Dude, where's my country? - michael moore. A christmas present from Nig and Stevie that was rapidly devoured on Boxing Day! Another US government bashing epic from Mr Moore. No question is left un-asked - from 'how come the Bush family is best mates with the bin Laden family?' to 'how come you gave tax cuts only to the wealthy 5% of the country?'. It's scary to read, and although you now approach it with a bit of healthy skepticism, Moore backs it up with attributable sources. Just have to hope that enough people read it and vote a more sane US government back next year.

Picture palace - paul theroux. My first Paul Theroux book, again thanks to Chris for putting this my way and for cleverly sequencing it after the Graham Greene novel (Greene is a character in this book). The story in this book follows a fictional female photographer, Pratt, through her life, the people she's photographed and her obsession with her brother. The writing is dense and interesting and you really believe that Pratt existed, such is Theroux's observations on photography in general and the styles (and behaviours - however true they are) of famous photographers shortly after the war. Another great read that drags you from page to page and leaves you wanting more at the end.

Dead famous - ben elton. Big brother and reality TV in general is the target of this Ben Elton satire, blended together with a murder mystery. The question posed is hence fascinating - how do you commit a murder and get away with it when you're being watched all the time? Unfortunately the answer is quite obvious and although there are funny moments generally the book, though very readable, is not as entertaining as some of his earlier work. More interesting to read for some background insight into how TV works than anything else!

Travels with my aunt - graham greene. Never read any Graham Greene before so a big thanks out to Chris (the littler one) for recommending this to me from his huge pile of books. The story revolves around a retired bank manager who meets his aunt for the first time at his reserved, religious mother's funeral. This meeting leads to a number of revelations about his family history and consequently to his travels with his aunt to various locations, never quite knowing what's going on. It's a highly readable book that pulls you along from page to page, and although the transition from fuddy duddy bank manager to international 'criminal' is maybe a bit far fetched at times it makes for a great story. Green tackles the uncertainty in the nephew's mind about his new adventures wonderfully and it's a great book to read if you're not sure you want to go travelling...

Cleese encounters - jonathan margolis. - Continuing my biographical bent at the moment, I picked this 1992 version of the book up in a second hand shop. The contrast between these two comic greats is amazing - whereas Sellars went for the 'crazed artistic schizophrenic genius' style, Cleese constantly re-invents himself and grows around the 'repressed English middle class' medium. Fascinating stuff, and well researched given that Margolis was not allowed to talk with Cleese and this is all through secondary media.