Are you looking for your next great read? Why not try out the books from across the pond? Despite from what governments say, books are essential and are needed now, more than ever. So if you are need of a variety and want to read diverse stories, then I suggest you try out some British and Irish titles!
We may have left 2022 behind, but the pain and struggles of last year are still being faced, especially independent bookstores. Continue to support indie bookstores by shopping on Bookshop.org and Hive.co.uk.
Please note that Book Depository closed down it’s website on April 26, 2023.
Waterstones currently ships to the United States but there will be an international shipping fee. You can also try with the British bookstore, Blackwell’s, also with Wordery.com. Now on with the recommendations!
Featured Book of the Month:
A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh
Expected Publication Date: July 22
They say the camera never lies. But on this show, you can’t trust anything you see.
Stranded in the Welsh mountains, seven reality show contestants have no idea what they’ve signed up for. Each of these strangers has a secret. If another player can guess the truth, they won’t just be eliminated – they’ll be exposed live on air. The stakes are higher than they’d ever imagined, and they’re trapped.
The disappearance of a contestant wasn’t supposed to be part of the drama. Detective Ffion Morgan has to put aside what she’s watched on screen, and find out who these people really are – knowing she can’t trust any of them. And when a murderer strikes, Ffion knows every one of her suspects has an alibi… and a secret worth killing for. (Credit: Little, Brown Book Group)
Penance by Eliza Clark
Do you know what happened already? Did you know her? Did you see it on the internet? Did you listen to a podcast? Did the hosts make jokes? Did you see the pictures of the body? Did you look for them?
It’s been nearly a decade since the horrifying murder of sixteen-year-old Joan Wilson rocked Crow-on-Sea, and the events of that terrible night are now being published for the first time.
That story is Penance, a dizzying feat of masterful storytelling, where Eliza Clark manoeuvres us through accounts from the inhabitants of this small seaside town.
Placing us in the capable hands of journalist Alec. Z. Carelli, Clark allows him to construct what he claims is the ‘definitive account’ of the murder – and what led up to it. Built on hours of interviews with witnesses and family members, painstaking historical research, and most notably, correspondence with the killers themselves, the result is a riveting snapshot of lives rocked by tragedy, and a town left in turmoil. The only question is: how much of it is true? (Credit: Faber & Faber)
This book will be published in the US on September 26. You can purchase the US copy here.
A Very Lively Murder by Katy Watson
One murder mystery movie. Three Dahlias. And a whole cast of suspects…
Ex child star Posy Starling is finally filming her dream role – Dahlia Lively in The Lady Detective movie. But things take a nightmare turn when a prop weapon is replaced with the real thing – with almost fatal consequences for her fellow Dahlia, Rosalind King. There’s something very wrong on the set of The Lady Detective – which means it’s time to call in Caro Hooper, so the three Dahlias can investigate.
In between filming scenes, signing autographs for locals, photoshoots on set and jetting off to France for an impromptu party, the three Dahlias do what they do best – surreptitiously sleuth. And very soon the evidence starts to point towards one particular co-star…
But before they can prove it, a murder rocks the production. And this time, with a storm raging, the river flooded and the bridge washed out, there are no police to rely on so it’s up to the three Dahlias to stop a murderer in their tracks… before another victim is claimed. (Credit: Little, Brown Book Group)
Getting Away with Murder by Kathryn Foxfield
Walking disaster Saffron and her perfectionist twin sister Georgia have only one thing in common-they are both obsessed with battle royale video game Sole Survivor. While working at a brand new, high tech escape room complex, Saffron poses a question to the resident AI: which high school stereotype would survive the longest in a real life version of Sole Survivor? She is convinced a rebel like her would beat a know-it-all like Georgia. Unbeknown to her, the AI decides to determine the answer to her question by testing it out for real.
