A collection of short stories with a twist, miniature marvels of observation on America. All strata of society are covered, whimsical at times, unsentimental at others, O. Henry is a treasure.

A novel in the form of a cookbook. A cookbook in the form of a novel. A fable in the form of a tasty barbecue. A romance spiced with flair. A delightful confection through and through, cooked with verve. A sensual read, it is also a thoroughly modern affair set in the milieu of low income housing in Paris. We all know the type: the anonymous immigrant who keeps to himself, working in jobs in which he has to keep his head down, taking care of his elderly mother, the loner in essence. So what will it take to draw him out if not home-cooked food? What better means of seduction than food from the motherland? What else could arouse the spirit and trigger memories? And so it goes. This is the story of a young African woman living in Paris, a woman who has forgot her roots, assimilated completely it would seem into Western society, who reconnects with her soul when she decides to court a man by cooking (at first for him and then for herself). The dishes proliferate, each one appropriate for the occasion. A real treat in limpid prose, it makes me want to eat.

Sublime stuff from a great writer. Oxford was never so eloquently described, nor indeed so aptly skewered. Humourous observations galore, wicked dialogue abounds and the characters leap off the page. Zuleika, the conjuror is whimsy incarnate, Dorset, the Duke is appropriately effete, controlled and at once at bay with that thing called love. The undergraduates follow suit, like moths to a flame. Simply wonderful.

Belize writ large from a microscopic perspective. Warm, funny, poignant. A virtuosic act of mimesis and remembrance. A thing of beauty. A novel of manners and social living.

Clever storytelling in the form of an epic history of the future. The Foundation series deserves its reputation as the pinacle of science fiction and the opening tales of this first volume lay out a great framework. It is interesting to note just how minimal a touch needs to be added to maintain the coherence of the narrative – Asimov places the emphasis on human psychology so that the technological underpinnings don’t distract.

Drawing on strands like global warming, the decline of America, the peculiar dystopia that is California and keen observations about a certain militarism and insecurity this novel is a dreamlike tour of hell. Theft, rape, violence and even a lugubrious cannibalism feature strongly and the atmosphere is heavy on latent treats. It is all matter of fact which makes things even more oppressive. A certain mysticism creeps in with the exodus myth reenacted. If the future is one of walled communities, what happens when the walls break down. Will the noxious company towns of yore return? Will indentured servitude return?

Dense and dystopian, a jaundiced examination of the dark underbelly of Los Angeles. A social and cultural history that verges at times into a Marxist critique, it is also a very knowing take on the real motive forces in that perplexing metropolis. He tackles everything from real estate to Hollywood, from the dirty cops to the importance of water, from the social conservatism to the anything goes, from race to religion. Joan Didion did much the same thing in a different medium, the title of that book was Slouching towards Bethlehem. Davis’s title is similarly apposite, quartz is certainly not gold even with the glitter.

Lucia having risen to the top – she’s now called Her Worship, can only have trouble in store for her. For a while she is typically brazen and adept at dealing with things. Fortune however is one of those things that waxes and wanes and Lucia comes very close to losing control. Throughout there is vicious, savage fun. Tis a pity when people stop believing your tall tales.

Lucia starts to invest, or rather speculate in stocks and the rest of Tilling follows her lead with varying results. Success and ambition meet pretension and she mounts a campaign for official recognition and higher office, first abortively for the town council, but then, at length, for mayoral. Along the way there is dispossessing of a rival’s house, rumour mongering about supposed Roman ruins – which turn out to be Victorian sewers and lots of disastrous dinners and tea parties. The poor Mapp, newly married, keeps getting the worst of the various intrigues. The set pieces are deliciously vicious, gossip and social airs have never been so finely described. A comedy of manners, beastly manners that is, and amour propre.

He pulls no punches and simply confronts the vissitudes of race in America head on. This is the era of Jim Crow, a time when lynching was all too frequent in the South and blase attitudes and lip service was omnipresent in the North. Thus everyday life was tainted by the pathologies of race relations and from this springs forth the . The writing style is spare and ironic and each story leaves a sting; it’s never overwrought. There’s high life and low life, every social sphere is observed. I found myself shaking my head at once, laughing out loud at other times and clutching the book as the tension mounted on occasion. Beautiful and lyrical prose everywhere. The title may be the ways of white folks but it could as well be the ways of black folks.