Sunjeev Sahota / Features / Untitled Books

"It was the last book I read in 2010, and felt like a good one with which to step into the new year."

Photograph: ©Simon Revill

Sunjeev Sahota

Sunjeev Sahota, was recently selected by the Observer as one of their 2011 "Faces to Watch". His debut novel, Ours Are the Streets, is about longing and belonging in extreme.

Tinkers: Paul Harding

It is eight days before Christmas and George Washington Crosby lies dying in his living room. He 'remembered many things as he died, but in an order he could not control.' A man's relationship with his past, and the challenges, and dread, of being in transition. I thought this was a wonderful novel.

Tony Judt: Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945

A re-read. I've been dipping into this during my commute to and from work. The scope is staggering, and it doesn't seem to matter where I open the page - the westward march of the Red Army, the changes in the 1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act - my attention is caught.

John Hick: Between Faith and Doubt: Dialogues on Religion and Reason

A lovely book, written entirely as a conversation between a sceptic and a believer. The tone is sincere and respectful, with each making an attempt to understand the other. It was the last book I read in 2010, and felt like a good one with which to step into the new year.

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Ours are the Streets, by Sunjeev Sahota is published by Picador.

Read an extract.
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Thursday, 20 January, 2011