1. The Dome by Stephen King.
''The first thing readers might find scary about Stephen King's Under The Dome is its length. The second is the elaborate town map and list of characters at the front of the book (including "Dogs of Note"), which sometimes portends, you know, heavy lifting. Don't you believe it. Breathless pacing and effortless characterization are the hallmarks of King's best books, and here the writing is immersive, the suspense unrelenting. The pages turn so fast that your hand--or Kindle-clicking thumb--will barely be able to keep up.''
2. The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham
''This 1938 novel became a children's literature classic when it was reissued as a Puffin paperback in 1955; but Persephone Books has published it for both adults and children to read. It shows five children successfully looking after themselves when their parents go away and fail to return; and 'it is partly because of modern curtailment of childhood independence that Persephone Books (which has a cult following for its elegant resurrection of novels by women writers) has reissued the novel,' wrote Rachel Johnson on the Daily Telegraph.''
3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
''England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey′s clerk, and later his successor.''
4. Mother Land by Dmetri Kakmi
''Mother land is a memoir by Melbourne writer Dmetri Kakmi, about his childhood in the late 1960s on the island of Bozcaada (also known as Bozca Island) in the Aegean Sea, at the entrance to the Dardanelle Straits, at a time when political tensions between Greece and Turkey were at their peak, and the islands Greek population was subject to intimidation by its Turkish government.''
5. Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by Randy Taraborrelli
''Beautiful, damaged, the ultimate sex symbol, publicly celebrated, privately unhappy – Marilyn Monroe's tumultuous life and untimely death continue to fascinate us.''
What are you reading?
