Life of Pi, by Yann Martel

One boy, one boat, one tiger… After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan – and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and best-loved works of fiction in recent years, now reissued by Canongate in advance of a worldwide readalong.

Bears of England, by Mick Jackson

Bears of England is another eccentric delight from the author of The Underground Man and Ten Sorry Tales, with illustrations by David Roberts. Featuring bears in chains, the circus bears of Bristol, the Victorian sewer bears and the spirit-bears of yore, Mick Jackson’s strange bear bestiary explores some little-known chapters in England’s past.

Mixing folk tale with fantasy, and history with myth, the narrative that unfolds is dark, playful and filled with unexpected moments, as it marches ever forward towards a strange convergence. You can read a review at our sister site Bookgeeks.

The Flying Troutmans, by Miriam Toews

Hattie is living in Paris, city of romance, but has just been dumped by her boyfriend. Min, her sister back in Canada, is going through a particularly dark period. And Min’s two kids, Logan and Thebes, are not talking and talking way too much, respectively.

So when Hattie receives a phone call in the middle of the night from eleven-year-old Thebes, begging her to return to Canada and help sort out their family, she knows she has to go. When she arrives home, Min is on her way to a psychiatric ward, and Hattie becomes responsible for her niece and nephew. She quickly realises that she is way out of her depth, and hatches a plan to find the kids’ long-lost father. With only the most tenuous lead to go on, she piles Logan and Thebes into the family van, and they head south.

At once hilarious and heartrending, The Flying Troutmans tells the story of a fractured family on the verge of spinning off its axles and a road trip that just might keep them together.

Harry, Revised, by Mark Sarvas

Harry Rent, recently widowed and struggling to deal with the loss, finds himself in an unfortunate conundrum. He finds himself in love. From Harry’s first hapless pursuit of Molly, the waitress at his local diner, we follow the transformation of one man (a little past his prime), who must embrace the future by finally facing up to his past. Harry, Revised is enormously funny and moving, a tale of love and its complications. You can read a review at our sister site Bookgeeks, as well as an interview with Mark Sarvas.

The Hurricane Party, by Klas Östergren

Hanck Orn’s son is dead. When they come to the door they tell him it was a heart attack, but he knows they are lying. So he travels to the outermost reaches of the land to find out what really happened. When he lands on the island he is met by a young woman, hair streaked with blood, raving like a lunatic. She is one of the sisters, who tell him the story of how his son died in the great hall of the Clan, the Norse gods, who were holding a party. But the festivities soon got out of hand, the guests began to argue with one another, and the mischievous shapeshifter Loki dealt a deadly blow. Set in a dystopian future that recalls Orwell and Zamyatin, Klas Ostergren has weaved a dizzying story of magnificent scope and foul play. Moving from the golden halls to the depths of the underworld, it is about one man’s search for justice for his son in a world on the brink. A place where true love is so strong it can bring about the end of time.

This is How, by M.J. Hyland

When his fiancé breaks off their engagement, Patrick Oxtoby leaves home and moves into a boarding house in a remote seaside town. But in spite of his hopes and determination to build a better life, nothing goes to plan and Patrick is soon driven to take a desperate and chilling course of action. This is How is a mesmerising and meticulously drawn portrait of a man whose unease in the world leads to his tragic undoing. With breathtaking wisdom and an astute insight into the human mind, award-winning M.J. Hyland’s new book is a masterpiece that inspires horror and sympathy in equal measure.

Occupied City, by David Peace

‘We all know what this could be: we know it could be dysentery, we know it could be typhoid. In the Occupied City, we all know what this could mean -’ Tokyo, January 26th, 1948. As the third year of the US Occupation of Japan begins, a man enters a downtown bank. He speaks of an outbreak of dysentery and says he is a doctor, sent by the Occupation authorities, to treat anyone who might have been exposed. Clear liquid is poured into sixteen teacups. Sixteen employees of the bank drink this liquid according to strict instructions. Within minutes twelve of them are dead, the other four unconscious. The man disappears along with some, but not all, of the bank’s money. And so begins the biggest manhunt in Japanese history. In Occupied City, David Peace dramatises and explores the rumours of complicity, conspiracy and cover-up that surround the chilling case of the Teikoku Bank Massacre: of the man who was convicted of the crime, of the legacy of biological warfare programmes, and of the victims and survivors themselves. The second part of his acclaimed Tokyo Trilogy – and an extraordinary picture of a city in mourning – Occupied City is further evidence of a singular and formidable novelist.

Personal Velocity, by Rebecca Miller

The vibrantly fresh and lustrous stories in Miller’s collection explore the multifaceted lives of women in seven arresting portraits. Modern and diverse, these women of different classes and ages struggle with sexuality, fate, motherhood, infidelity, desperation, and an overriding will to survive. We meet Greta, a cookbook editor who is chosen by Tavi, the hottest writer of his generation, to edit his new book. The book becomes a best-seller and Greta is propelled out of her marriage by her own ambition and success. Other characters include Paula, a pregnant twenty-one-year-old, who is on the run from the horror of a man who was hit by a car and died while walking her home from a nightclub; Delia, an abused working-class wife who goes into hiding with her children; and Louisa, a painter who moves rapidly from one lover to the next, acting out a self-perpetuating drama over which she has no control. Edgy, fearless, and beautifully spare, Personal Velocity is a superb collection from one of the best writers in contemporary fiction.

All the Colours of the Town, by Liam McIlvanney

When Glasgow journalist Gerry Conway receives a phone call promising unsavoury information about Scottish Justice Minister Peter Lyons, his instinct is that this apparent scoop won’t warrant space in The Tribune. But as Conway’s curiosity grows and his leads proliferate, his investigation takes him from Scotland to Belfast. Shocked by the sectarian violence of the past, and by the prejudice and hatred he encounters even now, Conway soon grows obsessed with the story of Lyons and all he represents. And as he digs deeper, he comes to understand that there is indeed a story to be uncovered; and that there are people who will go to great lengths to ensure that it remains hidden. Compelling, vividly written and shocking, All the Colours of the Town is not only the story of an individual and his community – it is also a complex and thrilling inquiry into loyalty, betrayal and duty.

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