30/03/17: David Crystal – The Gift of the Gab: How Eloquence Works (2016)

A book about eloquence ought to be written eloquently, and this one is. Linguist David Crystal examines the topic in detail: what, exactly, makes a speaker "eloquent"? Why do some people have this gift, but not others? Is it even a gift, or is it a skill? Are we naturally eloquent in childhood and, if so, why does this ability fade as we grow older?

Although it's not described as such, the book is partly a guide to public speaking. From simple technical tips as obvious as checking how the microphone works to more profound observations about the fundamentals of how humans engage with each other, David Crystal offers practical suggestions that will improve the reader's oratory skills. But it's more than a functional how-to guide. He also looks at the great speeches by politicians and world leaders and assesses what made them effective. In particular, he analyses Barrack Obama's victory speech from 4th November 2008 and points out how successfully it broke certain rules while conforming to others.

He assesses everything from the musicality and rhythms of a speech, to the use of rising and falling volume and their effect on the listener. His friendly approach is highly accessible and often entertaining too.

28/03/17: David Leney – The Landfill (1988)

"Listen very carefully. We've got a thing going, see. Tape-recordings. Confessions, if you like. You can hear them on one simple condition: once you listened to even a single tape, you gotta record your own. And that's it. So, if you've got the guts, you go ahead and hear one. Just remember, yours had better be good and it had better be true. We don't want any Goldilocks rubbish. You'll find spare tapes in the glove compartment of my car. We'll give you three days to do it."

Danny Vickers likes to play alone in the landfill site, where he sometimes sits in an abandoned American car. One day in the car he finds a tape player and some cassettes. He starts listening to the tapes and uncovers a secret world of young landfill visitors who have been recording and sharing their stories.

Only in the 1980s would a Puffin book revolve around tape cassettes. Although it works as a novel, this is essentially a collection of short stories cleverly woven together by one central plot device. It's highly entertaining, and touching without being sentimental. With a complete avoidance of cliché, it rings true about how it feels to be a vulnerable child in a world of uncertainty.

07/03/17: Nick Papadimitriou – Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Barnet, Finchley & Hendon (2009)

"In order to 'frame' the zone within which the murders described in this book occurred I undertook a series of long walks crossing the borough in order to examine the site of each killing. It quickly became apparent that Barnet was not the featureless zone I had presumed it to be. On the contrary – a quiet yet brooding power lurks in our hilly region of serried rooftops and arterial roads."

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in... is a multi-author, multi-region local-history series. All of these books have absolutely horrible cover designs. I've never previously wanted to read a "true crime" or "local history" book, but was delighted to learn that Nick Papadimitriou – author of the astonishing Scarp – had written the account of grisly misadventures relating to my local area. He states that "my aim in writing was to evoke a dark and destabilising resonance – echoes of events murmuring below the streets, roads and parks which form the backdrop to our everyday". It covers the period of c. 1500 to 1959 and becomes more compelling as it reaches the modern era. 

Unlike Scarp, it's a book of character portraits, but his fascination with "deep topography" still informs the writing. It's very much filled with a strong sense of place and it helps that I know many of the streets and exact locations he describes. The 1931 murder of the Edgware tramp "Pigsticker" appears in Scarp as well, so was clearly one that caught the author's imagination. 

This grim book makes for fascinating reading and reminds you that people haven't changed very much. The ordinary, matter-of-fact nature of the crimes – often committed in the name of love or as a result of sheer foolishness – makes them especially powerful to read about.