We do sometimes have quiet periods down the office, and the 'Girls' tend to read their latest bodice-ripper during these. During one such period we were discussing books in general, and the idea of a section in the Booklist where any of us could suggest a good book we had enjoyed came up - this is the first one.

Being the boss I get the first go and, of course, I do recommend all the books in this list. However, when I need an antidote to reviewing the books here, I tend the turn to Fantasy books, a genre which has a few very fine writers, and a lot of dross. However a sub-genre, Alternative History, contains some writing of the highest order and whilst I intended to put two example here one, very good on traction engines, is currently out of print, but may I introduce you to:

Between the Woods and the Water Leigh Fermor • £ 8.99 • (G) I re-read these two award winning books nearly as frequently as I do Eric Newby's The Last Grain Race, in the 'Marine' section and, as well as their intense readability, there are similarities - all are set in the 1930s, involve teenagers doing remarkable things, and both the authors had 'good wars' and went on to be famous travel writers. In this case an eighteen year old Patrick Leigh Fermor set out from London in December 1933 to walk to Istanbul, sleeping now in barns, now in castles, losing his meagre possessions here, and being showered with gifts there. It was an extraordinary period in Europe, with Hitler having just come to power in Germany, and Leigh Fermor experienced a world which was shortly to be changed for ever by WW11. Written many years after the events, the writing has considerable maturity and, to an extent, hindsight, but never looses the young man's excitement and sheer joie-de-vie; put simply these are probably the most beautifully written travel books you will ever find. The first volume describes the journey from London down through Holland, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to Esztérgom in western Hungary. The second is, in distance terms, more leisurely, describing the onward walk (and ride) through Hungary and Rumania to the Iron Gates of the Danube, near Turnu-Severin. Both are glorious reads! 304 & 253 un-illustrated pages and 1 map respectively. Paperbacks. John Murray Add to shopping basket

The Last Grain Race Newby • £ 7.99 • (G) In the bureaucratic, health & safety dominated world our teenagers live in today, this book is a breath of fresh air. It has been around, virtually continuously, since 1956 and was in our ‘Marine’ section until it disappeared for one of its periodic reprints. Put briefly, the book recounts the author’s experiences when, in the autumn of 1938, he signed on as an apprentice on the four-masted sailing ship Moshulu for the round trip from Europe to Australia and back, outwards by way of the Cape of Good Hope in ballast, and homewards round Cape Horn with a cargo of grain. As it turned out, this was the last time a fleet of large cargo sailing ships was ever to race from Australia to Europe. The author was just eighteen, with no sea-going experience, Moshulu’s crew spoke Swedish or Finnish (which the author did not), and her main mast, which Newby was made to climb the moment he boarded, was higher than Nelson’s Column. Newby survived the experience (indeed he only died in 2005), had a distinguished war, and went on to become one of Britain’s best loved travel writers. This really is a wonderful book, full of humour, observation and interest, and a great window into an experience which none of us can ever experience. 251 text pages. 15 B & W photos. Paperback. Picador Add to shopping basket

Sheepwrecked Moffat • £ 6.99 • (E) Yes, the Girl is BACK! Now, the zillions of you who have enjoyed The Funny Farm need wait no longer; Jackie Moffat returns here with more tales of life at Rowfoot Farm and its (very) assorted inhabitants, Cumbria and the lesser world beyond. This time she works through a livestock year, starting in November and, personally, I enjoyed this even more than The Funny Farm, which is saying something. Again, Jackie tells a mean story and is slide splittingly funny, but also has a number of impassioned rants, and digs at the ‘establishment’, many of which will, I suspect, have you nodding your head in agreement. 352 pages of sheer pleasure. 8 pages of colour photos. Paperback. Bantam Books Add to shopping basket