Posted Thursday February 18th 2010
by Nikesh Shukla

This month, Booktrust staff recommend everything from literary biographies to perfumeries.

Harpreet: Perfumes: The A-Z Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez

This book is witty, addictive and sure to dent your bank account. Having never taken an interest in perfume before, I find myself swayed in to seeking out scents through the infectious passion of the writing. This is a brilliant introduction for beginners: technically clear, and often enchanting. Everything from celebrity scents to discontinued classics are covered and the results are often surprising.

Rebecca: Frances Partridge: The Biography by Anne Chisholm

Diarist Frances Partridge, who died in 2004, was the last living member of the Bloomsbury group. Progressive in her views and fiercely intelligent, Frances’ relationship and subsequent marriage to Ralph Partridge (who was living in a ménage a trois with Dora Carrington and Lytton Strachey when they first met), brought her into contact with Virginia Woolf, E.M Forster and Duncan Grant amongst others.

Chisholm draws on diaries, letters and personal reminiscences in this compelling and often unflattering account of the complex web of Bloombsbury , from which Frances emerges as a fascinating and likeable subject.

Janis: Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill

This book conjures up such a range of emotions; you can’t read it and be left unaffected. Baby is twelve years old and living in Montreal with her young heroin-addict father. Her mother died shortly after she was born. Told through her eyes, she describes her life in a childlike way as she struggles to cope with everything that’s thrown at her, including her father’s mental illness, the constant moving from one apartment to the next because of rent arrears and her periods in foster care.  She is surrounded by drug pushers and pimps and we see her change from an innocent child to a prostitute and drug user. All she craves is love and affection. She is a shining light in the midst of her sordid surroundings and throughout the novel I just wanted someone to save her from her what I hoped wouldn’t be her inevitable fate. 

The book is an excellent read, beautifully written and totally believable. It’s one of those books that is so powerful that it never leaves you.

Claire: The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

The Almost Moon takes a stark look at old age and declining mental health in all its mundane yet heartbreaking glory. I couldn’t like Helen, the main protagonist who kills her mother and sleeps with her best friend’s son, and so lacked sympathy with her predicament. Tackle only if you like slightly disturbing and slowish reads.

Genevieve: The Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

I’m currently reading Watchmen, which is my first graphic novel. The book is set at a time when the United States is edging ever closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Where superheroes used to be celebrated and publically adored, they are now on the decline and the government is suspicious of people who pose as superhuman. Only one 'survives' and he only exists to act as a show of US strength and immortality. I’m really enjoying this novel, not only is the story really engaging, but so are the illustrations. I’ve really enjoyed the pace, variety and vibrancy of it. I fell in love with the film version and now I feel the same about the novel (usually the other way round!). I’ll certainly be on the look out for other graphic novels to read.