Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
Katabasis is a fantastical, ambitious and wild ride. We follow Cambridge postgraduate Analytical Magick students and somewhat-enemies Alice Law and Peter Murdoch as they journey to Hell to rescue their brutal but genius dead advisor, Professor Grimes. Along the way, they meet a myriad of quirky and interesting characters, and as they battle the eight courts of Hell, they realise just how far they’ll have to go if they want to save not just Professor Grimes, but themselves. R. F. Kuang masterfully touches on a whole variety of themes, from the world of academia, philosophy and obsession to ambition, friendship and mythology – a hefty one at 541 pages, but well worth the perseverance. Get your copy here.
Kayleigh, September 2025
A Love Song For Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
I first discovered Tia Williams’ writing when I read Seven Days In June, which I instantly loved and couldn’t put it down. I picked up this one and immediately devoured it too! A touch of magical realism with a romance plot for the ages, set against a 1920s Harlem Renaissance theme – what’s not to like? The two protagonists are flawed, but loveable, and you’re rooting for them until the end. I’m not normally a romance reader, but I would recommend this to anyone looking for some cosy, relaxed reading. Get your copy here.
Kayleigh, September 2025
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
This is an extraordinary new novel from Ocean Vuong, poet and author of the acclaimed On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, which was described by Max Porter as “The Great American Novel”. Hai, the son of Vietnamese immigrants and his temporary saviour Grazina, an immigrant herself as a refugee from wartime Europe, seek to eke out an existence in the freezing, poverty stricken and drug addled streets of a New England which does not appear in the travel brochures. The odds are stacked against them, but they can still find solace in each other and the comfort, love and support of others almost equally dispossessed. This is a novel of some complexity up to its enigmatic conclusion, in its dreamlike poetic prose, and in its consideration of the big issues: friendship, memory, race, sexuality, the American Dream, truth, our place in the cosmos. It is also utterly beautiful, funny and sad. My pick for best novel read so far this year. Get your copy here.
Simon, July 2025
Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin
Ordinary Saints is a masterclass on how to write beautiful prose that echoes with the remnants of grief, difficult family relationships and grappling with who you are in present-day Ireland. We follow protagonist Jay, who after losing her brother Ferdia in a tragic accident when she was 16, finds out that he may be made into a Catholic saint. It is only then that Jay realizes she must confront all aspects of herself; growing up in Ireland, her queer identity, belonging to a deeply religious family and her grief for her beloved brother.
All of the characters including and surrounding Jay are richly layered, full of complexities and completely absorbing to read. This is an unmissable, inventive exploration of a plethora of topics, and one to add to your ‘To Read’ list for certain. Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, the Women’s Prize Discoveries Award and a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick, I was completely shocked when I found out that this was a debut novel – I can’t wait to see what Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin writes next! Get your copy here.
Kayleigh, July 2025
The Penguin Archive Collection
To mark the 90th anniversary of Penguin, they have this spring published The Penguin Archive, a collection of 90 short stories, essays, poetry and short story collections showcasing the very best of their output, from Rossetti to Warhol, Oscar Wilde to Shirley Jackson. This is an opportunity to rediscover an old favourite or acquaint yourself with one of the great writers for the first time, like I did with A Dill Pickle by Katherine Mansfield, whose work was described by Virginia Woolf as “the only writing I have ever been jealous of”. In a little over 100 pages this wondrous short story collection includes tales of quirky comedy, loneliness and quiet devastation, lust and love, hedonism, melancholy and more. All for £5.99, this series has so much to recommend. Browse the collection here.
By Simon, June 2025
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again! Set in the 1980s American space programme with a cast full of loveable characters, this one captured my attention instantly and I stayed up all night just to finish it. Gripping, devastating and brilliantly heartbreaking, this is the perfect summer read and will leave you wanting to read (or perhaps re-read) everything Taylor Jenkins Reid has written. Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, June 2025
Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell
Nesting is a heart-wrenching, unbelievably brilliant debut that left me thinking about its characters a long time after finishing it. At its core, it is a story about a mother and her two young children attempting to escape psychological abuse from her husband and their father, but this seems almost reductionist. As well as tackling abuse, which is a huge yet very important topic, it also examines, friendships, family, homelessness and all of the consequences that come with trying to escape an abusive marriage. Eloquent, beautiful prose and a joy to read, despite its intense subject matter. Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, May 2025
Is A River Alive? by Robert MacFarlane
The main protagonist in the novel I have just read (William Boyd’s Gabriel’s Moon) was in the process of writing a travel memoir focussing on rivers of the world. How apt then that the first book I read afterwards is a travel memoir focusing on rivers of the world. Robert MacFarlane’s latest wonder is far more than just a travel memoir, however, as he seeks out the source of the River of the Cedars in the Cloud Forests of Ecuador, finds abundance amidst the ruins of the desperately polluted waters of Chennai and inspiration in the fight to save the Mutehekau Shipu River in Canada, always to return to river springs close to his home in Cambridgeshire. MacFarlane’s ability to move from hope to despair and back to hope again in the space of a few short, most beautifully crafted, sentences is in itself an inspiration, and his love of and fascination for nature and the people who offer stewardship of it are a joy. A few signed copies still in stock too! Get your copy here.
