Poole Libraries

Selected Stock Collections for Reading Groups – March 2015 The following titles are available from the library in multiple copies for use by reading groups. Please select the ones you’d like to read and send us your list of titles and dates of your reading group meetings. We will send a set of books to your local library for you to collect in time for your meeting. You can update your list at any time – just hand in to your local library.

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LP - Large print copy available, NF - non-fiction, SS - short stories, P- poetry. Blue shading - new to the list. eBook – eBook available to download from www.poole.gov.uk/libraries

Audio books are available for most titles on CD and need to be reserved from the main stock. Some can be downloaded (DL) from OneClickdigital – see www.poole.gov.uk/libraries for more information.

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Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Described as ‘masterly’ and ‘a landmark novel’ the book deals with lives and loyalties tested by the horrors of the Biafran struggle in Nigeria in the 1960s. Winner of the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. (Contains notes on the author and the book.) LP CD

Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern Joyce Conway finds she is remembering things she shouldn’t, someone else’s memories. Leaving hospital after an accident and moving in with her elderly father, her life seems to be unravelling. A light, quirky, funny story with appealing characters. (Includes Q & A with the author). LP CD

When Will There be Good News? By Kate Atkinson A six year old witnesses a terrible crime. Thirty years later, the man convicted is released from prison. This is a thriller full of dramatic events, unexpected twists but most memorably, subtle and appealing characters. LP CD

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Fanny Price is the poor relation taken to live in the magnificent Mansfield Park, home of the wealthy Bertram family. Growing up with her ‘superior’ cousins, she becomes an observer of vanity, sibling rivalry, greed, ambition and illicit passion. Shows English society at a time of upheaval and change. LP CD

Absolute Power by David Baldacci Set in Washington DC, this riveting thriller dare to explore an unthinkable abuse of power: a vicious murder involving the US President and a cover-up orchestrated by his zealously loyal Chief of Staff and the Secret Service. But, unknown to the President and his lackeys, one unlikely witness saw everything. Trapped behind a two-way mirror in a country house in Maryland, Luther Whitney, a professional burglar, witnesses an event that destroys his faith in justice. By the time he escapes, pursued by two Secret Service agents, a young woman has been sexually assaulted, then shot dead. And a breathtaking cover-up has been set in motion.

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay When fourteen year old Cynthia wakes up one morning, her parents and brother are gone. No note, no explanation. Twenty five years later, the mystery of their disappearance remains unsolved. Then a letter arrives which makes no sense and the secrets of the past are disturbed. An exciting, nerve-racking thriller. LP

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes Tony Webster sees his life as bland and ordinary until an unexpected legacy makes him reassess his youthful relationships, particularly with his school friend Adrian and girlfriend Veronica. This Man Booker winner is a powerful story about unreliable memories and the shocking consequences of simple actions. LP CD

Mystery Man by Colin Bateman When a Belfast detective agency closes, the mystery bookshop next door attracts some of the agency’s clients. It seems like a good idea to help them with their problems, until our hero suddenly finds himself tangling with murder and Nazi secrets. A darkly funny story with a great sense of place. CD DL

Black Lands by Belinda Bauer Steven’s uncle was abducted as a boy and is believed to have been a victim of the paedophile and serial murderer, Arnold Avery, now in gaol. That’s why Steven keeps digging on the moor, to find his uncle’s body and heal his fractured family. Then he comes up with another plan – to write to Avery in prison. Tense and atmospheric, this is a thriller that involves the reader up to the final page. LP CD

The Mango Orchard by Robin Bayley As a boy, Robin Bayley was intrigued by his grandmother’s stories of her father’s adventures in Mexico. To find out the reality behind the tales, he decides to retrace his great grandfather’s steps across Latin America and uncovers an amazing family secret. Part travelogue, part family history, part adventure, the book is eminently readable and gripping to the end. NF

Jamrach’s menagerie by Carol Birch Young Jaffy Brown never expects to escape the slums of Victorian London. Then, aged eight, a chance encounter with Mr Jamrach changes Jaffy's stars. And before he knows it, he finds himself at the docks waving goodbye to his beloved Ishbel and boarding a ship bound for the Indian Ocean. With his friend Tim at his side, Jaffy's journey will push faith, love and friendship to their utmost limits. LP CD DL

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake Radio journalist, Frankie Bard, braves the horrors of London in the blitz to send her broadcasts back to America, while in Franklin, Cape Cod, her stories are heard by Iris James, the postmistress and Emma Fitch, whose doctor husband is also working in London. Love and loss, the value of truth and kindness, the arbitrary workings of fate in war and the responsibility of knowledge are all explored in this memorable and impressive novel. LP CD Guernica by Dave Boling This epic novel traces the story of the Basque region and the Navarro family through the early decades of the 20th century. When Miguel Navarro meets and falls in love with Mirren Ansotegui, they cannot imagine that their community is about to experience one of the worst tragedies of the century. This is a remarkable story rich in regional history and detail. LP

The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne This is an intense thriller involving a serial killer, a fervent and mysterious religious sect, mysticism and ancient prophecy. To find the kidnappers of his wife, New York Times reporter, Will Monroe, must unearth a secret upon which the fate on humanity may depend. LP CD

Restless by William Boyd As a wartime agent, Eva Delectorskaya has experienced danger and betrayal. For years she has hidden her past, even from her own daughter, Ruth. Now she has one last assignment and needs Ruth’s help. Parallel stories of mother and daughter interweave in this tense, edgy story. LP

The Congress of Rough Riders by John Boyne William Cody has mixed feelings about his great-grandfather and namesake, Buffalo Bill Cody of Wild West fame. He resents his father’s obsession with their famous ancestor but is also fascinated with the man and his life. This engaging, wide-ranging story alternates between the past and present and interweaves the lives of the two Williams, highlighting the stark differences and subtle similarities between them.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury In Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad.