It invites Saffron and Georgia’s gamer friends to a preview of the escape rooms, but then it locks the doors and turns the rooms into a life-or-death battle to be the last player standing. The rebel, the know-it-all, the princess, the jock, the geek, the weirdo, the star, the artist and the criminal. Just like in Sole Survivor, only one can survive the night…(Credit: Scholastic)
Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan
War comes to the streets of Paris and Safiyyah’s life changes for ever. Her best friend’s family have fled, and the bombing makes her afraid to leave the mosque where she lives. But when her father is arrested by the Nazis for his secret Resistance work, it falls to Safiyyah to run the dangerous errands around the city. It’s not long before hundreds of persecuted Jews seek sanctuary at the mosque. Can Safiyyah find the courage to enter the treacherous catacombs under Paris and lead the Jews to safety? (Credit: Andersen Press)
The Couples by Lauren Mackenzie
Eva looked out the attic window of their charming guest house and watched the sun rise. She thought she might be sick. Splayed on the lawn below was Frank, apparently out cold. Her husband snored in the bed behind her. She loved Shay, of course she did, but right now the only person she wanted to think about was Conor. She didn’t want to think about Bea or Lizzie or what Lizzie might have got up to with Shay.
Frank’s 48th birthday had given the three couples an excuse for a much needed night away from children, nagging bills and ailing parents. The drink flowed, life in Dublin with all its stress felt a long way away. When Frank proposed they swap partners, it felt deliciously, irresistibly reckless. One night. No obligations. No expectations. All the women had to do was text a man of their choice.
The only rule? No falling in love.
It was a night that some of them couldn’t remember. And others couldn’t forget. (Credit: John Murray Press)
A Lesson in Malice by Catherine Kirwan
Returning to her alma mater and memories of her youth is the last thing Finn Fitzpatrick wants to do right now. But when a former classmate invites her to speak at a university conference, Finn feels she can’t say no. Even though she has no idea why she’s been included among such high-profile guests, or invited to the exclusive dinner in the College president’s private dining room afterwards.
Then, three days later, a body is discovered in the College grounds, and everyone who was at the president’s dinner falls under suspicion.
Soon, Finn is deeply embroiled in the murder investigation. But as she looks more closely into her fellow dinner guests, behind their success she unearths a slew of damaging secrets, bitter rivalries and hidden agendas. Will Finn let sleeping dogs lie, or risk it all to uncover the truth? (Credit: Hachette Books Ireland)
The Housekeepers by Alex Kay
UPSTAIRS, MADAM IS PLANNING THE PARTY OF THE SEASON.
DOWNSTAIRS, THE SERVANTS ARE PLOTTING THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY.
When Mrs King, housekeeper to the most illustrious home in Mayfair, is suddenly dismissed after years of loyal service, she knows just who to recruit to help her take revenge.
A black-market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress dreaming of a better life. And Mrs King’s predecessor, who has been keeping the dark secrets of Park Lane far too long.
Mrs King has an audacious plan in mind, one that will reunite her women in the depths of the house on the night of a magnificent ball – and play out right under the noses of her former employers…
THEY COME FROM NOTHING. BUT THEY’LL LEAVE WITH EVERYTHING. (Credit: Headline Publishing Group)
A Song of Me and You by Mike Gayle
Helen and Ben parted as heartbroken 18-year-olds and went their very separate ways.
Twenty years later, mother-of-two-teenagers Helen is still in Manchester, a part-time primary teacher, stunned by the behaviour of her love-rat husband. In an old T shirt and scruffy jeans, she feels at the lowest point in her life.
And suddenly, impossibly, Ben is standing on her doorstep. Tired maybe, lonely even, but clearly still the world-famous, LA-based multi-millionaire rockstar he has become. Can you ever go back?
For Helen and Ben, so much has happened in the years between. But just to sit in the kitchen for a while and talk – that would be nice.
Before the world comes crashing in. (Credit: Hodder & Stoughton)
Am I Normal? by Sarah Chaney
Expected Publication Date: July 13
Sarah Chaney takes us on an eye-opening and surprising journey into the history of science, revisiting the studies, landmark experiments and tests that proliferated from the early 19th century to find answers to the question: what’s normal?
These include a census of hallucinations – and even a UK beauty map (which claimed the women in Aberdeen were “the most repellent”).
