It might be a bit 'busman's holiday' but The Library Book by Susan Orlean is endlessly fascinating. Primarily about the LA Public Library fire of 1986, it delves into the history of the public library system in the US, and of California in particular. I haven't stopped quoting facts and stories from it to anyone who'll listen. An entertaining read for anyone interested in libraries, architecture, public spaces, public servants or true crime.

When I finished this book my immediate thought was; “Wow, what a brilliant writer this McGregor is”, followed quickly by “How can I track him down to strangle him?” I can’t elaborate too much on the latter for fear of spoilers, so I’ll concentrate on the former.

This novel is so cleverly written and genre-defying that it takes a while to figure out what it is you’re actually reading. It starts with the residents of a village in the Peak District gathering on New Year’s Day to search for a missing 13-year old girl. Right up my alley, I thought, as I love a good mystery. It felt like I was

Kitty is somewhat stuck in her life. With her best friend and business partner Frieda, she owns a small bookshop in Denver city. Life is quiet and business is slow. Kitty tries a dating agency and corresponds with a man she finds promising. She speaks with him on the phone and they plan a date but she is devastated when he doesn’t show up. She resigns herself to her predicable settled life. Then she finds out that the man Lars, didn’t actually stand her up at all, he had a heart attack just after the phone call. Then Kitty starts to have dreams in which she seems to be living an alternative

This debut novel from S.R. Masters is very nearly very good, but for me the author made a rookie mistake – he dragged it out just a little too long (423 pages in total) and I’d figured out the twist long before the end. It’s one thing building suspense gradually to keep the reader guessing, another to give the game away prematurely (even if the main protagonist is still bafflingly clueless) and then waffle on for chapters more before finally telling us what we’ve known for quite a while.

Until I came across a recommendation by the author Madeline Miller in The Guardian, who said this book is “Hilarious, keen-edged, wonderful”, I had never heard of Lindy West. That may be because of my avoidance of the broiling mass of ignorance and ill-will that largely informs the world of online social commentary. I fear my head will blow off with rage if I go anywhere near it, frankly. And having read this I have no idea how Lindy West has to date kept hers intact.

This book is told from the perspective of Martha Gelhorn who is the second wife of Ernest Hemingway. The narrator is witty, fearless and fiercely independent. McLain captures a true perception of living with the ever charming but notorious Ernest Hemingway. Gelhorn is determined to make it as a writer in her own right, and she applies for a journalist position. She falls deeply in love with Ernest and they both travel together to write about the Spanish Civil War. There are some wonderful poignant moments as Gelhorn witnesses a war torn Spain. Overall an excellent read and real page turner.

Detectorists is a comedy about two middle-aged friends in a small community of metal detector hobbyists. Detectorists moves very slowly and steadily, but if you stick with it I think you’ll really warm to Andy (Mackenzie Crook) and Lance (Toby Jones), and the rest of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club. It’s a wonderful look into the world of metal detectors, sorry, Detectorists!

This is a collection of pieces previously published in the Guardian newspaper between 2013 and 2017, from the originator of the pioneering Everyday Sexism Project. The articles have been collected thematically into sections, dealing with different manifestations of sexism. In this way, you can as Laura Bates puts it, ‘join the dots’ and see that one issue is connected to another. In this book she is endeavouring to make people see the bigger picture and not treat one aspect, or perhaps one incident as an isolated thing, but part of a an overall pattern.

I don’t really know what I was expecting from this, an account of the author’s friendship with and ultimate betrayal by the so-called “New York Grifter”, Anna Delvey (aka Sorokin). Maybe something on the lines of “Catch me if you can”, the story of teenage fraudster Frank Abagnale who could make people believe he was anything from a pilot to a doctor, or that of Anna Anderson, a Polish factory worker who fooled half the world into thinking she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. Now that’s chutzpah – but if I was hoping for some here, I was sorely disappointed.

This year BirthMoviesDeath published an article entitled "If you're not reading Babyteeth go to hell". Well on the basis of such an emphatic recommendation I dutifully picked up the first two volumes. This is a seriously addictive comic series. The series follows Sadie, an all American girl who finds out she is pregnant. The only difference is her baby has pitch black eyes, a literal earth-shaking scream and is the antichrist. The story takes in demonic companions, conspiracies and violence. Cates has been killing it on Marvel's "Venom" and here has been perfectly matched with Brown's moody