Villette by Charlotte Bronte Villette introduces one of Charlotte Bronte’s strongest heroines, Lucy Snowe. Quiet and self-effacing but with passionate feelings, she becomes a teacher in a foreign school where she meets the eccentric M. Paul Emmanuel. This is a love story with a difference, based on Charlotte’s own experiences. CD

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson Before returning to his native America after nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson took one last trip around his adopted country. This is the affectionate, laugh-out-loud funny record of a total anglophile. NF CD

I can’t begin to tell you by Elizabeth Buchan Denmark, 1940. War has come and everyone must choose a side. For British-born Kay Eberstern, living on her husband Bror's country estate, the Nazi invasion and occupation of her adopted country is a time of terrible uncertainty and inner conflict. Caught on opposing sides of a war that has ripped apart a continent, will Kay and Bror ever find their way back to one another? This is a story of bravery, broken loyalties, lies and how the power of love can bring redemption even to the darkest of places. Blood River by Tim Butcher When Daily Telegraph correspondent, Tim Butcher decided to retrace H. M. Stanley’s famous expedition to the Congo, he was warned that it would be suicidal. He set out anyway, with a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots. This is the story of his remarkable journey. It is also a vivid and perceptive portrait of a devastated and war- torn country. NF LP CD DL

The Outsider by Albert Camus The Outsider explores the alienation of an individual who refuses to conform to social norms. Meursault, his anti-hero, will not lie. When his mother dies, he refuses to show his emotions simply to satisfy the expectations of others. And when he commits a random act of violence on a sun-drenched beach near Algiers, his lack of remorse compounds his guilt in the eyes of society and the law. Yet he is as much a victim as a criminal. Albert Camus' portrayal of a man confronting the absurd, and revolting against the injustice of society, depicts the paradox of man's joy in life when faced with the 'tender indifference' of the world.

The Burning by Jane Casey This dark, psychological thriller involves the hunt for a serial killer who likes to burn his victims. Seen mainly through the eyes of ambitious female detective, Maeve Kerrigan, the story is full of pace and suspense. LP CD

The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson When Errol Flynn comes to Jamaica, he finds an island paradise and has a brief affair with beautiful local girl, Ida. Their daughter, May, will only meet her famous father once. This is a love story and family saga but also the story of the rich and varied society of Jamaica, as it struggles for independence. Author’s notes and points for discussion included. LP CD

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler Introducing Chandler’s iconic hero, Philip Marlowe, and a convoluted plot of murder on the mean streets of Los Angeles, this is one of the all-time classic American crime novels.

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier Mary Anning’s discovery of strange, fossilised creatures in the cliffs of Lyme Regis amazes the scientific world, but she faces gossip, scandal and prejudice from the male establishment before her achievements are recognised. Mary and her rival and friend, Elizabeth Philpott are brought vividly to life with all the writer’s usual imagination and flare. LP CD

The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua Amy Chua’s goal as a Chinese style parent is to prepare her daughters for the future, not to make them like her. Coming second is not an option in her relentless pursuit of success. Prepare for powerful reactions, a bitter clash of cultures and dead-pan humour in this controversial treatise on parenting. NF LP

Safe Passage by Ida Cook This is the true story of two ordinary women with a daring secret. Ida and Louise Cook lived quiet lives in the suburbs of London, until their devotion to classical music brought them into contact with the glamorous world of international stars. As Europe descended into war, they began to make dangerous undercover missions into Germany to rescue Jews from the Nazis. NF LP The Conjurer’s Bird by Martin Davies The book combines mystery, two love stories, one in the past and one in the present and a natural history quest for a bird of great rarity. Based on true events from the life of the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, the book is intriguing to the last page. LP CD

The Great Lover by Jill Dawson An intense and moving story of a failed love affair between a Cambridge maid and the young poet, Rupert Brooke. Told in their words, the book captures Brooke’s complex, volatile and charismatic character. (Contains notes for discussion and background). LP CD

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund De Waal When Edmund De Waal inherited a collection of 264 tiny Japanese netsuke carvings from his uncle, he decided to investigate their place in his family history. This exquisitely described search for a lost family and a lost time is the result. NF LP CD

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Set in London and Paris before and during the French revolution, this is a story of love redemption and sacrifice set against a background of enormous social upheaval. One of Dickens’ most famous and haunting novels. CD

Hard Times by Charles Dickens In the northern industrial city of Coketown, society is run according to the philosophy of men like the bullying factory owner, Josiah Bounderby and the utilitarian, Thomas Gradgrind. Human nature, however, cannot be so easily regulated by facts alone. Powerful and poetic, Hard Times is one of Dickens’ shortest novels but also one of his most important statements on Victorian society. LP

Room by Emma Donoghue Five year old Jack and his Ma live in Room, a space 11 feet by 11 feet, the only world that Jack has ever known. His friends are Table, Wardrobe, Plant, Skylight and the other inhabitants of Room. Gradually, through Jack’s eyes, we learn the grim facts of their existence, including the visits from the man Jack knows as Old Nick. Original, shocking, moving and ultimately hopeful, this is a book which has made a tremendous impact. LP CD

The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore Andrei, a young doctor, and Anna, a nursery school teacher, are trying to make a life for themselves in 1950’s Leningrad under Stalin’s terrible and sinister regime. When Andrei is asked to treat the seriously ill child of a senior secret police officer, they find themselves trapped in a dangerous game. The book is both a tender love story and a powerful evocation of a particular time and place. LP CD

The perfect affair by Claire Dyer What happens if you fall in love with the wrong person? Rose knows only too well the exhilaration and devastation of loving a married man. So she watches with a keen eye as Eve - her closest companion, the granddaughter she never had - meets Myles, the new tenant in her downstairs flat. Quietly and softly and against the backdrop of their own unsatisfactory marriages, Myles and Eve fall in love and, as they try to have the perfect affair like Rose did before them, they come to learn about the pain of lost opportunities, to decide whether it is ever better to follow your head or your heart, to know what it is to be torn between love and duty. LP CD The 19th Wife by David Eberhoff Jordan’s father is found shot dead at his computer and his 19th wife, Jordan’s mother, is accused of the crime. In this vivid, compelling and often funny exposé of American polygamy, the modern story is skilfully interwoven with the fight for freedom of Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Brigham Young, a century before. CD

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards This finely observed story shows how a devastating secret in the heart of a family can tear a marriage apart. (The copies contain an interview with the author). LP CD DL

Mr Toppit by Charles Elton Luke and Rachel Hayman have grown up in the shadow of their father’s world famous children’s books, The Hayseed Chronicles, and the enigmatic character, Mr Toppit. Buried deep in the books lie secrets which threaten to be revealed as the family begins to crumble under the heavy burden of their inheritance. LP CD

The Yellow World by Albert Espinosa Albert Espinosa never wanted to write a book about surviving cancer, so he didn't. He wrote a book instead about the Yellow World. The yellow world is a world that's within everyone's reach, a world the colour of the sun. It is the name of a way of living, of seeing life, of nourishing yourself with the lessons that you learn from good moments as well as bad ones. The yellow world has no rules; it is made of discoveries. Albert Espinosa has won several battles with death, which is why his stories are so full of life. His greatest hope is that after you have read this book you will go off in search of your yellow world. This is not a self-help book, but an entertaining and inspiring book about one man’s life with cancer. NF

Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon What to do if Matthew, your secret lover of the past four years, finally decides to leave his wife Sophie and move into your flat, just when you're thinking that you might not want him anymore. Getting rid of Matthew isn't as easy as it seems, but Helen will forge an unlikely friendship, find real love and realize that nothing ever goes exactly to plan. An enjoyable, quirky read. LP DL

Engleby by Sebastion Faulks This is the story of Mike Engleby, a working-class boy who wins a place at an esteemed English university. But with the disappearance of Jennifer, the undergraduate Engleby admires from afar, the story turns into a gripping mystery. Chilling, funny and insightful, the story gives us a selective view through the eyes of a disturbed individual. LP CD DL eBook

Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes Damien Baxter, old, rich and lonely, discovers that he may have fathered a child 40 years before, a potential heir to his fortune. The story takes us back to the Season of 1968, its lavish balls and parties and the world of class-bound high society. (With notes for discussion). LP CD

The shock of the fall by Nathan Filer ‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’ An extraordinary portrait of one man’s descent into mental illness. WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2013. LP CD The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The mysterious, self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby is known for his lavish parties that attract the frivolous and decadent, but beneath the glittering lifestyle, he harbours a secret romantic obsession. Elegantly plotted and written, the story of Gatsby's rise to glory and tragic fall from grace has become a modern classic and a cautionary tale about the American Dream. LP CD

I was here by Gayle Forman This characteristically powerful novel follows eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend's shocking suicide. As Cody numbly searches for answers as to why Meg took her own life, she begins a journey of self-discovery which takes her to a terrifying precipice, and forces her to question not only her relationship with the Meg she thought she knew, but her own understanding of life, love, death and forgiveness.

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler In this comedy of manners, six people meet monthly to discuss the novels of Jane Austen while marriages are tested, affaires begin and some even fall in love. Touching and witty, this is a rare book that reminds us what reading is all about. LP CD

Diary of a young girl by Anne Frank In July 1942, thirteen-year-old Anne Frank and her family, fleeing the occupation, went into hiding in an Amsterdam warehouse. Over the next two years Anne vividly describes in her diary the frustrations of living in such close quarters, and her thoughts, feelings and longings as she grows up. Her diary ends abruptly when, in August 1944, they were all betrayed.

Spies by Michael Frayn In a quiet suburb in wartime Britain, Stephen and Keith decide that Keith’s mother is a German spy and start to keep watch on her movements, unwittingly involving themselves in a painful adult drama. The comedy, anguish and incomprehension of growing up is skilfully told. LP

What to do When Someone Dies by Nicci French When Ellie’s husband Greg dies in a car crash, a woman called Milena Livingstone is in the car with him. Refusing to accept the implication of a relationship between them, Ellie is determined to find out more. This is a fast paced thriller, full of unexpected twists and turns. LP CD DL

The secret place by Tana French Detective Stephen Moran hasn't seen Holly Mackey since she was a nine-year-old witness to the events of Faithful Place. Now she's sixteen and she's shown up outside his squad room, with a photograph and a story. Solving this case could take Stephen onto the Murder squad. But to get it solved, he will have to work with Detective Antoinette Conway - tough, prickly, an outsider, everything Stephen doesn't want in a partner. And he will have to find a way into the strange, charged, mysterious world that Holly and her three closest friends inhabit and disentangle the truth from their knot of secrets, even as he starts to suspect that the truth might be something he doesn't want to hear.

The ocean at the end of the lane by Neil Gaiman It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it. His only defense is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang. WINNER OF THE SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2013 BOOK OF THE YEAR. LP

Last Fling by Sue Gee This first collection of short stories by the well-loved novelist is written with all her usual insight and delicacy of style. Many of the stories have won prizes and they deal with a range of themes, love glimpsed, lost or longed for, the rural past, contemporary London or Europe. Well worth choosing for a change of pace. SS

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex. At the aptly-named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders: cousin Judith, heaving with remorse for unspoken wickedness; Amos, preaching fire and damnation; their sons, lustful Seth and despairing Reuben; child of nature Elfine; and crazed old Aunt Ada Doom, who has kept to her bedroom for the last twenty years. But Flora loves nothing better than to organise other people. Armed with common sense and a strong will, she resolves to take each of the family in hand. A hilarious and ruthless parody of rural melodramas and purple prose, Cold Comfort Farm is one of the best-loved comic novels of all time.

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory Forced to flee Scotland, the beautiful Mary, Queen of Scots is the enforced guest of George Talbot and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, who hope for political advantage from their royal prisoner. Instead, their household becomes a centre of dangerous intrigue. Character clashes and political manoeuvring are skilfully woven into a gripping story. LP

The Ice Cream Army by Jessica Gregson Suleyman and Hamil are Turkish immigrants to Australia, working as ice cream sellers and initially accepted into their small community. As the First World War progresses however, they face increasing prejudice and violence. Inspired by a real incident, the ‘Battle of Broken Hill’, this is a moving and beautifully written account of the human story behind events.

East of the Sun by Julia Gregson Three young women travel out to India in the 1920’s, with different motives and hopes for the future. Against the dangerous background of a country struggling for independence, each has much to learn and experience before coming to terms with a new life. LP CD DL eBook

One night, Markovitch by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen Two men are crossing the sea to marry women they have never met, in order to help them escape war-torn Europe for the Jewish homeland. Zeev Feinberg - lover of many women and proud owner of a lustrous moustache - yearns to return home, to a girl whose skin is sweet with the smell of oranges. For Yaacov Markovitch, however, who no woman has ever looked at twice, his fake marriage is the beginning of a lifelong obsession. As he vows to make his beautiful bride, Bella, love him while she is determined to break free, their changing fortunes take them through war, upheaval, terrible secrets, tragedy, joy and loss. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon When 15-year old Christopher Boone finds his neighbour’s dog murdered, he sets out on a quest to find the truth, a terrifying journey for Christopher because he has Asperger’s Syndrome. This inventive and original story is both funny and touching and has become a modern classic.

