OK, so this is a bit unfair because this isn’t out for a few months, but I’ve just read The Explorer and really enjoyed it. I’ll get a full review up nearer the publication dates (split across December and January). For now it will suffice to say that, as well as having a gorgeous cover, which is obviously what makes a book worth reading, The Explorer is SF for people who don’t like SF and probably should: so maybe they will stop being silly. It’s a taut, claustrophobic, frankly unnerving exploration of grief, memory, self-knowledge, and what it really means to go where no one has gone before both physically and psychologically. Oh, and it’s set on a space ship heading for deep space. I should mention that.
wordsofmercury
Book reviews and thoughts
wordsofmercury 
Maybe this will be one for me to look out for. If it is also SF for people who are a bit scared of reading SF and not sure if they like it or not too?! It sounds very good.
The SF is fairly gentle, even if the story based around it isn’t. I’d definitely recommend it.