Absolutely Sassylad

This Book, by John Kampfner makes for very scary reading indeed, five wars in six years is so far what Tony Blair and his cabinet have thrown our over-stretched, under-funded armed forces into, most of the conflicts still unresolved due to bad decision making and even worse 'peace-keeping' efforts. This book follows Blair from his rise to Prime Minister through to his battle with Iraq, the British public and the BBC. It does leave you feeling a little numb at the sheer arrogance of a man who is convinced he's doing the right thing, but so blinkered by his cabal of yes men and 'allies' that he fails to see the mass of opposition to almost everything he now does. Well worth a read.

I'm reading the story of boo.com as told by one of the people that set it up, it's the new media version of rubber-necking a road accident, but it makes for a good read, bringing back the heady days of internet excess when VC's threw money at any idea that moved and every new media agency in the world was based in the centre of Soho snorting coke (apparently).

It is actually a truly scary read, because frankly speaking it wasn't a great idea, and its technology base was well ahead of the bandwidth available to most users at the time. I suppose this is the last ditch attempt to make money out of a failed idea... having said that it makes a good read, and is well worth getting.

This book, [the Eyewitness New York guide] is, like all of the others in it's series: excellent, and with our recent interest in maybe looking to live in the Big Apple at some point in the future I thought it'd be wise to get a few books on the place to get us both up to speed on the city. Just like all the other's in the series this eyewitness guide is perfect guide for tourists and explorers alike - whether you just want to take in the tourist hotspots or try out the 'real' city, these guides are fabulous; well illustrated with great photos and maps it's got all the details you could want in one handy pocket-sized book.

Dr Johnson's London is a must for any lover of London, Liza Picard expertly paints a picture of London touching on everything from crime and punishment to the licensing laws and what a mess they were (so what's changed?!). It's part of a set of three, which I'm currently ploughing through with great gutso and when I'm finished them all I'll give a proper review of the whole set.

Nigella's back with another book that is a must for anyone serious about homely cooking! This new book focuses on celebration food for the family for just about every occasion imaginable, everything from Christmas to Eid and from Halloween to Passover there are ideas traditional and exotic to keep you in exciting, full flavoured laid back food.
If you've liked How to Eat and Nigella Bites, you'll love Feast, if you're looking for something more traditional, then this may not be the book for you: if you're a Nigella convert however - this is a perfect compliment to the rest of her series.

Fish is the book for those who've looked at fish in the past thought they might be fun to cook and then panicked, if the nearest you've come to cooking fish is fish-fingers then this enlightening book should be gracing your shelves, it's clear and informative throughout (although my only moan is it could do with more colour pictures) and separate the recipes by type of fish making it easy for you to quickly get a grasp of which fish suit your palette. The recipes on the whole are well annotated and the ingredients aren't terribly difficult to find on the whole, this book will - if you'll excuse my poor phrasing: convert you to fish.

The obvious accompaniment to the recent television series, this book is Jamie Oliver's best work to date. [Jamie's Italy] is packed with his usual enthusiasm (toned down a little from the pukka fucka stuff of yesteryear), but also with a new found social intelligence toward the history and husbandry behind the food that we eat, it's a pleasure to read, wonderfully put together on gorgeous paper with beautiful illustration and the recipes are from what I’ve read and tried so far, excellent.

The London Photographic Atlas isn't so much a book you read, as to be honest it's got hardly any words in it: It's more of a book that you spend hours pouring over, looking up old houses, offices, courtyards, places you've visited and places you want to explore - the level of detail is amazing, and combined with a fully referenced map it's a fabulous book as well as being an endlessly useful resource for anyone that really loves London. It's not cheap at sixty quid, but for your money you do get a serious chunk of book, in fact you get what is in my opinion the best coffee table book of all time.

[London's Disused Underground Stations] explores the short but sometimes illustrious lives of London's lost underground stations, well illustrated with period and current photographs, plus diagrams and scans of tickets, maps and other Underground bits and pieces the narrative gives you plenty of information about each station in the book. If you're a serious tube fan then this book won't rock your world, indeed there is very little in it you can't find online, but if you (like me) prefer curling up with a book rather than a laptop it is worth picking up.

