How To Instantly Connect With Anyone by Leil Lowndes

First a warning: this is written by an American, so some of the advice might seem a bit over-the-top for us reserved Brits. Nevertheless, there are some interesting ideas here, some of which I've taken on board.

The subtitle tells us that there are "96 all-new little tricks for big success in relationships". She's not kidding. There are indeed 96, which is way too many to remember, let alone put into practice, but I would say, as with all of this self-help stuff, take what you want from it.

By "relationships", the author is really talking about anyone you might come across, at work or socially, not people you already know well, though some of them are also applicable to existing relationships. The bulk of the book seems to be about impressing and convincing people professionally, rather than improving your marriage or whatever, so I felt that the sub-title was slightly misleading.

The layout of the book is probably one of its best features. Each "little trick" is described in detail; we are often told its origin, its uses and the effect on other people, then the "trick" is summarised helpfully in a text box, which does help when you are trying to find it again. The text is well-written, chatty, even entertaining at times, so not a heavy read. I would buy, rather than borrow this book, because, if you find it useful, you'll either need to refer to it again and again, or read it really slowly, as it's fairly chunky at over 300 pages.

And do the tricks work? She's fairly convinced they do. In my own experience, it's too soon to tell. Many of them are to my mind simple courtesies which, once you are told about them seem fairly obvious. Many of the most emotionally-aware people I know are already doing most of them, as far as I can see; but for those of us who have to work quite hard at reading people's body language etc., this is a very useful source of ideas and information, even if some of them do seem like a lot of hard work.

The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

Having, seen the film, I wanted to read the book!

Well, it might have been the book of the film, rather than the other way around. the plot was exactly the same, even the words people said in the film were lifted straight from here.

It's a small book by any standards, and very well-written. Somehow, I wasn't expecting that. Having seen the film of course helped to picture what was going on, so no need for a picture to be painted in words - but it was.

If you haven't seen the film, the plot is slightly Evelyn Waugh - reminded me of Bridehead Revisited. It's basically a decline and fall tale in a "how are the mightly laid low" sort of way. No-one comes out of it particularly well, even the narrator who, one is left feeling, is well-meaning but a bit wet. I don't feel the main female character is very well-drawn, though others are. Clever devices, such as (convincingly, it has to be said)  revealing information which should come out later in the story are used to circumvent the problem of a first-person narrative having access only to things (s)he personally has seen. This device is presumably what led to the whole story appearing as a flashback in the recent film.

I would definitely recommend this if you've enjoyed the film, or even if you haven't seen it yet.