John Steinbeck-East Of Eden

Drama

In his journal, John Steinbeck called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families — the Trasks and the Hamiltons — whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new, rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives, nurtured by the love of all those around him: the other grows up in loneliness, enveloped by a mysterious darkness.

Barbara Vine-No Night Is Too Long

Mystery novel

Set in Alaska and Suffolk, this story involves a brother (Ivo) and sister (Isabel), each of whom has a sexual relationship with Tim. When Tim meets Isabel, he does not realise that she is Ivo's sister. Having left Ivo for dead on an Arctic island, Tim plans to return to Isabel, but, haunted by the belief that he has been responsible for Ivo's death, he returns to the UK. Soon, he begins to receive anonymous letters making it clear that someone is aware of his crime. Eventually, Ivo turns up in person, having escaped from the island shortly after Tim abandoned him there. Ironically, on leaving Tim's house, Ivo is murdered by a deranged drifter. At the end there seems to be some hope of Tim and Isabel rekindling their relationship.

Ruth Rendell-Vanity Dies Hard

Mystery novel

Alice Whittaker was 37, rich but dowdy, with no career. Her life a lonely failure, she had got by with the one thing she did have - money. Then handsome Andrew Fielding came into her life, and just as suddenly her beautiful friend, Nesta, vanished from it - leaving a trail of confusing clues.

Lauren Weisberger-The Devils Wears Prada

Chick lit

Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job "a million girls would die for." Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of RunwayPrada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.

Kathleen Tessaro-Elegance

Chick lit

An enchanting novel brimming with poignancy, humour, enchantment and insight, this is a stunning debut. Imagine an Audrey Hepburn film in the present day... When Louise discovers an old book called Elegance in a second-hand bookshop, it's a blessing from above. She has long been experiencing the rumblings of discontent; her marriage is in tatters, she's become a middle-aged frump and her self-esteem is at an all-time low. So the book, an A-Z of how to be elegant and stylish by a renowned Parisian socialite, is just the boost she'd been searching for. Read a letter a time, Louise finds the life lessons she needs to restore her self-esteem and the courage to leave her unhappy marriage and move on.

Josephine Hart-Damage

Drama

A member of Parliament falls passionately in love with his son's fiancée. They pursue their affair with obsessive abandon despite the dangers of discovery and what it would do to his complacent life and his son. Completely obsessed, he wants to give up his current lifestyle to be with her. She has no intention of allowing him to do this, preferring to have her marriage to the son as a cover. They are eventually discovered, and must deal with the damage.

Billie Letts-Where the Heart Is

Romantic drama

Novalee Nation has always been unlucky with sevens. She's seventeen, seven months pregnant, thirty-seven pounds overweight -- and now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, holding just $7. 77 in change. An hour ago, she was on her way from Tennessee to a new life in Bakersfield, California. Suddenly, with all those sevens staring her in the face, she is forced to accept the scary truth: her no-good boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens has left her with empty pockets and empty dreams.

But Novalee is about to discover treasures hidden in Sequoyah -- a group of disparate and deeply caring people, among them blue-haired Sister Thelma Husband, who hands out advice and photocopied books of the Bible...

Moses Whitecotton, the wise, soft-spoken, elderly black photographer eager to teach Novalee all he knows...

and Forney Hull, the eccentric town librarian who hides his secrets -- and his feelings -- behind his world of books.

Novalee may be homeless and jobless, living secretly in a Wal-Mart, but she's beginning to believe she may have a future. Through all the touching and surprising adventures that lie ahead, she's going in the right direction.

Where the Heart Is puts a human face on the look-alike trailer parks and malls of America's small towns. It will make you believe in the strength of friendship, the goodness of down-to-earth people, and the healing power of love. And it will make you laugh and cry...every step of the way.