We've got some absolute corkers in this month's book club, from chilling fairytales to chasing the red-eyed damselfly we've got a good read for all interests.
"Cook with love and laughter" is Aussie chef and outdoors enthusiast Pete Evans' mantra, and he applies it liberally to his new book. There are 150 recipes to choose from, with chapters on breakfast, lunch, seafood, vegetables, canapes, desserts, dinner parties and 'family feasts'. Highlights include the crispy prawn and tapioca betel leaf recipe for posh parties, and yoghurt panna cotta with blueberries as an easy pud, while French toast with figs makes a naturally sweet start to the day.
Patisserie at Home - Will Torrent
Torrent expertly explains the basics, from choux pastry to ganache, then guides would-be chefs through the delicate step-by-steps. The instructions are in-depth, but there's nothing intimidating about this book. Soon you will be whipping up chocolate coffee eclairs, classic millefeuille and show-stopping gateaux.
Where to See Wildlife in Britain and Ireland - Christopher Somerville
This treasury of the creatures, plants and landscapes of Britain and Ireland is both a practical guide and a hymn to nature. More than 800 of the British Isles' best wildlife spots are carefully documented, including travel tips and snippets of ecology, history and myth.
The Man Who Plants Trees - Jim Robbins
Jim Robbins' account of the passions and pitfalls of David Milarch's mission to clone the best tree specimens he could find to save the planet is both sobering and inspiring.
The Archers meets Anne Enright in former Guardian journalist Susie Steiner's involving debut novel, set on the Yorkshire moors. Steiner's novel skilfully captures Yorkshire in all its ordinay beauty - lonesome fells and pastel twilights, swirly-carpeted pubs and rusting tractors and her plot is satisfyingly complex. Homecoming is readable, heart-breaking and true.
The Deception Artist - Fayette Fox
Eight-year-old Ivy loves to daydream and make up stories, but in reality her brother's ill, her parents squabble and she's lost her best friend. Then she begins to suspect her father of having an affair. Ivy is an appealing narrator, an innocent in a world that wants children to grow up. Although her naivety in the face of adult dilemmas is at times frustrating, The Deception Artist reminds us that the real truths are in how we love each other.
Cooking with Bones - Jess Richards
Sisters Amber and Maya are on the run. They've found refuge in an empty cottage, where Amber discovers a forgotten cookbook and learns how to bake magical cakes. A mix of unsettling fairytale, female power games and helter-skelter dialect with which it's worth perserving.
Was She Pretty? - Leanne Shapton
The pains, peculiarities and pleasures of modern relationships are gently skewered in Canadian artist and graphic novelist Leanne Shapton's new book. Was She Pretty? is a sequence of wry observations about that most haunting of creatures - the ex.