The latest paperback releases.
Send in the Idiots: Stories From the Other side of Autism
Kamran Nazeer. Bloomsbury, £7.99
With much talk nowadays about the educational battles faced by parents of children with autism, it is refreshing to read such a heart-warming book about a group of adults with autism who, in the early 1980s, attended a ground-breaking school for autistic children in New York city. For this, his first book, Kamran Nazeer, who now works as a policy adviser in Whitehall, tracked down some of his former classmates and writes a frank and truly insightful account of their private and working lives, leaving readers with a very clear picture of how adults cope with their own autistic traits and behaviour. Nazeer blends anecdotes about relationships with philosophical questions about such things as the true nature of conversation. He also carefully examines the changing scientific knowledge base on autism and shows striking empathy towards parents of autistic children. Sylvia Thompson
Fatal Purity
Ruth Scurr. Vintage, £8.99
Scurr captures with insight the sprawling tragedy which was the French Revolution: a utopian vision which, Frankenstein-like, would turn on its disbelieving creators on its course of rampant destruction. In this probing biography, Robespierre is given what he denied so many: a fair trial. We see his bruised childhood, as an orphan disgraced by his philandering father's legacy; straining to earn a scholarship to the Parisian colleges, his escape ticket. All his life, Robespierre would cling to a social ideal: a virtuous, family-centred, socially aware meritocracy. Described by many as a "priest" of the revolution, he was a morally exacting figure, preaching a mystical ideal. Bitter, passionate, self-righteous, he was obsessed with an end which would be used to justify the most barbaric means. Claire Anderson-Wheeler
The Emperor's Children
Claire Messud. Picador, £7.99
Read one way, it's a juicy, sprawling comedy of manners; read another, Claire Messud's The Emperor's Children is a rapier-sharp satire on an indulged, whining generation whose vision stretches no further than its navel. Set in Manhattan, the story revolves around the lives of three 30-year-old friends, Danielle, Marina and Julius, who work in the media and who feel on some level that they haven't achieved their potential - and the clock is ticking. It's also ticking in another way that they could never imagine - the action takes place in the months running up to 9/11. Messud weaves surprising turns and expertly realised side narratives while always keeping tight control of the central storyline and the novel's ringingly true tone. Slick, smart and multilayered, this already widely acclaimed American novel is a hugely satisfying read. Bernice Harrison
12 Books that Changed The World
Melvyn Bragg. Sceptre, £8.99
In this clever, thought-provoking book, Melvyn Bragg celebrates the wonders of science, technology and literature in his selection of world-changing works. Taking us through The Origin of Species, the Magna Carta and Newton's Principia Mathematica, to name just a few, Bragg uses illustrations, timelines and photographs to create an accessible and user-friendly guide. Most interesting is his inclusion of Married Life, by Marie Stopes, who caused outrage when she wrote about birth control, orgasms and "sex difficulties" in 1918. Also fascinating is the examination of On the Abolition of the Slave Trade and a discussion on the importance of fiction and Shakespeare's The First Folio. While you may wonder why he limited himself to British authors - or why he included The Rule Book of Association Football in his selection - this book certainly makes for a stimulating and enjoyable read. Sorcha Hamilton
Restless
William Boyd. Bloomsbury, £7.99
William Boyd cemented his position in the first rank of contemporary British writers with this second World War spy thriller, a worthy winner of last year's Costa Novel award. Ruth Gilmartin, single mum and PhD student, finds her life thrown into disarray when her elderly and eccentric mother, Sally, reveals herself to be Eva Delectorskaya, Russian emigré and former British spy. The action shifts between wartime Belgium, London and America and an Oxford simmering under the long, hot summer of 1976 as Ruth tries to put her own life in order whilst learning about her mother's past and helping her with one last mission. Boyd delights in the darkly comic potential of the spy genre but his serious points about misinformation and deception during wartime are as relevant now as they were then. Freya McClements
Colossus: Bletchley Park's Greatest Secret
Paul Gannon. Atlantic Books, £12.99
While you need to pay attention to your undulator-this and your cyptoanalytical-that, this is much more than a curious distraction for tech-heads. It follows the story of a little-known and secret anti-computer - the grandfather of all hackers - called Colossus. Developed by British scientists, it is considered by many, including Gannon, to be in the front row of the world's first computers. Gannon's Colossus is also a cracking, 60-year-old detective story, that straddles the history of computers and the fight against the German Geheimschrieber (secret-writer), a system seen by the Nazis as superior to Enigma, recreating the mystery and secrecy that kept the super-machine that was vital to the winning of the second World War hidden, even in peacetime, when other governments released similar technology to the private sector.
Paul O'Doherty