Love Songs and Lies Libby Purves (Hodder, £6.99)
Libby Purves has risen to great heights since leaving Radio Oxford in the 1970s. She has been a regular Radio 4 broadcaster as well as writing her own column in The Times about country life. She now lives in Norfolk, but her latest novel, set in a canalside house similar to the one she lived in when she was a student in Jericho, is filled with nostalgia for her Oxford days. Written with her usual light style, it nevertheless packs a powerful emotional punch. A gripping story about a destructive student relationship which leaves a legacy of problems for the next generation, it should appeal both to baby boomers and to their children.
The Tenderness of Wolves Stef Penney (Quercus, £7.99)
This novel, set in 19th-century Canada, is so vivid that it's difficult to believe that Penny wrote it without leaving the British Library. The story starts with the brutal murder of a man in the isolated settlement of Dove River. Tracks leaving the dead man's cabin head north towards the forest and the tundra. Hudson's Bay Company men, trappers, traders and journalists set out from Dove River pursuing the tracks across a desolate landscape. Penney cleverly weaves adventure, suspense, revelation and humour into an epic historical romance and murder mystery.
The Secrets of Happiness Richard Schoch (Profile, £8.99)
Some people might turn to Prozac or their 'life coach' for help, but Schoch argues that happiness is about leading a better life rather than looking for the quick fix. He says we should look at what the great thinkers of the past - Thomas Aquinas, the Buddha, John Stuart Mill - said, and how they transformed their own lives. As he says, today's happiness 'industry' concentrates on putting us in touch with our own emotions, but there is another way of feeling better about ourselves - by helping others or trying to make the world a better place.
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