It seems that every week a new health fad – or, even more often, a health scare – is brought to the public attention by some expert, sometimes on a talkshow, sometimes in a book. But what do we really know about these “experts”, and the bases of the theories they punt? Ben Goldacre seeks to find out in this highly-readable (and very funny)  book. Here is a litany of quackery, blatant and unprincipled exploitation of health-fears for profit, and – far too often – well-meaning but completely misguided, ignorant attempts to make scientific claims without a modicum of scientific knowledge or even aptitude.  

Niki Daly has written the most delectable chapter book about a young artiste extraordinaire! Bettina Valentino can't believe her luck when they find out that they have a new art teacher at Bayside Preparatory School, Mr Peppard. They soon fall under the spell of Mr Popart (as he likes to be called), as he introduces them a world of art they never knew existed - Dadaism, Cubism and of course Pop Art. He challenges them to think outside the box (or the line for that matter) and Niki easily gets his readers just as interested in the art lessons with his great writing style and smoochy made up words, not to mention his fun drawings. In true school story fashion all this arty-farty business gets Mr Popart into trouble with the school board. The Picasso Club is born to keep the new found love growing and keep the paintings going to prove that that which is different is not necessarily bad for you. Hip Hip Hooray for Bettina! 

What a brilliant book, well done to Phaidon, who are branching out into children's books. Alemagna's technique of using felting and embroidery as illustration is purely magical and makes the book such a tactile read. What great fun the different bugs have when they realise they are all neighbours and even though they don't all look the same, they are similar in heart and "buggy soul". The moral - although we look different, we can all boogie together in this place called the world. Bugs in a Blanket is a great book for little ones, but also a visual feast for the adult reading.

Every Christmas brings those books that are suppose to be funny and so often are not. Surprise surprise, Cake Wrecks is also not funny, it's hilarious! It is a great visual collection of cake decorations gone wrong. What if you start writing "congratulations", but run out of space? Well, then you just write it on the side! A cake to celebrate a new born arrival, should not necessarily look like the new born is from outer space! Actually, words cannot describe Cake Wrecks, the photographs have been collected over time on a website and Jen Yates has put it together with very witty anecdotes. Truly an inspiration for anyone who has ever baked with good intentions, cause we all know, no good deed goes unpunished!

Hmmm, sugary sweetness with such panache, South Africans don't always see. From the magnificent Pear, Honey and Polenta Cake to the Crepe Cake, which they describe as church bazaar meets high style, to the Mojito cupcakes which are so decadent...This Cape Town brother and sister team combine their love for food, especially cakes, with a sense of style and flair, which is making home bakers sit up and take note. You don't have to make a chocolate cake with caramel on the top for your book club night, it is possible to dazzle with Cakes to Celebrate Love and Life. This books makes  wearing an apron sexy. 

What is it about the French and food? They just love food differently from us. Maybe they show more reserve and we have flamboyant hearts (and stomachs), but there remains mystery in their cooking. Phaidon has revived a great French cooking dictionary, so to speak, with the most exquisite design and photography, it feels that you are in the south of France, in a little cottage, busy making coq au vin for your beloved. This is an amazing collection of home cooking recipes that have served three generations of French cooks. The book also has tips from Madame Mathiot on how to entertain, how to draw up menus, etc. You might not serve all the dishes often, but it is an amazing book to have on your shelf. (A note to anyone who has seen the foodie movie, Julie and Julia - this book is the perfect complement to this great movie).  

This is a very different look at South Africa, as represented by its many beauty pageants. And there are indeed a great number of them: Little Miss Skwatta Camp, Miss Apple Blossom, National Potato Festival Queen, Miss Gay Disco Queen, Miss Khabzela, Mr Reach for A Dream, Miss Anti-Crime, Mr Six-Pack, Bride of the Year - and the list goes on. Coming from many of the radically different cultures that make up the Rainbow Nation, all the people in this book are united by their drive to better themselves, to achieve something, and to get the sash. Beautifully illustrated throughout, we see beauty, spirit, grace and pride on every page, and yet such diversity – all human life is truly here. 

The pretence of life seems to have missed Sindiwe Magona. She is so honest in her writing, she wears her heart on her sleeve, in her pen. She is not scared, and if she is, her writing does not show it. In Please, take Photographs, she pleads with the reader to remember, remember the good to celebrate it, remember to bad to avoid it. Learn from Life, Treasure your Memories, Be Proud of Who you have struggled to Become. As she says in the poem A Wish "grow good things! Grow! Grow and fill the land". This is an outspoken collection of poetry, from the heart of a woman who stands proudly. 

All countries have their own culinary heritage, we are no different, here at the Southern End of Africa. Maybe South Africans just love their food more, we have such diverse cultures and yet food has become a great meeting place for all to gather and get along. Let’s take breyani or mosbolletjies, both South African, if not from the same origin. In South Africa Eats, Phillippa Cheifitz, has knocked on the doors of South Africans from many different countries of origin and asked them to contribute to a book about food we all love, food that makes this country great. South Africa Eats, captures the nostalgia and the sense of family history so beautifully in the book. The papaya and chicken salad is stunning for summer.  

