Currently keeping me company on the commute is Mrs Beeton's 'Book of Household Management'. I'm reading it on the Kindle app on myiPhone (click here to download it for free from Amazon - there's also one for reading books on your computer), which allows you to read Kindle editions of books. I'm exploring the list of free titles, which includes Mrs Beeton.

Written in 1861 when Isabella Beeton was just 21, it's more of a flicker-through than a cover-to-cover. The range of subjects she touches is immense: the etiquette of visiting cards, servants' daily routines, ancient Greek cooking implements...

I'm immersed (sorry) in the soups section at the moment, and I have to say some of the recipes sound vile! There's a carrot soup which uses a gallon of water in which meat has been boiled, and 6 solitary carrots! Or how do you fancy coconut soup? Boil 6oz grated coconut, 6oz rice flour, a touch of mace and cayenne, a dollop of cream in 6 pints of stock... And how about the positively minimalist egg soup: boil up 1 tbsp flour, 4 eggs, 2 mace blades and 4 pints of stock, then simmer for 15 mins? For rather more appetising modern soups, see our soup recipes here.

Curious about what else is in the book? Buy 'The Book of Household Management' from our own online bookshop for £8.99 - P&P free