By Simon, May 2025
Death At The White Hart by Chris Chibnall
As a fan of Dr Who, with two children who, like me, have serious reservations about Chris Chibnall’s tenure as Executive Producer of that great British institution (not to mention season 2 of Broadchurch!?!), I came to this, his first novel, with some trepidation, but our Penguin Random House Sales Rep insisted I should give it a go and it really did not disappoint. A classic modern British mystery, set in a Dorset village with a varied cast of fearful suspects, a grisly murder and a great new detective duo in DS Nicola Bridge and DC Harry Ward, it is difficult to imagine that this will not be adapted for TV, but should also, we hope, be just the beginning of a great new whodunnit series. Get your copy here.
By Simon, April 2025
Who Wants To Live Forever by Hanna Thomas Uose
Who Wants To Live Forever blew me away from start to finish. A perfect read for fans of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, we follow five characters’ lives from the pivotal turning point at which a new drug is made legal in the UK that can extend your lifespan indefinitely (for those who can afford it). In this dystopian setting spanning decades, we see the intricacies of their lives as they cross paths, disperse and reunite. Beautifully written whilst also tackling themes such as love, heartbreak, families, infertility, capitalism, class divides and power, this is one of the best books to get you out of a reading slump or back into reading again. The ending left me feeling bereft, and I wanted to read it all over again. One of those books that I would recommend to anyone! Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, April 2025
The City Changes Its Face by Eimear McBride
Eimear McBride never disappoints. The City Changes Its Face is a follow-up to The Lesser Bohemians, but can be read as a standalone novel. This book tackles some difficult topics, but is also a love letter to 1990’s London, creativity, and, well… love. Written in McBride’s unusual yet brilliant signature style, we join our protagonists as love starts to merge with reality; a teenage estranged daughter appearing for one and a suicide attempt for the other. The novel plays with time effortlessly and the slow build-up erupts in a crescendo that is well worth waiting for. It’s dark, unflinching and fiercely powerful – one of my favourite reads of 2025 so far. Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, March 2025
West by Carys Davies
So far, aside from her short story collections, the career of the very wonderful Carys Davies has seen the publication of a series of short novels which nonetheless pack a punch and have a depth that few books of twice the length can rival. This is true both of her latest novel, Clear, which has won many plaudits, and West, her breakthrough novel, which I recently read for the first time.
I am not readily drawn to tales of the Wild West (although they are increasingly on trend), but this tale, of a grieving widower’s quest to the frontier in search of dinosaurs and of his young child left behind in the East, largely to fend for herself, is of quite a different ilk. The powerful, poetic simplicity of the prose, combined with the emotional connection with the principal characters of father, daughter and “Old Woman From a Distance” which this creates, provides a compelling narrative borne on universal themes of home, grief, greed, envy, survival and love. A beautiful book. Get your copy here.
By Simon, March 2025
The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer
What a fun book this is! Best known as a crime writer, Booker Prize shortlisted author Belinda Bauer moves off-piste with this tale of high jinks set between the wars and also in the present day. The focus of attention in both settings is the near mythical Metland Egg, an almost impossible red guillemot egg, which passes from innocent to covetous hands and from the raucous cliffs of East Yorkshire to the wilds of Wales to the silent, hidden shelves of the Tring museum. It is a tale of greed and obsession, dark deeds and justice, of tragic loss, but perhaps salvation..? Get your copy here.
By Simon, February 2025
A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley
A Bookshop of One’s Own is a love letter to bookshops, friendship and pursuing your dreams in the face of adversity. Jane Cholmeley, co-owner and founder of Silver Moon Bookshop in London, takes us on the journey of building a feminist bookshop from the ground up in a male-dominated industry against the backdrop of Thatcher’s Britain. Despite the odds stacked against them, this is the story of their successes, challenges and most importantly, of not giving up. This captivating true tale is uplifting, hopeful, and ultimately places Silver Moon as a pillar of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, February 2025
Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton
Butter is a wild ride. Taking inspiration from the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, “The Konkatsu Killer”, Yuzuki tackles a narrative that is beautifully layered – not only do we have an obsessive, complex relationship between journalist Rika Machida and convicted serial killer Manako Kajii, we also see Rika’s character tackle family trauma, friendships and personal relationships, against a backdrop of unhealthy body image standards, misogyny and sexism. As well as all of the above, the mouth-watering descriptions of food and it’s transgressive pleasures are easily devoured by the reader. It is a bit of a chunky book at 452 pages, but every page is worth it. Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, January 2025
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
In this, her latest exquisite and heart rending novel of New England, Pulitzer prizewinning Strout’s principal protagonists of the last several years, an ageing Olive Kitteridge and a feisty Lucy Barton, come face to face for the very first time sharing their stories, both shocking and sublime. This time, there is a murder mystery to boot as the beautifully conscientious and humble Bob Burgess, semi-retired lawyer and friend to both, takes on the case of a man who all assume has murdered his much maligned elderly mother. As ever with Strout’s work, this novel provides a compelling mix of unnerving and tender observation with the distinctive voice of one who has mastered her craft. Get your copy here.
