Never one to be afraid of sharing her personal secrets, you can be pretty certain that Jo Brand’s latest title “Look Back in Hunger: The Autobiography” is going to be a no-holds-barred account of her life to date. Easily one of the best and most popular female comedians in the UK, Brand made a name for herself on the comedy circuit before storming on to the BBC and making regular appearances on television. She is also a highly successful author and counts various titles, such as “It’s Different for Girls” and “Sorting out Billy”, among her most acclaimed works.

Her story is by no means the norm for a stand-up comedian. Growing up in a middle class family, living in a small seaside town, she went on to become a psychiatric nurse – a job which she held for 10 years – before going against her parents’ wishes and pursuing her comedy career.

It is brave for any woman to take on the male-dominated world of the stand-up circuit and even when Brand goes into detail about the abuse she suffered while on stage, she – in the style she has become so famous for – describes the scenes with humorous and almost nonchalant observations. Fans of her quick-witted and insightful comedy won’t be disappointed with this book; Brand is easily able to show her appreciation for and ridiculous attitude towards life just as well in writing as she does when she is behind the microphone.

If you’ve ever been on a cruise holiday you’ll know it’s one of the most relaxing and enjoyable ways to spend your precious vacation time. There’s none of the airport hassles or queuing at the baggage carousel – just a blissful two weeks on the sea without a care in the world. Over 10 million people take a cruise each year, taking in over 2000 ports of call and more people cruise to the Caribbean than any other destination in the world.

Working on a cruise ship must be one of the best jobs in the world. Or is it? This raunchy yet hilarious book tells the truth behind the glamour of working on a cruise ship – from stewards fighting over food to the seemingly non-stop sex-fest. Parts of the book are too far-fetched to be believed but if you can get past this then some of the exploits really are genuinely funny. The gist of the story is of a guy working for ‘Carnival Cruise Ships’. He wants to work with his girl friend, Bianca and eventually make Maitre’d. His grand plans are sabotaged though; the 16 hour days eventually take their toll and he quits.

Author Brian David Bruns clearly has experience in the catering side of cruising, even if it is only the 13 months he actually worked for Carnival Cruise Ships. His characters lack depth though and by the end of the book I was glad I’d finished. If you don’t mind the graphic description of the sex scenes (i.e. if you’re squeamish, give it a miss) it’s a good, easy holiday read. I’d recommend this novel if you’ve cruised in the past or if you’re planning a cruise holiday in the future; but if you’re thinking of getting a job on the cruise ships, reading this might make you think twice!

Bingo is one of those ‘love it / hate it’ past-times and, regardless of whether you’re a regular player or a novice, you can still learn some tips from this book. Written and published in the US, where bingo is popular amongst church-goers, ‘The Basics of Winning Bingo’ has advice that applies equally well in the UK.

Bingo was first introduced in Italy in 1530, becoming popular in the early 1900s; an American toy salesman Edwin S. Lowe is credited for spreading the bingo fever in 1929. Today, with the influx of free online bingo sites promising big cash prizes, players are keen to learn new tips and tricks to increase their chances of winning and improve their strategy – this book has all the information you need.

Avery Cardoza writes clearly and provides easy-to-read advice to help you understand the game by going back in time to how it started and how it has evolved into one of the most popular leisure activities around today. In some countries, bingo is even used in schools as an instructional tool! You can learn the basics of the game, speak the ‘bingo lingo’, view fifteen winning patterns, find out the odds of winning, and understand the advantages and disadvantages of playing multiple cards.

This book is particularly relevant now as statistics show that in times of recession and periods of high unemployment people turn to bingo because it’s fun, offers companionship, and the chance to socialise. Did you know that over three million people play bingo on a regular basis in the UK, that’s eight per cent of the population!

If you’re new to bingo, my advice is to get your “eyes-down” and read this 64-page book! Even if you don’t win the jackpot it’s an interesting read.

Build This Bong has 108 pages of bongs, pipes, hookahs, and stash boxes that you and your mates can knock up really easily. There are loads of ideas in here – from a standard gravity bong to a 4-person pop bottle hookah pipe. Each DIY project has a clear diagram so it’s a doddle to make the best bong ever. Experiment – with over 40 projects to choose from you’ll find one that will blow your mind.

Randy Stratton shows us just how easy it is, with ingenious ideas for making simple bongs and pipes with straightforward, step-by-step directions, to the more complex vaporizer. Stratton even shows us how to make devices from common household items such as melons, coconuts, snow-globes, and teapots! If you’re that way inclined there’s even a plan for a ‘Tam-pipe’ – yes it is what you think and no, it’s not as easy as it sounds (for the record, make sure you use one with a cardboard applicator.)

