 | The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Buy new: £3.86 / Used from: £2.45 Original and creepy take on the Holocaust.
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 | A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory
Buy new: £3.47 / Used from: £0.60 A densely written serial killer book, with literary aspects.
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 | The Rose Of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon
Buy new: £4.40 / Used from: £0.01 Decent historical novel: a bit too long. Takes some getting into, but rewards the effort.
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 | Devil May Care (James Bond) by Sebastian Faulks
Buy new: £9.49 / Used from: £7.25 A Bond "homage" that reminds you why no one reads Fleming any more.
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 | Zoia's Gold by Philip Sington
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.01 Mysterious and powerfully written mystery based on an extraordinary woman's real-life letters.
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 | The Island by Victoria Hislop
Buy new: £4.66 / Used from: £0.01 Interesting subject, amateurish execution.
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 | Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann
Buy new: £3.86 / Used from: £0.39 Two thematically related tales that finally link up. A charged, romantic read, a bit longer than it should be.
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 | The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Buy new: £4.99 / Used from: £0.77 Odd "gothic" ghost story, too overdrawn to be very scary.
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 | The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Buy new: £4.99 / Used from: £0.01 Charming tale, wittily told in a New York/magic realism kind-of-way.
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 | Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
Buy new: £3.07 / Used from: £1.08 Entertaining early on; drags a little later. Icky ending.
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 | Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
Buy new: £8.57 / Used from: £7.39 Deliberately anachronistic novel, reminiscent of Conrad and Dickens set in the Far East.
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 | The Girls by Lori Lansens
Buy new: £0.75 / Used from: £0.01 Worthy subject, drags a little.
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 | Sashenka by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Buy new: £7.79 / Used from: £6.05 Seriously hyped historical yarn that takes far too long to get going.
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 | Restless by William Boyd
Buy new: £1.20 / Used from: £0.01 Undemanding spy story. Enjoyable but a little thin.
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 | Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Buy new: £4.90 / Used from: £0.70 Astute, tragic unfinished novel.
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 | The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
Buy new: £5.22 / Used from: £0.01 Engaging but drawn-out historical detective yarn.
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 | The Book With No Name by Anonymous
Buy new: £3.99 / Used from: £2.28 Reads like the treatment for a very bad movie.
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 | The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde
Buy new: £1.31 / Used from: £0.01 Very average American mystery with too many familiar elements.
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 | The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Buy new: £4.94 / Used from: £0.01 Convoluted, OTT and slightly silly mystery redeemed by humour and occasional panache. But no masterpiece.
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 | A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
Buy new: £4.95 / Used from: £0.01 Engaging and gently amusing. (But not hilarious.)
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 | The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Buy new: £7.90 / Used from: £4.35 Protracted examination of cultural alienation.
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 | On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Buy new: £7.02 / Used from: £1.48 Many people say McEwan is overrated. This is an ideal (i.e. quick) way to find out for yourself.
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 | The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
Buy new: £8.99 / Used from: £6.75 Interwar Malaya. Good first novel of an anti-colonial bent.
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 | What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
Buy new: £4.34 / Used from: £2.00 Droll look at growing up in the 1980s. Distinctive.
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 | The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Buy new: £3.86 / Used from: £2.51 Slightly disjointed historical mystery. An easy read.
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