By Simon, January 2025
The Party by Tessa Hadley
Tessa Hadley is an author that I have always wanted to read, but have never gotten around to; enter The Party, a short burst of a novella. Vivid, enchanting and rich with detail, with a really lovely writing style that is easy to read, you can very easily devour this in one sitting. Hadley captures the essence of insincerity and self-consciousness that comes along with the transformation from childhood to adulthood, along with the choices and mistakes made along the way. This is perfect for a quick read during the busy pre-festive period or for gift-giving to those hard-to-buy-for people in your life. My only wish is that it was longer! Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, December 2024
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
I loved Sally Rooney’s Normal People (the book and TV show), but wasn’t completely sold on Beautiful World, Where Are You, so I was eagerly anticipating this one; I can tell you it did not disappoint. A devastating, raw and captivating novel on grief, the nuances of human emotion and finding
contentedness in the most surprising of places. Intermezzo is not only an exploration on the complexity of interpersonal relationships of every kind, but also the beauty that comes with being human. It takes a little while to get into the classic Sally Rooney style of writing, but once you’re in, there’s no escaping. I devoured this one and I can’t wait to see what Sally Rooney does next. Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, November 2024
The Hotel by Daisy Johnson
Here is what you should know about The Hotel: It sits on the cursed and brooding land of the Fens. It changes on the inside. Those that you encounter there are not all that they seem. Do not go into Room 63. The Hotel knows you even if you have never visited. You will be there soon.
Daisy Johnson’s fifteen linked stories take you into the uncanny depths of The Hotel and study those who end up there – a child who makes a new friend, the night manager on her shift, a monster born within its walls, horror film makers, the lovesick, the curious and the abandoned. Johnson has crafted a chilling, compulsive and masterful commentary on fear and human nature, and a perfectly eerie companion for dark winter nights. Get your copy here.
By Katya, November 2024
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Orbital is a compelling and unique novella by Samantha Harvey, author of one of the very best historical novels of recent years, The Western Wind, who has moved forward 500 years to provide us with a story which is literally out of this world. It is a story of beauty and grace which follows the lives of four astronauts from Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA and two Russian cosmonauts, and the 16 daily orbits of the Earth of their home for 9 months, the International Space Station. It is a story of the hopes and fears, and strengths and frailties of humanity, and of our relationships with each other and our planet. Most of all, it is a love song to and a cris de coeur for our beautiful, precious home, Planet Earth. Justifiably longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, this is a book to relish and treasure. Get your copy here.
By Simon, November 2024
The DallerGut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee
The DallerGut Dream Department Store is exactly what I needed – cozy, light reading as the weather turns colder (and rainier!) This little delight of novel explores the inner workings of a dream shop that lives in our collective subconscious, named after the kooky and brilliant owner, DallerGut. We follow Penny, the newest employee at the DallerGut Dream Department Store, as she embarks on her adventure learning all about the world of dreammakers, her colleagues at the Dream Department Store and the magical place we all go to when we sleep. As well as following Penny, we also get a glimpse of individual customers who visit the store and how their chosen dreams can change their realities, most often for the better. This uplifting novel would make the perfect Christmas present, but it is also the best little pick-me-up when you need a hug in book form – and there is a sequel on the way too! Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, October 2024
All Fours by Miranda July
I recently read Miranda July’s short story collection, No one belongs here more than you, and I absolutely loved it, so when I saw that this one had just been published, I devoured it immediately. In July’s second novel, a semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey. Miranda July’s wry voice is quirky, captivating and full of perfect comedic timing. Her immersive character study style of writing is refreshing and explores reinventing the mundane to turn it into something that is full of brilliance. This novel balances romantic relationships, family, human curiosity, freedom, domestic life and the female perspective, all whilst being absurdly entertaining. All Fours is for anyone on the brink of or in the full-blown panic of a mid-life crisis (no matter what age you are). Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, September 2024
French Windows by Antoine Laurain
This is a delicious mille-feuille of a novel from the author of the bestselling Red Notebook and President’s Hat. Parisian psychotherapist Dr Faber is a professional of longstanding and a master of the craft, but he is thrown from the outset by the appearance of a new client, the enigmatic and intriguing Nathalia Guitry, a photographer who has seemingly lost the gift of her vocation having witnessed a murder… With each session of therapy we learn the story of one of Nathalia’s seemingly fascinating neighbours, but are these stories truth or fiction, will their telling help Nathalia’s healing process and can and will they lead to the truth behind her allegation of murder? This is a wonderful summer read, perfect to be devoured by the pool or in the garden on a sunny afternoon. Get your copy here.
By Simon, August 2024
Private Rites by Julia Armfield
Private Rites is the second novel from the bestselling author of Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield. In a dystopian setting of devastating floods and arcane religious rituals with a King Lear-esque plot, we follow three almost-estranged sisters, Isla, Irene and Agnes, who are in the throes of managing their estranged father’s death, a renowned architect, best known for making the new world navigable, that had since withdrawn from public life. As the three sisters reunite to clear their father’s house, which was his greatest work, something sinister begins to unfold; links to their mother’s disappearances begin to unfurl, the house seems to be sending them messages, and all is suddenly not what it seems. Told from multiple perspectives, Armfield paints an apocalyptic picture of a catastrophic landscape that could be not too distant from the future we are destined for. This queer literary horror is a slow burn – the build-up is soft, yet intense, and the crescendo is well worth the wait. Get your copy here.
By Kayleigh, July 2024
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
In this highly acclaimed novel set in a partially dystopian future, we move from an idyllic, but embattled, marine reserve in Vietnam to Istanbul, a centre of intrigue and espionage, and to the nightmarish existence of the crew aboard an AI captained slave ship. All are linked in one way or another to the activities of the enigmatic Dr Arnkatia Minervudottir-Chan a pioneering AI scientist and Dr Ha Nguyen, a brilliant, but damaged marine biologist in her race against time to find and save an advanced lifeform rumoured to have been witnessed in the reserve. A genuine page-turner this is also, as all the best sci-fi should be, an exploration of some of the biggest issues – humanity, our interaction with and stewardship of the planet, the meaning of consciousness – and will be enjoyed by sci-fi and non-sci-fi fans alike. Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson; £9.99. Get your copy here.