Bongs are generally used to facilitate the act of smoking the plants or herbs of your choice. Bongs have been part of popular culture for a long time, reaching a peak of popularity in the late 1960’s/early 70’s. The Vietnam War gave American soldiers an insight into the smoking habits of the Vietnamese, where they used bamboo pipes to and a small wooden bowl filled with water to cool and filter the smoke. This exotic custom reached the USA where it’s evolved into a worldwide passion and more and more high-tech devices are available.

This book is a lot of fun – it will certainly help you while away a boring weekend. But, some of the ideas are far too difficult to contemplate and there’s really nothing in here that you can’t find on the web.

Have you moved house and inherited a horrific avocado monstrosity? Or, are you simply bored with your current bathing facilities and fancy a modern facelift? 150 Best Bathroom Ideas by Bridget Vranckx will show you how to get the best from your bathroom on a budget that suits you.

Your bathroom is the only room in your house that you everyone will visit eventually (unless you have more than one!) so it makes sense to make your bathroom a priority when planning home improvements. Most people consider the bathroom to be a big job – there’s plumbing, plastering, flooring, lighting and more to think about. But this book will show you that it doesn’t have to be a mammoth task.

With home renovation on the increase, savvy homeowners know that the best way to get a return on their investment is to improve – the bathroom is an integral part of the home that just has to be right; a little oasis of calm where you can relax. With a little help from leading architects and designers, Vranckx will show you how to get the look you’ve always dreamed of.  From sunken bathtubs to designer radiators, ceramic flooring to recessed lighting, this book is an oracle of new ideas. If you’re looking for inspiration on sanitary ware, sinks, tiling and showers, or you’re considering a wetroom conversion, everything you need is fully illustrated. All aspects of bathroom renovation are featured – from flooring, wall coverings and window treatment – and what’s interesting is the variety of materials that are now available.

Practical yet artistic, there are some truly magnificent bathrooms in this sturdy hard-backed book. It’s an essential reference guide for the homeowner or property developer that will be referred to time and time again.

The Chinese Massage Manual: The Healing Art of Tui Na by Sarah Pritchard is a great introduction to the art of Tui Na (a form of Chinese manipulative therapy). This 144 page paperback gives a clear overview of various parts of Traditional Chinese Medicine including the Eight Principles, Five Elements and the Yin/Yang Theory.

Detailed throughout the book are 20 Tui Na hand techniques with helpful diagrams, some of which you can easily pick up and other you will have to practise. There is also section on making your own rice bag to practise on instead of your unwitting friends and family.

At the end of the book the author gives some helpful Tui Na techniques for various common ailments such as muscle pain and headaches and a list of recommended reading for those who want a more in-depth look into Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The Chinese Massage Manual is a great beginner’s guide to Tui Na techniques and gives you an insight into this traditional form of healing.

This fictionalization of Brian Clough’s legendary 44 days at the helm of the most famous and notorious football club in the land takes us on a journey through the tormented mind of a man wrestling with his demons. It’s an extraordinary tale of Clough’s inner angst.

Switching rapidly from real-life to the meandering emotions in Clough’s head playing back his time at Derby County, taking the manager’s job at Leeds United A.F.C in July 1974 was clearly the worst decision he could have made. Instantly alienating the players, branding them cheats at the very first training session, the relationship between both parties rapidly deteriorated.

His deep disdain for Don Revie, who had left Leeds United to become England manager, was no secret, before and after his appointment. This was at odds with the players, who regarded Revie as a God and who would remain loyal to him throughout Clough’s brief reign; with Revie, Leeds were regarded as one of the finest teams in the world and that side is still regarded to have been one of the best sides ever to play football.

David Peace, who describes his work as “fiction based on a fact”, has been criticized for his portrayal of events – with Johnny Giles successfully suing the publishers, Faber, for libel.  Faber subsequently made changes to the book and paid Giles substantial damages. This didn’t stop the making of the film though, which was released in 2009 much to the dismay of Clough’s family.

Overall, the book leaves you with a sad, painful feeling in the pit of your stomach. Clough, clearly a genius in the world of football management, comes across as a paranoid, drunken fool whose love of drink turned him into a deceitful and confrontational monster; his subsequent brilliance and achievements with Nottingham Forest almost overshadowed by his inept handling of the First Division champions, resulting in his sacking on 12 September, 1974. For many Leeds fans Clough would never be forgiven.

