Book of the month

General Fiction Book of the Month – December 2017

The extraordinary first novel by the bestselling, Folio Prize-winning, National Book Award-shortlisted George Saunders, about Abraham Lincoln and the death of his eleven-year-old son, Willie, at the dawn of the Civil War.  Unfolding over a single night, Lincoln in the Bardo is written with George Saunders' inimitable humour, pathos and grace. 

General Fiction Book of the Month – November 2017

A moving and beautifully observed novel, of adolescence, ambition and self-realization, of fathers and sons, set in contemporary Bombay, by the Man Booker Prize winning author of The White Tiger and Last Man in Tower.

General Fiction Book of the Month – October 2017

In the wake of family collapse, a writer and her two young sons move to London. The process of upheaval is the catalyst for a number of transitions – personal, moral, artistic, practical – as she endeavours to construct a new reality for herself and her children. ”Page-turningly enthralling and charged with the power to move” – Guardian. (Join our Modern Fiction Reading Group to discuss this book!)

General Fiction Book of the Month – September 2017

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017! Autumn. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. That's what it felt like for Keats in 1819. How about Autumn 2016? Daniel is a century old. Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future. The United Kingdom is in pieces, divided by a historic once-in-a-generation summer. Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever. The first in a seasonal quartet. (Join our Modern Fiction Reading Group to discuss this book!)

General Fiction Book of the Month – August 2017

One Day meets The Time Traveler’s Wife in this spellbinding, magical debut novel about love, loss, hope and heartbreak that shows us that for each of us, the world can be as lonely or as beautiful as the comets that illuminate the skies above us. Roisin and Francois first meet in the snowy white expanse of Antarctica. And everything changes

General Fiction Book of the Month – July 2017

In the midst of a mysterious environmental crisis, as London is submerged below flood waters, a woman gives birth to her first child, Z. Days later, the family are forced to leave their home in search of safety. Startlingly beautiful, Megan Hunter's The End We Start From is a gripping novel that paints an imagined future as realistic as it is frightening. And yet, though the country is falling apart around them, this family's world – of new life and new hope – sings with love.

General Fiction Book of the Month – June 2017

WINNER BAILEYS PRIZE 2017! All over the world women are discovering they have the power. With a flick of the fingers they can inflict terrible pain – even death. Suddenly, every man on the planet finds they've lost control. The Day of the Girls has arrived – but where will it end?  –  'Electrifying’ – Margaret Atwood 'A big, page-turning, thought-provoking thriller’ – Guardian 

General Fiction Book of the Month – May 2017

When the meaning of 'home' is complicated, we strive for a sense of connection. Yet sometimes being alone feels like the easiest choice to make. Written with startling beauty and power, Harmless Like You explores the complexities of identity and art and captures, over decades and cities, a fractured family narrative of love, loneliness and reconciliation.  

General Fiction Book of the Month – April 2017

An evocative coming of age journey across 60s America. This beautifully written debut novel would not be out of place alongside the work of Steinbeck and Philipp Meyer’s American Rust. Mark Thompson’s Dust is at turns funny, and at others heart-achingly sad, the story unfolds around the honest and frequently irreverent observations of two young people trying to grow up fast in a world that is at times confusing, and at others seen with a clarity only the young may possess.

General Fiction Book of the Month – March 2017

Even a goldfish can dream of adventure… From his enviable view from a balcony on the 27th floor of an apartment block, Ian the Goldfish has frequent – if fleeting – desires for a more exciting life. Until one day, a series of unfortunate events give him an opportunity to escape… Our story begins, however, with the human inhabitants of Ian’s building. And as Ian tumbles perilously downwards, he will witness all their lives, loves, triumphs and disasters… Fishbowl by Bradley Somer is our general fiction Book of the Month. A truly original, philosophically joyful and charming novel with the unlikeliest of heroes. This is Tales of the City as seen by a goldfish.