The problem is that Napoleon is already there, which causes all sorts of planning permission problems… This kind of school boy humour can be infuriating, but Defoe does it well so it all feels like proper fun. Satire from the high seas never tasted so good – and Aardman are making a film soon so get on board now.


Devil May Care – Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming
Penguin 007, £18.99

Bond is back, and he's bringing everything a fan could hope for (apart from perhaps a bit of double khaki). At first it seems he's over – he turns down a martini, and then spurns a beautiful lady who's giving him the glad-eye. But before long he's called in to deal with a classic baddie: Dr Julius Gorner, a man with main de singe … a freakishly large hairy monkey paw instead of a hand. After that, it just gets better: sexy twins, foreign assignments and a classic twist. This is old school 1967 Bond, and as such it feels close to pastiche but it's lots of fun.


Up Till Now – William Shatner
Sidgwick & Jackson, £18.99

Aaah, Captain T Kirk, TJ Hooker, Denny Crane… You so want to love the man behind these iconic characters. And so does Shatner himself. But sadly, his willingness to be the butt of ‘ironic’ humour and his obvious desire for us all to think he ‘a great guy’ gets a bit exhausting in this memoir. He has some undeniably great anecdotes – being in the only movie ever made entirely in Esperanto, for example – and his rendition of Rocket Man is of course the best, but there’s only so far that self-consciously wacky gags about Trekkies can get you…


Breath – Tim Winton
Picador, £16.99

Tim Winton combines a readable topic with some gorgeous writing in this coming-of-age story set among Aussie surfers. Pikelet (Bruce Pike) is a teenager in Sawyer, a small sawmilling town next to the sea. His parents have forbidden surfing, but his friendship with the town’s rebel, Loonie, leads him to defy them. Before long, Pikelet’s a sucker for the addictive beauty of the surf – and that is only one of the ways in which he ends up being led astray. Winton writes about the surf in a way that makes it feel intoxicating even if you’re sitting on a bus in the rain. But the story takes a bizarre and frightening turn towards the end when the high of surfing turns out not to be enough.


Mute Magazine: Graphic Design – Adrian Shaughnessy
Eightbooks, £19.95

Given that most of George’s biggest fans seem to be graphic designers, this must surely be the show’s favourite coffee table book. Tracing the roots and evolving design of cult magazine Mute, it tells you everything you need to know about current trends in graphic design. Given that award-winning British writers like Hari Kunzru and James Flint cut their teeth on the magazine and it’s influenced many others since, it’s worth knowing having a look – but don’t panic Adrian Shaughnessy is an approachable guide for those who don’t have a clue about design but just quite like the pictures.


Personal Days – Ed Park
Jonathan Cape, £12.99

Ever sat at your desk wondering what the company you work for actually does? Ever looked at your colleagues and wondered if any of them are in fact just blagging it every day? If you’ve answered yes to either of these, then this is the book for you – the employees at an anonymous US corporation are freaked out when they realise that who they thought was a PA actually seems to be their boss, and then people start getting fired in alphabetical order. Darker than the office and funnier than And Then We Came To The End, it’s this year’s office read…


Whatever Makes You Happy – William Sutcliffe
Bloomsbury, £10.99

Sutcliffe was the author of one of George’s favourite books, ‘Are You Experienced?’ which was a comedy about students in India. This time, his subjects are a bit older, but his wit is just as sharp. A group of three middle-aged friends realise that their thirty-something sons just don’t seem to be settling down and so they make a pact to move in with them and sort their lives out. Matt, who works at lads’ mag ‘Balls’ is in for the biggest shock when he finds himself having to explain the finer points of GTA and why he’s coming home with a date whose name he can’t remember, but evasive Paul and heartbroken Daniel don’t escape the Mum Treatment either. It’s funny, and even a little bit moving…


Amazing Tales for Making Men Out of Boys – Neil Oliver
Penguin, £17.99

With a mildly ironic nod to boys’ annuals and schoolbooks of the 1950s this is a collection of stories about Real Men. Yes, Manly Men who performed heroic feats of bravery, endurance and downright Don-ness. The author is worried that the days of just doing the right thing in the name of comradeship and honour, regardless of any recognition or glory are slipping away. But these stories of Apollo 13, The Battle of Britain and the likes of Scott of the Antarctic remind us. It could be a little preachy, but actually the tales are so good that you may even find yourself wiping a tiny little tear from your eye.


Reckless Road – Marc Canter
Omnibus Press, £19.99

If you were a bit of a part-time Guns ‘n’ Roses fan, only interested once they’d made it big and were filling stadiums, this book might not be for you. But if you are more of a completist, you’ll love it. Marc Canter was Slash’s best mate at school, and (in an only slightly creepy way) chronicled their every gig as the band formed and as they established themselves, got a deal and went on to make Appetite for Destruction. Filled with exclusive photos, set lists, ticket stubs, a lot of hairspray and lashings of frosted eyeliner it is a priceless record of early 80s hair rock.


