A pair of early recommendations from my reading year are Mister Pip by LLoyd Jones and Heft by Liz Moore. Both books tell a good story and tell it well.
Beyond that basic plug, Mister Pip will be of special interest to anyone who likes Dickens, and who likes Great Expectations especially. It is also about what reading can do for children - about its special magic.
Heft is the tale of two individuals seemingly separated by a chasm but whose lives are linked nonetheless. One of them is a young, budding sportsman, the other a reclusive and obese ex-academic. Moore traces the two lives and the connection between them, leading you on towards an uncertain denouement. There is something of Anne Tyler in her depiction of unconventional family set-ups, but Moore's book can make its own way in the world and doubtless will.
