WANTED: Frugal oddballs who HATE computers: The rare books trade is full of obsessive eccentrics who loathe technology — but know exactly what’ll sell (18th-century erotica) and what really won’t (bound volumes of Punch!) Oliver Darkshire shares his passion for faded and dusty ‘boxes of Trollopes’ He also shares other bibliographic gems that he has […]

CHRISTMAS BOOKS: Gifts to warm an art lover’s heart Bel Mooney has selected the perfect books for art lovers this Christmas  UK-based writer opts for Banksy and The Story of Art Without Men  Other suggestions include David Hockney: My Window and Colours of Art THE STORY OF ART WITHOUT MEN  Painting titled ‘Combing the Hair […]

Find your sweet spot with the Glucose Goddess The simple tips offered in Glucose Revolution can transform your life Anyone who has ever suffered from insomnia will find Life Time essential reading Dr Gallop provides eye-opening insights into the cutting edge of forensics   Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe (Short Books £16.99, 320 pp) The simple […]

All I want for Christmas is 19 different chocolate brownies: But if that’s not for you don’t worry — there’s a feast for everyone in the year’s most moreish cookbooks… Constance Craig Smith picks out the top cookery books you need this Christmas UK-based writer has selected books from top chefs including Tom Kerridge Other […]

SHORT STORIES SEVEN EMPTY HOUSES by Samanta Schweblin (Oneworld £12.99, 208pp) SEVEN EMPTY HOUSES by Samanta Schweblin (Oneworld £12.99, 208pp) These seven eerie, uneasy stories seem peculiarly pertinent to the present post-pandemic financial crisis mood of uncertainty. Homes and their inhabitants are subject to a mysterious malaise, with cardboard packing boxes cluttering up rooms, and unwieldy […]

CRIME THE SILENT CHILD by M. J. White (Hera £8.99, 400pp) THE SILENT CHILD by M. J. White (Hera £8.99, 400pp)  Lottie Arundel is a troubled teenager who stopped speaking completely a year ago. She communicates using a tablet, but won’t explain to anyone why she has become an elective mute. Psychologist Dr Cora Lael […]

LITERARY FICTION LOSING THE PLOT by Derek Owusu (Canongate £12.99, 160pp) LOSING THE PLOT  by Derek Owusu (Canongate £12.99, 160pp)  Owusu’s prize-winning debut That Reminds Me was a fragmentary verse novel about the later-life hardships faced by a British-Ghanaian protagonist raised in the care system.  His unsettling new book, raw and disconcerting, likewise uses a […]

WHAT BOOK would author and actor Ruth Jones take to a desert island? Author Ruth Jones is currently reading The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh The actor would take the complete works of Shakespeare to a desert island She loved Enid Blyton’s The Twins At St Clare’s when she was little …are you reading now?  […]

Don’t look down… There really is a phobia for everything, as a fascinating new A to Z of our fears reveals Mythomania is the pathological tendency to lie or exaggerate says Kate Summerscale referring to television producer Philip who told lies all his life  Book Of Phobias And Manias explores a huge variety of phobias […]

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info When he died in January 2016, a few weeks shy of his 70th birthday, there […]