The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall Beth Lowe has been sent a parcel. Inside is a letter informing her that her long-estranged mother has died, and a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it's stuffed with photographs and mementos complied by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary. It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries; her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother and her gentle, reticent English father; the dazzling house of a Hungarian artist and an empty-feeling cottage in deepest Devon. And it was a time that came to the most brutal of ends the year Beth turned sixteen. Since then, Beth hasn't allowed herself to think about those years of her childhood. But the arrival of The Book of Summers brings the past tumbling back into the present; as vivid, painful and vital as ever. LP

The A-Z of you and me by James Hannah Ivo fell for her. He fell for a girl he can’t get back. Now he’s hoping for something. While he waits he plays a game: he chooses a body part and tells us its link to the past he threw away. He tells us the story of how she found him, and how he lost her. But he doesn't have long. And he still has one thing left to do ...

Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy The arrival of two newcomers in the quiet village of Mellstock arouses a bitter feud and leaves a convoluted love affair in its wake. While the Reverend Maybold creates a furore among the village's musicians with his decision to abolish the church's traditional 'string choir' and replace it with a modern mechanical organ, the new schoolteacher, Fancy Day, causes an upheaval of a more romantic nature, winning the hearts of three very different men - a local farmer, a church musician and Maybold himself. Under the Greenwood Tree follows the ensuing maze of intrigue and passion with gentle humour and sympathy, deftly evoking the richness of village life, yet tinged with melancholy for a rural world that Hardy saw fast disappearing. CD

Down River by John Hart Going back is never easy ...Adam Chase spent years in New York trying to forget. But now he has no choice but to return home -- and being remembered as a murderer doesn't help. Within hours of arriving, Adam is beaten up, accosted and has to face the hostility of those closest to him, including the woman he cannot forget. And then people start turning up dead. For a man only just acquitted of murder, Adam's homecoming does not go well. And as the past threatens to overshadow the present, he alone can clear his name ... LP

Elizabeth is missing by Emma Healey Maud is forgetful. She makes a cup of tea and doesn't remember to drink it. She goes to the shops and forgets why she went. But there's one thing Maud is sure of: her friend Elizabeth is missing. And no matter who tells her to stop going on about it, to leave it alone, to shut up, Maud will get to the bottom of it. Because somewhere in Maud's damaged mind lies the answer to an unsolved seventy-year-old mystery. One everyone has forgotten about. Everyone, except Maud . . . CD Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson Judged uneducable, Grace’s severe physical and mental disabilities mean that she is confined to the Briar Mental Institute where she finds both cruelty and kindness and meets the debonair Daniel. This remarkable debut novel tells Grace’s exuberant, tragic, funny and unique story. The book was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction and chosen as a Summer Read by the TV Book Club.

The Junior Officers’ Reading Club: Killing Time and Fighting Wars by Patrick Hennessey This honest, hard-hitting account of officer training and service in Afghanistan takes us as close as civilians can come to the terror, boredom and ironies of combat. A well-written, amusing and intelligent book written with youthful arrogance and verve. NF LP

The Island by Victoria Hislop Based around the Cretan leper colony of Spinalonga, this first novel won accolades and has been among the most borrowed titles in libraries ever since it came out. A beautifully told story of separation, endurance and hope. LP CD

22, Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson When Polish husband and wife Janusz and Silvana and their son Aurek are reunited in England after a six year war-time separation, they each have secrets to conceal. Traumas from the past are added to the difficulty of adapting to life in a strange country in this powerful, moving and ultimately hopeful story. LP

This Book will Save your Life by A M Homes Stephen King called this a ‘brave story of a lost man’s reconnection with the world’. Sharp and entertaining, the book tells the story of the reclusive trader, Richard Novak. Following an attack of excruciating pain that lands him in the emergency room, Richard befriends Anhil, a doughnut shop owner, and his emotional thaw begins. LP CD DL eBook

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini An uncompromising story of Afghan society, the book describes the lives of two women married to the same bitter and brutal husband. With violence on the streets of Kabul and behind closed doors at home, the two gradually form an alliance of affection and support. Although grim at times, the story has an ultimate message of human survival and the return of hope. LP CD

Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde For five years Pearl has managed to keep the past from catching up with her and her bright, frail five-year-old son, Leonard. Then one day Pearl drops her son off and never returns. Leonard is left to the care of Pearl’s neighbour, Mitch. This is the story of how the unlikely pair survive and grow. LP CD

The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe When this novel came out in 1958, it was both scandalous and a roaring success. A frank account of four young career women in New York searching for love, success and happiness, it was a book that changed lives.

Perfect people by Peter James John and Naomi Klaesson are grieving the death of their four-year-old son from a rare genetic disorder. They desperately want another child, but when they find out they are both carriers of a rogue gene, they realize the odds of their next child contracting the disease are high. Then they hear about geneticist Doctor Leo Dettore. He has methods that can spare them the heartache of ever losing another child to any disease - even if his methods cost more than they can afford. His clinic is where their nightmare begins. They should have realized that something was wrong when they saw the list. Choices of eye colour, hair, sporting abilities. They can literally design their child. Now it's too late to turn back. Naomi is pregnant, and already something is badly wrong . . . LP

The Outcast by Sadie Jones As a young boy, Lewis Aldridge witnesses his mother’s accidental death, a tragedy which drives him and his father further apart. Increasingly disturbed and disruptive, Lewis gradually becomes an outcast in the stifling world of 1950s small town England. A dark, haunting but ultimately hopeful novel. LP

The Night Following by Morag Joss Shortly after discovering that her husband is having an affair, a doctor’s wife knocks down and kills a woman cyclist and then drives away. Horrified and remorseful, she then befriends the woman’s devastated husband. This dark suspense novel of guilt, loss, atonement and redemption is elegantly written and masterfully constructed. CD

The Traitor’s Wife by Kathleen Kent Based on the life of the author’s ancestor, Martha Carrier, the novel brings to life the hard pioneering society of 17th century America, mixing history, love story and suspense. A vivid, exciting and beautifully written tale. LP CD

The invention of wings by Sue Monk Kidd Sarah Grimké is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ...

Misery by Stephen King Misery Chastain was dead. Paul Sheldon had just killed her - with relief, with joy. Misery had made him rich; she was the heroine of a string of bestsellers. And now he wanted to get on to some real writing. That's when the car accident happened, and he woke up in pain in a strange bed. But it wasn't the hospital. Annie Wilkes had pulled him from the wreck, brought him to her remote mountain home, splinted and set his mangled legs. The good news was that Annie was a nurse and has pain-killing drugs. The bad news was that she was Paul's Number One Fan. And when she found out what Paul had done to Misery, she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. And now he had to bring Misery back to life. Or else . . .

