20 gripping books: Fiction and non-fiction to read this summer We round up the best books so you will not be stuck for a great read as days get longer about an hour ago
From the work of established masters to impressive sophomore outings and blistering debuts, there’s an embarrassment of reading riches on offer this summer. These 20 brilliant works of fiction and non-fiction are not to be missed. Animal Bloomsbury Circus, £16.99 Taddeo’s first book, Three Women, drew on 10 years of reporting to bring an up-close and personal account of the sex lives of three real women. It was a powerful book that received a powerful response from readers, who warmed to its open and brave subject matter. Now back with her debut novel, Animal, Taddeo covers similarly coal-hot territory. In the opening passage, our narrator, Joan tells us her married lover shot himself in front of her while she was in a restaurant having dinner with another married man. From there, it follows Joan’s journey to Los Angeles to find a woman named Alice, and slowly feeds through Joan’s extraordinary life story.