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 2023 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.
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
Every Smile You Fake by Dorothy Koomson
Expected Publication Date: February 15
‘Please take care of my baby. But don’t try to find me. You’ll put him in danger.’
Profiler and therapist Kez Lanyon is shocked when she finds a baby on the backseat of her car, with an unsigned note asking her to take care of him.
Kez has a pretty good idea who the mother is – Brandee, a popular social media star with a troubled background, who once lived in Kez’s house. Brandee recently dropped out of the limelight and if the internet rumours are true, Kez knows Brandee’s life is in danger.
Kez is torn. Should she simply take care of the baby as she’s been asked, or should she risk her whole family by using contacts from her previous job to save this young woman? Time is running out for Brandee. Can Kez find her before it’s too late? This is the heart-stopping new novel from The Queen Of The Big Reveal. (Credit: Headline Publishing)
Things That Go Bump by Kathyrn Foxfield and illustrated by Robin Boyden
When Olive and some of her year 6 friends find themselves locked overnight inside Flatpack – a new IKEA-style superstore – they quickly realise that they are not alone.
A number of things hitched a ride from the forest where Flatpack sources its wood and in every dark nook, they’ve been multiplying…
After several of the group get themselves dragged off to who knows where, Olive knows she was right all along – monsters are definitely real. After that, she’s forced to face her fears and come up with a plan: 1) rescue her friends 2) avoid being apprehended by overly efficient store employees, 3) hack into the store’s delivery system and send the monsters back where they came from. Oh, and don’t get eaten. Whatever you do, don’t look under the beds. And if you hear a wardrobe creaking open behind you, RUN! (Credit: Scholastic)
Whatever Happened to Birdy Troy? by Rachael English
SHE WAS THE NEXT BIG THING … UNTIL SHE DISAPPEARED
In the early 1980s, The Diamonds – Ireland’s trailblazing all-woman rock band – were on the brink of international success. Their debut single ‘Too Much Not Enough’ was soaring in the British charts. Then, as suddenly as they’d arrived, they vanished. It was the last anyone would hear of songwriter, guitarist and legend-in-the-making Birdy Troy.
Stacey Nash, host of the popular podcast ‘Whatever Happened To …?’, becomes fascinated with the band that
broke up before she was born. How could four young women with so much promise just disappear?
As problems mount in her own life, Stacey is drawn deeper into unravelling the mystery. But, after forty years, and with the band’s members reluctant to cooperate, is it too late for the truth to emerge?
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BIRDY TROY? is a rollercoaster journey through the rise and fall of four unforgettable friends and bandmates, in a music scene where darkness lurks beneath a veneer of glamour. (Credit: Hachette Ireland)
A Season for Scandal by Laura Wood
An all-female detective agency righting wrongs at the end of the nineteenth century; infiltrating a scandalous upper class world straight out of Bridgerton and using their wit and bravery to unmask a villain.
When Marigold Bloom finds her family business in trouble a chance encounter with the devastatingly handsome and extremely bad-tempered Oliver Lockhart leads her to the Aviary – a secret agency of women who specialise in blackmailing troublesome men.
Soon, Mari is the agency’s newest recruit, sent to investigate the mysterious return of Oliver’s long lost sister. Forced to masquerade as a newly engaged couple, it is up to Mari and Oliver to determine if there is an imposter in their midst. But what happens when the line between truth and fiction starts to blur?
And what do you do when a pretend romance starts to feel all too real? (Credit: Scholastic)
The Murder After the Night Before by Katy Brent
My best friend Posey is dead. The police think it was a tragic accident, but something doesn’t feel right. Posey was keeping secrets, and I owe it to her to find out what happened.
But I can’t remember a thing.
I’ve woken up with a hangover from hell, a stranger in my bed, and, to add to all this chaos, I’ve gone viral for all the wrong reasons.
But that won’t stop me from getting to the truth. (Credit: HarperCollins UK)
Green Dot by Madeleine Gray
Hera is in her mid-twenties, which seems young to everyone except people in their mid-twenties.
Since leaving school, she has been trying to kick and scream into existence a life she cares about, but with little success so far.
Until she meets Arthur.
He works with her, he is older than her, he is also married. But in her soulless office – the large cold room she feels destined to spend her life in – he is a source of much-needed sustenance.
And though Hera has previously dated women, she soon falls headlong into a workplace romance that will quickly consume her life.
Laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving and whip smart, Green Dot is a story about the terrible allure of wanting something that promises nothing and the winding, torturous, often hilarious journey we take in deciding who we are and who we want to be. (Credit: Orion Publishing Co)
How AI Thinks: How we built it, how it can help us, and how we can control it by Nigel Toon
We are used to thinking of computers as being a step up from calculators – very good at storing information, and maybe even at playing a logical game like chess. But up to now they haven’t been able to think in ways that are intuitive, or respond to questions as a human might. All that has changed, dramatically, in the past few years.
Our search engines are becoming answer engines. Artificial intelligence is already revolutionising sectors from education to healthcare to the creative arts. But how does an AI understand sentiment or context? How does it play and win games that have an almost infinite number of moves? And how can we work with AI to produce insights and innovations that are beyond human capacity, from writing code in an instant to unfolding the elaborate 3D puzzles of proteins?
We stand at the brink of a historic change that will disrupt society and at the same time create enormous opportunities for those who understand how AI thinks. Nigel Toon shows how we train AI to train itself, so that it can paint images that have never existed before or converse in any language. In doing so he reveals the strange and fascinating ways that humans think, too, as we learn how to live in a world shared by machine intelligences of our own creation. (Credit: Transworld Publishers Ltd)
The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
Expected Publication Date: February 15
Yorkshire, 1979.
Maggie Thatcher is prime minister, drainpipe jeans are in, and Miv is convinced that her dad wants to move their family down South. Because of the murders. Leaving Yorkshire and her best friend Sharon simply isn’t an option, no matter the dangers lurking round their way; or the strangeness at home that started the day Miv’s mum stopped talking.
Perhaps if she could solve the case of the disappearing women, they could stay after all? So, Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things down their street. People they know. People they don’t. But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighbourhood, within their families – and between each other – than they ever thought possible.
What if the real mystery Miv needs to solve is the one that lies much closer to home? (Credit: Cornerstone)
Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner
Expected Publication Date: February 15
The godkiller is dying.
Having plunged into the sea’s depths to save Elo, Inara and Skedi from the fire god Hestra, her only chance of survival is to put her life in the hands of yet another god: Osidisen, god of the sea, for whom she is named.
But no godkiller wants to be at the mercy of a god, and if she lives it will be to continue her quest to destroy all she comes across.
That includes the little god of white lies, Skedi, to whom Inara is bound. As they search for answers to their bond, Elo searches for people to take up his call of rebellion and join his cause to destroy the man he once called friend and still calls king.
A king whom once devoted himself to destroying all gods throughout the land, but has now entered into an unholy pact with the most dangerous of them all.
And where once his heart beat, a god now burns. (Credit: HarperCollins Publishers)
Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading by Bijal Shah
Expected Publication Date: February 22
In this unique and transformational guide to healing, bibliotherapist and counsellor Bijal Shah explores the restorative power of reading.
Bibliotherapy traces the history of how therapeutic reading evolved – including the important role played by the best writers such as the Stoics, Montaigne, Eliot and Wordsworth. In doing so, Bijal offers first-hand stories from clients who have found solace in great works of literature when struggling with grief, relationships or illness. Full of practical advice and insights into how bibliotherapy really works, Bijal offers an A to Z reading list of books for every mood and need.
A much-needed reminder of how comforting and life-changing reading can be, Bibliotherapy is a sumptuous celebration of books that will invite you to see them as more than just an escape, but a legitimate form of self-care. (Credit: Little, Brown Book Group)
The Escape Room by L.D. Smithson
Expected Publication Date: February 29
Everything is a clue.
Bonnie arrives on a remote sea fort off the coast of England to take part in a mysterious reality TV show. Competing against seven strangers, she must solve a series of puzzles to win the prize money, but this is no game – and the consequences of failure are deadly.
No one leaves.
Under scrutiny from the watching public, the contestants quickly turn on one another. Who will sacrifice the most for wealth and fame? And why can’t Bonnie shake the creeping sense that they are not alone?
The only way out is to win.
When the first contestant is found dead, Bonnie begins to understand the dark truth at the heart of this twisted competition: there’s a killer inside the fort, and anyone could be next. If Bonnie wants to escape, she needs to win…
Are you ready to play? (Credit: Transworld Publishers Ltd)
In The Shallows by Tanya Byrne
Expected Publication Date: February 29
From the acclaimed author of Afterlove comes a beautiful sapphic second-chance love story drenched with longing, loss and mystery. Mara’s ex, Nico, is the girl of her dreams: beautiful, wild and unpredictable. She’s Mara’s everything, even though Mara’s never sure that she’s Nico’s anything. Then Nico goes missing.
