Christmas booked

Fiction

The Apologist, Jay Rayner (Atlantic Books, £10)

Restaurant critic Marc Basset is in a sorry state. A searing review of a top London eaterie leads the chef to commit suicide by roasting himself in his own oven (gas mark 6 or equivalent).

Wallowing in the soupy depths of his own guilt, Marc decides to do something he has never done before: apologise.

Not only is his apology accepted, he finds he is rather good at saying sorry - it is not the hardest word after all.

What follows is a series of virtuoso expressions of regret that lead Marc to the top of the sorry heap, as Chief Apologist for the UN.

This is quite simply a blinding book. The bizarre but strangely believable central premise is sustained skilfully from start to finish, and the charred black humour never flags.

Read it, or you'll be sorry.

Jo Haywood

Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell, Susannah Clarke (Bloomsbury, £17.99)

One of the most talked-about books of the year, and with a York connection too. Magic has long ceased to exist in 19th Century England but when the reclusive Mr Norrell brings the statues of York Minster to life, it makes its triumphant return. SL

Churchill's Hour, Michael Dobbs (HarperCollins, £17.99)

The third in Dobb's series of novels about Winston Churchill. It is 1941. Britain has survived the battle of Britain, but the prospects are still bleak. The war in the Atlantic and in North Africa is going badly, and the Blitz is in full swing. Meanwhile, many around Churchill are growing restless with his leadership, and wondering what happened to the victory he promised. SL

Fleshmarket Close, Ian Rankin (Orion, £17.99)

When an asylum seeker is found murdered on a notorious Edinburgh housing scheme, Rebus gets involved. Is there any connection between the two skeletons uncovered in a basement in Fleshmarket Close and the disappearance of a teenage girl? A gripping thriller which examines race relations in Britain. SL

SPORT

Frankie, Frankie Dettori with Jonathan Powell (CollinsWillow, £18.99)

If you'd read only the newspaper serialisations, you would have thought Frankie Dettori's autobiography was simply a tale of near death, drugs, fast cars and faster women. Wrong. This is a chronicle of celebrity, and the fame that being a household name can bring. But it is also a book about the harsh realities of life as a jockey, from donning binbags for runs to lose weight to spending days asleep to stave off hunger pangs. The writing cleverly captures Dettori's cheeky public persona in a book that is a breed apart from the average sports biography. SL

Winning!, Clive Woodward (Hodder & Stoughton, £20)

Part autobiography, part business manual, Winning! charts Woodward's role in propelling England's rugby team to becoming World Cup winners.

No sensationalism, no scandal - just the steps Sir Clive put in place to deliver the nation to the top of the world rankings.

An interesting, if somewhat complex, look at Sir Clive's business ways rather than an insight into his life, this is an unconventional story.

My World, Jonny Wilkinson (Headline, £20)

The world's greatest rugby fly-half reveals his highs and lows. Reliving that glorious drop-kick which brought home England's first team sporting triumph since 1966, Wilkinson also talks about what it is like playing for England, his heroes and the body-battering training schedule he goes through to be the best.

Beautifully illustrated, My World is a fascinating insight into the life of one of England's sporting icons.

Steve Carroll

BIOGRAPHY

The Two Of Us, Sheila Hancock (Bloomsbury, £17.99)

When John Thaw, star of The Sweeney and Inspector Morse, died from cancer in 2002, a nation lost one of its finest actors and Sheila Hancock lost a much-loved husband. In this double biography, she chronicles their personal and professional lives and their sometimes turbulent, always passionate relationship. SL

TRAVEL

Himalaya, Michael Palin (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, £20)

The book of the TV series. Britain's favourite traveller embarks on a six-month odyssey across the Himalayas from the Khyber Pass to Tibet and China, taking in the slopes of Everest, Annapurna and K2 and meeting some of the region's odder and more interesting characters. Palin has lost none of his way with people and places and the book is complemented by Basil Pao's stunning photographs. SL

The Travel Book

(Lonely Planet, £40)

A sumptuous, armchair journey through every country in the world, starting with Afghanistan and ending with Zimbabwe. Each country has two large-sized, beautifully-crafted pages devoted to it, with travellers tales, interesting snippets of information, must-see sights, a map and, best of all, those stunning Lonely Planet photos. A feast for the eyes. SL

COOKERY

Feast, Nigella Lawson

(Chatto and Windus, £25)

All of Nigella's trademarks are here, from her now-infamous chocolate cake section to her renouncing of domestic drudgery in favour of a carefree, uncomplicated but always passionate approach to food. SL

Jamie's Dinners, Jamie Oliver (Michael Joseph, £20)

Jamie goes back to basics in an effort to encourage us to eat more healthily. As ever the recipes - more than 100 of them - are illustrated with mouth-watering photographs. Perfect for cooks of all abilities. SL

ASTRONOMY

Yearbook Of Astronomy 2005, Patrick Moore (Macmillan, £14.99)

The perfect gift for amateur stargazers. A month-by-month guide to everything you can expect to see in the coming year, from eclipses, comets and meteors to nebulae and phases of the moon. Plus detailed astronomical charts and an extensive range of specially-commissioned articles. SL

LOCAL INTEREST

A Portrait Of York, Ian Carstairs (Halsgrove, £12.95)

Sumptuous photographic guide to York's many architectural highlights (and a few lowlights, such as the Ryedale Building). Ian Carstairs, chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund's Yorkshire regional committee, knows his York and his camera lingers lovingly. SL

POPULAR SCIENCE

The Ancestor's Tale, Richard Dawkins (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £25)

An evolutionary trawl back through time, charting the development of life on Earth from its earliest beginnings. Carefully researched, beautifully illustrated, pithily written, it will leave you gasping in awe at the wondrous diversity, complexity, beauty and inter-connectedness of life. Fabulous.SL

The Sun: A Biography, David Whitehouse (Wiley, £16.99)

The story of our own star, interweaving science, philosophy, religion, history and art into a comprehensive 'biography'. SL

100 Things to Do before You Die (Plus A Few to Do Afterwards), edited by Valerie Jamieson and Liz Else (New Scientist/ Profile, £3.99)

Proving that scientists really do have a sense of humour, some delightfully weird and wacky suggestions, including: extract your own DNA; write your name in atoms; and walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs. Plus how about this for after you've died: have your cremated ashes blasted into space, from where after a few years your mortal remains will return to Earth as a shooting star. Wonderful. SL

POETRY

Poems To Last A Lifetime, selected by Daisy Goodwin (HarperCollins, £18.99)

Funny, touching, angry, sensuous - the whole of human life is here, in a sumptuous illustrated volume that would be the perfect gift for the romantic at heart. SL

MUSIC

Anorak Of Love nu Mike Bennett and Frank Holli (Complete Publications, £5.99)

BEING a complete music buff, I really enjoyed this book by two local authors.

Mike would kill me if I called it a trivia book, so I'll call it a 'challenge' for music obsessives to prove themselves. One warning: trying to out-anorak the pair by coming up with more than three hit songs about 'questionable mothers' or more than seven on the subject of mining can become addictive. Perfect after-dinner entertainment on Christmas Day.

Natalya Wilson

Updated: 09:09 Wednesday, December 01, 2004