Books editor Andrew Ffrench casts his eye over some potential stocking fillers of a literary kind and discovers that when it comes to books, there really is something for everyone...

* BACK To Blood by Tom Wolfe is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £20. Available now.

At 700 pages, Tom Wolfe’s latest tome is a doorstep. But if, like me, you don’t have an e-reader, it’s definitely worth its hefty weight.

Set in Miami, pioneer of New Journalism 81-year-old Wolfe mines the race relations of this melting pot for all its worth.

He creates an ensemble cast of characters, introducing us to Cuban cop Nestor Camacho, whose heroics manage to alienate his own people and then the African American community; porn addiction psychiatrist Dr Norman Lewis, who could use some of his own medicine and who is sleeping with his nurse and Nestor’s ex Magdalena; Russian oligarch and art magnate Sergei Korolyov, who catches Magdalena’s eye; and cub reporter John Smith, who’s desperate to expose Korolyov as a fraud.

He presents this cast through their thoughts, punctuated by bursts of pure onomatopoeia – as Nestor’s boat goes SMACK on the water and the music in the strip club goes BEAT.

The title comes from the editor of the Miami Herald, whose cameo opens the book, and who pronounces, “Religion is dying... only our blood, the bloodlines that course through our very bodies (is left) to unite us”.

Whether you’re a fan of Wolfe or not, it’s an extraordinarily compelling indictment on the vices of the modern world.

* Winter Wonderland by Belinda Jones is published in paperback by Hodder Paperbacks, priced £6.99. Available now.

This is the 10th novel from chick-lit stalwart Belinda Jones.

Travel journalist Krista heads from the UK to Quebec, spending 10 days in sub-zero conditions to find the most amazing trips for her Va-Va-Vacation website.

After a night attempting sleep in a hotel carved out of ice, Krista – along with photographer Gilles and tour guide Annique – begins to explore the frosty delights that Canada’s glittering Winter Carnival has to offer.

Krista soon finds herself drawn to husky dog-sledding champion Jacques. Distant and private, the mysterious and handsome man plucks at her heart strings.

As Krista gets sucked into Quebec’s Bonhomme, her emotional walls begin to fall down and Jacques reveals they have a shared secret.

Can Krista find a heated romance amid the frozen landscapes that will thaw the heart of her paramour?

* Two Brothers by Ben Elton is published in hardback by Bantam Press, priced £18.99. Available now Ben Elton returns with his 14th and most personal novel to date, set in the tumultuous years that followed the First World War.

Tracing the birth and growth of three entities born in Berlin 1920 – two brothers and the National Socialist German Workers’ Party – Elton explores the limits of fraternal loyalty, family ties, friendships and adolescent love during the most pivotal and shocking years in modern history.

When the characters are in full bloom, Elton demonstrates that he has learned a thing or two about novel writing and Two Brothers does deliver on readability.

However, too often there are clumsy linguistic choices which fracture the narrative and crush the pace and drama of the novel for the reader, as one is pulled in and suddenly out of the narrative repeatedly.

Despite the frustration, Two Brothers is certainly worth reading and is an undeniable page-turner.

* CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK 

The Moomins And The Great Flood by Tove Jansson is published in hardback by Sort of Books, priced £9.99. Available now.

One of the first books I was given as a child was a paperback from the Moomin series, with a handwritten note promising Moominmamma would look after me for years to come.

Today, these magical Finnish characters are still popular with children and adults, with a theme park, soundtrack CD and even an app.

Written in 1945, Tove Jansson’s first Moomin book is published in the UK for the first time with this beautiful hardback edition.

The story, written as escapism during post-Second World War gloom, follows Moominmamma and little Moomintroll as they travel through dark forests and serpent-infested waters in search of Moominpappa.

Their travels through a colourful dream-like world are complemented by cheerful watercolour and ink illustrations.

True to her word, Moominmamma has stuck by me for years and the paperback I owned as a child still sits on my bookshelf.

This edition, no doubt, will bring similar pleasure to young children with bright and inventive minds.