The Book Nook

From historical fiction to dystopian literature plus new releases to older books that deserve more attention, there’s plenty to get your teeth stuck into this month.

By Kate Duggan

The Midnight Library By Matt Haig Nora’s overdose doesn’t result in, as she’d hoped, nothingness. Instead, she’s transported to the Midnight Library, where she gets the chance to try the other lives she could have led if she’d made different choices. As she faces her regrets (from not marrying to not becoming an Olympic swimmer), Nora discovers that the path not taken isn’t always the panacea she thinks it is.

A Room Made of Leaves By Kate Grenville A Room Made of Leaves is the fictionalised account of a real woman’s life – Elizabeth Macarthur. It’s set in the late eighteenth century. Women had few prospects beyond marriage, so when Elizabeth marries the cold, ambitious John Macarthur she has little choice but to follow him wherever he decides to go, even if that’s to the other side of the world to live in a new settlement in Australia. A must for historical fiction fans.

A Song for the Dark Times By Ian Rankin Rebus is back, but this time it’s personal: his son-in-law is missing. Rebus heads out to solve the mystery. His daughter seems to be the obvious main suspect, so which role will Rebus prioritise – detective or father? Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh, DI Siobhan Clarke is on her own case, that of the murder of a wealthy Saudi student. These two very different cases may turn out to be part of the same tangled web. A Song for the Dark Times is a gripping crime thriller with plenty of twists to keep you turning the pages.