Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune a joyful, quasi-fairtale, science fictional reimagining and inversion of Pinocchio

Pile by the Bed finds Dennis Lehane back in the familiar territory of South Boston in the 1970s in his excoriating new book Small Mercies. Recommended

Pile by the Bed reviews I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai a novel which uses the creation of a true crime podcast to explore their popularity and their impact but also a range of other issues. Recommended

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith set in a dying Italian town, peopled with fascinating characters and lifted by luminous prose.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Birnam Wood by Booker Prize winning New Zealand author Eleanor Catton a deep, satiric and insightful exploration of power, idealism and environmentalism.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry which focusses on a retired policeman and uses crime fiction tropes to explore and expose the issue of child sexual abuse in Ireland.

Pile by the Bed reviews and Recommends Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor a compulsive novel of crime and corruption set in and modern India.

Pile by the Bed reviews Ymir by Rich Larson a dark, intense and gritty science fiction debut with cyberpunk stylings set on an icy mining planet. Recommended

Pile by the Bed reviews Bad Cree by Jessica Johns an Indigenous horror story that explores issues of resilience in the face of the impacts of colonisation, exploitation and cultural loss.

Pile by the Bed reviews Taken by Dinuka McKenzie, Australian rural crime fiction once again featuring Detective Kate Miles in the follow up to McKenzie’s debut The Torrent.

Pile by the Bed reviews Babel by RF Kuang a historical fantasy that takes on notions of Empire and colonialism through a unique linguisitc magic system.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Neom by Lavie Tidhar a return to the world of his breakthrough science fiction novel Central Station.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Last Hero by Linden A Lewis and finds it a page-turning and philosophical finale to their First Sister space opera trilogy

Pile by the Bed reviews The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler a science fiction debut dealing with a form of terrestrial first contact and issues fo artificial intelligence. Recommended

Pile by the Bed reviews This All Come Back Now, an anthology of 22 short speculative fiction stories by Australian First Nations authors edited by Mykaela Saunders

Pile by the Bed reviews Better the Blood the debut fiction novel by screenwriter and true crime author Michael Bennett dealing directlt with the ongoing impacts of New Zealand’s violent colonial past.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz, a heartfelt and engaging novel full of likeably unlikeable characters that explores and comments on a range of aspects of modern life.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra, a multilayered character and incident filled historical novel set around a small American film studio in World War 2.

Pile by the Bed reviews Maror by Lavie Tidhar an underbelly look at the history of Israel bewteen the mid 1970s and the early 2000s in the vein of James Elroy. Recommended

Pile by the Bed reviews The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh, the seventh in his consistently enjoyable Eddie Flynn conman-turned-lawyer series .