Books of the month for January

General Fiction: G. Willow Wilson – Alif the Unseen
This really exciting book by a young female muslim writer was nominated for the Orange Prize (Women’s Fiction Prize) in the UK. A glorious genre bending rollercoaster ride through myth, cyberspace, love and revolution, Alif the Unseen mixes ancient magic with modern adventure to create an extraordinary story.

British Crime: Sian Busby – A Commonplace Killing
A murder story set in London in 1946, which gradually peels away the veneer of stoicism and respectibility to reveal the dark truths at the heart of post-war austerity Britain.

Tough Crime: Jake Hinkson – The Posthumous Man
When Elliot Stilling killed himself, he thought his troubles were over. Then the ER doctors revived him. It's infatuation at first sight when he meets his nurse, Felicia Vogan, a strange young woman with a weakness for sad sacks and losers. After she helps Elliot escape from the hospital, she takes him back to her place. He's happy to go with her, even when she leads him straight to a gang planning a million dollar heist…

Paranormal/Urban Fantasy: Jenn Bennett – Bitter Spirits
"It’s the roaring twenties, and San Francisco is a hotbed of illegal boozing, raw lust, and black magic. The fog-covered Bay Area can be an intoxicating scene, particularly when you specialize in spirits…"

Fantasy: Alex Bledsoe – Hum and the Shiver
No one knows where the Tufa came from, or how they ended up in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Enigmatic and suspicious of outsiders, the Tufa live quiet lives in the hills and valleys of Cloud County. While their origins may be a mystery, there are hints of their true nature buried in the songs they have passed down for generations.

Science Fiction: Gareth L. Powell – Ack-Ack Macaque (#1)
In 1944, as waves of German ninjas parachute into Kent, Britain's best hopes for victory lie with a Spitfire pilot codenamed 'Ack-Ack Macaque'. The trouble is, Ack-Ack Macaque is a cynical, one-eyed, cigar-chomping monkey, and he's starting to doubt everything, including his own existence.
A century later, in a world where France and Great Britain merged in the late 1950s and nuclear-powered Zeppelins encircle the globe, ex-journalist Victoria Valois finds herself drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse… And all the while, the doomsday clock ticks towards Armageddon.

Teen reading: Robyn Schneider – Severed Heads, Broken Hearts
Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them – a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: In one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

Classic of the Month: G. K. Chesterton – The Man Who Was Thursday
In a park in London, secret policeman Gabriel Syme strikes up a conversation with an anarchist. Sworn to do his duty, Syme uses his new acquaintance to go undercover in Europe’s Central Anarchist Council and infiltrate their deadly mission, even managing to have himself voted to the position of “Thursday.” When Syme discovers another undercover policeman on the Council, however, he starts to question his role in their operations…