Flight behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver On the Appalachian Mountains above her home, a young mother discovers a beautiful and terrible marvel of nature. As the world around her is suddenly transformed by a seeming miracle, can the old certainties they have lived by for centuries remain unchallenged? Flight Behaviour is a captivating, topical and deeply human story touching on class, poverty and climate change. It is Barbara Kingsolver's most accessible novel yet, and explores the truths we live by, and the complexities that lie behind them. CD

The Fat Years by Chan Koonchung In China in the near future, most people are enjoying a blissful life based on material well- being. However writer Old Chen discovers from a few friends that a whole month has gone missing from official records and from people’s memories. Together they determine to find out what has happened. Detective story, love story and political exposé, this book is both strange to western readers and fascinating. It is also chillingly close to the reality of China today. CD

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss A young girl, hoping to find a cure for her mother's loneliness, stumbles across a book that changed her mother's life and goes in search of the author. Meanwhile Leo Gursky is just about surviving life in America. Once he wrote a book in honour of his love but now he assumes that the book, and his dreams, are irretrievably lost. A captivating story of the power of love, of loneliness and of survival. LP

The lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri From Subhash’s earliest memories, at every point, his brother was there. In the suburban streets of Calcutta where they wandered before dusk and in the hyacinth-strewn ponds where they played for hours on end, Udayan was always in his older brother’s sight. So close in age, they were inseparable in childhood and yet, as the years pass – as U.S tanks roll into Vietnam and riots sweep across India – their brotherly bond can do nothing to forestall the tragedy that will upend their lives. Udayan – charismatic and impulsive – finds himself drawn to the Naxalite movement, a rebellion waged to eradicate inequity and poverty. He will give everything, risk all, for what he believes, and in doing so will transform the futures of those dearest to him. LP

In darkness by Nick Lake In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital, thirsty, terrified and alone. Shorty is a child of the slums, a teenage boy who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime, and who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule Site Solèy. But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that blazes inside him and a burning wish to find the twin sister he lost seven years ago . . . His story is woven with that of Toussaint L’Ouverture, who freed the slaves in Haiti 200 years ago. Surprising and enlightening, this isn’t an easy read, but you’ll be glad you tried it and it will provide lots of discussion in your reading group. LP

The Girls by Lori Lansens Rose and Ruby Darlen are closer than most twin sisters. Indeed, they have spent their twenty-nine years on earth joined at the head, but they are remarkably different both on the inside and out. Together, they tell the story of their lives as the world's oldest surviving craniopagus twins. Lansens has created a richly nuanced, totally believable sibling relationship in this unsentimental, heart-warming page-turner. LP CD

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson Journalist Mikael Blomkvist joins forces with the enigmatic and dangerous Lisbeth Salander to explain the mysterious disappearance of a member of the powerful Vanger family. Gripping and complex with a powerful plot and intriguing characters, this book has become a major bestseller. LP CD DL

The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson The stories of two generations in the small town of Struan and its harsh rural hinterland are tragically interwoven, linked by fate and community but separated by war. A tense human drama and an absorbing read. CD DL To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee 'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.' A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K Lee In 1950’s Hong Kong, Claire Pendleton is working as a piano teacher to the daughter of the rich Chen family when she meets the enigmatic Will, the Chen’s driver. A decade earlier, he had a relationship with the mysterious Eurasian beauty, Trudy Liang. This tale of romance, intrigue and betrayal effortlessly recreates the atmosphere of post-war Hong Kong. LP CD

Small Island by Andrea Levy Gilbert Joseph and his wife Hortense are among Jamaican immigrants coming to a new life in post war England where they experience bitter prejudice, hostility and some kindness. Full of powerfully drawn characters this disturbing, funny, richly written book is a deserving Whitbread and Orange Prize winner. LP

Return to Mandalay by Rosanna Ley Eva Gatsby has often wondered about her grandfather Lawrence's past, and exactly what happened to him in Burma during the Second World War. But it is only when Eva's job as an antiques dealer suddenly requires a trip to Mandalay that Lawrence finally breaks his silence and asks her to return a mysterious artefact of his own - a chinthe - to its rightful owner. As Eva arrives in Burma her mission soon proves dangerously complicated, and the treasure she is guarding becomes the centre of a scandal that will have far-reaching consequences. Caught between loyalty and integrity, Eva is determined to find the truth about her grandfather's past, of her own family origins, and of the red-eyed chinthe itself - enigmatic symbol of the riches of Mandalay. CD

A girl is a half-formed thing by Eimear McBride This award-winning debut novel tells the story of a young woman's relationship with her brother, and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumour. It is a shocking and intimate insight into the thoughts, feelings and chaotic sexuality of a vulnerable and isolated protagonist. To read A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing is to plunge inside its narrator's head, experiencing her world at first hand. This isn't always comfortable - but it is always a revelation.

The Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon Mariella Lingwood leaves the safe world of Victorian England to follow her fiancé and her beautiful cousin, Rosa, to the Crimea devastated by war. In her quest for the elusive Rosa she will learn much about secrecy, infidelity and her own character. (Copies contain reading group notes). CD

The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai When Lucy Hull, children’s librarian, and 10-year-old Ian Drake embark on an impromptu road trip, who is the abductor and who is the victim? Their journey of self discovery makes a remarkable book with so much in it to enjoy, laugh at, debate, admire and celebrate. It is also a brilliant advertisement for the power of books. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel In the brutal world of Tudor power politics, Thomas Cromwell fights his way up from lowly origins to become a master of intrigue and one of the most powerful men in the country. With its subtly observed characters and precise prose, this rich, compelling novel won the author the Man Booker prize. LP CD DL

Bring up the bodies by Hilary Mantel By 1535 Thomas Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn, the king’s new wife. But Anne has failed to give the king an heir, and Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour. Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry, safeguard the nation and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days. Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012, the 2012 Costa Book of the Year and shortlisted for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction. LP CD DL

Life of Pi by Yann Martel After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, the only survivors in the solitary lifeboat are a 16- year old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra, an orang-utan and a Royal Bengal tiger. The story that follows is extraordinary, funny and outrageous. The book won the Man Booker Prize. LP CD

Anatomy of a Disappearance by Hisham Matar Nuri, a teenage Egyptian boy, is in love with Mona, the woman his father will marry. He wishes his father out of the way but when he actually disappears Nuri regrets what he has wished for. At the heart of this haunting, subtle and evocative novel is an unsolvable mystery and secrets Nuri’s father would never have wanted him to know. LP

