Page Turners

10 February 09

Books editor Alex Rayner offers up some great new reads for home or abroad.

London sprawling
Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire
Iain Sinclair
Sinclair is known for his cerebral city excursions that uncover the UK capital’s hidden wonders. This volume centres on the city’s maligned eastern borough, about to be gentrified in preparation for the coming Olympics.

Growing pains
Summer Blonde
Adrian Tomine
US comic artist Tomine has a knack for capturing the less seen, more painful side of young adulthood. Sitting somewhere between a Todd Solondz film and an episode of Skins, this graphic novel, in stunning black and white, is a sickly adolescent thrill.

Ms Placed
A Lost Wife’s Tale
Marion McGilvary
Edith Lutz is a woman on the run, haunted by her past. However, when she lands a job as housekeeper for newly divorced publisher Adam, she’s forced to reveal more about her mysterious life, in this rewarding slice of femme fiction.

Child’s play
Mr Toppit
Charles Elton
Literary heavyweight of the month, this era-spanning debut details the runaway success of a series of obscure children’s books, years after their hapless author passes away. Can his family now handle the fame, or decipher the books’ hidden depths?

Fresh blood
The New Annotated Dracula
Bram Stoker / Leslie S Klinger
No trip to Romania is complete without a copy of this classic – and this latest version adds a fascinating, modern gloss, looking into every subtext going. Look out for the introduction by best-selling author Neil Gaiman.

Worlds apart
Cities of the World
Stephan Füssel
Forget Google, these 16th-century maps of cities in Europe, Asia and Africa — produced in Cologne by German engravers Braun and Hogenberg — are far more fascinating. You’ll love the antique details, as well as the surprising degree of latter-day accuracy.