Dr Peter Fermie & Dr Stephen Shepherd, Family Health Encyclopedia. Lorenz / Pan Macmillan. $45.

Written in association with the Royal College of General Practitioners, this comprehensive and authoritative encyclopaedia will help diagnose all common ailments from the common cold to chronic fatigue syndrome. While this practical reference work should be an important part of any family library, it is nevertheless advisable that people should not use it as a substitute for professional medical advice.

A-Z of Chemicals in the Home. 4th edition. Choice Books (Australian Consumers’ Association) / Pan Macmillan. $22.

How many chemicals do you have in your home? In the garden shed, the kitchen, the laundry and the bathroom a wide range of chemical substances can be found. Used wisely, they can be a great asset. Without care, however, some are potentially dangerous. Many householders are unaware of their impact on health and the environment. The A-Z of Chemicals in the Home offers information about many of the chemicals encountered in daily life, explaining their action and some of their possible effects on our health and the environment. Only by understanding more about the chemicals we use can we recognize those which have the least harmful effects and make informed choices.

Mark Holden, The Use and Abuse of Office Politics: How to survive and thrive in the corporate jungle. Allen & Unwin. $24.95 paperback.

How do you navigate the corporate jungle without resorting to manipulation, backstabbing and power plays to get ahead? In this guide to using positive politics in the workplace to fast-track your career, Mark Holden will show you how you can ethically and effectively deal with difficult office situations, and build a great professional reputation.

Mark Holden specializes in large-scale organizational development and change and has consulted to organizations such as Fairfax, News Ltd, Microsoft and Qantas. He lives in Sydney.

Jenni Fleetwood, One-Pot. Southwater / Pan Macmillan. $28.

One-pot cooking is simple and undoubtedly delicious – the entire dish is prepared in just one pot, which could be a wok, a frying pan or a casserole dish, and is cooked either on the stove or in the oven. Contains a useful, informative introduction and over 100 simple-to-prepare recipes.

Paul Williams, Brian Wilson & The Beach Boys: How Deep Is The Ocean? Omnibus Press / Pan Macmillan. $26.

This classic bestseller has been re-issued in a B-format paperback edition. This brings together the cream of Paul Williams’ Beach Boys pieces – the best writing about the legendary group ever published. This begins with Williams’ account of a 1966 visit to Brian Wilson’s home in Beverly Hills and contains the famous 1967 conversation between Williams and David Anderle on the inside story of Brian Wilson’s unfinished album, Smile. The book covers almost three decades, culminating in a definitive 1995 conversation widely regarded as the most illuminating Wilson interview ever, plus a new segment in which Anderle and Williams update their discussion in 1997.

Thomas Keneally, Lincoln. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Hardcover: $35.

Australian novelist and writer Thomas Keneally has written a splendid and very readable short biography of the famous former US president, Abraham Lincoln. We follow the life of this remarkable American from his lowly beginnings to his attainment of the highest office in the land. We also see his contrasting qualities: on the one hand, the idealist, the emancipator of slaves, and the great orator; on the other hand, the hesitant military strategist and the depressive married to a neurotic wife.

Andrew Roberts, Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Hardcover: $49.95

What is leadership? What are the special gifts which enable a single person to lead millions – sometimes to salvation, sometimes to destruction? Award-winning historian Andrew Roberts examines Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, two totally opposite leaders – both in what they stood for and in the way in which they seemed to lead. Rich and entertaining anecdotes reveal a lot about each man. Roberts even looks at such details as Hitler and Churchill’s respective tastes in food, clothes and friends. This groundbreaking book accompanies Roberts’s four-part British television series for 2003, Secrets of Leadership, which also looks at John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Robert Hutchinson, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Hardcover: $49.95

From rockets to ricin, from nuclear to biochemical weapons, this is the essential guide to what weapons of mass destruction are, who has them, and when they are likely to be used. Robert Hutchinson is a leading British defence analyst.