The glass room by Simon Mawer High on a Czechoslovak hill, the Landauer House has been built for newlyweds Viktor and Liesel Landauer, a Jew married to a gentile. But, when the storm clouds of WW2 gather, the family must flee, accompanied by Viktor's lover and her child. But the house's story is far from over, as it passes from hand to hand, from Czech to Russian, both the best and the worst of the history of Eastern Europe becomes somehow embodied and perhaps emboldened within the beautiful and austere surfaces and planes so carefully designed, until events become full-circle. CD

Snowdrops by A.D. Miller Snowdrops. That's what the Russians call them - the bodies that float up into the light in the thaw. Drunks, most of them, and homeless people who just give up and lie down into the whiteness, and murder victims hidden in the drifts by their killers. Nick has a confession. When he worked as a high-flying British lawyer in Moscow, he was seduced by Masha, an enigmatic woman who led him through her city: the electric nightclubs and intimate dachas, the human kindnesses and state-wide corruption. Yet as Nick fell for Masha, he found that he fell away from himself; he knew that she was dangerous, but life in Russia was addictive, and it was too easy to bury secrets - and corpses - in the winter snows... LP CD DL

Pure by Andrew Miller Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it. At first Baratte sees this as a chance to clear the burden of history, a fitting task for a modern man of reason. But before long, he begins to suspect that the destruction of the cemetery might be a prelude to his own. Although the theme may sound macabre, Miller's eloquent novel overflows with vitality and colour. It is packed with personal and physical details that evoke 18th-century Paris with startling immediacy. Above all he brings off that difficult trick of making the reader care about an unsympathetic character. LP

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant troy and fulfil his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear. Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart. LP CD

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller Pippa used to be wild and dangerous. Now she is secure, a wife and mother, moving to a retirement community. The unravelling of Pippa’s past lives produces a subtle novel of identity, with a wonderfully vivid sense of place and character. An enjoyable and engrossing read. LP CD

The Savage Garden by Mark Mills The Docci family’s beautiful renaissance garden has a secret message for those with eyes to read it. It’s 1958 and Adam Strickland has travelled to Italy to study the garden. In discovering its secrets, Adam will uncover two stories of love, revenge and murder, 400 years apart. CD

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry Set in India in the mid 1970s, the book centres on four characters, Parsi widow, Mrs. Dina Dalal, her lodger and the two Hindu tailors she employs. During the Indian state of internal emergency, the four become a sort of family despite differences of caste and religion. This is a panoramic, political but human story and delightfully readable.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach The advertisements for the palatial yet tranquil residential hotel in India sound enticing, but when an assorted group of pensioners arrive from England to start a new life, the reality is hardly as advertised. A poignant and funny story about characters, relationship and human adaptability in an exotic setting. LP CD DL

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty On a summer's day in 1922 Cora Carlisle boards a train to New York City. She is charged with the care of a stunning young girl with a jet-black fringe and eyes wild and wise beyond her fifteen years. This girl is hungry for stardom and Cora for something she doesn't yet know. Cora will be many things in her lifetime - an orphan, a mother, a wife, a mistress - but in New York she is a chaperone and her life is about to change. It is here under the bright lights of Broadway that Cora finds what she has been searching for. It is here, in a time when illicit thrills and daring glamour sizzle beneath the laws of propriety that her life truly begins. It is here that Cora and her charge, Louise Brooks, take their first steps towards their dreams. Night Waking by Sarah Moss Living on an otherwise uninhabited Scottish island with a sleepless toddler, a disturbed 7- year-old and a husband mainly interested in puffins, Anna is struggling to cope, let alone finish her academic study on the history of child rearing. She is also haunted by the discovery of a baby’s skeleton in the garden and the dark history behind the find. This is a blackly funny mystery with a satisfying denouement. CD

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro Something different to try - this collection of short stories by a master storyteller delves into characters, relationships and the moments that change lives with honesty, imagination and compassion. SS LP

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness One night, George Duncan - decent man, a good man - is woken by a noise in his garden. Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth, shot through its wing by an arrow. Unexpectedly moved, George helps the bird, and from the moment he watches it fly off, his life is transformed. The next day, a kind but enigmatic woman walks into George's shop. Suddenly a new world opens up for George, and one night she starts to tell him the most extraordinary story. Wise, romantic, magical and funny, The Crane Wife is a hymn to the creative imagination and a celebration of the disruptive and redemptive power of love. LP CD DL eBook

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Conor has the same dream every night, ever since his mother first fell ill, ever since she started the treatments that don't quite seem to be working. But tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there's a visitor at his window. It’s ancient, elemental, a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth. Bestselling novelist Patrick Ness takes the final idea of the late, award-winning writer Siobhan Dowd and weaves a heartbreaking tale of mischief, healing and above all, the courage it takes to survive. Winner of both the Carnegie and the Kate Greenway Medals in 2012.

One Day by David Nicholls Emma and Dexter meet on 15th July, the night of their graduation, and the story takes us through every 15th July to find out what happens in their subsequent lives. The book has won acclaim from its many readers for its beautifully drawn characters, social realism and emotional impact. LP CD DL

The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson This is a story of 18th century life, morality and society, told with great charm and feeling for the period. At the heart of the book is an extraordinary friendship and understanding between Tom, the stable boy and Jenny, the elephant. LP CD

Winter by Christopher Nicholson Inspired by the first dramatic adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s most famous novel, ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’, ‘Winter’ is a brilliantly realised portrait of an old man and his imaginative life; the life that has brought him fame and wealth, but that condemns him to living lives he can’t hope to lead, and reliving those he thought he once led. It is also, about the women who now surround him: the middle-aged, childless woman who thought she would find happiness as his handmaiden; and the young actress, with her youthful ambitions and desires, who came between them. LP CD Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama Published before he became American President, this is a striking account of a young man coming to terms with his identity in a racially divided country. An honest and beautifully written personal memoir. NF LP CD DL

I Think I Love You by Alison Pearson At 13, Petra and Sharon enter the ultimate David Cassidy quiz, the prize being a trip to meet their idol in America. Twenty four years later, Petra finds a hidden letter declaring her the winner of the long ago competition. The women at last get the chance to claim their prize, accompanied by Bill, Cassidy’s ghost-writer in the fanzine they used to love. Funny, affectionate and poignant, the story perfectly captures the world of teenage crushes, angst and dreams. LP CD