Bonk – The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science
Mary Roach, £12.99

Eye-poppingly specific but always very scientific, this is a history of the study of sex from an author who knows her stuff but has a sense of humour too. From the Victorian doctors who covered their patients with a sheet lest they should actually see what they were doing, to the women working in sex toy factories who simply tell their families that they ‘work in plastics’, this covers every, um, angle on the physical side of sex. It’s not a manual, so don’t go looking for tips, but there’s a massive amount of information (and detail) which means you won’t be able to help being better informed…


Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E Smith – Mark E Smith
Viking, £11.99

Anyone who has seen Mark E Smith do a television interview recently could be forgiven for thinking that an actual book from him would be, um, a bit erratic. And this one is – but in a good way. It manages to combine his fantastic stories of life on the road (accompanied by some of the 49 people who’ve been in The Fall over the last 30 years) with his unique way of looking at the world. So treat yourself to some fantastic rock anecdotes, some eccentric musings on the state of modern-day Manchester and of course Mr Smith’s opinion on Neighbours – especially Dr Karl Kennedy.


Second Lives - Tim Guest
Arrow, £7.99

More people currently play Second Life than have passed through New York’s Ellis Island in the entire 20^th Century, so it can’t just be losers giving themselves porny names and sculpted bodies, while sitting in their jogging bottoms at their lap top …can it? Well, yes and no, and this book will help the uninitiated understand the attraction. Tim Guest he dabbles himself, he goes to meet communities of special needs patients who have literally been given a fresh lease of life by the game and also explains the darker side of the community. Mr Lamb should most definitely get an avatar.


Slam – Nick Horby
Penguin, £7.99

Hornby’s moved away from his classic ‘thirtysomething bloke angst’ novels with this book aimed more for the younger lad. Sam is a 16 year old with a hot girlfriend, a pretty cool mum and a lot of time for his skating hero, Tony Hawk. But just as things are going so well, his girlfriend gets pregnant. This is a really fresh look at the teen novel – it doesn’t dwell on the stereotypical girl’s perspective on being a single mum, but explores what Sam’s going through. It makes you think twice about unprotected sex, without being tediously preachy, and it tells a good story while still having a whole lot of heart.


Iggy Pop: Open Up And Bleed – Paul Trynka
Sphere, £9.99

It would be hard to mess up a biography of Iggy Pop as he’s had such a ridiculously extreme life. With highs including pretty much inventing punk rock, getting financial security overnight when David Bowie decided to cover China Girl, and then becoming a cult hero on the release of Trainspotting, Iggy is a pop culture hero. But the lows have also included crippling heroin addiction, more than any man’s fair share of heartache and a big dollop of mental instability. While this reads a bit too much like a fan’s book, and suffers a little because Bowie has not contributed (although pretty much everyone else involved did), it’s still a gripping journey through the music scene of the last 40 years – and makes cracking read.


I’m a Lebowski, You’re a Lebowski – Bill Green, Scott Schuffitt, Will Russell, Ben Peskoe
Canongate, £12.99

Written by the creators of Lebwoski Fest, this is the ultimate companion to the once-maligned, now-beloved Coen brothers movie The Big Lebowski. If you’ve never seen the film it will make no sense at all, and certainly won’t convince you – but if you’ve ever found yourself thinking that a rug really ties the room together, this will make you very happy. Interviews with all the cast (including an apparently clueless Tara Reid), info on the locations, the soundtrack and the props and a minute-by-minute guide to the film itself all make it a bible for Achievers everywhere. Abide.


The Suspicions of Mr Whicher – Kate Summerscale
Bloomsbury, £14.99

This true story of an 1860 murder case reads like a brilliant crime novel, but is in fact the story of a now-legendary investigation which went to influence both Dickens and Conand Doyle – as well as modern police techniques. There is a horrific murder in the smart country house of the Kent family, and the suspects are everywhere – unhappy servants, stroppy kids from Mr Kent’s first marriage and the man of the house himself. Whicher is sent down from London to the West Country, where his new-fangled methodical and forensic ideas are met with raised eyebrows. Basically, it’s Cluedo come to life, and it’s fab.


Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector – Mick Brown
Bloomsbury, £9.99

Now out in paperback (the hardback would have been impossible on the bus) this 600 page biography is a must-read for any fans of either music … or brilliant stories. Spector is a character like no other, and Mick Brown does a great job of doing him credit. From his childhood tormented by his dad’s suicide and mum’s smothering, via his glory years as a producer to his arrest and trial for the murder of Lana Clarkson, this book is as balanced as Spector has been unbalanced. Get it now so you can truly enjoy the forthcoming Arena documentary – which will feature Spector’s first TV interview in years.


