@seasiderdave – I read An Utterly Impartial History of Britain a little while ago, I quite enjoyed it but found his formula of historic fact followed by ironic joke (possibly involving Thatcher) slightly tiresome after 400 pages; but aside from that good stuff.
Life of Pi sounds interesting – I’ll have a look at that. [edit: Kindle version was only £2.50 so just bought it]
@ckoei – Pinker sounds entertaining; I’ve herd of him, but I’m not sure why – possibly read about him in New Scientist or somesuch. Have you come across The Man Who Tasted Shapes by Richard Cytowic? That’s a moderately entertaining thing in a similar ilk.