One Day by David Nichols (AUDIO)

Yorkshire working class girl Emma and born to money Dexter get together on graduation night at Edinburgh University.  Emma has secretly been in love with Dexter for a while.  This appears to be a one night stand, but they keep in touch, Emma with long impassioned letters full of exclamation marks and underlinings, Dexter with self conscious short postcards from his globe trotting ramblings about what an amazing time he's having, as they follow their separate paths.  Dexter becomes an annoying tv presenter, drinks far too much, becomes something of a celebrity, crashes and burns, falls in love with a very beautiful woman, marries, has baby, marriage lasts until reality of parenthood hits while Emma drags herself through the reduced expectations of wage drone life in a London theme restaurant, a dismal relationship, teacher training and an equally dismal relationship with a married man, a miserable existence lightened only by the summer holiday Dexter pays for both of them to holiday in Greece and her own sense of humour.  To begin with I though it fairly vapid but I wanted to know more and this very ordinary story of two people over 20 years of their lives had me utterly in its spell by the end.  My life followed a similar route, I too have been in love with the wrong person and Nichols' evocation of life over the decades 'Em and Dex' travel, the fashion and society horrors of the 80s and 90s, are brilliantly deliniated.

The Battle of the Sun by Jeanette Winterson

In Winterson's sequel to Tanglewreck we are thrown back into Elizabethan London and Jack is on his way home eager to take charge of his new puppy when he is kidnapped and kept prisoner in the grey stone of the house of the Magus, an alchemist who has found a way to turn London to gold and force Elizabeth I to cede power to him.  As Silver is pulled through time from the present day and her previous battle to rescue the Timekeeper in Tanglewreck London starves and the children battle old and new enemies and encounter bizarre and magical creatures, an old dragon, a wraith like ancient king, a fearsome phoenix and a servant girl and man who are one person split in two.  Brilliantly written and bringing to life the the reality of life in Elizabethan times, dirty, smelly, often wretched, impoverished and supersititious, thronging with people and created from living wood and trees.

The Hidden World: The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn 

A great sequel to The Museum's Secret, with The Hidden World Chancellor takes the reader on another great roller coaster ride when Tom battles once again with the evil Don Askary after Pearl Smoot falls through space clutching to a weather ballon after her father and brother are attacked on her tropical island home and has to take a perilous journey through time to the beetle kingdom under a volcano that is due to explode at any moment.  A fantastic ride of a book, can't wait for the next one

The Cubists by Paul Waldo Schwartz (Thames & Hudson 1971)

This book is part of the Thames & Hudson History of Art Series and is really well written and constructed, every painting that is pictured is carefully referred to in the text with easy marginal notes making navigation very easy.  The text is well written if a little heavy going, and my only complaint would be that more of the images were not in colour which was of such fundamental importance for the works of the Cubists, but then you can now look them up online. 

Futurism by Giovanni Lista

Visually this is a brilliant book, the dimesions mean that you get a really good look at the pictures that illustrate the text. The text is well written and introduces the towering figures of the artists that created Futurism. There are only two criticisms really. The first is that the illustrations were not fully referenced in the text so it wasn't always easy to see immediately if a referenced picture was in the book. Secondly, the Manifesto of Futurism was given in full but without an English translation. But in terms of size this is a great book to see these amazing works.

My Name is Mina by David Almond

In this brilliantly crafted book we immersed in the mind of Mina, the kooky girl who befriends Michael in Skellig and shares with him his discovery of the strange and wonderful fallen angel. My Name is Mina is Mina's diary and contains her thoughts about being a misfit, unable to fit in at school and eventually home schooled, coming to terms with the death of her father and the grief of her mother as well as herself, and her love of words. Deeply inspiring and hopeful that even in pain and loss there is learning and that it's okay not to fit, the very format of this book does not fit, typeface digressing into handwriting, pages of doodles and ideas for writing diaries that would help anyone with something to express.

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

Jennifer Strange is an orphan apprenticed to Kazam, an agency offering the services of witches, wizards and other practitioners of magic.  Once they and magic were all powerful, but those days are gone and magic is fading from the land, these people who once commanded great respect and awe are reduced to rewiring houses and delivering pizza by magic carpet.  Jennifer is only 15 but has ended up running Kazam after the mysterious disappearance of the owner and now has a new apprentice to manage as well as soothing the egos of once great magicians.  But then the magic starts coming back and portents start appearing regarding Jennifer and the last dragon alive, the last magical creature in the land.

A great idea but not as well excecuted as his adult fiction, I do understand it's for children but I expected more.

Can Reindeer Fly: The Science of Christmas by Roger Highfield

This was a book that was really good but could have been even better.  It takes the various phenomena of Christmas chapter by chapter and looks at the history and science of each, including candidates for the Christmas Star, the reasons for Santa's longevity and obesity, the anthropology of gift giving and how Rudolph and the other reindeer fly and manage to get every child their present in time for Christmas morning.  Very good but quite heavy going.

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming (AUDIO)

A beautifully written homage to Fleming, fast paced and full of interesting detail.  Devil May Care is set in the period between the murder of Tracy and Bond's return to service and revenge in You Only Live Twice.  Faulks give as brilliant portrayal of the sixties and a fascinating insight into Bond's mind as well as a top notch story in the best tradition, drugs, beautiful imperilled girls, travel and a twisted evil genius charismatic villain.