And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac

A fascinating fictionalised account of the murder of David Kammerer by Lucien Carr, with literary license, written in alternating chapters by Burroughs and Kerouac from their point of view. There is a lot of naivite and not very good writing, but this previously unpublished book written by the pair before they became the Beat Generation with Junky and On The Road is interesting in terms of seeing their literary development.

Time: A User's Guide - Making Sense of Life's Scarcest Commodity by Stefan Klein

Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson

An amazing book, both edition and content. It is worth getting the hardback for the tactile feel of the heavyweight pages and beautifully set typeface, and Winterson's belending of the sad myth of a titan and reflections on eternity are breathtaking. Can't wait to read the rest in the series.

Silks by Dick Francis and Felix Francis

I've always loved Francis, I return to his early works as a homecoming. Silks was really good, the title being a reference both to the brightly coloured outfits jockeys wear on the course to identify themselves, and to the promotion of barristers to Queen's Council judges. Silks goes between both worlds, defence barrister Geoffrey Mason is a part time amateur jockey who ends up defending a jockey accused of murdering another jockey.

Francis' collaboration with his son is a welcome return to form, utterly compelling and brilliantly written and researched. This isn't the first team work, Shattered is one of my favourites and is written by the pair, but this is only the second time it has been a full on partnership.

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by GW Dahlquist

Convoluted, long but worthwhile victorian melodrama. Celeste Temple is newly arrived to Victorian or Edwardian London from an unnamed island nation, she attaches herself to the first eligable bachelor of suitable social standing that she meets, but when her fiance Roger breaks off their engagement she is interested to know why. Her curiosity leads her into a world of secrets and mystery, of high end prostitutes with strange marks around their eyes, of sex and sensuality and the mysterious glass books. As dreamy as Kubla Khan with arousing eroticism.

Power of Art by Simon Schama

A great introduction to looking at paintings, this book is a companion to a BBC tv series (which I haven't seen) but stands on its own as an introduction to monumental works of art by Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso and Rothko.

I'd always shied away from Caravaggio but was able to admit to myself my fear of his sheer power and sensuality and to enjoy it. I learned about the beauty of Bernini's sculpture and renewed my acquaintance with Van Gogh's delicious and disturbing viscerality and Picasso's timeless denunciation: Guernica.

My only concern is that Schama does at times appear to equate extremity of personality with extremity of vision, as if you cannot be an amazing painter without having a disturbing personal life, and I don't think this is necessarily correct

One City by Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin & Irvine Welsh, introduction by JK Rowling

A great little slim volume containing short stories by each of the authors on the subject of social inclusion. McCall Smith's gentle romance is about an Indian man experiencing the culture shock of Edinburgh, Rankin weaves a clever story about a homeless illusionist, and Welsh comes through in his usual unrelenting style with a story about an escaped tiger, hilarious. Can't wait to read the next One City Trust book: Crimespotting