Paranormality - Richard Wiseman

People are emotionally drawn to the supernatural. They actively want weird, spooky things to be true ...Wiseman shows us a higher joy as he deftly skewers the paranormal charlatans, blows away the psychic fog and lets in the clear light of reason". (Richard Dawkins, Professor). Richard Wiseman is clear about one thing: paranormal phenomena don't exist. But in the same way that the science of space travel transforms our everyday lives, so research into telepathy, fortune-telling and out-of-body experiences produces remarkable insights into our brains, behaviour and beliefs. "Paranormality" embarks on a wild ghost chase into this new science of the supernatural and is packed with activities that allow you to experience the impossible. So throw away your crystals, ditch your lucky charms and cancel your subscription to "Reincarnation Weekly". It is time to discover the real secrets of the paranormal. Learn how to control your dreams - and leave your body behind. Convince complete strangers that you know all about them. Unleash the power of your unconscious mind.

Pillow Talk - Freya North

The sleepwalker. By day, Petra Flint is a talented jeweller working in a lively London studio. By night, she sleepwalks. She has 40 carats of the world's rarest gemstone under her mattress but it's the skeletons in her closet that make it difficult for her to rest. The insomniac.

At one time a promising song-writer, Arlo Savidge now teaches music at a boys' boarding school in North Yorkshire. He assumes he's happy with his isolated lifestyle. But, like Petra, ghosts from his past disturb his sleep. Putting the past to bed. Petra and Arlo loved each other from afar during their schooldays. Now, seventeen years later, in a tiny sweetshop one rainy day, they stand before each other once more. Could this be their second chance?

A Land Of Two Halves - Joe Bennett

After ten years in New Zealand, Joe Bennett asked himself what on earth he was doing there. Other than his dogs, what was it about these two small islands on the edge of the world that had kept him - an otherwise restless traveller - for really much longer than they seemed to deserve? Bennett thought he'd better pack his bag and find out. Hitching around both the intriguingly named North and South Islands, with an eye for oddity and a taste for conversation, Bennett began to remind himself of the reasons New Zealand is quietly seducing the rest of the world.

The Emerald Altas - John Stephens

NB: I am reading an un-proofed first edition printing of this book.

They were taken from their beds one frozen night, when the world was covered in snow. The silhouette of a tall, thin man has haunted Kate ever since. Ten years on, Kate, Michael and Emma have grown up in a string of miserable orphanages, and all memories of their parents have faded to a blur. Arriving at Cambridge Falls, the children quickly realise there is something different about this place - and Kate feels sure she has seen the dark, crooked house before. As they explore, they discover an old, empty leather book. The moment they touch it, an ancient magical prophecy is set irrevocably in motion, and the children are thrown into a dangerous alternate reality of dark enchantments and terrifying monsters. Only they can prevent the terrible event that will ruin Cambridge Falls - and stop the world from falling into complete devastation.

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

Pigs might not fly but they are strangely altered. So, for that matter, are wolves and racoons. A man, once named Jimmy, lives in a tree, wrapped in old bedsheets, now calls himself Snowman. The voice of Oryx, the woman he loved, teasingly haunts him. And the green-eyed Children of Crake are, for some reason, his responsibility. 'In Jimmy, Atwood has created a great character: a tragic-comic artist of the future, part buffoon, part Orpheus. An adman who's a sad man; a jealous lover who's in perpetual mourning; a fantasist who can only remember the past.

Different Seasons - Stephen King

Each of the four stories, markedly different in tone and subject, present a journey: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (Hope Springs Eternal) is a tale of an innocent man who devises an exciting escape from prison; The Apt Pupil (Summer of Corruption) is the story of a golden schoolboy and an old man with a hideous past who join in a dreadful union; in The Body (Fall from Innocence), four young boys venture into the woods and find life, death and the end of innocence and The Breathing Method (A Winter's Tale) is a macabre story told in a strange club of a woman determined to give birth...no matter what.

The Human Mind - Robert Winston

With the help of science we can now begin to understand the extraordinary complexity of the brain's circuits: we can see which nerve cells generate electricity as we fall in love, tell a lie or dream of a lottery win. And inside the 100 billion cells of this rubbery network is something remarkable: you.

In this entertaining and accessible book, Robert Winston takes us deep into the workings of the human mind and shows how our emotions and personality are the result of genes and environment. He explains how memories are formed and lost, how the ever-changing brain is responsible for toddler tantrums and teenage angst, plus he reveals the truth behind extra-sensory perception, ;and out-of-body experiences. He also tells us how to boost our intelligence, how to tap into creative powers we never knew we had, how to break old habits and keep our brain fit and active as we enter old age.

Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson

Some say that the first hint that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came when his mother sent him to school in lime-green Capri pants. In his deeply funny new memoir, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, and the curious world of 1950s America. It was a happy time, when almost everything was good for you, including DDT, cigarettes and nuclear fallout. This is a book about growing up in a specific time and place. But in Bryson's hands, it becomes everyone's story, one that will speak volumes - especially to anyone who has ever been young.

Without Fail - Lee Child

Jack Reacher walks alone. No job, no ID, no last known address. But he never turns down a plea for help. Now a woman tracks him down. A woman serving at the very heart of US power. A woman who needs Reacher's assistance in her new job. Her job? Protecting the Vice-President of the United States. Her problem? Someone wants the VP dead.