On the way she exposes many of the hangovers that are still with us from these dubious endeavours, from IQ tests to the BMI. Interrogating how the notion and science of standardisation has shaped us all, as individuals and as a society, this book challenges why we ever thought that normal might be a desirable thing to be. (Credit: Profile Books Ltd)
Swifter than Starlight by Cerrie Burnell
Expected Publication Date: July 13
From celebrated children’s author Cerrie Burnell comes a new, wonderfully inclusive, magical tale set in the whimsical world of Wilder than Midnight.
Long ago, on a winter’s eve, two sisters walked into a wolf-wild wood but only one returned. The Faraway Wood is full of twisting thorns and sharp teeth. Stirring with myth and music. It’s the perfect place for bandits, thieves and secrets to hide.
Until a prince goes missing.
Lilac is a strong girl, happy with her found family, yet searching for her sister.
Clover is a determined girl, eager to find what’s been lost to her, though scared to leave her village.
Hester is a smart girl, one step ahead of trouble, and ready for adventure.
Together, they will unite the realm. (Credit: Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
The List by Yomi Adegoke
Expected Publication Date: July 20
Ola Olajide, a high-profile journalist at Womxxxn Magazine, is marrying the love of her life in one month’s time. Young, beautiful, successful – she and her fiance Michael are the ‘couple goals’ of their social networks and seem to have it all.
That is, until one morning when they both wake up to the same message:
‘Oh my god, have you seen The List?’
It began as a crowdsourced collection of names and somehow morphed into an anonymous account posting allegations on social media. Ola would usually be the first to support such a list-she’d retweet it, call for the men to be fired, write article after article. Except this time, Michael’s name is on it. (Credit: HarperCollins Publishers)
This book will be published in the US on Ocotber 3. You can purchase the US copy here.
The Exiled by Sarah Daniels
Expected Publication Date: July 20
Trust no one.
It is six months since the Arcadia set sail for the first time in forty years. But this wasn’t the freedom the inhabitants were hoping for. Esther Crossland did what she had to do, but it has left a trail of destruction in her wake. Now the wrecked ship is abandoned. Its inhabitants are in exile, trapped in sprawling make-shift shelters made up of warehouse, tents, shipping containers.
Esther and Nik, architects of the rebellion, are on the run. Esther is in hiding, desperate to do something to help her people, and Nik seems to have abandoned all hope, on a journey taking him further and further from home. And neither of them want to face up to their true feelings about one another . . .
Not only that, there is a new villain in town. With the fall of Commander Hadley, it’s left to the ruthless Admiral Janek to deal with the traitors, and her own past is beginning to catch-up with her.
Then the shaky ceasefire negotiated by General Lall, Nik’s mum, falls apart. Nik and Esther find themselves in a world of betrayals and double crossings – a game of power, with no one to trust but themselves.
It’s time for the final showdown. (Credit: Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
How To Die Famous by Benjamin Dean
Expected Publication Date: July 20
London-born Abel has landed the role of a lifetime for an upcoming blockbuster. On the face of it he’s Hollywood’s latest teen star, but below the surface he’s an undercover journalist on a mission to expose the ‘squeaky clean’ entertainment industry and the part they played in his brother’s ‘accidental’ death.
As Abel steps into the spotlight alongside fellow actors Lucky, Ryan and Ella, he soon discovers that beneath the glittering surface of fame and riches lies a darker world of secrecy, scandal and murder. Nobody is who they seem when the cameras are off, and everybody has something to hide. But who’s next in line to die famous? (Credit: Simon & Schuster)
Trouble by Lex Croucher
Expected Publication Date: July 20
There’s a new governess at Fairmont House, and she’s going to be nothing but trouble.
Emily Laurence is a liar. She is not polite, she’s not polished, and she has never taught a child in her life. This position was meant to be her sister’s – brilliant, kind Amy, who isn’t perpetually angry, dangerously reckless, and who does (inexplicably) like children.
But Amy is unwell and needs a doctor, their father is gone and their mother is useless, so here Emily is, pretending to be something she’s not.
If she can get away with her deception for long enough to earn a few months’ wages and slip some expensive trinkets into her pockets along the way, perhaps they’ll be all right.
