A guide to the latest releases
The Girl from the Chartreuse by Pierre Péju Vintage, £7.99
"It will be exactly five in the afternoon under the bitter cold November rain when the van of the bookseller Vollard (Étienne) spurting down the avenue collides head-on with a little girl who runs smack into his path." If ever there was an unpromising opening to a novel, this is surely it. What follows, however, is a quirky study of love, loneliness and the extraordinary reluctance of the human being - of whatever age, size and IQ - to grow up. Vollard is a well-intentioned giant who seems to breathe not air, but literature; and the act of reading itself is, in many ways, the real subject of the novel. The whole thing is frightfully French - as you read, you can see Gerard Depardieu in the title role, with an edgy, wafer-thin actress as the child's mother - and completely beguiling. Arminta Wallace
Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah Bloomsbury, £7.99
The title of Abdulrazak Gurnah's seventh novel hangs like a dark cloud over its pages. It comes in many forms: desertion of lovers, spouses, family, friends and country. Gurnah works with a traditional Arabian storyline of star-crossed lovers, disappearances and mythical settings to produce a disjointed but mesmerising narrative across generations. He tells the story of his native Zanzibar's cultural history in the years surrounding independence from the British through the personal triumphs and despairs of an extended family, as they strive to do better at every turn but are held back by the sins of the fathers (and mothers) in a society choked with superstition, xenophobia and poverty. Complex and undeniably foreign in tone and vocabulary, Desertion conveys with sincerity and beauty the power of new love in a forbidding place. Nora Mahony
iPod, Therefore I am: A Personal Journey Through Music by Dylan Jones Phoenix, £7.99
The iPod is one of the most recognisable and coveted cultural icons of the new century, whose devotees include everyone from Burt Bacharach to George W Bush. GQ editor Dylan Jones has credited his iPod with rejuvenating his passion for music, and that forms the basis of this hugely enjoyable memoir. Jones juxtaposes the history of Apple and the creation of the quasi-religious iPod industry with his own adolescent discovery of records and vinyl. The author hits just the right notes of humour and nostalgia in recreating the sights, sounds and trends of the 1970s and 1980s, as he takes us on a personal (and often painfully frank) trip through his youth, his career and the love of his life: music. Chock full of cultural history, gossip, celebrity anecdotes, this is an effortlessly entertaining treat. Declan Cashin
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver Serpent's Tail, £7.99
Is there a book club in the country that hasn't dissected this harrowing, disturbing book by American author Lionel Shriver? The Orange-prize winning novel tells the story of Kevin, who just before his 16th birthday shoots up his school, killing seven of his high school classmates and two teachers. Told by his mother, Eva, through a series of letters to her estranged husband Franklin, the narrative attempts to explore the many "whys" in these people's lives. It picks over the nature-nurture debate, explores the concept of culpability, delves deep into the psychology of motherhood, and there's a horrifying twist in the story towards the end. Is Eva a trustworthy narrator? Could Franklin be that weak? The novel throws up so many questions to do with Kevin's life and also bigger societal and cultural questions. Written in a fearless, sharp style, it's a chilling, thought-provoking novel. Bernice Harrison
Opus Dei by John Allen Penguin, £8.99
Secularity, sanctification of work and "divine filiation" (that we are all God's children) are the framework of Opus Dei. In the language of a younger generation raised on The OC, divine filiation would be expressed something like: "Dude, what could go wrong? Don't you know who my Dad is?" Allen's work is balanced, unsensationalist and comprehensive - and most readable. He devotes a chapter to each of the "question marks" about Opus Dei. His careful conclusion is that "women in Opus Dei do not, for the most part, feel like 'second-class' citizens". He also concludes that the organisation is not particularly secretive or rich and is socially admirable because "the bulk of Opus Dei's corporate works [ are] designed to serve the poor and excluded". It doesn't have a political line, although its members would be classed as "conservative", and it is not taking over the church - stealthily or any other way. Brian Maye
Displacement, Asylum, Migration by Kate Tunstall (ed) Oxford University Press, £14.99
The migration of millions of people fleeing war, poverty, unemployment or hunger is the most significant social phenomenon of the past 30 years, according to the preface of this collection. It's one that will continue to grow, as globalisation comes to embrace the free movement of people. In this volume of essays major figures in philosophy, political science, law and sociology grapple with the issues raised. The best-known names in Ireland are probably Michael Ignatieff, Ali Mazrui and Caryl Phillips. Each lecture is accompanied by a critical response from another leading thinker in the field, giving a somewhat misleading impression of a diversity of views. Most contributions come from the left of the spectrum, and many are critical of the West's response to the phenomenon. National identity, the preface asserts, can so easily solidify into myth and prejudice and the reader is urged to overcome the "mountainous inhumanity" with which the displaced are often treated. Paul Cullen