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FICTION Everyone’s Talking About… No One Is Talking About This (Bloomsbury, February) by Patricia Lockwood, the ‘Poet Laureate of Twitter’, is set to be one of 2021’s buzziest books: a riveting novel about the collision between real and online life. Meanwhile, the sexy and absurdly readable Luster by Raven Leilani (Picador, January) is an unflinching … Read more
World’s first rare white Kiwi that inspired children’s books has died after her health deteriorated following surgery to removed an unfertilised egg The world’s first extremely rare white Kiwi, Manukura, born in captivity has died The bird that inspired children’s books and toys, had a rare genetic trait, leucism Manukura was taken to the specialist … Read more
The iconic Haynes Workshop Manuals will no longer be physically printed and published for new cars, its publisher has confirmed following the death of its founder. More than 200 million manuals on 300 models of cars and 130 motorbike models were sold to DIY enthusiasts who wanted to maintain and repair vehicles themselves for more … Read more
1) In November, J. K. Rowling published her first children’s book since her Harry Potter series. Its title? a) The Bickagig b) The Ackibok c) The Ickabog d) The Bigakick What is the title of J. K. Rowling’s first children’s book since her Harry Potter series? 2) Who read a children’s story on YouTube … Read more
NATURE DIARY OF A YOUNG NATURALIST by Dara McAnulty (Little Toller £16, 224pp) DIARY OF A YOUNG NATURALIST by Dara McAnulty (Little Toller £16, 224pp) The season of autumn is life ‘in a state of slow withering and soft lullaby …’ according to prose poet and nature-lover Dara McAnulty, an autistic Northern Irish teenager who … Read more
SCOFF by Pen Vogler (Atlantic £20, 480 pp) ‘Tell me what you eat,’ pronounced 19th-century French gastronome Brillat-Savarin, ‘and I will tell you what you are.’ In Britain, few things better reveal our place in the nation’s complex class structure than our eating habits. When do you eat ‘dinner’? At midday or in the early … Read more
Drinking alcohol is prohibited in space but that hasn’t stopped some intrepid crew members from smuggling hooch into orbit. Cosmonauts have admitted they’ve smuggled bottles of cognac in their space suits, in intentionally mislabeled ‘juice’ bottles and even inside hollowed-out books. One cosmonaut hid a bottle in the wristband of a device used for measuring … Read more
Author Edward Brooke-Hitching spent nearly a decade searching for the weirdest books in the world – and his investigations have paid off in spellbinding style. He has bound together a cornucopia of curiosities in a fascinating tome called The Madman’s Library, published by Simon & Schuster, which reveals the strangest books and manuscripts ever written, … Read more
All wrapped up: Bel Mooney reveals the best art books you can find for gifting those who love creativity Bel Mooney rounded up a selection of this year’s must-read art books British literary critic selected tomes to suit all budgets this Christmas Highlights include Spirit Of Place: Artists, Writers And The British Landscape By Bel Mooney … Read more
FRIENDS AND ENEMIES by Barbara Amiel (Constable £25) MEMOIRS FRIENDS AND ENEMIES by Barbara Amiel (Constable £25) ‘Losing status, money, reputation and security is a shock when it happens all within a few days,’ writes Barbara Amiel in her fabulously gutsy and revealing memoir. She takes us from her world of glittering wealth to the … Read more