 | Clear: A Transparent Novel by Nicola Barker
Buy new: £1.78 / Used from: £0.97 A character in this novels says at one stage: "If you are looking for depth, you're diving at the wrong end". He could be talking about this novel! That said Barker writes with great panache.
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 | Old Filth by Jane Gardam
Buy new: £2.97 / Used from: £0.46 Full of quirky and eccentric characters, this is a very moving story.
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 | Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.01 Part black comedy, part suspense thriller, the book keeps you guessing till the end (and I gussed wrong!)
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 | Armadillo by William Boyd
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.01 I wanted to read this book ever since I watched a serial based on it some years ago. Boyd is a great story-teller.
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 | The Photograph by Penelope Lively
Buy new: £2.97 / Used from: £0.01 Lively excles at what she has always done very well: study of perceptions of human relationships. Beautifully written.
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 | A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
Buy new: £4.95 / Used from: £0.01 The main characters are not very convincing, and not much is offered in the way of insight in respect of their behaviours. But it is an easy read. The language is quaint.
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 | Merde Actually by Stephen Clarke
Buy new: £5.49 / Used from: £0.01 Not as funny as its predecessor (A Year in the Merde), but there are many witty one-liners. An ideal book to take on a holiday.
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 | Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Buy new: £2.89 / Used from: £0.01 The pathos underlying apparently simple observations and reminiscences, the horror of what is not said, and a moving ending makes the reading of this book an unforgettable experience. Outstanding.
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 | Bright Lights, Big City (Flamingo) by Jay McInerney
Buy used from: £0.01 I discovered Jay McInerney recently. This is his first book; and it is marvellous. A must read.
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 | Air Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones
Buy new: £0.95 / Used from: £0.01 Another easy read to take with you on a holiday. Don't expect great insights, though.
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 | Seventy-Two Virgins by Boris Johnson
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.01 Boris Johnson's debut novel is a hilarious take on a topical subject. Written in a style reminiscent of vintage Tom Sharpe, this is an entertaining novel.
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 | The Thought Gang by Tibor Fischer
Buy new: £2.97 / Used from: £0.01 Outrageously, scandalously funny. You get so engrossed in the quirky world of its bibulous protagonist that you tend to overlook the improbable situations and lack of cohesion in the plot.
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 | Saturday by Ian McEwan
Buy new: £4.95 / Used from: £0.01 The main character (Baxter) is not very convincing. The descriptions are long-winded, and go into unnecessary minutiae at times. Disappointing.
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 | The New York Trilogy: "City of Glass", "Ghosts" and "Locked Room" by Paul Auster
Buy new: £2.91 / Used from: £0.50 The three stories are possibly thematically connected, but it is impossible to analyse them satisfactorily. For what it is worth I found the last story most satisfying.
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 | Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.33 The book's opening pages (the best part) appear autobiographical, and then it becomes some sort of horror story. Didn't really know what to make of it. Probably not a great introduction to Ellis.
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