Instead of blowing the pension pot on that Lamborghini why not treat yourself to some new books. As spring makes its first tentative steps there are some tempting new titles coming out. Donna Leon’s Golden Egg (£8.99)is the 22nd Commisario Brunetti novel. Often underrated she is a multiple crime dagger winner and is our bestselling title this week. Also selling well is Alan Johnson’s autobiography This Boy now out in paperback at £7.99, described by The Times as “the best memoir by a politician you will ever read”. Tony Benn’s last book has also not surprisingly been moving – A Blaze of Autumn Sunshine (£20).
This week I have been reading The Jackal’s Revenge (£7.99). It is the second part of a projected three part series by Iain Gale about the Second World War. It covers the same period as Officers and Gentlemen (the 2nd part of Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honour Trilogy) but is quite different in style – much more Boy’s Own and with no literary intentions.
I have just finished The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer which is by turns compelling and harrowing. It carries you into the complex worlds of grief and schizophrenia with sudden flashes of understanding along the way. An important book.