Madonna, Queen of the World by Douglas Thompson is published by Blake on August 16 at £16.99

LOVE her or loath her, Madonna has managed to pull off that difficult trick in the fickle world of showbiz -- keeping us interested in her.

Since she first burst on the pop scene with Like A Virgin in the mid-80s, she has constantly reninvented herself to make sure she was rarely out of fashion.

It has sometimes been a bumpy ride -- her 1992 book Sex, in which she attempted to recreate her version of female sex fantasies, backfired when she misjudged how far she could take on public opinion and sexual inhibitions.

But she managed to bounce back and is still at her peak professionally as well as finding happiness in her personal life with film director Guy Ritchie.

While able to generate endless column inches, the singer and actress has strived to conceal her true self, expecting total loyalty from her nearest and dearest.

In Madonna Queen of the World, biographer Douglas Thompson tries to peel away some of the layers to find out more about the woman underneath. As well as charting her rise to superstardom, he also bravely tries to find out more about her failed marriage to Sean Penn and her relationship with screen star Warren Beatty.

Thompson, whose past subjects include Clint Eastwood and Michelle Pfeiffer, claims to have had exclusive interviews with key figures in the singer's life, but there doesn't seem to be much here that is not already known.

IN YOUR DREAMS by Ian Stafford is published by Headline on August 2, price £17.99

It's every young boy's dream to compete against their sporting hero but the closest that most get to lapping Eddie Irvine or scoring a goal for a premier league team, is at the controls of a PlayStation.

But one youngster who grew up to fulfil such ambitions for real is sports writer Ian Stafford.

Over a period of 18 months, Stafford managed to persuade top teams and sportsmen to let him play for and with them in a range of different sports.

In his book In Your Dreams the action man gives a first hand account of how he joined Everton on a pre-season training trip abroad and came on as a sub in a testimonial; scored a try for Leicester in rugby union, played for Yorkshire in their pre-season cricket tour to South Africa and - yes - raced against drivers Irvine and Johnny Herbert.

Stafford gives an entertaining account of his by turns painful, emotional and comical adventures as he mixes it with the sporting best in his personal quest for sporting glory. Definitely one for the boys.