August 2013: Books of the month

Mutton, the latest novel by Sunday Times columnist India Knight, is entertaining, witty and insightful to boot. When an old friend, looking suspiciously like she's had work done, comes to stay with single mum Clara, the latter starts to question if she should do it too… Think Bridget Jones with Botox! 

The cult of motherhood is tackled by another The Sunday Times columnist. Daisy Waugh’s provocative I Don’t Know Why She Bothers is one for women who feel life is too short to make your own fish fingers! 

Adele Parks is back with another slice of sophisticated story-telling. The State We're In knits together two generations of characters, whose lives are all drawn together in an emotional punch of an ending. 

Hannah Richell is undoubtedly skilled at creating characters so believable your heart aches for them. In The Shadow Year, a young woman receives a key to a derelict cottage. As she renovates, she finds herself on a collision course with the secret it holds. 

Word-of-mouth hit The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry was the bestselling debut of last year. Perfect, the second novel by Rachel Joyce, is slightly darker but just as full of compassion. Moving between the 1970s and the present day, it’s the heartbreaking story of how two lives are derailed by a split-second mistake. 

A woman takes on another’s identity after her suicide in the gripping Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach, daughter of novelist Deborah Moggach

GH has teamed up with the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival to publish Crime Writers, our first digital collection of short stories by some of the greatest crime writers alive. Introduced by Jenni Murray, it includes gems from Mark Billingham, Ann Cleeves, Harlan Coben, PD James, Val McDermid and Steve Mosby. Download it from any good online bookshop. 

Set in Iran, Children Of The Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani is a poetic, deeply moving novel about love and loss. 

In A List Of My Desires, a woman deliberates whether to cash a life-changing lottery cheque. This thought-provoking debut from Gregoire Delacourt is already a huge bestseller in France.