THE bible for anyone connected with books, be it as writer, publisher or reader, The Writer's Handbook 1994 (Pan Macmillan $195) is available in paperback. This annually updated volume is an indispensable guide to key markets including newspapers, book agents, publishers, poetry outlets, writing courses and libraries.
Helen Hanff, author of 84 Charing Cross Road, amused BBC Radio listeners for six years with her monthly broadcasts on the ups and downs of being a foreigner living in a New York high-rise. Letter From New York (Warner Books $77) is a collection of those beguiling anecdotes.
New out in paperback is The Dreaming Swimmer (Picador $102), a collection non-fiction writings of Australian author and TV personality Clive James. Described as ''a well-balanced show of wit, intellect and glorious observation'' by The Sunday Times, the volume includes James' theatre and book reviews and essays.
On the fictional front, Macmillan are marking the 100th anniversary of the first publication of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book with a special edition, beautifully illustrated with Maurice and Edward Detmold's water colours which were first commissioned in1903 as a portfolio of prints.
There will be no problem finding stocking-fillers for your feline-loving friends this Christmas - there are three cutesy volumes of cat philosophy out already.
A Cat's Little Instruction Book by Leigh Rutledge (Thorsons $54) is a send-up of a similarly named volume of cliches doing so well in the US now. The cat version includes advice like: ''Always make sure the lid is down on the toilet before jumping on to it.'' As the title suggests Always Kiss With Your Whiskers: Love Advice From My Cat (Chapmans $34) is a slushy version of the same. Only for the desperately soppy.
Finally, there's The Kama Sutra for Cats (Weidenfeld and Nicolson $73) in which Burton Silver and Margaret Woodhouse explain why felines insist on sharing the marital bed and how they can maintain their composure during the most adventurous human intimacies.