Struck by Lightening: Te Curious World of Probabilities – Jeffrey S Rosenthal
Granta, £

Maths professor and stand-up comedian (?!) Jeffrey Rosenthal is determined to get us to love the crazy world of probabilities with this breezy but maths-based book. He’s a fun writer, explaining why you’re safest flying just after a big crash, how come the house will always win in Vegas and why spam still exists (because it only takes five suckers in a million to make a profit). This book’s a joy if you’re a closet maths geek with ambitions to play poker like a demon, but for the rest of us, well, there’s still a lot of maths…


The 4-Hour Work Week – Timothy Ferriss
Vermillion, £10.99

The secret to working only four hours a week and spending the rest of the time on holiday? Bring it on! Except … although author Tim Ferriss has some pretty sensible ideas about money and how to make it, he is damn annoying. As well as bragging about being a Guinness World Record Tango champion, international cage fighter and heroic shark diver, he assumes that everyone hates their job and would be better off not doing it and playing the stock market instead. Which might be true for some, but he doesn’t really allow for anyone who has a job they love – or does some something essential. There’s not really much here that George couldn’t tell you on a bossy day or you couldn’t pick up watching half and hour of The Apprentice.


Kill Your Friends – John Niven
Heinemann, £ 12.99

Steven Stelfox is an A&R man working for a major record label in 1997. Echobelly and Kula Shaker are the hot new things and Radiohead are about to release some wacky niche nonsense called OK Computer. Steven understands the industry and how it works (you can’t spell ‘star’ without an ‘A’ and an ‘R’), but the trouble is that he’s rubbish about music. Instead he devotes himself to some murderous office politics. Sick, dirty and very, very funny, this is a read that might repulse you but it will make you laugh as well. And as it was written by someone who worked in the industry for 10 years, you can have a whole lot of fun guessing who’s based on who…


Britten & Brülightly – Hannah Berry
Jonathan Cape, £12.99

Fernandez Britten is a private investigator with a lot on his mind: he’s sick of constantly breaking bad news to his clients, he’s tired of people calling him a PI instead of a ‘researcher’ and he’s bored of bearing everyone’s secrets. So he has a chat with his business partner Brülightly (who happens to be a teabag, but there’s no need to worry about that, he’s a well-informed one) and decides only to take on murder cases from now on. This business plan doesn’t work out quite as planned though, as before long Britten & Brülightly are embroiled in murder, blackmail and pornography rackets. With gorgeous noir images and a dark sense of humour, this is a graphic novel for everyone who’s ever felt a bit suspicious about comics.


The Ossians – Doug Johnstone
Viking, £ 12.99

The Ossians are an up and coming Edinburgh band with the London record labels snapping at their heels, so their manager arranges a ten date tour to assorted Scottish towns which will culminate with a triumphant Glasgow gig – to which the bigwigs have been invited. The trouble is that lead singer Connor (who owes a couple of grand to a terrifying local dealer) is being forced to become a drug mule, using the tour dates to drop off decidedly illegal packages in order to clear his debt. On top of that, the entire band is drinking epic amounts and the sexual tensions are at boiling point. Johnstone has ignored the tedium of rock writing and embraced the best of the clichés, making this a fun read for anyone who likes going home with sticky feet after a great gig.


The Prince’s Waitress Wife
Mills & Boon, £2.99

Not doing anything on Valentine’s Day? But filled with an insatiable desire for romance? Then sit back, relax on some pink fluffy cushions and don your fluffy mules: it’s time for the Mills & Boon International Billionaire series. This is its first title, and sees Holly, a recently dumped waitress, fall for the devastatingly handsome but emotionally remote prince of the title. (Not the Prince…) Nobody does trashy romance like Mills & Boon and this is a classic, even if there is the rather distracting number of scenes involving rugby, on account of a bizarre corporate tie-in with England Rugby.

In Bed With… - various
Sphere, £7.99

This Valentine read sees a collection of well-respected and award-winning female writers giving themselves saucy pseudonyms and penning what some mid-market papers might call ‘downright filth’. Is Esther Freud Minxy Malone? Is Fay Weldon Bunty B Road? We may never know, but what we do know is that these are rather well-written stories which are all somewhat sexy, despite being all a bit middle class. Bored because the kids have gone back to boarding school? Feeling a bit lonely now that you have moved to palatial house in the countryside? Have yourself a farmhand, and simmer down. Why not…

Alex Heminsley


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