Luke Kennard, Sophie Ratcliffe and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments
This is a really good year for new fiction. I don’t think anyone writes about contemporary Englishness as astutely, mercilessly and affectionately as Claire Powell, and her latest novel, All In, puts her perfectly observed characters in the pressure cooker of an all-inclusive holiday. It’s a kind of meta-beach read, and I loved it.
A friend gave me a copy of the Argentine author César Aira’s short novel Ghosts (translated by Chris Andrews), which I devoured the other day. A family of builders are squatting in a half-built luxury apartment complex and start seeing beautiful ghosts. It’s scary and captivating and made me determined to get hold of all his books. He was one of Roberto Bolaño’s favourite writers so you can get into him now, then roll your eyes when everyone’s talking about him in two to three years.
I’m also very slowly reading Hilary Mantel’s French Revolution novel A Place of Greater Safety in parallel with my partner. I’m obsessed with Camille. Regardless of station, every man in the 18th century looked like a fat judge, but Camille looked like the lead singer of a Brooklyn indie band.
