The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Kind of an odd tale. Not one that could have been published five years ago, and certainly not one that could have been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize then. I picked this up to see what it was about, started to read the synopsis on the back and next thing I knew, I'd already finished two chapters. If nothing else, the narrative will keep stringing you along.

The story centres around a young Pakistani man who has lived in the US for several years. He went to university in Princeton and then got a job as an analyst with a prestigious company in New York. He has fallen in love with a beautiful woman and his world seems to be coming together just nicely. Then September 11 happens and everything changes.

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

Yet another brilliantly evocative story about ordinary people and their lives as they cross paths with history. Jem and him family move from their small village in Dorsetshire to London and meet Mr William Blake: poet, dissenter, radical and free thinker. Along with his new best friend, Maggie, Jem learns about opposites and what's between them.

Fabulously and meticulously researched with richly drawn and incredibly deep characters, this book reminds me again why I am such a fan of this woman's writing...

Ross O'Carroll Kelly: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress by Paul Howard

OK, so this is definitely going to be the last one of these I'll read for a while. I need to read something with a little more weight to it, and we're talking TOTALLY! Still, for what they are, these books have been incredibly entertaining and this one is no different.

Ross's marriage has gone badly wrong, as you might have expected. But he didn't even make it past the reception! (For fock's sake!) He's got a saucepan (lid = kid; it took me a few minutes to figure that one out) from the wrong side of the tracks, but if it'll piss off the old pair (Dick Features and the Wagon) and get him back with Sorcha, Ross will put in the time and get to know little Rohn-nin. Who is seven. And has eyes and ears all over town.

Also, Ross's new career as rugby coach is taking off and so is his old dear. Her clothes, that is. For a charity calendar. Ross is not happy about that...

Ross O'Carroll-Kelly: PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids by Paul Howard

Ross is growing up. He's asked Sorcha to, like marry him. He's learning to dance. He's got a wedding list in BTs (of course). Sorcha has turned into a TOTAL bridezilla. A man has to release his tension somehow. But with the bridesmaids? Both of them? And when everything blows up spectacularly, as it has to, it's because of something totally unexpected...