Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling AUDIO

Again, another assay with the wonderful voice of Fry, this time with strong memories of flying back from Birmingham to Dundee in a tiny little plane, seeing the endless expanse of the Border Hills and the relative briefness of Fife spread out below me, MP3 turned right up to hear over the noise and rattle of the engine. Bliss. Oh, and great story, the better for being slowed down, there was so much I missed when reading it.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling AUDIO

I read very fast, epecially when a book is as gripping as Rowling's Harry Potter books, and as a result I do miss a lot. So this is where the audio books come in, I have to slow down as I am listening to someone else, and the someone is the wonderful Stephen Fry. Listening to his voice is enough of a joy in itself, but listening to him and really getting Rowling's wonderfully entertaining story is a real pleasure.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain AUDIO

AZ:"In The Road Home, Tremain tells the story of Lev, an Eastern European migrant worker who has left his village and travelled to England so that he can finance a better life for his mother and daugther. He takes with him his grief for his dead wife. There is an almost fairytale-like quality to Lev's chance encounters and where they lead him, although, that said, they also feel natural and possible; Tremain has always been good on the essential randomness of experience."

An amazing story of economic migrant life in the UK, utterly believable characters caught up in the narrative of a widower trying to make a life for his mother and daughter he had to leave behind. Both the depiction of under-class work in the kitchens and fields of the UK and the bleakness of life in an ex-Soviet state were stunning in the effect of making me really think

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman

AZ: "When Lyra is studying at Oxford University, she comes across the story of Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnisson's first meeting, many years ago, along with much evidence of the adventure that brought them together. When a young Texan balloonist, Lee Scoresby, comes down to earth in the harbour of an Arctic town in the North, little does he realise that he is about to be embroiled in an out-and-out political brawl. Lee and his daemon, Hester, find themselves the target of political factions trying to take over the running (and oil) of the town. And also resident in the town are huge arctic bears, ignored and patronised by the people and treated like second-class citizens. When Lee and Iorek first meet, they cement a friendship that will continue throughout their lives, as the tensions and pressure in town lead to a deadly conclusion..."

Another beautiful little book, this time bound in navy blue with silver embossed writing. Includes a fantasic little game: Peril of the Pole, tantalising maps and 'ephemera', left me watering at the mouth and wanting more!

Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman

AZ: "A small bundle of material that has somehow slipped between Lyra's universe and our own. The book includes a wonderful new story by Philip Pullman, fully illustrated intricate maps and other ephemera from Lyra's universe. The text is illustrated throughout in beautiful black and white wood-blocks by the highly acclaimed engraver, John Lawrence, together with specially printed three-colour pull out maps of "Lyra's Oxford". This publication could have come from a parallel universe. The short story contained within "Lyra's Oxford" finds Lyra with her daemon Pantalaimon a couple of years after the end of "The Amber Spyglass". Sitting on the roofs of Oxford she sees a bird, the daemon of a witch, a storm petrel flying towards her pursued by a huge and angry flock of starlings. Birds play a big part in this story. And gradually a mystery unfolds.."

Set after the end of the Dark Materials trilogy, this is a short story about Lyra encountering the mystery that is the universe, in this case that her Oxford and its birds are protecting her couched within a visitation from a witch's daemon. Beautifully presented in a little hardback book with tantalising 'extracts' from newspapers and other ephemera a small story perfectly crafted.

Molecules of Emotion: Why you feel the way you feel by Candace B Pert

AZ: "As a graduate student in 1972, the author was part of the team that discovered the brain's opiate receptors. In this text, she provides an in-depth look at the science that led to this and other findings, such as the fact that similar receptors exist in the glands, spleen, bone marrow and other organs, which convey information in both directions via "neuropeptides" to all parts of the body. The author argues that this complex communications network invalidates the distinctions between mind and body"

Brilliant, I understood a little about neurotransmitters and thought I understood that SSRIs inhibit retaike because that is where most bodily communicatin takes place, but Pert's discovery that neurotransmitters and other bodily drugs dock bodywide affecting vastly separated organs and systems was a revelation. It helped me make sense of the need for a holistic approach to bodily health and makes me more determined than ever to find a balance.

Beat Stress and Fatigue by Patrick Holford (Optimum Nutrition Handbook)

Confirms and intersects with Pert's much newer book, helps me understand going gluten-free is only part of the equation and how to control my blood sugar by ensuring I eat low GI food. Have tended to rely on baked potatoes but are high GI so will cause blood sugar to ricochet.