Reads

This is the story of “Pop Star Trace”, as she was nicknamed at Hull Uni in the 80s. Then a member of indie group The Marine Girls, she was soon to become one half of Everything But The Girl, and to sell nine million records. It’s also the tale of how she tried, along the way, “not to be become an arsehole”. The witty vignettes are piled high. Playground mums, too polite to mention Tracey’s pop star past, can finally ignore it no longer when a waving George Michael yells “Hello Tracey!” as he drives past. Paul Weller turns up to play with The Marine Girls just days after splitting with The Jam and advises Tracey: “It’s a gig. Maybe you should dress up a bit.” Italian fans mistakenly pursue the duo through Florence, the punchline being: “We are NOT fucking Matt Bianco!” But the writing is just as illuminating about the times she is out of the limelight than when she’s in it. The section which deals with Ben Watt’s sudden life-threatening illness is honest, unsentimental, and touching.

As the subtitle says: "A history of sport on TV". Martin Kelner's guide to the history of British TV sport, from Lord Reith to the present day. Plenty of Kelnerisms for the fans, but this is a welcome retrospective that brings into focus the contributions of the likes of David Coleman, Dickie Davis, Frank Bough and Des Lynam, whose work has been somewhat sullied by parody and false memory. And it's as much a social history of the UK — through the lens of sport — as a history of broadcasting. A thoroughly enjoyable read and an unashamed discussion of sport from the armchair (and sometimes from the bookies). And currently £4.91 on the Kindle.

W. G. Karunasena is a drunken old sports journalist who has been informed by his doctor that, if he doesn’t change his drinking habits, he won’t have much time left on the planet. Mindful of this deadline, he has an idea for a documentary and a book that will tell the story of the man he considers to have been the greatest-ever Sri Lankan cricketer: the brilliantly wayward (but now largely forgotten) left-arm spinner Pradeep Mathew. As he carries out his research, W.G. starts to unravel an unlikely tale of sporting genius, political corruption, match-fixing and organised crime. The book features actual characters from Sri Lankan cricket and politics, along with composite characters like ‘Graham Snow’, the straight-talking English ex-professional, now working as a media pundit. Most of the cricket matches mentioned in the book are real, as are their protagonists, but the lines are skilfully blurred between fact, fiction and something that lurks somewhere between the two.

Economist Michael Nevin dissects the causes and implications of the financial crisis. It's a story where no party comes out with any credit, be they governments, regulators or financial institutions. The author analyses the crash in a thorough and readable fashion and discusses why most of the policy responses — including austerity measures and quantitative easing — have failed. Plus explanations of why the Euro is doomed and why the US dollar is hampering recovery. Yet it's Nevin's solution to the crisis that's the most intriguing — a return to a modern gold standard (a 'golden guinea'). Or rather the creation of a new world currency, administered by an independent organisation and backed by gold, along with a new set of rules to which governments and central banks must adhere.