Salesforce.com For Dummies is a great tool to help any business, large or small, solve the challenges of running a business by using Customer Relationship Management software. Salesforce.com helps your sales team, customer service representatives, and marketing agents by providing fast, up to the minute, and relevant information in a format that streamlines productivity and helps these team members focus on getting the job done. Salesforce.com For Dummies provides information about all the latest updates and enhancements to the latest Salesforce.com CRM system, so you can stay on top of ways to maximize your CRM software to benefit your business.

Salesforce.com For Dummies helps you choose the CRM edition of Salesforce.com that best suits your business, and it explains the features of the software. Learn how to develop contacts, calculate forecasts, and manage your accounts, so you stay on top of your accounts but don’t waste a lot of time taking care of administrative projects. Keep your data updated and analyze it as necessary by running reports to present to your team members. Salesforce.com For Dummies even teaches you the advantages of tracking customer service issues, and it helps you generate additional sales leads to help you expand your business even further.

Another advantage to this book is the marketing benefits. Using Salesforce.com along with Google AdWords will help you beef up your online presence, so anyone on the Internet can easily find you. This book also teaches you how to maximize free social networking opportunities, such as Twitter and Facebook, to spread the word about your business to your existing customers and build relationships with potential customers.

Salesforce.com uses cloud computing to connect all authorized users to the system, so everyone can update from where they are and everyone can read the latest updates from where they are. Salesforce.com eliminates the need to come back to the office and input data; Salesforce.com For Dummies will show you how to integrate mobile devices, such as a BlackBerry or an iPhone, so it syncs up with the CRM and maximizes worker productivity.

Whether you run a large business, a small business, or something in between, competition among businesses is fierce, and your competitors are fighting for your customers. Keep them satisfied with an efficient system that helps you take care of their needs in a way that allows your employees to remain productive. Salesforce.com For Dummies is a worthwhile investment because it will help you maximize the profit you make in your business by teaching you how to efficiently use the CRM system. Get the most bang for your buck and use Salesforce.com For Dummies to improve customer relationships today.  You can buy it on Amazon here.

This brilliant book from award-winning freelance journalist and photographer David Anderson contains everything you need to know about skiing and ski holidays. He comprehensively covers all types of skiing, as well as the essential equipment you’ll need to get started, basic techniques and turns, advanced skills and importantly, how to interpret snow conditions. If you’re looking for the fundamentals of pre-holiday fitness, he also includes tips on how to stretch and warm up before hitting the slopes.

It’s beautifully illustrated with full-colour photos that really make you wish you were there. If you’re on a budget then Anderson gives advice on travel and popular resorts in both Europe and North America (did you know you can actually ski in Iran and Morocco?). He focuses fully on the skiing experience as a whole and gives you everything you need to enjoy your holiday.

Anderson knows his stuff. He’s written articles for newspapers and magazines in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia as well as contributing to both the Rough Guide to Skiing and Snowboarding in North America and the Rough Guide to the Rocky Mountains.

If we take his advice, David Anderson believes that “modern equipment and techniques can have you skiing competently in a matter of days”, which is a relief as I need all the help I can get! The chapter on ‘Techniques’ really helped me with the basic skiing skills – if you know how to fall properly and avoid collisions, this can really help with your confidence the first time you go. This book is a great place to start if you’re considering booking a ski holiday for the first time and for me, it’s been well worth the money.

The peculiarly titled “Tender: Volume I – A Cook and His Vegetable Patch” is not the name of an overly elaborate novel, but is in fact a cookery book filled with tasty recipes, all of which come straight from the vegetables in the garden. Often overlooked on the dinner plate, vegetables are usually less important than meat, but with this book, it becomes apparent that there is so much that can be done to make them far more in-demand on the family dinner table.

Anyone who has browsed through the cookery section of their local bookshop will know that the author of this book, Nigel Slater, is one of the most popular names out there. As well as being a writer for The Observer newspaper, he has an almost countless number of titles to his name, such as “The Kitchen Diaries: Over 300 New Recipes from Britain’s Best-loved Food Writer” and, something of a sequel to this book, “Tender: v. 2: A Cook’s Guide to the Fruit Garden”.

Here Slater has compiled an impressive 400 recipes all based around vegetables, and there are as many green-only meals as there are accompaniments to meat dishes. Of course, with 400 different recipes, there are going to be some pretty original ones included, and among the highlights would have to be his chocolate beetroot cake. Whether you are a vegetarian looking for inspiration or simply want something to complement your fish or poultry, this is a highly recommended read.