BROOKLYN by COLM TOIBIN (Viking £17.99) A warm-hearted, beautifully written tale from the Booker-shortlisted novelist about a young Irish girl’s experiences as an immigrant in post-war New York — an elating read

HOME by MARILYNNE ROBINSON (Virago £7.99) The much-feted Robinson won this year’s Orange prize for this quiet but hugely affecting story of the tensions that arise when a lost soul returns to his family.

DEVIL MAY CARE by SEBASTIAN FAULKS (Penguin £7.99) A dastardly scheme to flood swinging 1960s London with heroin sees James Bond back in business in this expertly plotted and engagingly playful new 007 story.

THE CHILDREN'S BOOK by AS BYATT (Chatto £18.99) A multilayered tale set in Edwardian Britain explores the secrets gnawing away at three families; Byatt’s best novel since Possession.

THE LITTLE STRANGER by SARAH WATERS (Virago £16.99) The great strength of this taut, involving ghost story, set in a post-war country house, is the brilliance of its social observation.

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by STIEG LARSSON (MacLehose Press £7.99) The second volume in this cultish and hugely popular crime trilogy sees our two protagonists involved in a sex-trafficking case.

NONFICTION CHOICE

D-DAY by ANTONY BEEVOR (Viking £25) Beevor’s account of the Normandy landings brilliantly illuminates the campaign and breathes new life into events; as powerful and authoritative a history as we are likely to see this generation.

ON ROADS: A Hidden History by JOE MORAN (Profile £14.99) From the hell of the M25 to a superb chapter on road rage, this quirky account of our relationship with the modern road is a quiet masterpiece.

ME CHEETA by JAMES LEVER (Fourth Estate £7.99) Hilarious spoof of a celebrity memoir from a grizzled old showbiz chimp who views Hollywood in zoological terms; packed with fabulous sideswipes and vicious jabs at fellow stars.

LOVE CHILD: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found by ALLEGRA HUSTON (Bloomsbury £17.99) Huston’s telling of her disordered Hollywood childhood is unflinching and full of pathos.

THE SUSPICIONS OF MR WHICHER by KATE SUMMERSCALE (Vintage £8.99) Riveting examination of an intriguing Victorian murder case that inspired Dickens

YOU ARE HERE: A Portable History of the Universe by CHRISTOPHER POTTER (Hutchinson £20) One of the most entertaining and thoughtful pop-science books to be published for years.

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