A Week In December
by Sebastien Faulks

It's London, the week before Christmas, 2007. Over seven days we follow the lives of the seven characters: a fund manager trying to bring off his biggest trade; a professional footballer recently arrived from Poland; a young lawyer with little work and too much time to speculate; a student led astray by Islamist theory; a hack book-reviewer; a schoolboy hooked on skunk and reality TV; and, a Tube train driver whose Circle Line train joins these and countless other lives together in a daily loop. The writing on the wall appears in letters ten feet high, but the characters refuse to see it - and party on as though tomorrow is a dream.

... With daring skill, the novel pieces together the complex patterns and crossings of modern urban life;  Greed, the dehumanising effects of the electronic age and the fragmentation of society ...

Whitaker's World of Facts 2011
by Russell Ash

Full of the most up-to-date, 'must have' information on every important subject on earth, with lashings of fact files, world record-breakers and 'top ten'-style lists - all lavishly illustrated with full colour photographs. It is the biggest and the best! Hugely entertaining and informative - it's a superb reference title for all the family.

Russell Ash is the king of lists, the author of reference books that offer a short cut to pub-quiz stardom. An inveterate collector of facts and figures, Russell Ash is a renowned author of popular reference titles, including the best-selling Top Ten of Everything and related titles..

... A Christmas read to dip into again and again. Essential Stuff  ...

Gandhi
by Rajmohan Gandhi

This monumental and best selling biography of one of the most intriguing figures of the 20th century, written by his grandson, is the first to give a complete and balanced account of Gandhi’s remarkable life, the development of his beliefs and his political campaigns, and his complex relationships with his family. Written with unprecedented insight and access to family archives, this definitive biography of Gandhi sheds new light on the life of a man who was far more complicated and conflicted than his received public image suggests. For the first time, this book gives us the true Gandhi, the man as well as the legend.

... Rajmohan Gandhi's weighty authoritative and comprehensive biography is a great achievement ...

The Last Word: Tales from the Tip of the Mother Tongue
by Ben Macintyre

Do you know your geek-speak from your geek-chic? Ever wanted to put Humpty Dumpty together again? Can you distinguish Spanglish from Chinglish? We adapt words from other languages, from slang, from developments in science, literature and art. Learn the advantages of having your own signature word; why the lifts in the House of Commons have posh accents; and, discover the discreet art of the loophemism. Discover the accidental poetry of e-mail spam and the literary joy of peculiar cricketing terms.

... Witty and utterly delightful, "The Last Word" will tease, tickle and tantalise those who enjoy all things lexical ...