The Damage Done - Warren Fellows

In 1978, Warren Fellows was convicted in Thailand of heroin trafficking and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Damage Done is his story of an unthinkable nightmare in a place where sewer rats and cockroaches are the only nutritious food, and where the worst punishment is the khun deo - solitary confinement, Thai style. Fellows was certainly guilty of his crime, but he endured and survived human-rights abuses beyond imagination. This is not his plea for forgiveness, nor his denial of guilt; it is the story of an ordeal that no one would wish on their worst enemy. It is an essential read: heartbreaking, fascinating and impossible to put down.

A Tiny Bit Marvellous - Dawn French

Everyone hates the perfect family. So you'll love the Battles. Mo is about to hit the big 50, and some uncomfortable truths are becoming quite apparent: She doesn't understand either of her teenage kids, which as a child psychologist, is fairly embarrassing. She has become entirely grey. Inside, and out. Her face has surrendered and is frightening children. Dora is about to hit the big 18 ...and about to hit anyone who annoys her, especially her precocious younger brother Peter who has a chronic Oscar Wilde fixation. Then there's Dad ...who's just, well, dad. "A Tiny Bit Marvellous" is the story of a modern family all living in their own separate bubbles lurching towards meltdown. It is for anyone who has ever shared a home with that weird group of strangers we call relations. Oh and there's a dog called Poo.

Obsession - Susan Lewis

Corrie Browne is an ordinary girl with extraordinary ambitions. Determined to find the father she has never known, her search takes her from the quiet Suffolk village where she lives, to a new life in London, a fast pace television career - and to three people who come to dominate her life. Luke, charismatic, blond and charming, is the only one to make Corrie feel welcome at TW TV and the only one to recognize her talent. Cristoff, an internationally famous film director, is the man who teaches her everything he knows about sex and passion. And Annelise is her boss and friend - a woman about whom Corrie knows a secret that must never be revealed. Three colleagues - all of whom are to play an important role in Corrie's search for love and success. One of whom intends Corrie's ultimate destruction.

Twitchhiker - Paul Smith

There were five rules of Twitchhiker: I can only accept offers of travel and accommodation from people on Twitter; I can't make any travel plans further than three days in advance; I can only spend money on food, drink and anything that might fit in my suitcase; If there is more than one offer, I choose which I take; If there is only one, I have to take it within 48 hours; If I am unable to find a way to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and I go home. Bored in the bread aisle of the supermarket one day, Paul Smith wondered how far he could get around the world in 30 days through the goodwill of users of social networking site Twitter. At the mercy of these rules, he set his sights on New Zealand - the opposite point on the planet to his home in Newcastle.

Belonging - Sameem Ali

Abandoned by her parents, Sameem Ali spent six and a half years growing up in a children's home. When she was told that her family wanted to take her back she couldn't wait to start her new life with them. Instead, she returned to a dirty house where she was subjected to endless chores. Her mother began to beat her and her unhappiness drove her to self-harm. So Sameem was excited when she boarded a plane with her mother to visit Pakistan for the first time. It was only after they arrived in her family's village that she realised she wasn't there on holiday. Aged just thirteen, Sameem was forced to marry a complete stranger. When pregnant, two months later, she was made to return to Glasgow where she suffered further abuse from her family. After finding true love, Sameem fled the violence at home and escaped to Manchester with her young son. She believed she had put her horrific experiences behind her, but was unprepared for the consequences of violating her family's honour ...Belonging is the shocking true story of Sameem's struggle to break free from her past and fight back against her upbringing.

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.

The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet - Benjamin Hoff

Pooh has a certain way of doing things which Hoff has realised relates closely to the ancient principles of Taoist philosophy. As for piglet he has the Virtue of the Small (or Chinese for Te). Hoff explains the basic principles of these Chinese philosophies using examples from the Classic Winnie the Pooh Tales.

Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desai

Uma the plain spinster daughter of a close-knit Indian family is trapped at home, smothered by her overbearing parents and their traditions, unlike her ambitious younger sister Aruna, who brings off a "good" marriage and brother Arun, the disappointing son and heir who is studying in America.

Almost Moon - Alice Sebold

A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this searing portrait of a to-the-death struggle between a mother and a daughter. Clair Knightly and her daughter Helen are locked in a relationship so unrelenting that it has sucked the air out of both of their lives. And as this electrifying novel opens, Helen crosses a boundary she never dreamt she would even approach. But while her act is almost unconscious, it also seems like the fulfillment of a lifetime's buried desire. Over the next twenty-four hours, Helen's life rushes in at her as she confronts the choices that have brought her to this crossroads. A woman who has spent a lifetime trying to win the love of a mother who had none to spare, she now faces an uncertain and dangerous freedom.

In "The Almost Moon", Sebold explores the complex ties within families, the meaning of devotion and the fragility of the boundary that separates us from our darkest impulses. This is an unforgettable novel, a raw and powerful story, written with the clarity and insight that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.

Picture Perfect - Jodie Picoult

A woman wakes to find herself in a graveyard, hurt and bleeding, her memory wiped clean. She doesn't know what she's doing there - or even who she is.She is rescued by a police officer, himself a newcomer to Los Angeles. After days of waiting, she is taken by complete surprise when she is finally identified by Alex Rivers, Hollywood's biggest movie star - and her husband.Cassie is dazzled and bewildered by the fairytale in which she suddenly finds herself. But everything is not quite right, and there is something dark and disturbing behind this glamorous facade. It is only as her memory gradually returns that her picture perfect life comes crumbling down, and Cassie is faced with choices she never dreamed she would have to make.