By Simon, July 2024
Black Ops and Beaver Bombing by Fiona Matthews and Tim Kendall
Written by a local husband and wife team, Fiona, an environmental scientist and professor at Sussex University and Tim, an English literature teacher at Exeter University, this tale of their (not always entirely successful) attempts to track down Britain’s rarest mammals is a joy, combining Fiona’s in depth scientific knowledge, Tim’s literary flair and their clear love of our domestic fauna. Full of fascinating facts on the natural history of our bats, beavers, wild boar and more, and countless amusing anecdotes, this is also a serious book with important things to say on the value of our, in many cases critically endangered, wildlife, the perils it faces and who needs to be doing what to turn things around. Get your copy here.
By Simon, April 2024
Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang
This is the first foray of multi-award winning fantasy writer RF Kuang (The Poppy Wars series and Babel) into contemporary literary fiction, but again this modern, tragic satire is receiving numerous plaudits. In a tale of death and deceit, ghosts and encroaching madness, of race and white privilege, we follow the transformation of literary nobody June Hayward into literary sensation Juniper Song after the manuscript for a new novel by her brilliant friend, Athena Liu, “falls into her lap”. Through the often excruciating journey of the novel’s anti-hero which follows, Kuang offers us a window into a publishing world (a world which she is clearly well placed to explore) riven by narcissism and backbiting, and gives an uneasy insight into the highs and lows of authorship, the brief hits and long devastating humiliations afforded by social media and the self justification and hypocrisy that keep the tale’s main protagonist slogging on to the (very) bitter (and messy) end… Get your copy here.
By Katya, March 2024
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
New novels by Zadie Smith, one of the best writers of her generation, don’t come along very often, but this, her first historical novel, was more than worth the wait. Set across the middle decades of the 19th Century, The Fraud explores the real life Titchborne case, one of the longest trials in English history, where the Claimant, an ordinary working man from the East End of London, claimed that he was Sir Roger Titchborne, who had previously been assumed lost at sea, and thereby entitled to the family inheritance. With clear references to the fake news populism of our present day and the questions this raises on the nature of truth, this is also a bittersweet tale of the disenfranchised, whether it be the principal female character in the tale, the wonderful Eliza Touchet, the slave workers of the Caribbean enabling the continued wealth of the British gentry or the working people of London whose desperation to get one over the establishment leads them to blind faith in one who claims to be a member of the establishment himself. This is cutting satire, smart social commentary and a fascinating history all rolled into one. Get your copy here.
By Simon, March 2024
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
Tales of British colonials behaving badly abroad present a familiar narrative, but Tan Twan Eng (author of The Garden of Evening Mists and The Gift of Rain) gives us so much more in this story of expats in early 20th century Malaysia. First there is the extraordinary plot line itself which centres on the exploits of two icons of the first half of the century: Sun Yat Sen, first president of post imperial China, and W Somerset Maugham, novelist, playwright and the godfather of the modern short story. Then there is the rich, sensuous evocation of place as Tan immerses us in the tropical near-paradise of 1920s Penang. Longlisted for this year’s Booker prize, The House of Doors gives us fascinating historical insight and a murder mystery to boot, but at its core it is a tale of love and loss framed in the deepest nostalgia. Get your copy here.
By Simon, October 2023
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
The very clear Shakespearean reference in the title of this latest novel by the Man Booker prize winning author of The Luminaries is entirely apposite. This truly is a Tragedy, though a very modern one, told with wit and garnished with soliloquy. We open with a seemingly parochial tale of a young guerilla gardening collective in North Island, New Zealand, at turns hilarious and excruciating. But things take a darker turn from our first encounter with the enigmatic Lemoine and an eco-thriller of epic proportions unfolds as we hurtle to its shocking finale. Get your copy here.
By Simon, August 2023
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Soho in the 1920s. Hedonism prevails in the wake of the Great War and Nellie Coker is there to take advantage with her string of nightclubs and dubious connections. Gwendolin has had a tough war herself, but has come out of it with money in her pocket and a spirit of adventure to match. There are mysteries to be solved in this heady mix of London grime and glamour, and, as ever, Kate Atkinson’s character portrayal is flawless as we slowly build to a satisfying crescendo. Get your copy here.
By Simon, June 2023
Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh
Something is stirring in a small, hot town. Six horses are found dead in a field. Women dance in dresses that do not belong to them. A boy jumps straight into a bonfire.
Violet and the ambassador, a couple new to the town, arrive in the middle of the night and a fever of obsession quickly clouds around them. Elodie, the baker’s wife, finds herself particularly intoxicated by their style and coded conversations, and becomes increasingly compelled to play a part in their lives. When strange things start happening, it is too late to stop the flow of poison which has got into the community’s gut. Unsettling and compulsive, Mackintosh has written an exquisite ode to obsession, guilt and desire in this moreish tale, which will stay with you long after the final page is turned. Get your copy here.
