Playing to the Gallery, Grayson Perry

I am a huge fan of Grayson Perry. He tries to bring a new audience to contemporary art, not by talking down or dumbing down content but by cutting through a lot of pretension and speaking plainly.
This book is based on his Reith Lectures for the BBC, it is funny, engaging and brings in lots of ideas and quotes from elsewhere. One to re-read and re-read.

Moon Palace, Paul Auster

This is a great book, of fathers and sons, single mothers and stories within stories. It eventually tells the stories of a disparate, separate family of extraordinary individuals. 

It also seems to be self aware and self critiquing but manages to do this without interfering with the story. There are layers and layers in this novel and I think it's one of the very few that would benefit from a re-read when I have half-forgotten the story. Really gripping, interesting and feels literary in an accessible, readable way.