Recommended

Professor Martens' Departure by Jaan Kross, tr Anselm Hollo, Harvill pounds 15.99. A cleverly ironic attack on communist oppression from Estonia. Review by Doris Lessing, 19 February.

The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood by Jack Zipes, Routledge, pounds 13.99. 35 versions of the classic fairy tale with brilliant editorial and interpretative comment. Review by Natasha Walter, 19 February.

The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh, Secker & Warburg, pounds 8.99. Extraordinary novel about the devastations of the war years by a North Vietnamese. Review by Geoff Dyer, 29 January

Paddy and Mr Punch by

R F Foster, Allen Lane, pounds 22.50. Romantic Ireland is dead and gone. Or is it? Review by G J Watson, 1 January.

Days of Anger by Sylvie Germain, tr Christine Donougher, Dedalus, pounds 8.99. Prizewinning French epic of love and death. Review by Robert Winder, 14 January.

The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom, tr Ina Rilke, Harvill, pounds 6.99. Witty novel about a man who goes to bed in Amsterdam and wakes in Lisbon. Winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Award for December / January. Interview by Nick Caistor, 22 January.