Long a darling of the fashion world, model (and granddaughter of the one, the only Roald Dahl) Sophie Dahl has proven that she is also herself deserving of praise as an author. Playing with the Grown-Ups, her second work of fiction, is a bittersweet coming-of-age story.

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In a city built on lies, Camorr's Locke Lamora reigns supreme. Lamora directs the Gentleman Bastards, a tight-knit family of confidence men, whose elaborate games have cost the nobility their fortunes and their pride. Unfortunately, Locke's latest scam is about to be interrupted by a brutal turf war in Camorr's underground.

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There's been a lot of well-deserved hype around The Dangerous Book for Boys, and subsequently The Daring Book for Girls.

Another book that might fall just beneath the radar deserves a good look. Howtoons, published by the creators of the magazines Make and Craft, teaches kids how to make their own cool toys. Using a graphic novel format, the book follows the exploits of Tucker and Celine, a brother and sister pair who decide to make their own fun.

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In William Gibson's Spook Country, a stern federal security agent keeps prisoner a valuable addict who can translate Volapuk in order to track some Russian speaking illegal Cuban immigrants whose elderly leader is employing a tense computer genius, Bobby Chombo, to hide a truckload of contraband. Hollis Henry, a former rock star, now journalist, who is employed by a British magazine to ivestigate the new phenomenon of locative art (art that only be seen with a special helmet) drops gently into Bobby's world and immediately senses that Bobby is hiding more than art.

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