MY DIRTY SHINY LIFE BY LILY BRAGGE, VIKING, $32.95.

Don’t expect pretty, but the life story of Lily Bragge, an Australian actress, mother, comedienne and addict, is never dull.

Young Linda (she changed her name to Lily at the age of 26) is sexually abused by her uncle and emotionally and physically abused by her father. What saves the author and her book from misery and despair is her verve, humour and sly intelligence. She applies the same unsparing analysis to herself, a charismatic and talented woman high on heroin, who hits her small son and her fiery lesbian lover.

Lily’s story starts as a witty, warm take on her tough upbringing, but it’s her ultimate triumph over the damage done that fascinates.

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YOUNG MANDELA BY DAVID JAMES SMITH, WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON, $35.

Much has been written about Nelson Mandela, but for the first time, this biography offers a tangible perspective on the real man behind the political struggle.

More importantly, it focuses on the troubled lives of his families, especially with first wife Evelyn and second wife Winnie. The price paid for Mandela’s inspirational commitment to change the world was immense. With unique access to his relatives and colleagues, Smith throws a tantalising spotlight on the domestic side of Mandela’s life before his arrest and imprisonment, revealing a dapper dandy of a man with an eye for the ladies, who then put the fight for political freedom above everything else in his life.

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MARY POPPINS SHE WROTE BY VALERIE LAWSON, HACHETTE, $24.99.

Australian-born author P.L. (Pamela Lyndon) Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, was never Australian at heart. She couldn’t wait to leave behind her largely lonely childhood, great aunt, mother and two younger sisters, to sail to Ireland in 1924, where her London-born drifter, charmer, drinker father claimed to have been born.

A gifted journalist, poet and actress, she forged crucial relationships with great writers of the time, including W.B. Yeats and George William “A.E.” Russell, editor of the Irish Statesman. However, she preferred live-in companionship with women and adopted one half of a set of twin boys from Dublin, whom she raised in Europe and America. She gave life to Mary Poppins in 1926, the character’s complex nature a reflection of her own life. A childhood maid of the author’s owned a parrot-headed umbrella and a small Lyndon, as she was known as a child, once tried to sell herself to gypsies, but they turned her down.

Although she thoroughly approved of Julie Andrews’ Walt Disney on-screen portrayal, Travers’ Poppins was not the cheery singing nanny. “She was tart and sharp, rude, plain and vain. That was her charm, that and her mystery,” says Lawson. A truly engaging, thought-provoking and well-researched biography.

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HORROCKSES FASHIONSBY CHRISTINE BOYDELL, A&C BLACK, $59.95.

UK fashion house Horrockses Fashions launched its first collection of ready-to-wear in 1946 with floral print women’s wear, beach clothes, housecoats and children’s wear.

Though mass-produced, the label considered itself to have “off-the-peg exclusivity”. This delightful coffee-table book tells the story of Horrockses from interviews with staff, including Australian Gloria Smythe, who went on to create some of Speedos’ classic swimming costumes. It also features superb imagery of the dresses. The fabulous ’50s frocks are iconic pieces and wouldn’t be out of place on the racks today.

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SNOBS BY JULIAN FELLOWES, PHOENIX, $22.99.

Could there be anything more diverting than spending time as a portrait-on-the-wall at Broughton Hall and observing the intricate manners of the English aristocracy?

British writer Julian Fellowes – Oscar-winning screenwriter of Gosford Park and himself listed in Debrett’s Peerage & Baronetage – introduces us to Lady “Googie” Uckfield and the adventuress Edith Lavery, who marries Googie’s lumpish son, the Earl of Broughton. It’s all set in the 1990s and is a gossipy, witty, brilliant comedy of manners. I love it to pieces.

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THE RADLEYS, BY MATT HAIG, TEXT PUBLISHING, $32.95.

