 Maps For Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam
In Aslam's compelling and poetic novel, two boys Jugnu and Chanda disappear from an Asian community in an English town and Chanda's brothers are arrested for their murder. All that is sacred to the family starts to unravel. Aslam portrays a family at the crossroads of culture, community, nationality and religion.
 Without Blood by Alessandro Baricco
By the author of the cult classic, Silk, Without Blood opens with an act of terrible violence – a violent vendetta against a family – and a single, unexpected act of mercy. But why was 4-year-old Nina spared? From a distance of 50 years, she remembers, reappraises, and tries to tease out the truth. Translated from Italian.
Making the Beds for the Dead by Gillian Clarke
In the title poem, a virus comes from outer space and travels on a fox's paw, a kite's beak, a crow and a buzzard, into the heart of our lives. Clarke is one of Wales's best-loved poets, and in this book her poems touch on farming, nature, war and urban violence.
Going East by Matthew D'Ancona
In this colourful, bustling novel, pampered Mia Taylor loses her fortune and has to get by in London's East End. The twists and turns of the plot are handled with a light touch, but it is London itself, in all its richness, shabbiness and diversity, that is the book's most vivid character.
Madness Visible by Janine di Giovanni
Vivid account of the 1990s war in Bosnia by Times journalist di Giovanni, with stark reportage from the time, and follow-up interviews with people whose lives have been irrevocably changed by the events.
Newton's Darkness by Carl Djerassi
Newton laid the basis for much of modern science 300 years ago. He also fought bitterly with his fellow scholars. In two plays, Djerassi, himself a scientist, explores the battles between Newton and three other towering figures of 17th century science: physicist Robert Hooke, astronomer John Flamsteed and German scientist Gottfried Leibniz.
 Gaza Blues: Different stories by Samir el-Youssef and Etgar Keret
Hard-edged, urban stories from a Palestinian and an Israeli writer. El-Youssef was born and grew up in Rashidia refugee camp in Lebanon and now lives in London. Keret was born and still lives in Tel Aviv. Their short stories are often darkly comic, illuminating the absurdity as well as the tragedy of what Palestinians call 'The Situation'.
A Fine Line: New Poetry from Eastern and Central Europe
Vaclav Havel introduces this anthology of young poets in translation from 10 eastern and central European countries. This is the post-Communist generation: witty, ironic, unafraid; writing with fresh vision and metaphysical zest.
Aloft by Chang-Rae Lee
The third novel from Korean-American Lee explores identity, the urge to escape and the sheer stubborn messiness of life as a human. Lee addresses these big issues, with discursions into food, sex and the joys of flying, through the rueful eyes of 59-year-old Jerry Battle, whose family just won't stop needing him.
The Way The Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Eight-year-old Madeleine grows up happy on a Canadian airbase in the 1960s, secure in the optimism of post-war North America. But secrets surround her family, and a local murder changes things for ever. In this evocative novel, the Cold War comes very close to home.
Reading Pictures by Alberto Manguel
A guide to some of art's most teasing and perplexing images by the Argentine-Canadian novelist, intellectual and all round man of letters. With wit, humanity and erudition, Manguel explores images that range from the 'hairy girl' of 16th century Italy to Picasso's mistress, and conjures with the stories they evoke.
Amagansett by Mark Mills
A haunting literary mystery. In the aftermath of the Second World War, fishermen discover a New York socialite dead in their nets on Long Island's windswept coast. Two investigations begin: one official, one personal, and the intricate secrets of the small town of Amagansett start to unfurl.
Matter by Sean O'Brien, Lily Dunn, Tony Williams and others
Fourth and latest edition of the magazine anthology of new writing from the Sheffield Hallam MA in Creative Writing. Includes work by students and new work by poet and playwright Sean O'Brien, who tutors the course.
The Dust Diaries by Owen Sheers
A mesmerising blend of biography, travel writing and fiction. The author retraces the steps of his uncle, poet and radical, Arthur Cripps, who went to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as a missionary and lived with the Shona people. Sheers writes lyrically and vividly, and the book is alive with his own sense of discovery.
Venus as a Boy by Luke Sutherland
Sutherland's debut novel, Jelly Roll, was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Prize. This follow-up is a dark fable about a boy from Orkney who can give people visions of heaven by making love to them. It raises intriguing questions about sex, power and sacrifice.
Brass by Helen Walsh
Walsh has burst on to the literary scene with this first novel about 19-year-old Millie who drops out of university to live rough in Liverpool. Fascinated by prostitution, Millie pushes herself through limit after limit in her quest for identity. Raw, shocking and beautifully written.
The Herbalist: Nicholas Culpeper and the fight for medical freedom by Benjamin Woolley
The award-winning author of The Queen's Conjuror tells the story of Nicholas Culpeper - rebel, radical, Puritan and author of the great Herbal. Woolley brings alive the teeming life of 17th century London. This is a fascinating history of a visionary maverick whose work still inspires many today.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
In 1945, Daniel is taken by his father to a hidden library in the heart of old Barcelona, and chooses one book, called The Shadow of the Wind. Years later, he meets a man who resembles a character from the book, and who is on a quest to destroy all the remaining copies. Zafon's short, dazzling novel about reality, illusion and obsession has taken Europe by storm. Are UK bookshops ready for Zafonmania?
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