|summary=I'm all in favour of Edward Gorey becoming a bigger name, especially here in the UK, where his output is certainly less lauded than in his native USA. It's evident from the bright, glossy pages here that he was an extraordinary talent. Polymath and know-all in real life, in his ink drawings he can show the complexity of someone like Dore, while using his draughtsmanship to pen macabre whimsy, like an old-fashioned love-child of Mervyn Peake and Edward Lear.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0764948040</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Barbara Warmsley
|title=Make, Mend, Bake, Save and Shine!
|rating=4
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=A slim, slither of a book with a big title. ''Green'' is the mantra on most pages, as well as tips on how to waste less - whether it's food, clothes or water from the tap. This book has a universal message. How to waste less. There is a nice introduction by seventysomething Barbara Walmsley, aka the charity [http://www.oxfam.org.uk/ Oxfam's] ''Green Granny.'' Certainly catchy but will it catch on? When I was delving inside the first couple of pages looking for the writer's name (it's not on the front cover) I discovered the phrase ''Printed And Bound In China.'' Defeating the message?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846013674</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Simon Dawson
|title=The Self-Sufficiency Bible: Window Boxes to Smallholdings - Hundreds of Ways to Become Self-Sufficient
|rating=4
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=The recent financial crises have taken people by surprise and instead of trying to ride the problem out and then get back to our old, profligate ways we've looked at how we can live more sustainably and less expensively. Thrift is the new black and many people are taking pride in not spending money. I might take issue with whether or not Simon Dawson's book should be called a ''bible'' which suggests a completeness which is doesn't seem to exhibit, but it's an excellent starting point for those wanting to become more self-sufficient. It also has the recipe for a chocolate sponge which takes just five minutes to make – and that takes a lot of beating.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906787689</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Evany Thomas
|title=The Secret Language of Sleep: A Couple's Guide to the Thirty-nine Positions
|rating=3
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=This volume takes the premise that the positions in which couples sleep together are an insight into their private mind. Therefore, with the help of the line drawings of 39 (apparently all of THE 39) positions, one might see where one is going wrong. It’s a chicken and egg situation where you might learn you’re with the wrong bed partner, and change either them or your nocturnal habits, or in order to change yourself alter things having reflected on the contents here – with the help as they suggest of a ceiling-mounted camcorder.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1932416471</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Norah Vincent
|title=Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin
|rating=3.5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''Voluntary Madness'' is journalist Norah Vincent's account of her visits to three mental health facilities in America. The first is an urban, public hospital that houses mainly homeless, psychotic patients, many of whom are addicted to drugs. In this hospital, the doctors are overworked and jaded and medication is always the answer. Soon, the author finds that her latent depression (which led her to do the book in the first place) is returning. The process of being institutionalised breaks her sense of self-worth down astonishingly fast. Indeed, she suggests that it is the lack of autonomy in institutional life, even for those patients who voluntarily commit themselves, that makes it so hard for them to rebuild independent lives when they finally leave the institution.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513439</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jean Hannah Edelstein
|title=Himglish and Femalese: Why Women Don't Get Why Men Don't Get Them
|rating=4
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Men aren't Martian and women don't hail from Venus. We're all Earthlings apparently; which seems like progress of a sort. Even so we still have trouble understanding each other because we speak different languages – Himglish and Femalese. Luckily Jean Hannah Edelstein is fluent in both and has written this light hearted volume to define the problem and translate.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848091729</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jaki Scarcello
|title=Fifty and Fabulous: The Best Years of a Woman's Life
|rating=3.5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=When you open a package and find a bright pink book which proudly proclaims 'Fifty and Fabulous: the best years of a woman's life' you can be forgiven for wondering if this is going to be another of those books which recommends strenuous exercise regimes, strict diets and just a little nip and tuck under the chin. Personally, my heart sank because, er, well, I'm no longer fifty. Were my fabulous years behind me?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906787603</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Keith Hern
|title=Bangers and Mash
|rating=4.5
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=Keith Hern found a small lump in his neck and when the results of the tests came through he tried to put the appointment off as he had something more pressing to do, but the doctor was insistent. He knew then that he had cancer. The lump in his neck was, in fact, a secondary tumour with the primary being in the back of his tongue. But for the secondary tumour the discovery of the primary might have been too late for successful treatment. Keith takes us through the discovery of his cancer, his reactions to the diagnosis, his treatment and the titular meal of bangers and mash – the first solid food which he had attempted for some time.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312772</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Susan Ostler
|title=Flirt Diva - For Women Who Want to be Bold and Sassy and have a Fabulous Life!
|rating=4
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=There are lots of timetabled books on the market, that promise to transform everything from your employability to the size of your thighs in a certain number of weeks, if you commit to their programme, and this book is really just another one to add to the 'scheduled self-improvement' pile. Except we're not talking here about dropping a dress size in time for Christmas, or sailing through that oh-so-important interview to land the job of your dreams...for this book is a 6 week guide to ''Getting Loved Up'' that promises to put its participants (and as you'll learn, you're more than a mere reader with this title) on the fast track to romance. Gosh.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312799</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mary Beard
|title=It's A Don's Life
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Professor Mary Beard, feisty Cambridge classics don, keeps an eye open for architectural detail wherever she goes. Even on holiday, she notices the changing urban landscape and records interesting parallels with ancient cities in her sparky blog. She is engaged in writing a detailed history of Pompeii and suddenly realises, whilst perambulating the backstreets of the Mexican city of Oaxacan, that this is exactly what Pompeii must have been like. She observes the low rise shops, dirt tracks across dusty streets and the close juxtaposition of rich and poor. Impressive portals of grand residential properties tower above humble workshops, and this prompts her into imaginative reconstruction. In her blog, from which this intriguing book is culled, she tells us about just how Oaxacan encourages her to ponder again the curious cart ruts of Pompeii. She even finds walls splashed with political slogans that are just like Roman ''dipinti''. Indeed, here in Mexico, the local library displays an edifying message in Spanish which originates in Cicero's speech in his Pro Archia, ''Science and letters are the nourishment of youth and the diversion of old age.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682517</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Dr Aaron Carroll and Dr Rachel Vreeman
|title=Don't Swallow Your Gum
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary='''BANG'''. That's the sound of copious urban myths being shot down. '''BANG'''. That's the sound of the old wives slamming the door, as their tales get revealed as baseless. '''CLICK'''. That's the noise lots of ill-informed websites make as they get closed down. All noises come due to this brilliant book.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141043369</amazonuk>
}}