BOOKS THAT WILL KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF (1 OF 2) BOOKS OF THE YEAR

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Dec 3, 2006

Anne Donovan, author THE stories in Matters Of Life & Death (Jonathan Cape, GBP14.99) by Bernard MacLaverty are superb; in subtle prose he examines the human condition with quiet honesty.

The Pure Land (Canongate, GBP12.99) by Alan Spence, based on the true story which inspired Madam Butterfly, is part thrilling adventure, part lyrical reflection, and characterised by Spence's pure vision. In Light (Canongate, GBP12.99) by Margaret Elphinstone, set in 1831, the family of the lighthouse keeper on a remote island are deeply disturbed by an unexpected arrival. Elphinstone expertly weaves historical detail through the narrative without ever losing its drama. In The Testament Of Gideon Mack (Hamish Hamilton, GBP17.99) by James Robertson, the minister of a sleepy Scottish town experiences strange phenomena which may be supernatural; a powerful and compelling read.

Jonathan Mills, director of the Edinburgh International Festival I READ a lot of non-fiction and a lot of poetry.

Capital Of The Mind (John Murray, GBP6.50) by James Buchan is an extraordinary book about how Edinburgh changed the world. It makes it tangible that the Enlightenment as we know it was a Scottish phenomenon, and even an Edinburgh phenomenon. My friend and collaborator Dorothy Porter has written a pretty wild verse novel, Wild Surmise (Picador). It is both domestic and cosmic, about a couple of jaded academics, one of whom has cancer, one of whom is an astrobiologist. The poetry ranges from examining the festering, minute nature of the relationship to imagining a life so much bigger, in parts of the universe that are only just beginning to be discovered. I reread The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (Penguin, GBP7.99) just before coming to Edinburgh.

Muriel Spark is screamingly funny, witty and wicked, with a deep humanity. It put me in a wonderful mood. I grinned the whole way here.

Jane Stevenson, writer IAN Kelly's Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Dandy (Hodder, GBP9.99) is a curiously modern tale of a man who made himself famous by sheer force of personality.

Few biographies I have ever read have given so sharp a portrait of an individual in relation to his society. Another high point this year was Dominic Sandbrook's White Heat: A History Of Britain In The Swinging Sixties (Little, Brown, GBP22.50), an epic account of mid- 20th century Britain which is hugely enjoyable, funny, contentious, and shows a sharp eye for telling detail. On less familiar territory, Julia Lovell's TheGreat Wall (Atlantic, GBP19.99) is an important, exquisitely readable account of a civilisation which we can ill afford to ignore, a wonderful introduction to the forces that have shaped modern China.

James Boyle, former chairman of the City of Literature Initiative IN Orpheus (Faber, GBP12.99) Don Paterson has again produced great poetry, in creating versions of Rilke's famous sequence. Paterson's commentary on how he made these poems in English is itself an important essay. One of the least alluring titles of the year, Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk (Mariner, GBP7), undersells what is a brilliant treatise on power, personality and the history of mental illness. Filled with fascinating detail and contemporary relevance, it is one to read rather than give as a gift. Looking at David Hockney's paintings is exhilarating and humbling. The dazzling exhibition of Hockney's portrait work at the National Gallery, London, is accompanied by a book, David Hockney Portraits (National Portrait Gallery Publications, GBP35), that brings sheer delight.