Recommended

Electricity by Victoria Glendinning, Hutchinson, £14.99. Beautifully detailed parable of female self- determination set in the 1880s. Review by Lucasta Miller, 1 April

Marabou Stork Nightmares by Irvine Welsh, Jonathan Cape, £9.99. Weird hybrid of Scots- hooligan slang and British-colonial grit, as comatose thug hides from brutal past. Stunning. Interview by John Walsh, 15 April High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, Gollancz, £14.99. Pop music and bitter-sweet romance in the first novel from the author of Fever Pitch. Review by Mick Brown, 1 April

Landscape and Memory by Simon Schama, Harper Collins, £30. Dazzling, erudite exploration of nature as a cultural construct by one of the great popular historians. Review by Roy Foster, 15 April

An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel, Viking, £15. Funny, tragic and perceptive novel about the painful process of growing up. Exquisitely written. Review by Sue Gaisford, 18 March

The Hutchinson Treasury of Children's Literature edited by Alison Sage, Hutchinson, £19.95. Glorious anthology of the best picture books, tales and poems. Review by Lucasta Miller, 8 April