THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled, THE SHADOW OF THE WIND, by one Julian Carax. But, when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book that Carax has written. In fact, Daniel, may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets.

This is an epic story of murder, madness and doomed love.

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST BY MOHSIN HAMID

At a cafe table in LAHORE, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy, American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter.

Changez is living an immigrant's dream of America. At the top of his class in Princeton, he is snapped up by an elite valuation firm. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his budding romance with elegant and beautiful Erica promises entry into Manhattan society at the same exhalted level once occupied by his own family back in Laghore.

But, in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned and his relationship with Erica shifting. And Changez's own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power and maybe even, love.

NETHERLAND BY JOSEPH O'NEILL

Unexpectedly finding himself marooned among the strange occupants of New York's Chelsea Hotel, feeling lost in the country that he has come to regard as home, Hans van den Brock begins an unlikely friendship with Chuck Ramkissoon, a charming Trinidadian who introduces Hans to an "other" America populated by immigrants,and strivers of every race and nationality. What holds them all together is their love of cricket and this allows Hans to re-connect with his adopted home, after his wife and son return to England after the horrible events of September 11.