Christopher paolini/Knopf I $15.13 or on Amazon.com/Also look out for notices in bookstores

Here comes the third book in the much acclaimed Inheritance Cycle. After the Burning Plains battle, Eragon must now choose between rescuing his cousin’s beloved and saving elves and dwarves. But The Varden also desperately need his talent and strength. And he must also unite the rebels against the king. Will this simple farm boy be able to take these tough decisions? Find out in this much-awaited last edition of the trilogy.

EARLIER IN THE SERIES: Christopher’s earlier works in the Inheritance Cycle are Eragon and Eldest. Eragon dealt with the discovery of an ancient kingdom’s legacy. Eldest described the defeat of cruel King Galbatorix. Here’s the final update. Brisingr! ERAGON, the movie based on the first of the trilogy raked up quite a controversy. Fans were disappointed with the director for not dwelling on Eragon’s infatuation with the elf Arya. Seems even fantasy needs a dash of mush!

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By: Philip Roth/Jonathan Cape

On instructions from his father boy-next-door Marcus Messner quits college in Newark to begin his sophomore year at conservative Wines Burg College in Ohio. Why does he do so ? Simply because daddy dear worries about his son’s adult life! But soon enough, the thought of living with his parents. freaks Marcus out. So he Quits living with parents follows his heart and lands up back in Newark. Set in the backdrop of the Korean War Indignation explores the bizarre life of Marcus Messner, filled with intellectual resistance and sexual discovery.

HOT TIP: A gripping narrative that deals with religion politics and their impact on a normal life.

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By: SJ Bolton/Bantam

Just moving to the picturesque but remote Shetland island has been unsettling enough for surgeon Tora Hamilton, even before the rather gruesome discovery she makes one rain-drenched Sunday afternoon… Deep in the peat soil near her new home, she is shocked to find the perfectly preserved body of a young woman, with a gaping hole in her chest from where her heart has been brutally removed! Three rune marks, etched into the woman’s skin, bear an eerie resemblance to carvings that Tora has seen all over the island, including homes she has visited and around a fireplace in her own cellar. As Tora uncovers some disturbing links to an ancient Shetland legend, the unfriendly detective, her smooth-talking boss and even her own husband are at pains to persuade her to let matters be. Could their concerns be genuine? Perhaps yes, for when terrifying threats roll in like the cold island mists, it seems someone wants Tora out of the picture-once and for all.

Hot Tip: A very slick and well-crafted thriller-right from the very taut and crackling opening scene to the goosebump-including climax

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By: Philippa Gregory/Touchstone

Aunique take on one of history’s most maddening heroines. Biographers often neglect the captive years of Mary, Queen of Scots, who trusted Queen Elizabeth’s promise of sanctuary when she flied from rebels in Scotland and found herself imprisoned as a ‘guest’ of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his indomitable wife bess of hardwick. The newly married couple thought that serving as her hosts and jailers would help them in the cutthroat Elizabethan court. To their horror they found that the task nearly bankrupted them and as their home became the epicenter of intrigue against Elizabeth their loyalty to each other and to their sovereign came into question. Will the great spymaster William Cecil link them to the growing conspiracy to free Mary from her illegal imprisonment? Either way they will all face the headsman!

HOT TIP: Suspense meets passion meets political intrigue!

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By: Cathy Kelly / Harper

There is chick-lit and then there is chick-lit…Cathy’s writing qualifies as the latter for its tasteful, insightful approach to relationships and their particular afflictions. Granted that getting through the 400-plus pages can be a rather arduous task for a supposed light read, but the book-even though it meanders and rambles at times-proves to be worthy of all that time spent unravelling the lives of three generations of a family of deeply feeling Irishwomen. Not at all a frothy or frivolous read, this one is partly based in a history-seeped World War 2nd context, thus adding a new dimension to the tale.

HOT TIP: Engrossing and enigmatic at the same time, this is worth a weekend of reading!

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By: Jackie Collins / Simon & Schuster

Drop-dead gorgeous Cameron, 24, is a personal trainer in a fitness club. She trains high-profile socialites, and many come on to her strongly! But, with plans to open her own studio, she’s focused on striving and saving. Till she meets Ryan, a successful moviemaker, married to a celebrity heiress of a powerbroking dynasty. Ryan’s never cheated on his wife but when he meets Cameron, all bets are off. So, what happens when lust and desire collide with marriage and power?

HOT TIP: You know pretty well what to expect from a Jackie Collins book, right? Wrong!

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By: Heather O’Neill/Quercus

Baby, 13, is on the verge between childhood comforts and adult temptations-young enough to play with dolls old enough to know more than she should about urban cruelties. Motherless, she lives with her father, Jules, who takes better care of his heroin habit. Unfazed, as most kids are Baby cherishes the crumbs of happiness that fall into her lap. But her blossoming beauty captures the attention of a charismatic local pimp-a volatile situation even the oblivious Jules cannot ignore. This is a subtly understated yet searingly effective story of a young life on the streets-and the strength wits and luck necessary for survival. Read this!

HOT Tip: Hilarious yet heartrending; shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, 2008.

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By: SA Jones/Allen&Unwin

The dress haunts my steps. Flashes of red on the street mesmerize me. It flutters through my dream life like a taunting red banner. Sometimes there is just the barest hint of it so. I am not even certain that it flared at all…Here’s the story of an intimate circle of friends and a couple, Will and Emily crazily in love with each other. Then, one day, Will gives Emily a stunning, very sexy red dress. And somehow, everything changes!

Hot Tip: A clever novel about break-ups and breakdowns.

By: Dennis Lehane/Harper

Celebrated crime novelist Dennis takes on the historical genre to churn out a stunner, set in Boston at the end of WWI. US post war politics and morality come under his creative gaze as two families one black, one white are caught up in a maelstrom of revolutionaries, anarchists, immigrants, all battling for survival. In focus are beat cop Danny (striving to unionise Boston Police) and baseballer Luther Lawrence (a black man on the run from the mafia, striving to reunite with his pregnant wife). As their paths cross, we also meet historical figures like baseseller Babe Ruth, playwright Eugene O’Neill and US president Calvin Coolidge and reenter events such as the Spanish influenza of 1918 and the violent Boston police strike of 1919-all cameos that add a dash of authenticity to the very imaginative, very ambitious writing.

Hot Tip: A fiery read, with epic potential!

By: Alison Goodman / Bantam

Enter a realm of ancient Chinese lore, redolent of such visions as seen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Eon is training to become a Dragoneye, a powerful Lord who can command wind and water to nurture his land. But Eon has a desperate secret: He is, in fact, Eona, a young woman! If exposed, his masquerade will mean certain death, because girls are not allowed to practise martial arts. But even with his subterfuge, Eon is brilliant enough to catch the Emperor’s eye. Summoned to court, he’s thrust into a lethal struggle for the throne. Poison- laced politics and sexual intrigue make this tale truly timeless!

HOT Tip: The truth can be a deadly thing to say in a world of lies. Fantabulous figment of a fearlessly fertile mind!