Five new books to read this week

FICTION Parasol Against The Axe by Helen Oyeyemi Faber & Faber

Don’t pick this up expecting a traditional story with a beginning, middle and end. Instead, it’s a masterclass in the absurd – as has become Oyeyemi’s signature.

For her latest offering, she takes the reader to Prague, a city she’s lived in for a decade. It’s ostensibly written from the perspective of Prague, picking up a cast of characters along the way, including Hero, who arrives for a former friend’s hen do, when another figure from their past bursts in.

It’s weird and wonderful and no one is writing quite like Oyeyemi – everyone should read her work. 9/10

Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind by Molly Mcghee Fourth Estate

Jonathan Abernathy is the loser’s loser. Socially inept and with an almost comical mountain of debt, he’s desperate. So desperate as to take a job with the mysterious Archive, where he must enter dreams of the citizenry and clear their subconscious of the undesirable to ensure maximum work productivity. But if we remove our fears, we leave half an identity. As Abernathy is drawn deeper in, he enters his own half-life.

Writing from her own bitter experience of corporate culture, Mcghee has, with acid wit, offered a biting update on the Big Friendly Giant for a millennial generation. 9/10

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander Constable

A strong debut novel, this is a proper thriller with plenty of twists and turns. Charlie Colbert has it all – he’s a successful magazine editor in New York with an equally successful fiancee. But she may have been more involved in a tragic college event than is believed.

A timeline that flips between past and present may not be for everyone, but it works in what is a well-paced and solidly plotted story. There are enough revelations to keep you turning the pages as you race to find out the truth of ‘Scarlet Christmas’ and while the ending was perhaps a little too neat, it was still an enjoyable read. 8/10

NON-FICTION The Last Yakuza by Jake Adelstein Corsair

The Last Yakuza might be a work of non-fiction, but it reads more like a thriller.

Journalist Jake Adelstein has spent years embedded in Japan, reporting on the dangerous criminal world of the yakuza. Here, we follow the life of one man: Makoto Saigo, nicknamed Tsunami. He takes us on a journey through the yakuza, showing the organisation’s brutal reality.

Through Saigo, we learn about the history of the yakuza and how it has changed, and are introduced to a cast of mob bosses along the way.

Colourfully written, leaning into the drama, it is a gripping read. 8/10

CHILDREN’S Pablo And Splash by Sheena Dempsey Bloomsbury Publishing

A bright, colourful comic book, telling the tale of two penguins who just want a break. Whether a seasoned fan of comics or a complete newbie, Pablo And Splash provides a fun-filled story that traces two lovable characters on a wild adventure through time.

Antarctic penguins Pablo and Splash are best friends, and when they set out for a total change of scene – a beach holiday – they somehow find themselves in the age of dinosaurs.

The cute illustrations not only bring the story to life, they also add a depth that will even keep tired parents entertained. 10/10