Chatterton by Peter Ackroyd which is rather overshadowed by Hawksmoor which does some similar things, and much better, but is a fine little novel in its own right, exploring the notions of truth and originality as they apply to literature by re-telling the story of Thomas Chatterton, the 18th-century boy-poet who stirred up the literary world with the discovery of wonderful medieval poetry that later turned out to be fakes from his own pen, the painting of Henry Wallis' 'Death of Chatterton' in parallel with the tale of modern-day poet who stumbles upon documents that seem to reveal a very different end to Chatterton's story.

The Book Of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley. A very, very uneven book which could have benefited greatly had Critchley refrained from any attempt at humour, and marred by several entries that would do better as sensational pieces in sort of philsophical Ripley's Believe It Or Not rather than the rather overview of philosophical history with a special focus in philosophical attitudes to death which this book manages to be, although not frequently enough. A good book for the layman though, in other words, for me.