By Katya, March 2023
Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis
This spiritually-charged memoir-of-sorts looks at the living potential of objects: what they can hold, what can be projected onto them and how they can inspire events much bigger than their form. The book is centered around Ellis’s encounter with his idol Nina Simone in 1999. In a moment of rapture, propelled by the terror and awe of the singer’s transcendental performance, he climbed onto stage after her concert and took the piece of gum she had stuck on the piano. The gum stayed with Warren for twenty years. When he decided to look into preserving it, Ellis was propelled on a profound journey of connection and memory. This is his beautiful and reverent account of the shared power of objects and how they can bring out the very best in humanity. Get your copy here.
By Katya, January 2023
Homesick by Catrina Davies
When I asked the bookseller to recommend something uplifting or tender because like so many of us at the moment I am feeling weary and bruised by the current cost of living crisis and political turmoil, I was surprised to be given this book.
Catrina shares her own personal experience as an adult who for years lived with a constant state of flux when it came to where she lived, how she paid for it and how often she would end up on a friend’s sofa or rough camping. As someone who regards their home as their sanctuary – the place where I feel most at ease and content – I soon had empathy with the author’s debilitating sense of insecurity and injustice but it was not an immediate connection. Catrina’s narrative was searingly honest and unapologetically her own perspective on the circumstances which culminated in her being homesick for Cornwall where she grew up. There were a couple of times early on in the book when I defaulted to my own social conditioning which was suspicious, even critical of someone who lived outside what is considered “the norm” when it comes to working hard to secure a place to live. Her story was so engaging it prompts questions for the reader about their own attitudes and assumptions about homelessness and the basic human need (and right) to have somewhere safe, weather proof and comfortable to live.
What offsets the underlying brooding, frustration and anger with the injustice and the failure of the modern approach to affordable housing is the lyrical way Catrina describes her observations and interaction with nature. Even at her lowest ebb she is able to find beauty in what is around her. Readers familiar with Cornwall will recognise the locations she describes using all her senses. What is particularly refreshing is the way Catrina truly captures the essence of the wildness of the coast and countryside. She doesn’t romanticise or pretty up the harsh reality which creates a compelling reflection on what it feels like to fight for your very existence and survival. Humour is the magical wildcard she plays to avoid making this a story only of doom and despair. Her resilience and stamina is formidable and faith in human kindness is restored on occasions.
At the point of having nothing but the black bags of possessions crammed into her car when she fled the city and headed back to Cornwall, Catrina finds refuge in a dilapidated shed. And the reader is taken along on the emotional rollercoaster with her from sweet moments of contentment with glimmers of hope to fearing she might lose everything again.
Catrina’s moving and enlightening memoir puts into sharp focus our national housing crisis fuelled by greed, inequality and a man-made system which traps some in misery and poverty, damages health and robs people of hope. It would be interesting whether the person who reported the residential occupancy of a shed on land owned by Catrina’s father to the planning enforcement authority would do the same again after reading this book. Get your copy here.
By Wendy, November 2022
When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Sola
This is a book about voices. The majesty of the Pyrenees speaks through fungi covering the forest floor, through a young deer on the run from hunting boys, through a group of witches, through gathering clouds, through ghosts of the Spanish Civil War, through a dog, a bear, men, women and children. Sola gathers these voices to create one beautiful, howling chorus to the infinite power, beauty and cruelty of the natural world. The novel centres around a pivotal point: when a farmer, Domenec, gets struck by lightning and killed. The voices of his family and the world they inhabit then amass to make sense (or perhaps not make sense) of what has happened. Sola writes these voices with intense lyricism, but she grounds them in a stark reality which means that her prose never becomes pretentious. This is unlike anything I have ever read, and is an intoxicating look at how we experience the world – and how the world experiences us. Get your copy here.
By Katya, January 2023
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
This exquisite novella of small town mid-1980s Ireland before the economic boom, which was shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, is our firm recommendation for anyone looking for a modern twist on the Dickensian Christmas story. Bill Furlong, father of five and local businessman, is not a wealthy man, but a generous one driven by conscience, faith and a deep love for his family. When, one cold Christmas, he becomes aware of disturbing events at the local convent all these attributes are put to the test. How will beautiful Bill Furlong respond? Get your copy here.
By Simon, December 2022
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
At turns laugh-out-loud funny, harrowing and sad, this is a moving portrayal of mental illness, of how friends, family and the afflicted learn to and sometimes fail to cope, and of the instinct and courage to survive. It is also a thoroughly modern and at times hilarious love story. Born into an eccentric London household Martha’s love for Patrick is slow to unfold whereas his for her is constant from the outset, but can their relationship survive Martha’s demons and can, will and should Patrick be her saviour? Get your copy here.
By Simon, October 2022
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Miri’s wife, Leah, has returned from a deep-sea mission. She should have been gone a few weeks, but has emerged 6 months later with no explanation. Increasingly unresponsive, Leah gets more and more distant from Miri, preferring to spend time in the bath whilst her body starts taking on strange changes. The two women are marooned in a nameless city, and Miri tries in vain to get through to the mirage-like Centre that sent Leah on her submarine journey, looking for answers. As more and more fragments of Leah’s underwater experience are revealed, we start to wonder whether she will ever truly return from the horrors of the deep. This is an eerie, gothic tale, but also a romantic, beautifully-written testament to the endurance of love – which fights with all its might to stay afloat. Get your copy here.
