Shelf life

Written by Billy McGee, Ropner's Navy (Cormorant Publishing Hartlepool) is a complete history of the infamous Ropner Shipping company (1874-1997), and draws together all the information relating to every ship, every loss at sea due to U-boat action and every casualty. The SS Ainderby was torpedoed and sank off Bloody Foreland on June 10, 1941 while sailing from Santos to the Tyne with a cargo of iron ore. Eleven crew members and one gunner died in the attack including Carmel Brincat, the son of Salvatore and Concetta Brincat and the husband of Teresa Brinton of Ħamrun.

The captain and 28 crew were rescued by the destroyer HMS Veteran and landed at Greenock in Scotland. The family of Carmel Brincat and other sailors from Malta will be interested to read this fascinating, if sometimes sad history of the Ropner Shipping Company.

Christopher Ciccone's book, Life with My Sister Madonna (Simon & Schuster), tells of the Queen of Pop's tantrums as seen through her brother's eyes. Ciccone labels his sister a miser who sweats profusely and whose legs look like "fat sausages". Teenage tantrum, or a true portrait of the royal Madge?

There is a sudden renewed interest in deceased authors' literary estates. And no wonder, with these still making millions for their agents. The entertainment brands company Chorion, for instance, makes millions from Agatha Christie's works, while T.S. Eliot's estate is in a very healthy state thanks to the continuing success of Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of Eliot's poems. Enid Blyton still sells one million Famous Five books worldwide every year while Ian Fleming is still licensed to make a killing.

Nicholas Evans, the best-selling author of The Horse Whisperer, was admitted to hospital after eating poisonous mushrooms. Mr Evans and his wife Charlotte were staying in Scotland, where they cooked and ate mushrooms of the highly toxic Cortinarius Speciosissimus variety, which they had found while walking in the woodlands. According to Mr Evans's literary agent, both the author and his wife responded well to the treatment and are on the mend.