The Way Home by George Pelecanos Chris Flynn is a white middle class boy from Washington DC who goes off of the rails and ends up in a juvenile detention centre. Years later, he and a co-worker discover $50,000 under the floor of an empty house. Resisting temptation, they leave it alone, but events are about to take a dangerous turn. A gripping read with authentic dialogue and plausible characters and relationships. LP CD

Penguin’s Poems for Life Recommended by several reading groups, this is a chance to try something different for your book choice. Poems for Life is a rich collection of the work of poets through the centuries from Donne to Duffy and Tennyson to Larkin. Browse and enjoy. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Phillip Pullman This controversial book is based on a fascinating premise – that Mary gave birth to twins, Jesus and Christ. Jesus is popular and driven, while Christ is introverted and quiet. As Jesus starts his mission to seek out and promote the truth, Christ is led to believe that his brother’s message requires ‘spin’ to be palatable to the people of the future. The simple parable style of this story conceals a number of contentious moral issues and ideas. LP CD DL

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick Pat Peoples has just been released from a mental institution and hopes to be reconciled with his estranged wife. Not realising their separation is permanent, he strives to become the man she desires. This is a touching novel about love, life and American football and about hope against the odds. LP

Hunted by Emlyn Rees Danny Shanklin wakes up slumped across a table in a London hotel room he's never seen before. He's wearing a black balaclava, a red tracksuit and a brand new pair of Nikes. There's a faceless dead man on the floor and Danny's got a high-powered rifle strapped to his hands. He hears sirens and stumbles to the window to see a burning limousine and bodies all over the street. The police are closing in. He's been set up. They're coming for him... With only his tech support friend, the Kid, for backup, Danny sets out on a nail-biting odyssey though the panicked city streets, in a desperate bid to escape, protect the people he loves, and track down the terrorists who set him up - and make them pay. But with 500,000 CCTV cameras, 33,000 cops, 9 intelligence agencies, and dozens of TV news channels all hot on his tail, just how long will THIS one innocent man be able to survive?' CD DL The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice Set in the 1950s, this is the lively coming of age story of 18 year old Penelope Wallace whose dreams are somewhat hampered by her eccentric and maddening family. Critics have described the book as ‘a vintage classic’ and ‘a quite delightful tongue-in-cheek period piece’. LP CD

Amity and Sorrow by Peggy Riley In the wake of a suspicious fire, Amaranth gathers her children and flees from the cult where her children were born and raised. Now she is on the run with no one but her barely-teenage daughters, Amity and Sorrow, neither of whom have ever seen the outside world, to help her. After four days of driving without sleep, Amaranth crashes the car, leaving the family stranded at a gas station, unsure of what to do next. Rescue comes in the unlikely form of a downtrodden farmer, a man who offers sanctuary when the women need it most. Over the course of a season Amaranth will test the limits of her faith, and her daughters will test the limits of her patience. While Amity blossoms in this new world, free from her father's forbidding rules and ecstatic worship, Sorrow will move heaven and earth trying to get back home... And, meanwhile, the outside world hasn't forgotten about the fire on the compound.

The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson Set in contemporary Scotland, the novel uses the literary device of a discovered manuscript, the testament of Gideon Mack, which has fallen into the hands of a journalist. Mack is a minister who doesn't believe in God, the Devil or an afterlife until the incident in which he claims that he has an encounter with the Devil himself. A gripping story with a wonderful cast of characters. LP DL eBook

Running with the pack by Mark Rowlands For Mark Rowlands running and philosophising are inextricably connected. In Running with the Pack he tells us about the most significant runs of his life - from the entire day he spent running as a boy in Wales, to the runs along French beaches and up Irish mountains with his beloved wolf Brenin. Intertwined with this honest, passionate and witty memoir are the fascinating meditations that those runs triggered. This is a highly original and moving book that will make the philosophically inclined want to run, and those who love running become intoxicated by philosophical ideas.

Blood rites by S.J. Rozan Grandfather Gao is one of the most respected – some would say feared – men in China Town. When he asks for a favour, refusal is not an option. Which is how Lydia Chin and Bill Smith find themselves heading to Hong Kong to deliver the ashes of his oldest friend to his grandson. On arrival in the city, they find that the young boy and his nann have been kidnapped. And, far from wanting the two detectives to help, the family closes ranks. But then two separate ransom demands arrive…

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink In Germany after the Second World War, the teenaged Michael embarks on an intense affair with Hanna, an older woman, which ends when she suddenly leaves. Years later, Michael discovers Hanna in the dock, accused of war crimes, but he realises that she is hiding what to her is an even more terrible secret. The book is a moving analysis of guilt, motivation and redemption. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows It’s 1946 and writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter about books from Dawsey Adams, a Guernsey farmer. A correspondence begins which gradually involves other members of the Guernsey literary society formed to relieve the grimness of life under the German occupation. The Sunday Telegraph described this book as ‘funny, moving and quite unlike anything I have read for a long time’. LP CD

Rescue by Anita Shreve Paramedic Peter Webster is in favour of a quiet life surrounded by a loving family. Instead he rescues and then falls in love with the troubled Sheila. Eighteen years later, he is raising their daughter Rowan alone and facing major problems. Maybe this time, Sheila can be the one to come to the rescue. This is touching tale of human relationships told with the subtlety and skill of an accomplished storyteller. LP CD DL

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 but her cells, taken without her knowledge or that of her family, are still alive today, supporting a multimillion dollar industry. A remarkable scientific detective story, the book explores the human and moral issues behind a medical advance which helped to save thousands of lives but nearly destroyed a family. NF

Toast by Nigel Slater Toast is the award-winning story of the author’s childhood remembered through food. His culinary likes and dislikes form a rich backdrop to this honest and evocative portrait of childhood and adolescence, vividily recreating daily life in sixties surburban England through the prawn cocktail and lemon meringue pie. NF LP

Elephant Song by Wilbur Smith When National Park warden, Johnny Nzou is brutally murdered, his friend, TV naturalist Dr. Daniel Armstrong, vows to track down his killers. The quest involves him in a dangerous fight against the forces of greed, evil and corruption with the magnificent but beleagued continent of Africa as a back-drop. A fast-paced adventure from the master story-teller.

