THE BEST PAPERBACKS The Dinner Party

FICTION

Joshua Ferris Penguin €12.59 The title piece in this superb collection of short stories gives a flavour of what is to come with its astringent dissection of hypocritical middle-class attitudes. Another story, Pilot, captures brilliantly the insecurity of a would-be writer in Hollywood, but it would be invidious to pick a favourite. Ferris is outrageously talented and every story is a gem.

FICTION Home Fire Kamila Shamsie Bloomsbury €12.60

Shamsie’s ingenious novel takes the story of Antigone and refashions Sophocles’s classical tragedy into an unsettling and challenging exploration of what it means to be a Muslim across the water in contemporary Britain. Told from multiple points of view, it focuses on the family of a dead jihadist, whose legacy haunts his children’s lives and leads one to make a terrible mistake.

NON-FICTION Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts Christopher de Hamel Penguin €18.20

During the 6th century, Saint Augustine arrived in Canterbury to convert the heathen English, bringing along with him a precious Latin manuscript of the gospels. This is the starting point for Christopher de Hamel’s erudite, but wonderfully readable, account of 12 of the world’s most precious manuscripts. A fascinating cultural and historical adventure.

NON-FICTION The Templars Dan Jones Head of Zeus €12.99

The Knights Templar were among the most ferocious warriors of the medieval world, but it was a bit of a mixed blessing to have them fighting on your side. Brave they undoubtedly were, but their tendency to charge into combat first and think afterwards led to some spectacular blunders. Their colourful story is grippingly told by the excellent Dan Jones.