‘Starwatchers’ by Joanne Baker

Hardback, Bloomsbury, £22

The Isle of Man has amazing dark skies for starwatching and this book is ideal for the amateur with a fascination for night time.

Author Joanne Baker watched from the bedroom of her Cornish cottage as a child and continued following space history from the 1970s. In adulthood she became an astrophysicist, which led her to look back at humanity looking up and trying to make sense of the cosmos.

Offering a unique blend of science, culture and global history, Starwatchers is an extraordinary journey through space encouraging us to reflect on how and why we project meaning onto the skies.

‘How Not to be a Political Wife’ by Sarah Vine

Hardback, Harper Element, £20

The ex-wife of Conservative Peer and former MP Michael Gove, journalist Sarah Vine has led a life dogged by controversy and political drama.

Writing for the Daily Mail, Tatler and The Times, her columns put her in the spotlight for her frequently deemed offensive opinions.

As long-suffering wife to Gove throughout Brexit and the Covid pandemic, her life, including that of her daughter, was under constant scrutiny.

She has tales to tell in her inimitable, no punches pulled gossip column style.

This is a fascinating glimpse inside the inner circle of Westminster and the media circus surrounding it, of which Sarah was a key player.