PAPERBACKS

READ THIS WEEK

From slaughter-house workers to Predator drone operators, this intrepid exposé investigates the shadow world of essential jobs on which society depends – but wouldn’t dream of celebrating.

HOLDING TIGHT, LETTING GO by Sarah Hughes

256pp, BLINK, £9.99

In this lively rattle-bag of a memoir, Hughes, a TV journalist, reflects on the breast cancer which would eventually kill her, aged 48. In unexpectedly uplifting style, she reckons with her mortality – and teaches us how to live.

THE ARISTOCRACY OF TALENT by Adrian Wooldridge 496pp, Penguin, £12.99 ÌÌÌÌÌ

Wooldridge mounts a spirited defence of meritocracy – an idea vilified by Fox News and BLM alike. It’s a shame, then, that his valuable book ends with such a caricature of Brexit.