I've been reading Man and Boy again, I really love this book, it really does bring tears to my eyes in some parts, and make's me laugh out loud in others... I have to thank a friend for recommending it to me years ago, as it's since become one of my favourite reads.

It's a fantastic story about a chaps relationship with his father, his wife, and his young son, and it also happens to be based around an industry I work in, in an area that I know like the back of my hand, so that may be one of the reasons I like it so much... I wasn't that impressed with the TV special the BBC did, but then many books don't take to the screen well once you've fallen in love with the book itself.

George Pitcher head of London based communications consultancy Luther Pendragon charts the rise and rise of spin throughout the years, how it has effected our world, our businesses, our politics and our media in good and bad ways and how it's unstoppable growth through the last 15 years will ultimately end in Spin's own death in a conflagration of the truth and more efficient less traditionally channelled communications. This book is fascinating and well worth reading for anyone with even the slightest interest in the way communications in the 21st century actually work.

I've just finished reading this book again, fantastic reference guide for anyone who takes the great British past time of Mornington Crescent as seriously as me. With a full run down of the components you need to play, plus a plethora of profiles of great Mornington Crescent players it's the best way to while away an evening...

It's also got great recipes including Brent Cross Buns and Coq Fosters, which is obviously a variation of the great Coq au vin dish, and I'd heartily recommend you try it: OK, one part of that might not have been entirely true, but let it be said - If you're a fan of playing Mornington Crescent, whether you're a new player, or an old hand - this book is great!

The River Cottage Cookbook is the 'bible' that accompanies the highly successful River Cottage series which sees Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall shake off the excesses of city living to simplify in the Dorset countryside, the book isn't necessarily what you'd expect, and if you're looking for a 'recipe' book, then this would probably leave you disappointed as it's only got a small variety of recipes in it, what it does have however is an eye opening glimpse into the best ways to keep an organic kitchen, whether you have window boxes or a 40 acre farm. I really enjoyed reading this book, it certainly made me look at food in a totally new light, and it’s engaging and humorous throughout in Hugh's quietly gentle way.

This [great book] is a continuation of a theme - better produce, better cooking, the whole 9 yards of nose to tail eating - and like the River Cottage Cookbook it's as much a recipe book as it is an education into where our meat comes from, what to look for in good meat, and how to do it justice when you cook it. Hugh's 'meat manifesto' is certainly something I've taken to heart, and this book has further convinced me of the need to continue my eating and buying habits, as well as some of my cooking habits. I would whole heartedly recommend this book which covers eating beef, lamb, mutton, pork and a variety of Game to anyone serious about the quality of the food they buy and consume.

In my rather extensive career as a professional alcoholic I've ploughed through more than my fair share of stuffy wine guides and appreciations, all seemingly obsessed with impressing snooty knowledge of wine on other people, rather than giving constructive pointers on enjoying great wine. The Virgin Wine Guide is different and refreshing, with no bullshit and no attitude it gives no nonsense advice on what makes a good wine, where you can get them, and what you can do with them. Well worth a read, and if you don't want to buy it order a case of wine from [VirginWines.com] and ask them to pop in a copy of The Wine Guide for free!

I've long been an admirer of Aldo Zilli's approach to the kitchen, ever since I first dined in one of his restaurants many years ago and had, possibly, one of the best shell fish dishes I've ever had anywhere, so the absence of Zilli books from my reasonably substantial collection of cookbooks was always somewhat strange, it has however now been put right with [The Zilli Cookbook], a great collection of classically simple Italian dishes, delivered with Aldo's passion shining through - great recipes, fabulous photography, and some really insightful guides into ingredients make this book well worth a read!

I've just finished reading this book and it's absolutely fascinating, the random thoughts (if albeit the sometime pretentious thoughts) of someone who chose to go and work on the London Underground at Oxford Circus for a while, It's really worth reading though, just because it's a truly fascinating insight into somebody else's head.

And if nothing else it's got some amazing insights into the rough under currents of daily life on the tube, you don't realise some of the weird things that happen on the tube... although I guess we've all had our brushes with eccentricity, despair, or just crass stupidity occasionally on the tube. Really worth a weekends read.