Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Book Club by Robin Sloan

This book is not what I expected but it is quite good fun. It is about Clay, a young unemployed web designer in San Francisco who takes on a night shift in a small old fashioned book store owned by Mr Penumbra.  Clay's curiosity as to the mysterious coded books which are loaned to eccentric members of a book club leads him on a quest to discover the secret of eternal life. The plot is a little too ridiculous for me, and doesn't even really make sense as a lot of it is never properly explained. However, it is an an enjoyable bit of silliness which is good for a sun lounger

February by Lisa Moore

A novel about a Canadian family of four who are raised by their mother following their father's death on an oil rig. The plot keeps you interested, if not gripped, but the characters are not very well developed. You sort of feel you are skimming the surface rather than really getting to know any of the main narrators. I enjoyed this book but a strange choice for the long list as it is not very provocative or even particularly well written (although there is some lovely phrasing).