 | The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Buy new: £3.82 / Used from: £0.61 Love and involuntary time travel: a winning combination, even if the book does have its dull patches.
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 | Twilight (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer
Buy new: £3.44 / Used from: £1.96 This was the book that started the young adult vampire craze. A 'will they, won't they?' story with fangs.
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 | The Einstein Girl by Philip Sington
Buy new: £8.94 / Used from: £2.94 Superb historical thriller: compelling, unpredictable and completely convincing.
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 | The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Buy new: £5.00 / Used from: £0.01 The better of the two Hosseini books: compelling if a little contrived.
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 | The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £0.11 One of the more racy Booker winners. It actually has a plot - although not a brilliant one.
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 | Lustrum by Robert Harris
Buy new: £9.46 / Used from: £10.63 You do have like Ancient Rome and its particular brand of power politics to really get into the novel; but if you do, you are in for a treat.
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 | Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Buy new: £7.60 / Used from: £8.53 Gutsy and romance-free picture of Tudor England. Better by far than Philippa Gregory, at least in capturing a genuine feel for the age.
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 | Love and Summer by William Trevor
Buy new: £11.36 / Used from: £10.63 Quietly persuasive piece about the dangers of love from the veteran Irish writer.
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 | The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
Buy new: £4.80 / Used from: £0.01 Clever dissection of polygamy, wrapped around a murder mystery.
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 | Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Buy new: £8.49 / Used from: £8.06 'Quirky' is the best thing you can say about this rather contrived supernatural hotch-potch of a novel. Should have either been more chilling or more moving.
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 | The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Buy new: £9.48 / Used from: £9.00 Impressive and persuasive family saga set in the period 1890 -1920. A strong Booker contender.
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 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Buy new: £3.95 / Used from: £3.16 First in this Swedish crime series with a strong social message built in.
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 | The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Buy new: £8.99 / Used from: £2.90 Prequel to the above. Similar but still very involving, even if the language is a bit wooden sometimes.
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 | The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson
Buy new: £9.49 / Used from: £10.00 Last of the three. Stands alone. Pretty good.
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 | Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Buy new: £4.78 / Used from: £0.45 Expert dissection of what it means to "settle down" given a new lease of life by the recent movie. Far from uplifting, but very well done.
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 | The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Buy new: £3.48 / Used from: £0.01 Bennett on the Queen. Charming, short and funny.
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 | The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Buy new: £9.00 / Used from: £7.00 In commercial terms the publishing event of the year. By other measures a damp squib, accompanied by a sound of escaping wind. Freemansons? For gawd's sake, who cares?
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 | The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
Buy new: £4.23 / Used from: £0.89 A subtle, troubling introduction to the darker side of Europe's recent history.
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 | Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Buy new: £3.99 / Used from: £0.01 Good book for anyone with an interest in Africa and its troubles.
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 | Zoia's Gold by Philip Sington
Buy new: £5.96 / Used from: £0.01 No vampires here, but spectres (and horrors) lurk just out of sight in this haunting, beautifully written story based on fact.
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 | The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Buy new: £4.82 / Used from: £0.01 Grisly, lop-sided, overwritten and sentimental - with some good scenes here and there.
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 | The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Buy new: £9.49 / Used from: £3.87 More chunky Gothic fun. Sadly the larger-than-life style undermines the power of a tragic historical setting.
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 | Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
Buy new: £3.97 / Used from: £0.01 Much more fragmented than the movie, and lacking its narrative drive; but still it has other qualities of its own.
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 | One Day by David Nicholls
Buy new: £6.46 / Used from: £4.50 Frothy but fun story taking a day a year for 20 years and showing how people (well, some people) change.
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 | The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Buy new: £8.46 / Used from: £5.20 Waters turns to the supernatural in this odd, but quite pleasing semi-genre effort
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