Books of the Month – March 2017

General Fiction: Bradley Somer – Fishbowl

Even a goldfish can dream of adventure… A truly original, philosophically joyful and charming novel with the unlikeliest of heroes. This is Tales of the City as seen by a goldfish..

» Visit Bradley Somer’s website www.bradleysomer.com

» View book trailer on youtube

British Crime: Joanne Harris – Different Class

The impressively versatile Joanne Harris in her psychological thriller mode, at her darkest and most unsettling. A magnificently plotted and twisty journey to the heart of a 24-year-old crime...

» Visit author website www.joanne-harris.co.uk

» TEDx-talk: Changing the world, one story at a time: Joanne Harris at TEDxSalford

Tough Crime: Rod Reynolds – The Dark Inside

In this town, no one is innocent. Rod Reynolds depicts the dark heart of 1940s Texas with terrific punch and authenticity, achieving the rare trick of combining fearsome grit with real heart. A seriously good debut.

Fantasy: Peter Newman – The Vagrant

The Vagrant is his name. He has no other. Years have passed since humanity’s destruction emerged from the Breach. His purpose is to reach the Shining City, last bastion of the human race, and deliver the only weapon that may make a difference in the ongoing war.

» Visit author website www.runpetewrite.com

Science Fiction: James L. Cambias – A Darkling Sea

Beneath a sky of ice, three worlds collide. A fascinating exploration of alien lives at the extreme edges of an alien world. Traditional science fiction but with today's science.

» Visit author blog www.jamescambias.com

Paranormal/Urban Fantasy: Mark Morris – Wolves of London

Morris not only crosses genre boundaries, but creates an entirely new territory in the landscape of dark fiction. Part crime novel, part fantasy, part science fiction – entirely engrossing.

» Visit author website www.markmorrisfiction.com

Teen: Nicola Yoon - The Sun is Also a Star

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won't be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store - for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

» Visit author website www.nicolayoon.com

Classic: Joan Didion – Play it as it Lays

A ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s, Play It As It Lays captures the mood of an entire generation. Joan Didion chose Hollywood to serve as her microcosm of contemporary society and exposed a culture characterised by emptiness and ennui.

Non-Fiction: Witze & Kanipe – Island on Fire

The extraordinary story of Laki, the Icelandic volcano that turned eighteenth-century Europe dark. Shortlisted for the 2016 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.

» Visit Alexandra Witze’s website

» Visit Jeff Kanipe’s website

Short Story Collection:  Helen Oyeyemi – What is Not Yours is Not Yours

Here. Take this key. It might open a house, a heart, a secret.

What links each of the stories in Helen Oyeyemi’s collection is keys: keys that are gifts, threats, invitations, gateways. Keys that haven’t found their locks. Here, as characters slip from the pages of their own stories only to surface in another, you will find vanished libraries and locked gardens, lovers exchanging books and roses, and a city where all the clocks have stopped…

Longlisted for the 2017 Dylan Thomas Prize.

» Visit author website www.helenoyeyemi.com