Something to whet your Ashes appetite (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Something to whet your Ashes appetite

10:31am Friday 3rd July 2009

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Weekend Books: Our weekly round-up of what’s new in the bookshops.

NEW NON-FICTION

● The Official Ashes Treasures by Bernard Whimpress is published in hardback by Carlton Books, priced £30. Available now.

With Ashes fever set to dominate the nation’s sporting interest for the majority of the summer, now could not be a better time to immerse yourself in this lovingly-compiled companion book.

Whimpress, the curator of the South Australia Cricket Museum, has produced a text that is equal parts historical account and social comment, and manages to both entertain and inform.

Starting with the birth of the Ashes in 1882 and concluding with the 2006-7 Australian whitewash, the chosen features are tirelessly researched but always engaging.

The star of the show is a collection of 20 removable curiosities - including scorecards, photographs and hand-written letters - which bring one of sport’s most engaging battles fully to life.

8/10

(Review by Rory Dollard)

● High Society: Grace Kelly And Hollywood by Donald Spoto is published in hardback by Hutchinson, priced £18.99. Available now.

The story of the Hollywood star who became a real-life princess is well-known, so you would hope that a new book about Grace Kelly would have something different to offer.

Sadly, this one doesn’t. Disappointingly, High Society is a regurgitation of tired old stuff.

Spoto makes much of using his own interviews with Kelly, which have ‘never before been published’. But, in truth, Kelly reveals nothing of note.

The author draws on previously published books and articles for the rest.

It’s a book written by an obvious Grace Kelly fan, which paints the usual bland picture of the Philadelphia girl made good.

The cover is beautiful, sadly the contents are sparse and dull. One destined for the bargain book bin.

4/10

(Review by Sandra Mangan)

CHILDREN’S CHOICE

● Jinxed by Sara Lawrence is published as a paperback original by Faber, priced £6.99. Available now.

Jinx Slater spends a miserable Christmas holidays missing her best school pal Liberty Latiffe. Yet her fears that her partner in crime won’t be allowed to return to the exclusive Stagmount boarding school for girls are thankfully unfounded. The friends are reunited for a spring term full of boys, booze and the occasional homework assignment.

The second book in the Jinx series centres on a set of glamourous Russian triplets and their mysterious bodyguard Igor, who may not be what he seems. Meanwhile, the recruitment of a new football coach at Stagmount and a burgeoning romance between Jinx and her brother’s friend provide the heroine and her Ugg boot-wearing buddies with plenty of fodder for their girly musings and over-the-top antics.

Despite the sugary pink cover, the pages are chockfull of swearing, smoking and designer-clothing namechecks - this is definitely one for teens. Schoolgirl stereotypes such as the ‘unattractively chubby’ and ‘stupid-looking’ Katie Green let this book down.

4/10

NEW FICTION

● The Information Officer by Mark Mills is published as a paperback original by Harper Collins, priced £7.99. Available now.

The cover promises perfect beach-fodder: murder mystery, espionage and war-time romance. Yet, while all the elements are there, this second novel from Mark Mills doesn’t quite come alive.

It tells the story of Max, the British Army’s information officer on a besieged Malta in 1942. He’s usually tasked with keeping the island’s spirits up with tales of small victories and derring-do, but suddenly discovers that an officer appears to be murdering local girls at random.

He sets out to uncover the killer and a possible cover-up, while keeping a lid on his complicated love life.

The period detail is flawless, but so much so that the serial killer plotline seems to get in the way - flying in and out of an otherwise engaging war epic. The final denouement is hurried and botched, and the threat to the central couple never feels real.

There is still much to enjoy, just don’t expect to be pinned to your sunlounger.

8/10

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