I picked up the latest "Mole" at Heathrow Airport on the way back to Vienna, and ripped through it on the flight and on public transport within a couple of days. So was it so good that I really couldn't put it down? I tend to read an Adrian Mole with a slightly glib air of schadenfreude - possibly I tend to examine Mole's failings as a way of affirming my own life. Again with the latest Mole I found myself doing this.

The fact is that Adrian fails to see the elephant in the room on occasions - a phrase that is mentioned several times (as well as the rhinoceros that Pandora speaks of). His myopic view of things - his name can surely not be pure coincidence - is much the same as in previous books, although he remains topical, given the interspersing of actual current affairs events (e.g. Tony Blair's resignation, the ongoing war in Afghanistan, the emerging financial crisis with Northern Rock and accounts held in Icelandic banks).

Whilst previous Mole books have seen him worry about homelessness, debt, and hair loss, the prevailing mal du jour is prostate cancer - and his ongoing treatment is one of the books' ongoing themes. Fear not if you are on the squeamish side - graphic detail is generally spared - but hopefully the book does remind readers that cancer can and does strike at any age.

Similarly his family, and its many intricacies once again feature prominently - not least because he is living next door to his parents in Mangold Parva. There are revelations of lineage in the book - he may not be his father's son, while his sister, Rosie is proven in mawkish fashion via the Jeremy Kyle Show to be only a half-sister. Similarly, his half-brother, Brett, who appears to be the antithesis of Adrian at the start of the book also returns to the fold.

The book takes up the story at the start of 2007 - the previous Mole had finished in August 2003 with Adrian in blissful happiness with Daisy, and I had expected that to be the point at which we left Adrian's world behind. The final entry of the previous book seems to ring true - possibly Adrian taking up his diary again in 2007 is a portent of his lack of marital happiness. Readers from previous books see continuing themes - the identity of Mr. Carlton-Hayes friend Leslie - and whether Leslie is a man or woman - is a continued theme for most of the book, however there is no mention of Animal - the labourer at the Piggeries who may, or may not have had a relationship with Pauline Mole. Similarly, Barry Kent, does not even get a mention, although of course Pandora Braithwaite is still an object of his infatuation - as his passion for Daisy Flowers has cooled, and the ending is hideously open-ended - readers will have no fear, health permitting, that there are plenty more Moles in the pipeline.

I enjoyed reading the book, although possibly this is due to a certain extent that I find Mole to be quite escapist - since there are no similarities with my own circumstances. I've after all grown up with Adrian Mole - I remember first reading the first volume aged 6-7 (I was fairly precocious!) but I find that he has stagnated somewhat - for all his so-called verbosity and apparent knowledge of literature, it surprises me that he does not try to bring this out more in his diary.

I would advise reading Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction before you read Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years - if will help to put the book in a better context as well as to highlight his ongoing turmoil contained within the book.