MERCURY, the small, hot, innermost planet with an odd sense of time, is about to give up its secrets - the first spacecraft to orbit the planet is beginning to send back pictures of the pockmarked surface.

RUSSIA is famous for plenty of top sportsmen and women but it is hardly a country that springs to mind where formula one is concerned.

With Japan reeling from the tsunami created by the biggest earthquake recorded in its history and the Arab world convulsed by popular uprisings, many after-dinner speakers and pundits will no doubt be quoting the "ancient Chinese" curse, "May you live in interesting times".

ONE of the great eye-openers of living in Europe is its proximity to parts of the world where conflict is a way of life.

BIG RIVER LITTLE FISH Belinda Jeffrey UQP, $19.95 THE FRIENDSHIP MATCHMAKER Randa Abdel-Fattah Scholastic, $15.99 THE HEROES OF THE KOKODA TRACK Nicolas Brasch Black Dog Books, $16.99