Page Turners

Great new reads for home or abroad

Small world

Slinkachu (Boxtree)
Little People in the City
London artist Slinkachu makes tiny models, often depicting the slightly darker side of modern life, then places them just out of sight all around town in places like London and Manchester. Boasting everything from spooky protesters through to minute scrapping office workers, this book reveals some of the UK’s best, and smallest, public artworks.

National jokes

Steve Lowe and Alan McArthur (Sphere)
Blighty
The authors behind the modern life winge-athon, Is it Just Me or is Everything Shit?, turn their acerbic skills on Great Britain. Expect a very funny, if a little haphazard, jaunt around this sceptred isle. Stonehenge, Morris Men and Charles Dickens all make an appearance.

NY noir

Benjamin Black (Picador)
The Lemur
A slick, contemporary thriller by Booker Prize winner John Banville (published under his more commercial pen name), The Lemur pairs Northern Ireland’s troubles with CIA intrigue, chichi Manhattan socialite circles and grubby muck raking. As serialised in The New York Times.

Spell bound

John Updike (Hamish Hamilton)
The Widows of Eastwick
The award-winning author –best-known for this novel’s precursor, The Witches of Eastwick – returns to his 1984 creation, charting the lives of three East Coast American ladies with a flair for the dark arts. Having travelled the world, the girls return to their Rhode Island hometown to face old foes.

Middle rage

Amanda Brookfield (Michael Joseph)
Life Begins
Mid-life crises have hit Charlotte Turner. Her recent divorce has left her uncomfortably single, her troubled 12-year-old son has put strain on her mothering skills, and longhidden secrets are about to resurface. Life Begins follows Charlotte as she tries to get her happiness back.

White lines

Matt Barr and Gabriella le Breton (Footprint)
Skiing Europe
Our jam-packed guide to the slopes on page 88 was written by Matt Barr, co-author of this fantastic book. Covering 10 countries and more than 100 resorts, Skiing Europe is an indispensable tool for anyone planning a winter sports break on the Continent.