Starburst by Robin Pilcher AUDIO

A good but slightly predictable mystery story, good for being set in and around Edinburgh during the Festival, bringing back lots of good memories.

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Philips AUDIO

After Hollinghurst I was now on a good run, in the same vein as Sandman but in prose and very very funny Gods Behaving Badly is about Greek gods living in the present day. Apollo, who Gaiman's Sandman is associated with, is a very different person in this book

Au: "Being immortal isn't all it's cracked up to be. Life's hard for a Greek god in the 21st century: Nobody believes in you any more, even your own family doesn't respect you, and you're stuck in a dilapidated hovel in North London with too many siblings and not enough hot water.

But for Artemis (goddess of hunting, professional dog walker), Aphrodite (goddess of beauty, telephone sex operator) and Apollo (god of the sun, TV psychic) there's no way out....Until a meek cleaner and her would-be boyfriend come into their lives and turn the world literally upside down."

The Bad Mother's Handbook by Kate Long AUDIO

Reassuringly hilarious and funny at a time when I was feeling like a particularly bad mother. Now I just consider my job done if we haven't had to visit A&E in the last week...

AZ: "Why is it all so difficult? Why do the most ridiculous mistakes have the most disastrous consequences? When are you too old to throw up in a flowerbed after too much vodka? When are you too young to be a mother? Both hilarious and wise, it is a clear-eyed look at motherhood - and childhood - in its many guises, from the moment the condom breaks to the moment you file for divoice or, more optimistically, from the moment you hear your baby's first cry to the moment you realize that there are as many sorts of mother as there are children, and that love sometimes is the most important thing of all. "

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (AUDIO)

With this book I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about, it was a good depiction of a gay man's coming of age during the 80s and the beginning of awareness of AIDS, and of social structures and prejudices, but somehow I expected more of it.

Imperfectly Natural Woman by Janey Lee Grace

It's probably not her fault, but god I found Grace's writing irritating and patronising in the extreme. The idea of the book itself is very good, a guide for women to living ethically and eco friendly without giving up everything you need to be feminine.

AZ: "The book is divided into sections covering different aspects of home life from cleaning to cosmetics, holidays to feng-shui. It is packed with hints and tips which are easy to incorporate into a busy lifestyle yet will save money, the planet and cut down on the use of harmful chemicals in our homes. With each section the author has included web addresses making it easy to source the products listed"

It's Not Easy Being Green by Dick Strawbridge

Read this while doing EcoTeams. The book ties in with the TV series and speaks of the practicalities of converting to a completely self sufficient life. Great information and entertaining

In the Second Year by Storm Jameson

Read this for the book group after picking it out on Amazon, having been recommended it because I'd read Katherine Burdekin's Swastika Night. Although it was about the rise of facism I found the pace irritatingly slow and the plot plodding, I could excuse it being written in the 30s and for a different world, but then so was Burdekin.