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Carina Buckley, learning skills tutor, Southampton Solent University, is reading Louise Frith and Ruben Martin¡¯s Professional Writing Skills for Social Workers (Open University Press, 2015). ¡°Writing can be difficult for students for many reasons, and where it is an integral part of one¡¯s future profession, anxiety joins the mix. These authors do a great job of breaking down writing into all its constituent elements and guiding students through its complexities with clear examples and a friendly tone, within a social work context. I¡¯m ordering five.¡±

Laurence Coupe, visiting professor of English, Manchester Metropolitan University, is reading Martin Amis¡¯ Experience (Jonathan Cape, 2000). ¡°This unconventional autobiography essentially consists of three alternating narratives. The first is a remarkably good-humoured account of the author¡¯s dental ordeals, which the press took so much pleasure in misreporting. The second concerns his troubled, often embarrassing, relationship with his famous father. The third is a commemoration of the short life of his favourite cousin, who was murdered by the diabolical Fred West. The way Amis moves between these stories without misjudging the tone is remarkable.¡±

Kate Dorney, senior lecturer in theatre and performance, University of Manchester, is reading The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Actors and Acting (Cambridge University Press, 2015), edited by Simon Williams. ¡°This reference work is hugely impressive in its range and scope, providing a window on to the international stage from Roscius to the present day. It¡¯s refreshing, and all too rare, to find a truly international list of contributors providing expert knowledge and context for actors and acting practices. Each page brings a new discovery.¡±

Matthew Feldman, professor in the modern history of ideas, Teesside University, is reading Steven Hassan¡¯s Combating Cult Mind Control (Freedom of Mind Press, 2015). ¡°Revised to mark its 25th anniversary, this ex-Moonie¡¯s definitive work on cults functions as self-help and scholarship simultaneously. Updated for the internet age, with new testimonies from former cult members, it shows that cults reject ¡®informed consent¡¯ in favour of what Hassan calls the ¡®BITE model¡¯: behaviour, information, thought and emotional control. Eye-opening and wide-ranging.¡±

Oli Mould, lecturer in human geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, is reading After Urban Regeneration: Communities, Policy and Place (Policy Press, 2015), edited by Dave O¡¯Brien and Peter Matthews. ¡°In a gentrifying urban world, rhetoric can often run ahead of evidence. This book skilfully redresses this balance by compiling empirical outcomes of a number of fascinating and detailed projects under the Arts and Humanities Research Council¡¯s Connected Communities project. The editors weave a compelling empirically focused, but theoretically informed, narrative that exposes the harsh realities of a post-regeneration urban landscape.¡±