This is a new and intriguing addition to the ever-expanding vampire oeuvre, which is still selling its blood-soaked socks off. The hook this time is that the Radleys – a seemingly average family living in an English village – are abstaining vampires: the parents, Peter and Helen, because they want to obey the law and feel like normal people, the two children because they are unaware of their vampire heritage.

Yet they have cravings – nightmares – which eventually erupt in an act of violence, blowing the secret and putting the whole family at risk. The fun really starts when they turn for help to Peter’s brother, a trashy-but-sexy vampire, who refuses to reform. Think True Blood meets The Brady Bunch. Haig’s background as a young adult writer means the kids are drawn especially well, torn between their craving for blood and trying not to kill their friends.

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER BY SETH GRAHAME-SMITH, ALLEN AND UNWIN, $24.99.

The master of the literary mash-up is back. It was Seth Grahame-Smith who launched the conga line of Celebs-meet-Monster books with his chart-topping Pride and Prejudice And Zombies, in which the undead wreak havoc on Jane Austen’s muslin, mannered world.

This time it’s Honest Abe, 16th president of the United States, who’s out for revenge after vampires kill his mother, then lover, then young son. Turns out they even started the Civil War. True, the history books give a different version, but here we have the authority of Lincoln’s “secret diaries”, in which all is explained. That famous Lincoln beard? Grown to conceal the scar of a near-fatal vampire attack. That long black coat? Hiding place for his trusty slaying axe. The joke may be wearing thin now, but Grahame-Smith is a skilled writer, both the first and best of the breed.

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AT HOME, BY BILL BRYSON, RANDOM HOUSE, $55.

Best-seller Bill Bryson has an exceedingly lively mind. Having tackled space, time and the mysteries of the universe in his award-winning A Short History Of Nearly Everything, he was casting around for something more domestic – a book he could write in carpet slippers in his own home.

The light-bulb moment came as he explored the attic of the Old Rectory (where he lives in tranquil Norfolk), built for a young clergyman in 1851, and mused on the vast number of souls, some 20,000 or more, buried in the local churchyard. Their lives, Bryson realised, were the meat of history, a history we all share, but no one thinks too much about. He started to ask himself not just big questions, like when, as a species, we started to value privacy, but small, everyday ones, too.

Why, of all the hundreds of spices and flavourings available, did we settle on pepper and salt? Why do forks have four prongs, rather than two or six? And did we not realise that it was not the washing machine or refrigerator that revolutionised our lives, but the humble fuse box? He even throws in some weird nuggets (like, “toilets often had multiple seats, for ease of conversation”) that you just know will come in handy at the next dinner party. All up, an irresistible read.

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29, BY ADENA HALPERN, SIMON & SCHUSTER, $29.99.

Seventy-five year old Ellie Jerome, a wealthy widow living in Philadelphia, isn’t overjoyed about getting older and has more in common with her 25-year-old grand-daughter, Lucy, than she does with her 55-year-old daughter. Has she wasted her life marrying young and playing safe?

She makes a birthday wish to be 29 again and, magically, does just that for one day, with Lucy as her at-first incredulous, then very willing best mate. Ellie cuts her hair, buys some super-sexy gear and even scores a date with the very cute Zachary. It’s an intriguing premise and, although firmly fun and frothy, Adena Halpern’s take on a septuagenarian grabbing the opportunities of Generation Y is joyfully eye-opening.

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SIZZLING SIXTEEN, BY JANET EVANOVICH, HACHETTE, $32.99.

Everyone’s favourite larger-than-life bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum, is back in her 16th adventure.

This time, her job at Vincent Plum Bail Bonds is on the line, her friend Lula is caught up in a shabby investment scheme and Stephanie still can’t decide between her two love interests – policeman extraordinaire Joe Morelli, or the darkly irresistible Ranger. Sizzling Sixteen is laugh-out-loud crime comedy that romps along.

If you haven’t read a Stephanie Plum book yet, what are you waiting for? You won’t be disappointed.

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