The Telegraph has always been sports fans paper of choice & its wonderful Letters page a forum for trenchant debate & robust wit. This first collection of the finest letters written to the paper over the years ranges from Bodyline to helmets swing bowling to sunglasses. SIR-I dont see why batsmen today accept being confronted by bowlers wearing gold necklaces & particularly sunglasses. When I played cricket no jewellery was worn. As batsmen we liked to see the colour of the bowlers eyes. Would an umpire uphold my complaint today if I refused to face a bowler so adorned? D.J.W. Evesham SIR
- As one who has seen leadership under pressure at all levels I would like to add my congratulations to Andrew Strauss. When he took over English cricket was in crisis; he gave it inspiration & intelligent tactical direction... He had some luck running for him at the Oval but as Napoleon observed: Give me a lucky general." Field Marshal L.B. London SW1"
...

Searching for truffles in a wood a man & his dog unearth something less savoury
- a human h&. The body as Chief Inspector Wexford
...

One day I Cordelia Codd will be glamorous. I will take taxis everywhere have an absurd-looking little dog & Wednesdays will be manicure day. But for now I'm stuck with: a totally un-glamorous school bus chauffeur two mean EX-best friends a 50% reduction in parents & cat litter Fridays. Did I tell you how utterly ridiculous my life is...? ...

A pregnancy pact between three teenaged girls puts their mothers love to the ultimate test in this explosive new novel from Barbara Delinsky When Susan Tates seventeen-year-old daughter Lily announces she is pregnant Susan is stunned. A single mother she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily & herself. Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lilys best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school she has always been held up as a role model of hard work & core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughters pregnancy her job financial independence & long-fought-for dreams are all at risk. The emotional ties between mothers & daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love & forgiveness. Once again Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother? ...

There's something Billy Bonkers doesn't want you to know. Come closer...I'll whisper it: he has to wear his sister's underpants! & whether Billy's flying round a go-kart track chasing a very smelly dog or finding some priceless long-lost treasure it's not easy to explain: They're NOT MY PANTS!"" ...

The young Jon Bull is sent by Westminster to Waless last remaining Welsh-speaking town to see why all attempts to bring it into the twenty-first century have failed. Waiting for him is the beautiful but embittered Gwalia... Not Quite White explores the complex tensions that spit & seethe when English colonialism & Welsh nationalism go head to head. It is a passionate defence of cultural & political identity & a considered plea for tolerance. It is also a sustained attack on the forces of small-town bigotry & corruption. But above all it is an acknowledgement of the subtleties & ambiguities that exist in even the most entrenched attitudes. ...

In Not Quite Worlds End" Simpson offers a lively & upbeat look at the challenges & the changes the world has gone through in his life & long career. In it he looks at the world & takes the perhaps surprising view that its actually not nor will be the end of the world. His vivid prose his clear-sightedness & the wonderful anecdotes about the many strange people & places he has come across
- from emperors to movie stars from Chelsea to China
- all add up to a richly satisfying read. & with his long experience & his remarkable ability to explain whats really going on out there he offers us all a crumb of comfort in desperate times. He is a very fine journalist
- Nelson Mandela. Inspirational anecdotal humorous & chilling. Simpsons unbiased accounts are riveting
- Bob Geldof."



...

Middle-aged single mother & entertainment publicist Suzanne Portnoy leads a double life. Monday to Friday shes a professional executive devoted to her two adolescent boys. But at weekends she spends her kid-free hours having sex with a different man each time. Or multiple men. Picking up where her first book The Butcher the Baker the Candlestick Maker: An Erotic Memoir" left off this memoir finds Suzanne both confronting the consequences & enjoying the fruits of her notoriety as the bestselling author of an erotic memoir. From a coked-up rock star to an uptight millionaire to a hunky stripper Suzanne attracts plenty of men wherever she goes particularly once they learn her identity. But just when Suzanne grows reconciled to the possibility of never settling down she meets a man who wants to be more than one of her friends. While debating whether to unload her portfolio of men for the potential one true lover this most unconventional woman ponders the most conventional question: has she found the fabled Mr. Right or will he prove to be just another in a long string of Mr. Wrongs?" ...

Last year Stephen Pile attempted to deliver a daring blow to the success ethic that so pervades Western culture. To his dismay The Ultimate Book of Heroic Failures" became the " Sunday Times" Humour Book of the Year. Nothing daunted Stephen returns with a new selection which brings together the very best of his original classic titles
- " The Book of Heroic Failures" & " The Return of Heroic Failures". The heartwarming news that stays news is that there really is no limit to what humanity can achieve as we move onwards & downwards to ever more immortal & breathtaking feats of incompetence. " The Not Terribly Good Book of Heroic Failures" lovingly chronicles the all-time heroes who have been so bad at things that they shine as beacons for future generations. It is hard not to feel boundless admiration for example for the fifty Mexican convicts who dug an escape tunnel out of their jail & came up in the courtroom where many of them had been sentenced. Or for the worlds worst tourist who spent three days in New York believing he was in Rome."
...

Catherine Alliott bestselling author of A Rural Affair" & "A Crowded Marriage" examines just the sort of trouble a girl can land herself in when she gets caught in the middle of a love triangle in " Not That Kind of Girl". A girl can get into all kinds of trouble just by going back to work... Henrietta Tate gave up everything for her husband Marcus & their kids. But now that the children are away at school & shes rattling round their large country house all day shes feeling more than a little lost. So when a friend puts her in touch with Laurie a historian in need of a PA Henrietta heads for London. Quickly she throws herself into the job. Marcus is
- of course
- jealous of her spending so much time with her charming new boss. & soon enough her absence causes cracks to form in their marriage that just cant be papered over. Then Rupert a very old flame reappears & Henrietta suddenly finds herself torn between three men. How did this happen? Shes not that kind of girl.. .is she? Step into Alliott country with " Not That Kind of Girl". Praise for Catherine Alliott: " Compulsively readable". (" The Times"). " Possibly my favourite writer". (Marian Keyes). Catherine Alliott is the author of twelve bestselling novels: "A Crowded Marriage" "A Married Man" " Not That Kind of Girl" " Going Too Far" " The Old-Girl Network" " Olivias Luck" " Rosie Meadows Regrets..." " The Wedding Day" " The Real Thing" " The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton" " One Day in May" & "A Rural Affair". She lives with her family in Hertfordshire."

...