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The Body by Bill Bryson (doubleday) Bryson has made his name, and his fortune, as a travel writer in the widest possible de nition of that literary type. From Notes from a Small Island, in which the Iowa native cast a wry eye over his adopted home of Great Britain to A Short History of Nearly Everything, in which he rendered the scienti c mysteries of this planet both understandable and entertaining, he now burrows into the human body in a book which bears the sub-title, ‘A Guide for Occupants’, and is written with his trademark wit and insight.

Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn by Brett Anderson (Little, Brown) “So here I sit writing the book I said I wouldn’t write, talking about the things I said I didn’t want to talk about.” And so he does, the founder and lead singer of Brit pop rockers Suede with his second volume of memoirs following the critically acclaimed Coal Black Mornings. Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn traces the rise of Suede and Anderson’s relationship with guitarist Bernard Butler as well as the author’s own descent into the underworld of drug addiction, the crafting of the band’s songs and the early friendships he lost.

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (Bantam Press) Fancy a laugh or three? Sophie Kinsella’s latest in her shopaholic series, a festive salvo, sets out her comic stall from the opening pages which feature a series of emails from a store manager to committed bargain hunter Becky Brandon who wants to buy a coat for her hubby but is wondering if the manager can just give her the tiniest of hints if it might be reduced in a pre-Christmas sale. And with the festive season about to kick o there are so many other comic set-ups, not least one involving a sharpie pen and her husband’s body!