By Katya, August 2022
Tomorrow by Chris Beckett
What a smart book this is. Ostensibly a sci-fi writer, Chris Beckett has written a novel which is not sci-fi but is sufficiently other-worldly to keep the reader tantalized throughout. What it is, is an exploration of time and space and the challenges of remaining in the here as well as the now as we follow the narrator back and forth in time across what appears to be the Latin American continent. It is also an utterly engaging critique of existential thought and the contradictions and hypocrisies of Western liberalism, our ideas on class, race and gender, which pulls us in and on until the very last sentence. Get your copy here.
By Simon, June 2022
Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor
Jon McGregor’s latest novel is a fascinating and beautifully crafted read. The book comprises three parts as what starts out as an Antarctic thriller morphs into an amazing and engrossing mirroring of the remote and solitary existence of the Antarctic to that of a subsequent stroke patient – both facing huge challenges and struggling with loneliness, endurance, understanding, discipline. To the consequent trauma of family and friends and the paths towards recovery. An entirely different but worthy successor to Reservoir 13 and If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things. Get your copy here.
By Valerie Church, June 2022
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
From the bestselling author of Convenience Store Woman comes a mind-bending, thought-provoking and occasionally stomach-churning novel about the constraints of society and the power of individuality. Natsuki has always known she was different. As a child, she believed she was a magician, watched over by Piyyut, an alien from the Planet Popinpobopia disguised as her toy hedgehog. Abused by her teacher, she escapes into her protective kingdom and uses her magical powers to survive. As an adult, Natsuki starts to realise that she too is a Popinpobopian and must break free from the slavery of ‘the Factory’ that her family and the rest of the Earthlings are consumed by. Natsuki must escape the world and her childhood trauma, but how far will she go? Murata pushes boundaries in both her subject-matter and her delivery to create a profound, witty and disturbing study on what it takes to achieve freedom. Get your copy here.
By Katya, March 2022
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Longlisted for the 2020 Man Booker Prize, this debut novel from up-and-coming US literary star, Reid, is a punchy no-holds-barred expose of class and race divisions in modern America. Emira, a young black babysitter, is detained in a late night Philadelphia grocery store by security on suspicion of kidnapping her charge for little more reason than that she is young and black. This is the start of an unfolding and unravelling of the lives and relationships of Emira and her wealthy white boss, Alix, in a modern melodrama, at turns gripping and excruciating, which shines a light not only on social injustice and inequality, but also on how our unhealthy obsession with others’ perception of us can lead us to neglect what truly counts. Get your copy here.
By Simon, February 2022
The Manningtree Witches by A.K Blakemore
The year is 1643. Rebecca West exists uneasily in a world of mundane work and discomfort as the Civil War rages on. She resides with a mother she finds intolerable, mends and delivers for the townsfolk, attends church, and is taught to read by a man with whom she has fallen in love. The drudgery of her life is called into question, however, when Matthew Hopkins comes to Manningtree. Slithering into their lives like a snake, he starts a game of witch hunting that tears at the feeble community’s fabric and exposes women who don’t quite toe the dictated line. Rebecca soon finds herself the subject of Hopkins’s scrutiny, and must learn what it means to survive. Blakemore writes with delicious lyricism, shrewd historical insight and intense pathos to depict a society on the edge – and what it takes to topple it. Get your copy here.
By Katya, January 2022
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
What is our purpose? Where is true happiness to be found? These big questions are at the heart of this hugely enjoyable gothic fantasy from the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and winner of this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Piranesi, shells in his hair, wanders the great halls of his world admiring the magnificent statues, gathering fish and seaweed from the waters of the lower halls and tending to the 13 known dead. He has one living companion, “the Other”, an other-worldly individual who will grant him an occasional audience, if needs must provide him with a new pair of shoes, and then disappear to who knows where. But Piranesi is content. The Other is his friend, the Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite. But is he missing something? What do the strange long-forgotten entries in his early diaries mean? Where does the Prophet appear from? And who, really, is the Other? Get your copy here.
By Simon, December 2021
Sisters by Daisy Johnson
Sisters July and September occupy an insular world of their own. With an intensity that scares even their own mother, they set themselves apart from the mean girls at school, dress up in floaty outfits and play games that sometimes take a darker turn. Nothing can separate them. Something happens at school, though, and we join them as they relocate to a crumbling house by a desolate sea, trying to shake off their past. The story is largely seen through the eyes of July, who is both entranced and disturbed by her powerful sister and starts to question the hold she has over her. The house creaks and shifts around them, and the boundaries between dreams, reality and nightmare collapse. Daisy Johnson is the master of creating creeping, unsettling realisations that send electric chills down your spine. A poetic, gothic tale, this one might just keep you up at night. Get your copy here.
By Katya, November 2021
Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh
In Calla’s world, when a young woman first gets her period her life is decided. Entered into the Lottery, you are given a ticket: white grants you children; blue grants you freedom. A blue-ticket woman for around twenty years of her life, Calla realises that freedom which has been decided for you is no freedom at all. And there is something else stirring inside her: a desperate yearning for a child. In a society of paternalistic doctors and judgmental eyes, we follow Calla’s perilous journey to achieving her deepest desire through clinical towns, wooded wildernesses and sinister motels. Mackintosh writes with dark and beautiful intent in this feminist fable, which examines the concept of choice in a dystopian world that feels uncannily akin to our own. Get your copy here.
