Books of the month for April

General Fiction: Nell Zink – Wallcreeper

The Wallcreeper is nothing more than a portrait of marriage, complete with all its requisite highs and lows: drugs, dubstep, small chores, anal sex, eco-terrorism, birding, breeding and feeding.

British Crime: James Marrison – The Drowning Ground (Guillermo Downes #1)

Tough Crime: John Clarkson – Among Thieves

They thought they could cover up what an out-of-control trader at a Manhattan brokerage firm did to Olivia Sanchez. She worked hard, played by the rules, but so what? Blackball her from the industry and be done with her. Who's going to stop them? No one-until now.

When Olivia turns to her cousin Manny, an ex-con and ex--gang leader, all bets are off. Manny sets out to take care of the arrogant bastard who hurt his cousin-for good. But his partner, James Beck, part of a tight clique of ex-cons based in Brooklyn's Red Hook, convinces Manny to hold off. Things can be complicated in the world of finance. But even Beck could not have imagined how much is really at stake…

Soon Beck and his loyal band are forced into an escalating war against criminals of every stripe-from Wall Street honchos and Russian mobsters to arms dealers and even the NYPD. Now, the only way for Beck to stay out of prison is to outsmart, outfight, never concede, and ultimately rob their enemies of tens of millions of dollars… if he doesn't lose his life first.

Science Fiction: Marc Turner – When the Heavens Fall (Chronicles of Exile #1)

If you pick a fight with Shroud, Lord of the Dead, you had better ensure your victory, else death will mark only the beginning of your suffering.A book giving its wielder power over the dead has been stolen from a fellowship of mages that has kept the powerful relic dormant for centuries. The thief, a crafty, power-hungry necromancer, intends to use the Book of Lost Souls to resurrect an ancient race and challenge Shroud for dominion of the underworld. Shroud counters by sending his most formidable servants to seize the artifact at all cost.However, the god is not the only one interested in the Book, and a host of other forces converge, drawn by the powerful magic that has been unleashed. Among them is a reluctant Guardian who is commissioned by the Emperor to find the stolen Book, a troubled prince who battles enemies both personal and political, and a young girl of great power, whose past uniquely prepares her for an encounter with Shroud. The greatest threat to each of their quests lies not in the horror of an undead army but in the risk of betrayal from those closest to them. Each of their decisions comes at a personal cost and will not only affect them, but also determine the fate of their entire empire.

Fantasy: Matthew de Abaitua – The Destructives

Theodore Drown is a"destructive." A recovering addict to weirdcore, he s keeping his head down lecturing at the university of the Moon. Twenty years after the appearance of the first artificial intelligence, and humanity is stuck. The AIs or, as they preferred to be called, emergences have left Earth and reside beyond the orbit of Mercury in a Stapledon Sphere known as the university of the sun. The emergences were our future but they chose exile. All except one. Dr Easy remains, researching a single human life from beginning to end. Theodore s life.

One day, Theodore is approached by freelance executive Patricia to investigate an archive of data retrieved from just before the appearance of the first emergence. The secret living in that archive will take him on an adventure through a stunted future of asylum malls, corporate bloodrooms and a secret off-world colony where Theodore must choose between creating a new future for humanity or staying true to his nature, and destroying it.

Paranormal/Urban Fantasy: Daniel José Older – Half-Resurrection Blues

Urban.Carlos Delacruz in one of the New York Council of the Dead's most unusual agents- an inbetweener, partially resurrected from a death he barely recalls suffering, after a life that's missing from his memory. He thinks he is one of a kind- until he encounters other entities walking the fine line between life and death.

Classic of the Month: Flannery O'Connor – Wise Blood

Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor's first novel, is the story of Hazel Motes who, released from the armed services, returns to the evangelical Deep South. There he begins a private battle against the religiosity of the community and in particular against Asa Hawkes, the 'blind' preacher, and his degenerate fifteen-year-old daughter. In desperation Hazel founds his own religion, 'The Church without Christ', and this extraordinary narrative moves towards its savage and macabre resolution.

Teen reading: Frances Hardinge – The Lie Tree

Faith's father has been found dead under mysterious circumstances, and as she is searching through his belongings for clues she discovers a strange tree. The tree only grows healthy and bears fruit if you whisper a lie to it. The fruit of the tree, when eaten, will deliver a hidden truth to the person who consumes it. The bigger the lie, the more people who believe it, the bigger the truth that is uncovered.

The girl realizes that she is good at lying and that the tree might hold the key to her father's murder, so she begins to spread untruths far and wide across her small island community. But as her tales spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter…

Non-Fiction: Chris Wright – No More Worlds to Conquer: Sixteen People Who Defined Their Time - and What They Did Next

What do you do next if you have walked on the moon? How do you follow the first perfect 10 in Olympic history? How do you move on after surviving a plane crash? Some people will forever be defined by a single moment.

Chris Wright has travelled the globe tracking down a remarkable assortment of high achievers. From the astronaut who turned to painting to the World Cup-winning footballer who became an undertaker, each has grappled with the challenge of finding meaning once their fame has faded.

In a series of revealing interviews with strikingly contrasting personalities, we discover Chuck Yeager’s irascibility, John McCarthy’s extraordinary even-tempered decency, the tough practicality of Nadia Comaneci and the fastidiously structured mind of mountaineer Reinhold Messner.

Though very different, all these oddly feted individuals have one trait in common: after their appointment with destiny the did not spend the rest of their lives looking backwards. No More Worlds to Conquer explains why.