The sociologist on holiday
Les Back has some suggestions of which books not to take on vacation
Mind, Body & Life
What I owe the library
We can't do without our private places to read and think, says novelist Philip Pullman
Book review: The Management Myth – Why the Experts Keep Getting it Wrong
Andrew Mueller enters the world of consultancy
Book review: The Coming of the Body by Hervé Juvin
Owen Hatherley embraces the society of the body
Abs fab
Men are living longer than ever before. But, asks Sally Feldman, is that any cause for rejoicing?
Aura & out
Laurie Taylor balances his chakras
Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World by Barbara Ehrenreich
Keith Kahn-Harris enjoys Barbara Ehrenreich's antidote to positive thinking
Book Review: Tormented Hope
Louise Foxcroft finds a portrait of famous hypochondriacs really hits a nerve
Diary: The green grass of home
Brenda Maddox celebrates the distinguished life of her husband in a tent in Wales, with Richard Dawkins and Dylan Thomas
Highland fling
Sally Feldman finally discovers what lies beneath the kilt