Recommended

What Remains and Other Stories by Christa Wolf, Virago, pounds 8.99. Includes some of the least impressive fiction ever written by this remarkable German writer, but still unmissable. Review by Natasha Walter, 24 April.

A Place of Fallen Leaves by Tim Pears, Hamish Hamilton, pounds 14.99. Unusually strong and prizewinning debut novel set in a sleepy Devon village. Review by Kate Bassett, 27 March.

Lincoln at Gettysburg by Garry Wills, Simon & Schuster, pounds 17.99. A perceptive and impressive examination of one of the most famous speeches in American history. Review by Godfrey Hodgson, 20 March.

The Oracle at Stoneleigh Court by Peter Taylor, Chatto, pounds 14.99. Haunting stories imbued with the lost grandeur of the American South. Review by D J Taylor, 13 March.

Coast to Coast by Andy Bull, Black Swan, pounds 5.99. Sparkling tour of musical America by this newspaper's Pictures Editor. Not reviewed here, but mobbed by screaming fans everywhere else.

The Blindfold by Siri Hustvedt, Hodder & Stoughton, pounds 8.99. Extremely elegant first novel about a young woman's traumatic life in New York. Review by Justine Picardie, 13 February.