"Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain

Great book to dip in and out of. Of course, I've never heard of many of the restaurants and chefs he writes about, but after watching "Oui Chef" and other TV programmes set in retaurant kitchens, I feel he captures what it must "really" be like - i.e. hot, dirty, stressful and exhausting - very well indeed. And he's certainly been around a bit. I loved the chapter on brunch, and how it's just a way to use up leftovers, and I will definitely think twice about ordering fish on Mondays from now on. What I really like is that his PASSION for the whole business really comes across, it's almost inspirational, makes you want to pick up a big copper-bottomed pan and some knives and get cooking!!! On the downside, he's a bit of a legend in his own mind. Still, highly recommended for anyone who likes food and foodies. Now, where did I put the shallots?

"The White Lioness" by Henning Mankell

Ok this must be about the sixth Inspector Wallander novel I've read and, while I like them for their intrinsic Swedishness, I'm starting to see the holes (yes, yes, I know, I can be a bit slow on the uptake). First of all, the dual setting for this one - Sweden and South Africa - doesn't really work. It's like trying to meld two different books together. And the South African bits are full of the worst kind of hackery... "President de Klerk sighed as he laid down his pen. Sometimes, it was very hard work bringing democracy to a country..." - that kind of thing, really, I could write that (though I'd be embarrassed to). The Swedish bits work better, but the characters of the other policemen and women are brought out less than in the other novels. The whole thing smacks of being a bit of a rush job. Still, effortless holiday reading, innit?