Codex --Lev Grossman

Da Vinci Code fans should like this novel about a man investigating the secret of a rare mediaeval book.

But they'll have to read past the tedious first 50 pages to find the increasingly enthralling adventure within.

Edward Wozny's treasure hunt through a billionaire family's ancient library brings him both obsession and romance.

Meanwhile he finds mysterious links with the storyline of a computer game his friends urged him to play.

Codex is clever and intriguing and, although concerning literature and history, is very readable.

David Knights

The Age of Shakespeare -- Frank Kermode

Kermode's main aim is to explore the religious and political issues which formed the backdrop for the Bard's plays.

He describes Elizabethan England and the Reformation then discusses the Globe and Blackfriars theatres where the majority of Shakespeare's plays were performed.

Kermode keeps the plays at the forefront, rather than get bogged down in biographical detail.

This book is a great introduction to Shakespeare for anyone.

Kermode uses straightforward language and spares his readers pretentious literary jargon.

Andrew King

Paul Johnson -- The Vanished Landscape

If it's not dreadful childhoods, it's reminiscences of a world long gone.

Here we have a contribution to the latter category in which a 1930's childhood in the Potteries is remembered.

But these are the memories of a man in love with the fiery furnaces and the crusade of his headmaster father to find jobs for his pupils.

Johnson recalls a world in which children ran free and a locked door was almost unheard of. As he says 'Poverty was everywhere, but so were the Ten Commandments'.

A robust and charming portrait of a simpler and more relaxed time.

Antony Silson

Sinners and Shadows -- Catrin Collier

Catrin Collier's easy-to-read paperback is set in South Wales, in the early 20th century.

Nineteen year old orphan Rhian Jones is deceived into believing that her fianc, Joey Evans, has been unfaithful to her and breaks off their engagement.

She is comforted by her employer, wealthy factory owner Edward Larch, and becomes his mistress. When war in Europe breaks out and Joey enlists it seems that all hope of life with the girl he loves is lost.

With authentic historical detail, this is interesting reading.

Margaret Malpass

The Sea Beggars: The Mark of Ran -- Paul Kearney

Rol Cortishane is a young boy brought up by his grandfather in a peaceful fishing village.

But this all changes when his family are slaughtered and he has to go in search of a man his grandfather told him about.

This only leads the young lad into more mysteries and intrigues, and eventually to a pirates' lair.

I really enjoyed this novel, though Patrick O'Brian it is not, It is only book one of three but I might sample another.

Deni Double

A Postillion Struck by Lightning -- Dirk Bogarde

If you're a fan of Dirk Bogarde you'll love this book. If you're not a fan of Dirk Bogarde you'll still love this book!

This is an extremely well written biographical slice of summer rural life in the 1920s/30s interspersed with wonderful sketches of his cottage home and his play areas.

The winter section shows him facing the hard, cold reality of life, reluctantly growing up, and thereafter his quest for fame.

It kept me furiously turning the pages until the very end.

Debbie Spink