That is, as long as she doesn’t get involved with the Edwards family’s dramas. Emily refuses to care about her charges – Grace, who talks too much and loves too hard, and Aster, who is frankly terrifying but might just be the wittiest sixteen-year-old Emily has ever met – or the servants, who insist on acting as if they’re each other’s family. And she certainly hasn’t noticed her employer, the brooding, taciturn Captain Edwards, no matter how good he might look without a shirt on…
As Fairmont House draws her in, Emily’s lies start to come undone. Can she fix her mistakes before it’s too late? (Credit: Bonnier Books Ltd)
Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter
Expected Publication Date: July 20
It was a case that gripped the nation. Luke Ryder’s murder has never been solved.
In December 2003, Luke Ryder was found dead in the garden of the family home in London, leaving behind a wealthy older widow and three stepchildren. Nobody saw anything.
Now, secrets will be revealed – live on camera.
Years later a group of experts re-examine the evidence on Infamous, a true-crime show – with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on?
Or does the truth lie closer to home? Can you solve the case before they do? The truth will blow your mind. (Credit: HarperCollins Publishers)
The Dive by Sara Ochs
Expected Publication Date: July 20
Welcome to paradise. We hope you survive your stay…
Escape to paradise.
Scuba diving instructor Cass leads her students out for their first dive off the beautiful coast of Koh Sang, Thailand’s world-famous party island. It’s supposed to be a life-changing experience, but things quickly spiral out of control…
Leave your secrets behind.
By the time she gets back to the shore, one of her students is dead, another badly injured, and she knows that her idyllic life is about to be smashed to pieces on the rocks.
But don’t get lost for ever…
Because someone is making sure that backpackers never leave paradise – one murder at a time. And Cass has a feeling she might be next…
Scotland: The Global History: 1603 to the Present by Murray Pittock
Expected Publication Date: July 25
Scotland is one of the oldest nations in the world, yet by some it is hardly counted as a nation at all. Neither a colony of England nor a fully equal partner in the British union, Scotland has often been seen as simply a component part of British history. But the story of Scotland is one of innovation, exploration, resistance-and global consequence.
In this wide-ranging, deeply researched account, Murray Pittock examines the place of Scotland in the world. He explores Scotland and Empire, the rise of nationalism, and the pressures on the country from an increasingly monolithic understanding of “Britishness.”
From the Thirty Years’ War to Jacobite risings and today’s ongoing independence debates, Scotland and its diaspora have undergone profound changes.
This groundbreaking account reveals the diversity of Scotland’s history and shows how, after the country disappeared from the map as an independent state, it continued to build a global brand. (Credit: Yale Univeristy Press)
Disobedient by Elizabeth Fremantle
Expected Publication Date: July 27
I’ll show you what a woman can do…
Rome 1611. A jewel-bright place of change, with sumptuous new palaces and lavish wealth on display. A city where women are seen but not heard.
Artemisia Gentileschi dreams of becoming a great artist. Motherless, she grows up among a family of painters – men and boys. She knows she is more talented than her brothers, but she cannot choose her own future. She wants to experience the world, but she belongs to her father and will belong to a husband.
As Artemisia patiently goes from lesson to lesson, perfecting her craft, she also paints in private, recreating the women who inspire her, away from her father’s eyes. Until a mysterious tutor enters her life. Tassi is a dashing figure, handsome and worldly, and for a moment he represents everything that a life of freedom might offer. But then the unthinkable happens.
In the eyes of her family, Artemisia should accept her fate. In the eyes of the law, she is the villain. But Artemisia is a survivor. And this is her story to tell. (Credit: Penguin Books)
Common Decency by Susannah Dickey
Expected Publication Date: July 27
In an apartment building in Belfast, two women wrestle with the sorrows and spectres of love and loss.
Since her mother’s death, Lily has withdrawn from the world, trapped between grief and anger. She has to break out of this damaging cycle – but how?
Upstairs, Siobhan is consumed by her affair with a married man. Her days revolve around his sporadic texts and rare visits. She barely notices the strange girl who lives below and dawdles in the foyer.
But Lily is keeping a close eye on her neighbour, whose life seems so much better and more fulfilling than her own. When resentment evolves into something darker and more urgent, she decides to teach Siobhan a lesson. (Credit: Transworld Publishers Ltd)
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