By Katya, November 2021
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
David, a young fisherman, sits in his boat, strumming a guitar and singing in the sea off the Caribbean island of Black Conch. His songs attract the interest of a mermaid, expelled to the ocean for thousands of years. Their meeting sets off a chain of events which will change both of them and the island’s community more than they can imagine. Monique Roffey’s Costa Award-winning, lyrical tale looks at perceptions of difference, ideas of humanity and transformation, and the line between myth and reality. Writing in standard prose, diary entries and poetry, Roffey immerses us in the minds of both man and mermaid and asks: what lies beneath the surface? Get your copy here.
By Katya, September 2021
Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
In this latest novel by American literary giant Anne Tyler, we follow a few days in the life of Micah, a middle aged janitor-cum-computer fixer who would barely merit a glance from a passing stranger, but whose outwardly mundane existence disguises a person, a life and a soul as unique and complex as any other. With wit, style and pathos, Tyler’s simple prose brings Micah’s real depths, weaknesses and strengths to the surface as he encounters challenges variously thrown up by his difficulty in reading girlfriends past and present (or their difficulty in reading him?), his crazy family, his neighbours’ plumbing, the customers of his modest tech business and a teenager claiming to be his long lost son… Tyler’s novel mirrors its main protagonist – on the surface slim and modest, but dig deeper and you will find real treasure. Get your copy here.
By Simon, August 2021
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
Solace is a town in Northern Ontario, complete with a handful of houses, one open café and an ugly library. It is also the town Clara’s sister, Rose, has run away from. Clara waits at her window every day, willing her sister to return, whilst a strange new man moves into her friend Mrs Orchard’s house next door. Who is Liam, and how does he know Mrs Orchard? Will Clara still be able to feed her neighbour’s cat, Moses, as she always has done? And when will Rose and Mrs Orchard come back? Written from the perspectives of Clara, Liam and Mrs Orchard, A Town Called Solace examines the connections made between adults and children, and is a quietly haunting, tender story of longing and escape. Get your copy here.
By Katya, June 2021
The Midnight Library By Matt Haig
Nora Seed is in a dark place, and it’s getting darker by the hour. Job, friends, family, pet, all slipping away. And it could have been so different. If only she’d pursued her talents – swimming, music, science. If only she’d stuck with the band. If only she’d persisted with Dan. So much to regret, so little light, so… what’s the point in going on? With his customary wit, Matt Haig’s wonderful new novel addresses the heaviest and deepest of issues with the lightest of touches and asks, is it really the choices we make and the twists and turns of fate that determine our happiness, and how might it be if we respond to these highs and lows with greater acceptance and less attachment? Get your copy here.
By Simon, May 2021
Rest and be Thankful by Emma Glass
The events of the past year have brought into even sharper focus the huge sacrifices made by those working in the healthcare sector. This, the second novel by Emma Glass (herself a pediatric nurse), which was written before the pandemic unfolded, but has just been released in paperback, reiterates in the starkest terms the abnormal burdens which our doctors and nurses can carry even under “normal” circumstances. The brooding and compelling narrative follows a young nurse’s harrowing efforts to keep on going whilst an ominous figure in black waits in the wings for the shocking finale… Get your copy here.
By Simon, March 2021
The Thursday Murder Club By Richard Osman
Richard Osman’s bestselling debut novel is an absolute joy to read from start to finish, and the ideal companion for the chilly days and nights still ahead of us. Set in a retirement village in Kent, we are introduced to Elizabeth, Ibrahim, Ron and Joyce – an unlikely group of friends who meet weekly to discuss and attempt to solve cold cases. Their meetings have remained purely in the hypothetical realm until a murder takes place in the village, and the friends spring into action to aid and often surpass the police in their enquiries. Osman’s customary wit soars through the novel, with his brilliant characterisation and compelling plot twists keeping the reader guessing until the very end. Hilarious, clever and often very touching, The Thursday Murder Club proves Osman to be a wonderful new voice in crime fiction. Get your copy here.
By Katya, February 2021
How Much of These Hills is Gold By C Pam Zhang
“What makes a home a home?” This question runs through the core of C Pam Zhang’s Booker-nominated novel, set on the sun-bleached plains of the American West following the Gold Rush. The answer is desperately sought by siblings Lucy and Sam, whose Chinese heritage makes them outcasts from the society into which they were born. They travel through the unforgiving wilderness of America with their recently-deceased father’s body on their backs, in the hope that burying him will find them roots in lands which have shunned them for so long. In devastating prose Zhang meditates upon ideas of identity and belonging, charting the journey of two children trying to find their place in a hostile world. This epic adventure tale asks whether home is something we find in ourselves, in others, or in the very earth which we inhabit. Get your copy here.
By Katya December 2020
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
One of our very favourite authors here at Book Stop, Booker Prize nominated author David Mitchell has this time served up something quite different to his usual mind-bending metaphysical romps across space and time, with a wonderfully nostalgic and bittersweet tale of 1960s rock and roll. Utopia Avenue form in 1967 and ride the tide of social and sexual revolution to be on the verge of global success by late 1968. On the way they encounter pretty much everyone in the business from John Lennon to Janis Joplin, David Bowie to Joni Mitchell, and for die-hard fans of the more familiar Mitchell genre there is also an intriguing metaphysical sub-plot referencing his earlier work and, in particular, the wonderful The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. This book is a lot of fun, but also ultimately genuinely moving and, as always, Mitchell has much to say about life, the universe and everything. Get your copy here.
