The Falconers Knot by Mary Hoffman 
Bloomsbury £12.99

Silvano is accused of a murder he didn't commit and seeks sanctuary in a friary. He meets Chiara, a young girl abandoned by her family in a neighbouring convent. When murder after murder is committed at the friary the teenagers must find the real killer before it's too late. This is a fast-paced thriller set in mediaeval times and will appeal to readers 12+ years.

Recommended by Sandy

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
Fourth Estate £14.99

The Yaboubian Building is a once grand, now dilapidated edifice on one of Cairo's main boulevards. Its occupants range from those living in poverty on the rooftop to wealthier members of Egypt's elite. This novel caused quite a stir when it was published because it highlights the extent to which corruption and bribery dominate Egyptian society.

I loved the rich cast of characters, some of whom I really cared about by the end of the book. It gives a real insight into a very different way of living.

Recommended by Jane

Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia
Penguin £12.99

Co-author (with Brian Morton) of the enormous Penguin Guide to Jazz on cd, editor of the UK's best jazz magazine, author of a history of Blue Note Records, Richard Cook is an authoritative and reliable guide to this great music. His encyclopedia - pocket-sized if you have big pockets- naturally centres on the men & women who create the music, but he finds room for definitions of 'gig', 'cool' & 'square'. So don't be square, buy this book; it's only the price of a gig. And it's cool.

Recommended by Alan

Fatty Batter by Michael Simkins
Ebury Press £10.99

Fatty Batter describes how Michael Simpkin first discovered cricket as a fat little boy and then re-discovered it as an adult. It captures his boyhood obsession perfectly, along with the trials and tribulations of getting a cricket side out.
This is a wittily written, sensitively observant book which made me chuckle throughout and often laugh out loud.

Recommended by Anthony Lawton

Digging to America by Anne Tyler
Vintage £7.99

Anne Tyler is on top form with this funny, poignant tale of two Baltimore families, who each adopt a tiny Korean baby on the same day, August 15 1999. Every year the two families meet to celebrate the 'arrival day' of Susan Yazdan and Jin-Ho Donaldson. Beautifully observed and a delight to read.

Recommended by Jane

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
Headline £7.99

Esme has spent 60 years locked in an asylum until her great-niece Iris is told of her existence. The novel begins in 1930s colonial India where Esme is an unconventional daughter and sister; her refusal to conform to the role expected of her leads to a family decision that she should 'vanish.' A fascinating insight into how people seen as 'different' were sometimes dealt with in our recent past.

Recommended by Jane

The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas
Canongate £10.99

When Ariel Manto uncovers a copy of "The End of Mr Y" in a second-hand bookshop, she can't believe her eyes. She's read about its author before, the outlandish Victorian scientist Thomas Lumas, and this is his most notorious, and rarest, book. It is also believed to hold a curse. Anyone who's ever read it, including Lumas, has disappeared without trace. With Mr Y under her arm, Ariel is thrust into an adventure of faith, physics, love, death, and everything in between. Part gothic mystery, part time-travelling love story, The End of Mr Y lies somewhere between The Shadow of the Wind and If On a Winter's Night a Traveller.

The Rest of her Life by Laura Moriarty
Penguin £6.99

Karen Churchill is a popular, clever, pleasant 18 year-old who, driving home from school as usual, accidentally knocks down and kills another student.

The novel explores the effect this terrible event has on her family, in particular on her mother Leigh, and on the wider community of Hazleton, the small mid-western town where the family has lived for years. Thought-provoking and well written, it's an excellent read.