New Year’s Day: A girl is rescued from the sea. She knows she is called Nico, but other than that, she has no memory of why she was in the sea or what came before.
When destiny reunites them, is this Mara and Nico’s second chance? Can their relationship make it out of the shallows? And what will happen when they discover the truth behind Nico’s accident? Because one day, Nico will remember everything. (Credit: Hachette Children’s Group)
A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects by Sally Coulthard
Expected Publication Date: February 29
The untold story of rural Britain revealed through its artefacts
For most of human history, we were rural folk.
Our daily lives were bound up with working the land, living within the rhythm of the seasons. We poured our energies into growing food, tending to animals and watching the weather. Family, friends and neighbours were often one and the same. Life revolved around the village and its key spaces and places – the church, the green, the school and the marketplace.
And yet rural life is oddly invisible our historical records. The daily routine of the peasant, the farmer or the craftsperson could never compete with the glamour of city life, war and royal drama. Lives went unrecorded, stories untold.
There is, though, one way in which we can learn about our rural past. The things we have left behind provide a connection that no document can match; physical artefacts are touchstones that breathe life into its history. From farming tools to children’s toys, domestic objects and strange curios, the everyday items of the past reveal fascinating insights into an often-forgotten way of life. Birth, death, celebration, work, crime, play, medicine, beliefs, diet and our relationship with nature can all be read from these remnants of our past.
From ancient artefacts to modern-day memorabilia, this startling book weaves a rich tapestry from the fragments of our rural past. (Credit: HarperCollins UK)
The Ladder: Life Lessons from Women Who Scaled the Heights & Dodged the Snakes by Cathy Newman
Expected Publication Date: February 29
The Ladder brings together discussions between women – about work, love, growth, challenge, the big decisions and the stories of their lives.
Offering inspiration and wise counsel from some of the world’s most acclaimed and influential women, this book is an insight and a trove of solidarity, turning over ideas of change, anger, illness, imposter syndrome, self-knowledge, purpose, how to not panic in a crisis and how to stop worrying you’re boring when there isn’t one.
Amidst these pages are discussions with women who have achieved extraordinary things in their fields and pursuits, from politicians like Nicola Sturgeon and Angela Rayner to scientists like Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, activists like Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, film-makers like Waad Al-Kateab, religious leaders like Rose Hudson-Wilkin and broadcasters like Joan Bakewell. (Credit: HarperCollins Publishers)
A Bookshop of One’s Own: How a Group of Women Set out to Change the World by Jane Cholmeley
Expected Publication Date: February 29
The captivating true story of an underdog business – a feminist bookshop founded in Thatcher’s Britain – from a woman at the heart of the women’s liberation movement.
What was it like to start a feminist bookshop, in an industry dominated by men? How could a lesbian thrive in Thatcher’s time, with the government legislating to restrict her rights? How do you run a business when your real aim is to change the world?
Silver Moon was the dream of three women – a bookshop with the mission to promote the work of female writers and create a much-needed safe space for any woman. Founded in 1980s London against a backdrop of homophobia and misogyny, it was a testament to the power of community, growing into Europe’s biggest women’s bookshop and hosting a constellation of literary stars from Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou to Angela Carter. While contending with day-to-day struggles common to other booksellers, plus the additional burdens of misogyny and the occasional hate crime, Jane Cholmeley and her booksellers created a thriving business. But they also played a crucial and relatively unsung part in one the biggest social movements of our time.
A Bookshop of One’s Own is a fascinating slice of social history from the heart of the women’s liberation movement, from a true feminist and lesbian icon. Written with heart and humour, it reveals the struggle and joy that comes with starting an underdog business, while being a celebration of the power women have to change the narrative when they are the ones holding the pen. (Credit: HarperCollins UK)
The Traitor in the Game by Triona Campbell
Expected Publication Date: February 29
An addictive thriller from the most sensational new voice in YA fiction. Perfect for fans of the gaming and fierce love of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow The sequel to explosive YA thriller A GAME OF LIFE OR DEATH: At the end of book one, Asha Kennedy (Lisbeth Salander for a new generation) uncovered the dark secret at the heart of Virtual Reality game ‘Shackle’ – You don’t play the game; it plays you – and must now go deeper into a dangerous world of corruption and greed: who is the puppet master of the game and what is their ultimate goal? Set in New York, this is a whiplash-paced, twisty mystery and scorching romance where Asha’s enemies may be closer than she could ever imagine…(Credit: Scholastic)
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