The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons In the spring of 1938, Austrian refugee Elise Landau arrives at Tyneford, a great house in Dorset, to work as a maid. She knows nothing about England, except that she won’t like it. This second book by the Dorset author evokes a lost era of wartime Britain and deals with exile, loss and love as Elise finds her home in a strange country. LP CD

The Help by Kathryn Stockett Set in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962, the book explores a vanished world where black maids raise white children and friendship across the racial divide is scarcely tolerated. The Help is an angry, funny, courageous book which is brilliant on food, weather, people and relationships. LP CD

Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne Child of a Singhalese mother and a Tamil father, Alice Fonseka escapes tragedy and injustice in Sri Lanka to create a new life for herself in London. Growing up in the new country, Alice struggles to find happiness and develop her artistic talents, until violence crosses her path once again. This is a rich and satisfying story, full of colour and feeling. CD Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday Fisheries scientist, Dr Alfred Jones finds himself reluctantly involved in a improbable project to bring salmon fishing to the Highlands of the Yemen. The project will change his life, and the course of British political history. This is a highly unusual, and very endearing book about hypocrisy and bureaucracy, love and the power of human dreams. LP DL

Two evils by PJ Tracey A missing teenage girl lies dead in a parking lot. Two young immigrants are killed in their apartment. Three men are found dead in the street nearby. As the police struggle to establish what's happened, they realise that the deaths may not be as random as they first appear. As the killings continue, homicide detectives Magozzi and Rolseath turn to maverick computer analyst Grace McBride for help, drawing her into an investigation that will threaten her life. And as the evidence mounts, it reveals terrifying intent. Ultimately, it forces the two detectives to make a dreadful choice: down which path does the lesser of two evils lie ... LP

Sex and Stravinsky by Barbara Trapido Artist Josh and his brilliant, managing wife, Caroline have a harmonious marriage in spite of their seeming incompatibility, drawn together by Caroline’s monstrous mother. It is when Josh takes a trip to Africa and meets a former girlfriend that things start to unravel and unresolved issues from the past surface. Themes of identity and character tie together this engaging, funny, sometimes gritty story. LP CD

The little stranger by Sarah Waters In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his. Prepare yourself. From this wonderful writer who continues to astonish us, now comes a chilling ghost story. CD

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh This intense story centres on the relationship between the narrator, Charles Ryder, and the aristocratic Catholic family of his Oxford friend Lord Sebastion Flyte. The themes of memory, religious devotion, human relationships and changing society are skilfully interwoven. CD

The legacy by Katherine Webb In the depths of a harsh winter, following the death of their grandmother, Erica Calcott and her sister Beth return to Storton Manor, a grand and imposing Wiltshire house where they spent their summer holidays as children. When Erica begins to sort through her grandmother's belongings, she is flooded with memories of her childhood - and of her cousin, Henry, whose disappearance from the manor tore the family apart. Erica sets out to discover what happened to Henry, so that the past can be laid to rest, and her sister, Beth, might finally find some peace. CD

Precious Bane by Mary Webb This is the story of Prudence and Gideon Sarn, the beautiful Jancis Beguildy and her father, the wizard and Kester Woodseaves, the weaver. In her portrait of a remote country district in the early 19th century, Mary Webb evokes a forgotten world of superstition, ambition, vengeance and love. The return of the soldier by Rebecca West The soldier returns from the front to the three women who love him. His wife, Kitty, with her cold, moonlight beauty, and his devoted cousin Jenny wait in their exquisite home on the crest of the Harrow-weald. Margaret Allington, his first and long-forgotten love, is nearby in the dreary suburb of Wealdstone. But the soldier is shell-shocked and can only remember the Margaret he loved fifteen years before, when he was a young man and she an inn- keeper's daughter. His cousin he remembers only as a childhood playmate; his wife he remembers not at all. The women have a choice - to leave him where he wishes to be, or to 'cure' him. It is Margaret who reveals a love so great that she can make the final sacrifice. CD

East of Acre Lane by Alex Wheatle Biscuit lives with his mother, brother and sister in South London and does jobs for bad man, Nunchaks. It’s 1981, the community is on the verge of exploding and Biscuit has to make a choice. A funny, sharp, hard hitting thriller set against the backdrop of the Brixton riots.

Why be happy when you could be normal? by Jeanette Winterson In 1985 Jeanette Winterson's first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, was published. It was Jeanette's version of the story of a terraced house in Accrington, an adopted child, and the thwarted giantess Mrs Winterson. It was a cover story, a painful past written over and repainted. It was a story of survival. This book is that story's the silent twin. It is full of hurt and humour and a fierce love of life. It is about the pursuit of happiness, about lessons in love, the search for a mother and a journey into madness and out again. It is generous, honest and true. NF LP CD

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth This is a warm but gritty picture of London’s East End in the 1950s, told by a natural story- teller. Working as a midwife in the decaying post-war city, the narrator gives us a close up view of a tough, humorous, resilient community existing in sometimes appalling conditions, a vivid portrait of a world which has now changed utterly. LP CD

Obedience by Jacqueline Yallop In a convent in rural France, three ageing nuns remain. Cloistered within her failing faith and her failing body, Sister Bernard navigates each day by the simple markers domesticity; but when the convent is threatened with closure the soft threads of piety and daily existence unravel. What lies beneath are Sister Bernard's terrible memories of wartime disgrace; of a German soldiers' bet turning lust into a love that deafened the heavens, of the full horror of both war and motherhood, and of a furious God who begun to sulk. Obedience is the story of a woman in a spinning world, and her attempts to keep her bearings. It draws its power from the grey spaces between guilt and innocence, the power of memory and how the aching need to love, and be loved, can cause good people to do terrible things. LP CD

My Dear, I wanted to tell you by Louisa Young While Riley Purefoy and Peter Locke fight for their country, their survival and their sanity in the trenches of Flanders, Nadine Waveney, Julia Locke and Rose Locke do what they can at home. Beautiful, obsessive Julia and gentle, eccentric Peter are married: each day Julia goes through rituals to prepare for her beloved husband’s return. Nadine and Riley, only eighteen when the war starts, and with problems of their own already, want above all to make promises - but how can they when the future is not in their hands? And Rose? Well, what did happen to the traditionally brought-up women who lost all hope of marriage, because all the young men were dead? Moving between Ypres, London and Paris, My Dear, I wanted to tell you is a deeply affecting, moving and brilliant novel of love and war, and how they affect those left behind as well as those who fight. LP CD

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon At the age of 10, Daniel is taken by his father to the ‘Cemetery of Forgotten Books’ hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona. Here he chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax, but as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find and the life and death of Carax. A rich, larger-than-life novel full of plots, subplots, characters, love, magic, murder and madness. LP CD

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak This is a remarkable book narrated by Death, full of strong human characters and infused with grim humour. In 1939 Nazi Germany, death has never been busier. Nine-year-old Liesel steals books. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street as the bombs begin to fall. LP CD