The time has long been ripe for a truly definitive overview of the burgeoning South African art scene, and with this beautifully-illustrated volume, Sue Williamson – the doyenne of South African art criticism – has delivered amply. Organised thematically, and with an unerring eye for both significant artists and significant art, Williamson is a wonderful guide through the vibrant South African art world that is starting to garner more and more international attention. This big hardback is richly illustrated, features a fascinating introduction by Okwui Enwezor, and will long be the indispensable one-stop reference for anyone interested in contemporary South African art. 

Righard Kapp has long been the darling of the avant-garde in Cape Town music circles, and here he manages to combine that adventurous spirit with a melodic sensibility that sounds like little else produced in local music. With a more organic sound and instrumentation than his earlier efforts, and though using more traditional song structures, this is nevertheless an album that pushes the exploratory envelope. Though playing most of the album himself, there are a host of well-known figures from the musical underground that appear as guests, resulting in an album that is simultaneously bound together by a common sensibility, and yet eclectic. Righard’s work has never been boring, but this is genuinely an album to fall in love with and to listen to over and over.

An unusual, beautifully written and extraordinary novel. Renée is the concierge of an elegant hotel in the centre of Paris. She is everything a concierge is typically supposed to be – grumpy, ugly, plump, with bunions on her feet and an addiction to TV soaps – which makes it so easy for the residents to peer down their noses at her. But Renée is also an autodidact – unbeknownst to the tenants she is furtively devoted to art, philosophy, music and Japanese culture. With biting humour she scrutinises the lives of the building’s tenants – her inferiors in every way.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog won multiple prizes when published in the original French, and this translation offers it now to a whole new readership – this is a moving, witty and redemptive novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us. 

There are so many beautiful books on architecture that it’s rare to find one that really stands out head-and-shoulders… and this is one of those rare gems. Comprising 378 hand-drawn sketches and paintings by some of the world’s top architects, and published by legendary notebook-makers Moleskine, this is a sumptuous celebration of the artistic side of architecture, and a beautiful package which also includes a 120-page sketchbook – for this is truly inspiring book will make you itch to turn your own hand to some sketching! 

Umberto Eco must be the most erudite and widely-read man on the planet, and lately he has been putting all his learning to use in producing incredibly beautiful books around certain themes, such as On Beauty and On Ugliness. This latest book continues the trend – and he’s just getting better and better! Here Eco takes that overlooked literary form – the list – for an outing that demonstrates it’s rich aesthetic heritage, as only he can (Eco fans might remember how he toyed with lists in Foucault’s Pendulum). Eco couldn’t be less than fascinating if he tried, and once again, this book is in itself an artwork, lavishly illustrated with examples of lists in both literature and art. 

Imagine a book that takes you into someone’s life so completely – a life totally alien to you – that you can feel and taste their experiences and emotions, the unremittingly harsh climate in which they live, the poor lot that has been dealt to them, and their unceasing and relentless joy for living. Meet Colton H Bryant, third generation oil-man from Wyoming.

In Alexandra Fuller’s latest book, we are thrown into the world of those for whom the oil rigs, harsh landscape, big sky and ceaseless wind of Wyoming are the only reality. This is the land of the cowboy and, although it feels like the Wild West of a different era, it is very much a modern reality.

Colton is the wild and irrepressible son of an oilman, Bill, destined to end up on the rigs, where work is tough, the hours are long, and safety is an oft-disregarded nicety; and oil, gas and money are the only driving factors. In much of this there are many uncomfortable parallels to be drawn with our own troubled mining industry.

While there are many beautifully funny moments in this book, it is ultimately heartbreaking – but you will come away from it grateful to have been given the chance to meet Colton H Bryant, and you will certainly never forget him.  

When you meet someone for the first time, one of the first things you find out about them is what they do for a living. Our jobs are central to our identity, and we spend the greater part of our waking lives at work. In The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, Alain de Botton explores what work means to us in his inimitable charming style. He looks at a wide range of jobs and manages to make even the most mundane poignant and enthralling. If you haven’t read him yet, give yourself a treat and join the growing ranks of his fans. 

Cape Town collective The Blackheart Gang have come up with a whimsically wonderful and wondrously strange package – starting off as a short animation (included on a DVD with the book), then transforming into an exhibition, before finally ending up as this beautiful clothbound, slipcased, illustrated book. The story is a darkly funny doggerel somewhere between Coleridge at his trippiest and The Hunting of the Snark, but the real stars of the show are the incredibly beautiful illustrations. This is a most unique and special artefact of a book. 

Who else would be the owner of a poodle called Trixie Twinkle Toes, than Mademoiselle Verity Brulée? Who other than Mademoiselle Brulée would pamper her poor pet into a perturbed state of being? The young Trixie Twinkle Toes ends up on the psychiatrist’s couch, barking out her sorrows of wanting to run in the street, step in puddles and be a Dangerous and Daring Dog. Oh dear, how will Verity Brulée ever understand the desires of her dear Trixie? Then Fate, sends a rainy day…

Lauren Child has become a household name for Charlie and Lola and Clarice Bean, but she has actually written other brilliantly clever books too. And Who Wants to be a Poodle, is her latest and her greatest and the cover is pink with a sparkly jewel, perfect for Poodles and Princesses.