The Checkout Girl - Tazeen Ahmed

How much do you know about what really goes on at your local supermarket? We see them every week and they are privy to some of our most intimate secrets - those we wouldn't even share with our closest friends. To us they are the anonymous helpers for whom nothing is too much trouble. But for them, every customer has a part in a gripping soap-opera of lovers' tiffs, family feuds and extraordinary innuendos - turning the daily life of a checkout girl into a hilariously entertaining farce. As we began to contend with the recession, Tazeen Ahmad realised that the supermarket checkout was the perfect place to gauge how the nation was coping with increasing job cuts, sky-high food prices and a billion pound hole in our economy. The answer, it turns out, was with white bread, ice cream and lots and lots of potatoes. Sworn at, flirted with and at the receiving end of endless customer rants.

The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde

There is another 1985, somewhere in the could-have-been, where the Crimean war still rages, dodos are regenerated in home-cloning kits and everyone is deeply disappointed by the ending of 'Jane Eyre'. In this world there are no jet-liners or computers, but there are policemen who can travel across time, a Welsh republic, a great interest in all things literary - and a woman called Thursday Next.

The Night The Angels Came - Cathy Glass

When Cathy receives a call about a terminally ill widower terrified of leaving his son all alone in the world, she is wracked with sadness and indecision. After her devastating divorce, can she risk exposing her own young children to a little boy on the brink of bereavement? Eight year old Michael is part of a family of two, but with his beloved father given only months to live and his mother having died when he was a toddler, he could soon become an orphan. Will Cathy's own young family be able to handle a child in mourning? To Cathy's surprise, her children insist that this boy deserves to be as happy as they are, prompting Cathy to welcome Michael into her home.

A cheerful and carefree new member of the family, Michael devotedly prays every night, believing that when the time is right, angels will come and take his Daddy to be with his Mummy in heaven. However, incredibly, in the weeks that pass, the bond between Cathy's family, Michael and his kind and loving father Patrick grows. Even more promising, Patrick is looking healthier than he's done in weeks. But just as they are settling into a routine of blissful normality, an unexpected and disastrous event shatters the happy group, shaking Cathy to the core. Cathy can only hope that her family and Michael's admirable faith will keep him strong enough to rebuild his life.

Chances - Freya North

 Vita's nursing a broken heart. Oliver's heart belongs to the past. They should be perfect for each other. But will they chance it? Vita's gift shop would do better if she ran it as a business, not as somewhere to daydream. But she's not one to tell herself off: she leaves that to Tim, her ex. Active and outdoorsy Oliver runs his tree-surgery business as calmly as his home -- but his love life is intensely private. When Vita and Oliver's paths cross at a pear tree, there's a chance of something blossoming. As spring turns into summer, both Vita and Oliver are given choices and chances. But will they take them -- or walk away?

Underground London - Stephen Smith

Travel writer Stephen Smith provides an alternative guide and history of the capital. It's a journey through the passages and tunnels of the city, the bunkers and tunnels, crypts and shadows. As well as being a contemporary tour of underground London, it's also an exploration through time: Queen Boudicca lies beneath Platform 10 at King's Cross (legend has it); Dick Turpin fled the Bow Street Runners along secret passages leading from the cellar of the Spaniards pub in North London; the remains of a pre-Christian Mithraic temple have been found near the Bank of England; on the platforms of the now defunct King William Street Underground, posters still warn that 'Careless talk costs lives'. Stephen Smith uncovers the secrets of the city by walking through sewers, tunnels under such places as Hampton Court, ghost tube stations, and long lost rivers such as the Fleet and the Tyburn.

