Hello again! We hope you've been having a blissful time outside with books, expanding your minds and tanning your page-turning muscles. Whether the weather stays good or not, this month's literary selection will make the sun shine out of your bookshelf.

 

Maxim Jakubowski – a new Lovereading expert to help you find your next book

Firstly, and extraordinarily excitingly, we're pleased to welcome a new Lovereading team-member, to join Sarah Broadhurst and Julia Eccleshare as another expert voice, helping you dig beyond the obvious bestsellers to find your next great read. Maxim Jakubowski until recently owned and ran one of the best known independent bookshops in the UK - Murder One and he still reviews regularly for a number of national papers and magazines. So, we’re absolutely thrilled that he’s making his Lovereading debut by recommending you his favourite new crime series characters.

Colin Cotterill – May’s Author of the Month

Our Author of the Month is the wonderful Colin Cotterill, whose writing has been compared incredibly favourably with that of Alexander McCall Smith. His new paperback crime novel, Thirty Three Teeth, is a quirky and exotic mystery. Brilliantly witty and eccentric we see Dr Siri (Laos' reluctant national coroner and confused psychic) return to investigate a series of bizarre killings. If you’re looking for dry humour, witty dialogue and engaging characters then look no further.		                     credit Roy Hamric

A quartet of fantastic Books of the Month to keep you turning pages:

The Spies of Warsaw – Alan Furst    A first rate espionage spy thriller that paints a vivid picture of the life-and-death struggles of French and German operatives in the tense inter-war period. The Drowning Girl – Margaret Leroy    An angelically written and chilling novel. This book explores the fear of a mother trying desperately to reach out to her terrified child. Worldwide adventures in Love – Louise Wener    A mysterious and involving story about two girls trying to cope with the claustrophobia of troubled family life.  We Are Now Beginning Our Descent – James Meek    Adam Kellas is a war reporter pursuing the woman he has fallen in love with and been separated from. 

Guest Editor for May – Kerry Reichs

This months Guest Editor is the debut novelist, Kerry Reichs and if the surname sounds familiar that is because her mother is the bestselling crime author Kathy Reichs.

Find out about her new book The Best Day of Someone Else’s Life and who has inspired Kerry in her journey to becoming a novelist in her own right.
        

Debuts of the Month - so assuredly amazing that you won't be able to wait for the authors to hurry up and write more!

The Best Day of Someone Else's Life – Kerry Reichs    A perfect choice for your holiday reading list, this laugh-out-loud funny book follows single romantic, Vi, as she attends 11 other peoples' weddings whilst trying to maintain her own sanity, and her relationships... Inspector Singh Investigates – Shamini Flint    Inspector Singh is sent from his home in Singapore to investigate a baffling murder in Kuala Lumpur. But can the disgruntled detective pull out all the stops to clear a beautiful suspect's name and find out who really committed the grisly crime? 

25th anniversary celebrations for top notch publisher Fourth Estate

It's the 25th Anniversary of Fourth Estate, the hugely respected and innovative fiction publisher whose impressive portfolio includes The Motorcycle Diaries, Stuart: A Life Backwards, and Half of a Yellow Sun to name but a few. Read some extracts of these modern classics here.

Lunch-hour sized stories

Great Little Reads from newcomer Roast Books is a series of commuter train/lunch-hour length stories with plots so imaginative your brain will float miles away from your workaday life and come back feeling ecstatic with the possibilities of the universe. Visit, for example, an archipelago where an entire race are trying to bury themselves alive. Or a golf course where only robots are allowed to play. Discover some mini treats today... Enjoy discovering this month's books and their authors, download some FREE Opening Extracts, and find some incredible stories to put a bit of zing back in your reading life.