Books we like: February 2012

This month, the year of the short story (Bloomsbury's words, not ours) gets off to a flying start with reviews of three collections. Meanwhile, our book of the month, Narcopolis, leads us into the darkest underbellies of Bombay's down and outers. Narcopolis is a poetical paean to addiction, gentrification and desperation, a brilliant debut by Indian spoken word artist Jeet Thayil.

Two-time runner-up of the BBC National Short Story Award, Jon McGregor, releases an incredible collection of short stories, that tussle with collections from American supremo Nathan Englander and Mr Peanut author, Adam Ross. On the non-fiction front, Guardian editor Philip Oltermann delivers a brilliant memoir of his dual heritage as English and German, Miranda July shows what happens if you answer Pennysaver ads, and Alex Preston returns with the follow-up to This Bleeding City, a novel about cults. Lots to get through then!