For most of us, the refugee crisis is one that’s easy to ignore, or at least overlook. Unless we’re confronted by TV reports of a developing crisis because a border has closed, or shocked by images of one particular tragedy amongst the thousands, we get on with our daily lives largely untroubled with what is … More The Optician of Lampedusa by Emma Jane Kirby
I’d assumed that Black Friday was all about beating (and occasionally, beating up) your fellow bargain-hunters for a discounted telly or laptop, or spending hours scouring the internet for the latest `must-have’ toy on the cheap. Seems I was wrong. The good news, book lovers, is that books are also to be had more cheaply … More Black Friday
What does a world class sports person do when retirement arrives? Besides waving the flag to start the London Marathon or appearing on `A Question of Sport’, that is. It’s a question that footballer Steven Gerrard and F1 star Jenson Button will be pondering at the moment. Some are tempted to write books. I don’t … More From sporting hero to children’s author
The late Bill Shankly, manager of Liverpool FC, once made a remark about football being more important than life and death. On the evidence of this book, it’s view that’s shared by Steve Finan, albeit tongue-in-cheek. For years Steve and a continually changing group of like-minded colleagues in Dundee have enjoyed a weekly game of … More How To Be A Man by Steve Finan
Whatever else a work of fiction does, it surely has to introduce us to a world we are unfamiliar with. The Missing Hours manages this superbly, a crime novel set among the world of kidnap and ransom negotiators. The story opens with the disappearance of a mother in broad daylight, told poignantly from the viewpoint … More Review: The Missing Hours, by Emma Kavanagh
Even if you don’t regard yourself as being afraid of heights, a natural instinct for self-preservation probably kicks in when you’re confronted with a drop that is beyond your comfort zone. As a youngster I spent a lot of time climbing trees, and dabbled with rock climbing and mountaineering as a teenager, but my ability … More Never Look Down, James Kingston
While some authors keep their publishers and readers happy by ploughing the same ground book after book, Anthony Horowitz likes to keep his guessing by switching genre and writing style from one book to the next. While young readers love his Alex Rider books, older bookworms have been gripped by his take on familiar literary … More Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Review)
Not for a moment do I doubt the bravery and skill of modern Formula One drivers. Even through the filter of a TV screen, which makes this high risk sport look like little more than a slot-racing game the commitment of drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg comes across loud and clear. Yet, at … More James Hunt by Maurice Hamilton
Not the sexiest title for a book, perhaps, but the readers who Jeremy Bayston is aiming at with his book `Canon 1300D/RebelT6: The Manual’ will be more than happy with what’s inside. My knowledge of photography doesn’t extend much beyond taking the lens cap off and pointing the camera in the right direction. Most of … More A camera manual that makes sense? Surely not!
Guy Martin reminds me of someone you might come across in an old-style pub. Full of stories that are so astonishing that you can’t quite believe them until the pub landlord confirms that yes, he really did set a speed record on a wall of death shortly after breaking his spine in a motorcycling accident. … More Worms to Catch, by Guy Martin
There's a book for that 