We Bought A Zoo - Benjamin Mee

'Chuck it all in and buy a zoo? Why not?' Thought Benjamin Mee, unaware of the grim living conditions, creditors and escaped big cat that lay in wait! A few years ago, Ben and his wife, Katherine, sold their small flat in Primrose Hill and moved to France to pursue their dream of restoring an old barn near Nimes. That dream then became much, much bigger for, last October, they moved with their two young children, Ben's 76-year-old mother and his brother, into a dilapidated zoo on the edge of Dartmoor which they had bought, and found themselves responsible for 200 animals including four huge tigers, lions, pumas, three massive bears, a tapir and a wolf pack. Ben found himself juggling the complexities of managing the zoo and getting it ready for re-opening, and at the same time having to care for his rapidly deteriorating wife, their two young children, and their ever growing menagerie of animals.

Gypsy Girl- Rosie McKinley

Imagine being born into a world where communities are constantly on the move, but freedom is not a birthright.Rosie grew up travelling all over England and Ireland in her family's caravan. She had an idyllic childhood roaming fields and meadows with her younger brothers and sisters - free from the trappings of modern life, but restricted by the expectations of her culture. When Rosie was 14, the family's happiness was shattered when her grandfather - who was loved and respected by the whole community - was killed in a tragic accident. Suddenly everything in Rosie's life unravelled and she was forced to abandon the traditional way of life she loved. Her family fell apart and Rosie tried her best to take care of her younger siblings and hold the family together.As life at home became unbearable Rosie met Stevie, a traveller boy who promised her a different kind of life. But, Stevie was battling his own demons and Rosie's journey to freedom had only just begun...

You Absolutely Couldn't Make it Up - Jack Crossley

After the runaway cult success of You Couldn't Make It Up and You Really Couldn't Make it up, Jack Crossley returns with his latest cornucopia of wonderful anecdotes and strange goings-on from around the British Isles. In his many years as a newspaper journalist, Jack Crossley has collected literally thousands of these strange but true newspaper items. They are stories that you wouldn't believe if they weren't written down in black and white. You Absolutely Couldn't Make It Up is another wonderful collection of irresistible whimsy, a testament to Great Britain's lasting legacy of eccentricity, bizarre bureaucracy and confounding stubbornness!

When God Was A Rabbit - Sarah Winman

Elly's world is shaped by those who inhabit it: her loving but maddeningly distractible parents; a best friend who smells of chips and knows exotic words like 'slag'; an ageing fop who tapdances his way into her home, a Shirley Bassey impersonator who trails close behind; lastly, of course, a rabbit called God. In a childhood peppered with moments both ordinary and extraordinary, Elly's one constant is her brother Joe. Twenty years on, Elly and Joe are fully grown and as close as they ever were. Until, that is, one bright morning when a single, earth-shattering event threatens to destroy their bond forever. Spanning four decades and moving between suburban Essex, the wild coast of Cornwall and the streets of New York, this is a story about childhood, eccentricity, the darker side of love and sex, the pull and power of family ties, loss and life. More than anything, it's a story about love in all its forms.

Pillow Talk - Freya North

The sleepwalker. By day, Petra Flint is a talented jeweller working in a lively London studio. By night, she sleepwalks. She has 40 carats of the world's rarest gemstone under her mattress but it's the skeletons in her closet that make it difficult for her to rest. The insomniac.

At one time a promising song-writer, Arlo Savidge now teaches music at a boys' boarding school in North Yorkshire. He assumes he's happy with his isolated lifestyle. But, like Petra, ghosts from his past disturb his sleep. Putting the past to bed. Petra and Arlo loved each other from afar during their schooldays. Now, seventeen years later, in a tiny sweetshop one rainy day, they stand before each other once more. Could this be their second chance?

The Woman He Loved Before - Dorothy Koomson

Libby has a good life with a gorgeous husband and a home by the sea. But over time she is becoming more unsure if Jack has ever loved her - and if he is over the death of Eve, his first wife. When fate intervenes in their relationship, Libby decides to find out all she can about the man she hastily married and the seemingly perfect Eve. But in doing so she unearths devastating secrets. Frightened by what she finds and the damage it could cause, Libby starts to worry that she too will end up like the first woman Jack loved ...

Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger

Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers - normal, at least, for identical 'mirror' twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cozy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn't know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin ...but have no idea that they've been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt's mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins' mother - and who can't even seem to quite leave her flat

Going Home - Harriet Evans

Home. For most it's a place of calm and safety. For Lizzy Walter, things are a bit more complicated. Keeper House -- a cherished old place deep in the countryside -- has always been the heart of the Walter's universe. There, Lizzy can escape from her London life and ease her heart and mind. But trouble is on the horizon. For a start, her entire family are hiding something. Then the Love of Her Life makes an unexpected reappearance -- just when she thought she was starting to get over him. And now Keeper House itself is in peril. By the time the Walters gather for a summer wedding, the stakes have never been higher -- for Lizzy, for her family and for love!

Hell In Barbados - Terry Donaldson

Terry met with a success story early in his life, but his struggle with addiction soon becomes to much to handle.  Facing financial ruin he agrees to smuggle drugs into barbados but was caught and sent to one of the worlds worst prison's where he remained for three years.

Iain Banks - Dead Air

Dead Air is narrated by Kenneth Nott, a shock-jock on commercial radio who takes a swollen pride in his contrarian opinions. We first meet him at a drug-fuelled loft party in the East End of London, where everyone, for some reason, starts chucking fruit and furniture off the balcony. Ken's girlfriend, Jo, does PR for a snotty young British indie band called Addicta; he is also sleeping with a woman called Celia (or "Ceel"), who happens to be married to a dangerous gangster.

The Elephant Keeper - Christopher Nicholson

I asked the sailor what an Elephant looked like; he replied that it was like nothing on earth. In the middle of the 18th century, a ship docks at Bristol with an extraordinary cargo: two young elephants. Bought by a wealthy landowner, they are taken to his estate in the English countryside. A stable boy, Tom Page, is given the task of caring for them. The Elephant Keeper is Tom's account of his life with the elephants. As the years pass, and as they journey across England, his relationship with the female elephant deepens in a startling manner. Along the way they meet incredulity, distrust and tragedy, and it is only their understanding of each other that keeps them together.

One Moment One Morning - Sarah Rayner

The 07.44 Train from Brighton to London, Carriages are packed with commuters. One occupies her time observing the people around, when she notices that the man opposite collapses, the train is stopped and an ambulance called.  Then everything changes. A wife, loosing her husband. A friend helping her cope with the lose, whilst also putting up with someone who doesn't deserve the time, and a new friend who helps them both grieve.

Dorothy Koomson – Goodnight Beautiful

Nova Kumalisi would do anything for her closest friend, Mal Wacken. She owes him her life. So, when he asked her to be the surrogate mother for him and his wife, in spite of her fears about how it would alter their friendship, Nova agreed. Eight years later, Nova is bringing up their son alone, and she and Mal don't speak. Months into the pregnancy, Mal's wife changed her mind about the surrogacy agreement. Already suspicious of how close Nova and Mal were, Stephanie realised her strained marriage was in serious trouble when she found a text from her husband to Nova, saying, 'Goodnight, Beautiful'. She asked Mal to cut all ties with his closest friend and unborn child. Now, seven-year-old Leo is critically ill and Nova, despite her anger and hurt, wants Mal to have the chance to know his son before it's too late. Will it take a tragedy to remind them how much they mean to each other?

Summer of Secrets - Martina Reilly

Hope doesn't like being tied down, she has had several jobs, flits from place to place, and why should she, after a troubled childhood she wants to have fun. But when a well needed holiday takes a tragic twist, she finds herself having to return to her home in Ireland where she has to confront secrets she has been desperate to avoid.

The Choice – Susan Lewis

Nikki Grant is only twenty-one when she discovers she's pregnant. Despite her parents' disappointment and anger, she welcomes the news with joy. The baby will complete the happy home she shares with the man she adores, Spencer James. Baby Zac arrives and is perfect in every way. And with Spencer's career taking off they are ready to make the big move to London. And then, on a day like any other, Nikki suddenly finds her life turned upside down by tragedy. As she becomes evermore embroiled in a world she cannot escape, the love between Nikki and her son is put to the kind of test no mother should ever have to face...