Angel On My Shoulder – An Autobiography by Natalie Cole, (written with Digby Diehl), Warner Books, $19.95. The Grammy Award-winning singer and daughter of the legendary Nat King Cole dishes up her amazing life story with honesty and bravura. Told in straightforward and simple prose, Cole resembles a prize fighter the way she manages to bounce back after any number of knock-out crises – drugs, estranged mother, family fights over money, abuse, marriage break-ups. Fast-moving and entertaining, it’s all there, if a bit religious at times. Nutmeg by Kristin Valla, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, $27.95. In a small town in the Andes, Klara forms a relationship with a college professor, Gabriel, who for the first time in his life finds a woman to love. Torn between the inspiration for her life that he gives her and William, her lover, Klara has to accept that the love of your life is not always the person with whom you could live – and the person with whom you live happily, may not be the love of your life. Touching and truthful. The Pirate Queen by Alan Gold, HarperCollins, $18.95. It is the middle of the 16th century. A strong woman leads her people, winning the love, respect and admiration of the men who serve her. Yes, this could be England’s Queen Elizabeth I, but it also applies to the infamous Grace O’Malley, an Irish pirate and patriot, whose life and loves come vibrantly alive in these absorbing pages. Her exploits challenged Elizabeth’s golden age, until the feud between them ended in friendship. lazy ways to make a living by Abigail Bosanko, Time Warner, $22.95 Read this over the holidays and loved it for its engaging characters and zingy writing style. Rose Budleigh is the failed sister, whose Ph.D. in lexicography and talent for chess pales alongside the achievements of her sisters, Catherine (the clever one) and Helen (the pretty one). Rose is scraping a living when she meets her match – a chess rival from her teenage years who is good looking and fabulously wealthy. He makes her an offer – he’ll provide her with every luxury in life in return for her chess skills and love. From then on, every move they make counts. I’m Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti, Penguin, $23.00. Read this over the holidays as well and couldn’t put it down. A marvellously gripping tale about a small boy who stumbles across a dark and sinister secret that begins to take over his life. Set in a small Italian village during a sizzling summer, this charming story brings back the joys and tortures of childhood, has a lot of suspense and a great twist towards the end that didn’t occur to me for one moment. The Bone Vault by Linda Fairstein, Little Brown, $29.95. History and mystery intermingle in this latest Alex Cooper thriller. Alex is attending a glitzy reception at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art when a gruesome discovery is made of the body of a young woman in an ancient sarcophagus bound for a show abroad. The cause of death is an unusual one – arsenic poisoning. The investigation leads Alex and NYPD detective Mike Chapman into another world and makes for an engrossing read. For those previously disappointed with Fairstein, she is back in good form with this one. Sacking The Stork by Kristin Webb and Kathy Wilson, Macmillan, $30. Sophie loves cocktails and stilettos, her lover Max and her life in general. Then she finds herself pregnant and everything changes. Max scarpers to the US and Sophie is left literally holding the baby, in turn supported by a bunch of unlikely friends who see her through the first lonely, difficult months of single motherhood. Then along comes a new business venture – and a new man. An entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable read, with warm characters and pep in the writing and the plot.
