Dishonesty Is The Second-Best Policy And Other Rules To Live By by David Mitchell is published in hardback by Faber & Faber, priced £20 (ebook £12.99)
THIS is a collection of actor/comedian/author David Mitchell's columns from The Observer newspaper from the past five years, loosely grouped into various categories. As Mitchell points out in his introduction, the book doesn't need to be read front-to-back. Dropping in and out wherever you fancy is the best way to read it (and so it is the sort of book that is ideal for the Christmas hols, in between eating chocolate oranges). Mitchell's writing is wonderfully tangential, and by the time you have unravelled his points, he has usually made a fairly compelling case – or you might have forgotten what the subject matter was. Perhaps it's about the journey, not the destination. Given that some of the columns are a few years old, it's possible that some of the points of view are now pointless too. Either way, it's worth a read, and is packed with laughs and puns, alongside many poignant points.
9/10
Ryan Ward
Rabbits For Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum is published in hardback by Serpent's Tail, priced £12.99 (ebook £6.66)
IT'S been around a decade since author Binnie Kirshenbaum's last book. Rabbits For Food tells the story of Bunny, a writer whose struggle with chronic depression lead to self-harm, thoughts of suicide and eventually committal to an institution. Part one of the book is the build-up to her full breakdown, a description of a single day and night that leads to a chilling climax. Part two tells of her time inside, leading up to a possible course of ECT treatment. And that's basically all that happens. Except the book sweeps you along because of its whip-smart, laser-focused observations – comic insights mined from the darkest depths. In the midst of despair, the efforts of Bunnie and Albie, a zoologist at the Natural History Museum, to cling on to their marriage are touching and candid. The relationships she forms with the other 'loons' – all of them sitting around, waiting in their different ways for the pain to subside – are just as poignant.
10/10
Dan Brotzel
Woman On The Edge by Samantha M Bailey is published in paperback by Headline, priced £8.99 (ebook £5.99)
DEBUT author Samantha M. Bailey takes her unnerved readers through a fast-paced guessing game with two main female characters narrating different periods of time. Morgan finds herself in the middle of a tragic situation when a woman she's never seen thrusts her baby into Morgan's arms and falls to the train tracks. Morgan, who's wanted a baby of her own for a long time, is suddenly the only suspect in the woman's death – and it's not the first time she's been tangled up with the law. It feels like only Morgan can get herself out of this mess and she starts investigating who the victim, Nicole, is, if she really jumped and why she gave up her child. It takes readers on a tension-filled journey of infertility, longing, friendship and ultimately what being a mother really means. You won't know who to trust and its convolutions will delight thriller fans; however, it's final twist feels like a step too far in an otherwise gripping read.
7/10
Lauren Taylor
