Books

International pressure and the celebrity of IMPAC prizewinner Orhan Pamuk led to the Turkish government's dropping of the charges brought against him of 'insulting Turkishness' earlier this year.

One of the first victims of literacy PC was Enid Blyton. She was deemed to be racist, middle class, facile and mind-dulling. The Americans even decided that for Noddy to share a bed with Big Ears indicated a gay relationship. Yet Blyton continued to be the 20th century's most successful (annual sales of €10m) and prolific (700 books) writers.

In Clare Allen's remarkable debut novel, two 'dribblers' at a London psychiatric hospital need to prove their insanity in order to escape. Review by Tom Barbash

Rosita Sweetman reviews two compelling books on the devastating effects of the nuclear and petrochemical companies

Book Notes would like to publicly celebrate the penultimate series of promotional Harry Potter stories, leaked annually by JK Rowling's publishers to a press salivating for fresh HP news. 

Sometime during a school visit, children ask how many books I have had published and I have to count the titles out loud so as not to forget any of them.

Queen Elizabeth I wasn't the only red-headed woman wielding power in 16th-century England – another was building an entirely different empire. By Adam Goodheart

Dante Club author Matthew Pearl's latest literary thriller is fun summer escapism of the highest order. By Edward O'Hare

The audio books market has a new player as users of computers or new music technology get used to changing how they purchase their books. The iTunes music store is selling a wide selection of US-dominated books on www.iTunes.com to download to your home computer or iPod.

Part of the Horrible Histories series, Dublin by Terry Deary is a real blast that combines history and totally irreverent observations in a way to delight any reader and, most of all, teenagers recovering from a year of history lessons. Adding to the delights of the book are cartoons that are genuinely funny.