Top Ten Tube Reads

When you're hopping from Tube to Tube, you want a book in bite-size chunks that you can pick up and put down at a moment's notice. Some are quick and light, others are perfect escapism when when you're delayed for half an hour on the Circle Line, and others will make the best use of our time by improving our minds. These are our favourite books for reading when we're on the Underground - but you could read them on any bus, train, plane, donkey or bicycle if you wanted. ...Maybe not the last one. Why not tell us about your favourites?

Review of A Brand New Me by Shari Low Women's Fiction Leni Lomond needs a new job. Oh, and a boyfriend. And, well, if we're talking about life changes, she could do with getting out a bit more, too. So when Leni makes a New Year Resolution to do all three, all of her friends take it and her with a big pinch of salt… until she suddenly lands a job with whacky daytime TV mystic/astrologer, Zara Delta, who tasks her with the rather peculiar mission of dating every star sign of the zodiac and reporting back with her findings. Full Review

Review of A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke General Fiction 27 year old Paul West arrives in Paris to start a new job – and finds out what the French are really like. A delicious, raucously funny romp through 12 months in Paree and a must-read for the 25 to 35 crowd who found A Year in Provence slightly rural. Full Review

Review of Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss Politics and Society An entertaining but well-researched look at the way in which our manners have declined into boorishnesswill have you both thinking and laughing. Buy it for yourself or for someone else as a present. Full Review

Review of The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver Literary Fiction Irina might kiss her friend Ramsey, or might not. The resulting splits in her life story are detailed in this very intriguing blockbuster, that has a nice touch of Sliding Doors about it. Full Review

Review of Lessons From The Land Of Pork Scratchings by Greg Gutfeld Travel Britain as seen through the eyes of a Bill Byson-esque writer, this is a monster collection of observations and insights into life in the UK today, from Irn-Bru to ASBOS. Full Review

Review of The Seventh Well by Fred Wander Literary Fiction Life goes on is the message of this Holocaust novel, when one can fathom it through the diverse elements that add up to a slightly too obscure poetic work for some. It is certainly different to many Jewish survivor works, but is that a good thing? Full Review

Review of The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams and Stephen Fry Fantasy Published after the death of Douglas Adams 'The Salmon of Doubt' lives up to the hype and expectations, but beware, it is not a further episode of 'The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy' even if the cover might suggest that it is. Full Review

Review of Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde General Fiction About a boy, and his honourary father; about love, and eternity; about death, and life. Love in the Present Tense takes a little getting into but is rewarding. Full Review

Review of May Contain Nuts by John O'Farrell General Fiction A comedy of paranoid and over-competitive parenting in the urban jungle of Clapham starts off well but ends disappointingly. All in all, it's still an enjoyable read, funny and engaging, though let down by the sugary ending and an unlikely transformation of the main character. Borrow and enjoy as a light read but ignore pretences at diagnosis. Full Review

Review of Paper Butterfly by Diane Wei Liang Crime Mei, a private investigator in Beijing, is approached by a record company executive when one of his rising stars goes missing. The investigation leads her to a man called Lin, who hasn't been heard of since 1989. This is a reasonable story with a fresh twist. Full Review

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