WHAT I BOUGHT TODAY ...

FICTION
Half in Love (2001) / Justin Cartwright

The Inheritance of Loss (2006) / Kiran Desai
Desai’s first book, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (1998), was lighthearted, an appetiser of a novel. Her second novel, The Inheritance of Loss (2006), is the main course, and a filling one at that, where she tackles heavier issues.

In the Company of the Courtesan (2006) / Sarah Dunant

The Danish Girl (1999) / David Ebershoff

Small Circle of Beings (1988) / Damon Galgut
A gut-wrenching collection of stories by the Booker-shortlisted author of The Good Doctor (2003).

The Alchemy of Desire (2005) / Tarun J. Tejpal
An overlooked, underappreciated first novel.

The Hummingbird’s Daughter (2005) / Luis Alberto Urrea

The Fall of Light (2001) / Niall Williams

NONFICTION
Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure (1997) / Paul Auster

Untold Stories (2005) / Alan Bennett

On Literature (2002; 2004) / Umberto Eco (trans. from the Italian by Martin McLaughlin)

Consider the Lobster and Other Essays (2005) / David Foster Wallace
A readable collection of observations about a wide variety of provocative topics.