By Simon, October 2020
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Tracking the experiences of 12 characters, spread over time and place but all linked together in some way, Evaristo defiantly unpacks and dissolves the idea of the ‘single story’ so often placed onto black people, women, those living on the poverty line and members of the LGBTQ+ community, amongst many others. Her characters are so startlingly real and complex that they each stand before the reader, refusing to become subsumed into any stereotype we might consciously or unconsciously hold. Evaristo masterfully covers topics of abuse, sexism, racism, homophobia and more, leaving the reader feeling both educated and frustrated by the way society has been constructed. Beautiful, powerful and endlessly insightful, Girl, Woman, Other is a fast-paced exploration of multiple stories, and is testament to how no person, culture or place can ever be reduced to a generalised narrative. Get your copy here.
By Katya, September 2020
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Whether you have read the forerunner of this exquisite novel (Olive Kitteridge) or not, this story of the lives, tribulations, highs and lows of the inhabitants of small town Maine is an absolute treat. In a series of vignettes, with the indomitable Olive Kitteridge at its heart, Strout’s portrayal holds no bars in uncovering the hidden underbelly of what is, on the surface, a genteel New England community. She reminds us that wherever we come from we have the same capacity for pain, loss and love and ultimately the same fate. At once sombre, funny, sad and uplifting, this is American literary fiction at its best. Get your copy here.
By Simon, March, 2020
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (Tr. Antonia Lloyd-Jones)
Set against a whodunit backdrop, this existential tale of morality is something much more than a traditional murder mystery. In attempting to find a killer within a remote Polish village, our protagonist, Mrs Duszejko, uncovers the hypocritical core of society, presenting to us the horrors of animal abuse, the mistreatment of the older generation and of people considered marginalised, and the madness of the modern world. Although the novel is angry, it is also tender, with Duszejko’s continual reference to the poetry of William Blake testament to the endurance of the finer parts of the human spirit. In 2019, Tokarczuk was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and rightly so, for she encourages her reader to view their world afresh, with newfound vigour and purpose. Get your copy here.
By Katya, January, 2020
The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy
Levy’s Booker-Longlisted novel is both a meditation on time and a deeply sensitive and affecting tale of memory, ageing and lost love, which reflects upon both the freedom and entrapment of the past. The book follows protagonist Saul Adler in two different realities, both centered around car crashes on Abbey Road. The first part of the book traces Saul’s trip to East Germany in 1988, following his collision in London. There he writes, falls in love and attempts to bury his authoritarian father’s ashes. The second part takes place in 2016 where Saul lies in hospital, recovering from another crash and surrounded by the ghosts (or are they real?) of his father, brother, Stasi agents and lovers… Get your copy here.
By Katya, December, 2019
Into the Raging Sea by Rachel Slade
1st October is the fourth anniversary of the loss of the cargo ship El Faro in the Bermuda Triangle following her fateful encounter with Hurricane Joaqin. In this compelling account, Rachel Slade, with the aid of transcripts recorded on the bridge and recovered from the ship’s black box data recorder, pieces together the last days and hours of El Faro and presents an intimate portrait of the 33 officers and crew, the hardships they faced and the perils of a life at sea. Her timely account also highlights the increasing unpredictability of storm systems in the light of climate change, the need for better monitoring and the tragic irony of government cuts to the very institutions which seek to assist in maintaining the safety of those brave souls who help keep food on our tables. Get your copy here.
By Simon, October 2019
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Welcome to the weird and (occasionally) wonderful world of Keiko Furukura and her beloved Convenience Store. Marginalised by ordinary society, and following a confusing and at times problematic childhood, Keiko finds it difficult to find her place in the modern world, until she stumbles across the Convenience Store. In this delightful fable of contemporary human existence, Keiko, with the guidance of the bizarre and repulsive Shiraha, must make a choice – between her place as a cog in the global corporate machine (“my hourly pay covered the basic requirement to condition my body so it was fit to take to work”) and the perhaps equally oppressive social imperative created by others’ opinions and expectations. A marvellous Japanese novel which will get you thinking. Get your copy here.
By Simon, August 2019
The Western Wind By Samantha Harvey
Samantha Harvey’s novel of a 15th-Century Somerset village and an unanticipated death is an absolute treat. Following the investigations of the local vicar, John Reve, into the untimely demise of his friend Thomas Newman, this brooding, sombre novel set over 4 days in the lead up to Lent 1491 provides real insight into pre-Reformation rural England. As Harvey expertly explores the narrative in reverse, beginning with the events of Shrove Tuesday and working back to “the reveal” on the previous Saturday she also offers, through the story of the tormented and torn John Reve’s efforts to protect his flock, a fascinating and moving meditation on where lines are drawn between faith and superstition, belief in God and the Church, the “right” path and the good path. Get your copy here.
By Simon, June 2019
The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Recently reprinted, this is modern science fiction at its best – and with a twist. The Three Body Problem portrays three worlds: that of modern day China beginning with the excess and horrors of the Cultural Revolution; that of the alternative reality which can be experienced by players of the Three Body game; that of Trisolaris, the distant planet which the game portrays. Through its absorbing narrative this novel explores its themes of history, philosophy and hard science in an accessible and engaging way whilst Ken Liu’s expert translation helps maintain the novel’s distinctly Chinese voice. A fascinating read and first part of an epic trilogy. Get your copy here.
By Simon, April, 2019
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