Books we like: January 2012

This month's book of the month, kicking off 2012 in style, is the brilliant The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (Fig Tree) - a perfect and delicate tale of a group of Japanese mail order brides trying to find the American dream with their new husbands in San Francisco.

Also, we review The Art of Fielding, destined to be this year's Great American novel, the superb Pacazo, new books from Tessa Hadley and Samantha Harvey, and get to grips with the memoir of the heroic tragic Gil Scott-Heron.

Happy 2012 everyone!