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 2024 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
No One Keeps A Secret by Denise Brown
Who said small towns were boring?
When three teenagers track down a missing chihuahua to an abandoned theme park, they discover a corpse strangled by his own camera strap and find themselves caught up in a murder investigation. The victim was supposed to be 400 miles away in London. He’d promised a lot of people a lot of money. And every single one of them has an alibi. Haigh, Cherry, and Sunrise soon discover that their rural village isn’t quite as dull and predictable as they thought it was. (Credit: Hashtag Press)
Victoria’s Secret: The Private Passion of a Queen by Fern Riddell
From the moment John Brown arrived as a servant to Queen Victoria’s household, he became known across the land as her loyal companion, her fierce protector, and her right-hand man; their friendship immortalised in print and later on-screen. But what if there was more to their relationship than we know? And what has history been hiding from us?
Rumours have swirled around this relationship for years as historians have attempted to bring the truth to light – now for the first time, Dr Fern Riddell re-examines everything we thought we knew about one of Britain’s most iconic women. Through unearthing groundbreaking new evidence, Riddell challenges the prevalent image of Victoria as a grieving widow to create a compelling human portrait of a woman in passionate midlife.
Against a backdrop of court politics, family dynasties and the magic of the Highlands, Victoria’s Secret untangles the mysteries that the royal family have tried to keep hidden for generations, forcing us to question ‘who really writes our history’?
Both a timeless romance and an extraordinary retelling of the emotional life of a queen, Victoria’s Secret is an unmissable account of a woman in love.
A Beautiful Evil by Bea Fitzgerald
When the Gods make the first human woman, Pandora, they impress on her just one certainty: that she has been made to love and be loved by her husband, the titan Epimetheos. And yet when Pandora arrives at his home on Colchis, she’s surprised to find that Matheos doesn’t feel the same. AT ALL. In fact, he wants nothing to do with her.
Hurt and confused, Pandora struggles to find purpose and meaning in her new life. What was she made for, if not this? And what does it have to do – if anything – with her husband’s brother Prometheus, doomed to eternal punishment by the King of the Gods? Soon she and Matheos find themselves thrown together more and more, as they try to uncover the real reason the Gods sent her to him – and what that might mean for the future of humanity. (Credit: Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
Wild Magic: Journey of the Lost Elephant by Abiola Bello
Expected Publication Date: August 14
Misha and Ziggy are super excited to be joining their wildlife presenter father on a trip to India, where they’ll be able to test their magical powers all over again. Misha can’t wait to talk to all the fascinating animals she meets and Ziggy is eager to shapeshift into all the amazing animals he sees!
When they plan to map the migration route of an elephant herd, they discover that the elephant calf has gone missing.
Can Misha and Ziggy find the baby elephant and reunite it with its family before its lost forever? (Credit: Simon & Schuster UK)
Bury Your Friends by Benjamin Dean
Expected Publication Date: August 14
Ten friends. One night. A classy celebration. A deranged killer. Lots of murder.
Noah and his best friends Cameron, Baby, Fliss, Griffin, Miles, Tabitha, Wim, Verity and Hugo are finally graduating from Woodthorn Academy with the world and all its promises laid out before them. To celebrate exam results day, they’re hosting a party weekend at Black Stone, an opulent country estate, for the whole school to attend. But for one night only the ten friends will have a low-key celebration – after all, it’s how the upper echelons begin their futures.
But things take a sinister turn when they find themselves in the crosshairs of a killer making one simple demand: every hour, one person must be evicted from the house or someone inside the house will die.
With nowhere to run and a killer on the prowl, choices must be made. But, as people inside the house start to go missing too, it soon becomes clear that nobody is safe. By the time morning comes, who will have survived the night? And is the killer much closer than they realised . . . (Credit: Simon & Schuster UK)
How to Get Magically Popular by Radhika Sanghani
Expected Publication Date: August 14
Sabina Patel has never been popular. And in her new school, in a new town where she doesn’t know anyone, Sabina feels more out of place than ever.
When she accidentally unlocks magic powers and starts to see visions of the future, Sabina worries that she’ll be even more unpopular than before. But she quickly becomes one of the most popular girls in school, with everyone desperate for her to predict their test answers, prom dates and class election results.
Then she starts seeing futures she’d rather not know about and Sabina’s not sure if she’s unlocked a gift or a curse. (Credit: Usbourne Publishing)
Faeries, Sprites & Malevolent Spirits: An Anthology of Classic Poetry & Stories by Aurora Thorne
Expected Publication Date: August 14
Step into the enchanting realm of Faeries Sprites & Malevolent Spirits, where the exquisite beauty and treacherous allure of the unseelie court come to life through classic poetry.
This captivating collection immerses you in the ethereal world of fairies, where enchantress lyrics and the longings of otherworldly lovers are woven together in verses that shimmer with magic and mystery. Each poem is a spell, cast in words that evoke the haunting perfume of desire and the dark allure of fae mischief.
Within these pages, you’ll find timeless works such as William Wordsworth’s The Faery Chasm, Maurice Hewlett’s The Lore of Proserpine and Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market. These poems, along with selection from William Shakespeare, and Alfred Lord Tennyson, blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy, drawing you into a landscape where the whispers of the unseelie court beckon you into their macabre dance.
Faeries Sprites & Malevolent Spirits is a must-have for those entranced by the mystical, the magical, and the malevolent forces that dwell in the shadows of the faerie realm. (Credit: Octopus Publishing Group)
Such a Good Couple by Sophie White
Expected Publication Date: August 26
MAGGIE’S LIFE HAS NEVER LOOKED BETTER.
She has a superstar husband, a Hollywood mansion and a stylist on call. No one, not even Fionn (who’s usually in a different time zone), knows how much she’s struggling.
ANNIE’S TRYING TO GET PREGNANT.
Conor’s trying to talk to Annie about their crumbling relationship. But breaking up after two decades would be crazy – and if they do, how will Annie ever become a mother?
CLARA THOUGHT SHE AND OLLIE WERE HAPPY.
Even though the chaos of parenting means they’re rarely in the same room of their crowded home. Then she spots a text on his phone that might blow their life up.
A sun-soaked holiday in Cape Cod brings the six friends together, each hoping to escape their problems. But soon champagne, secrets and harsh truths are spilled. When the first ‘it’s over’ sends shockwaves through the group, will the other couples survive the fallout? (Credit: Hachette Books Ireland)
Other People by Celia Dale
Expected Publication Date: August 28
June and her father stared for a moment into each other’s minds. He looked away first; and with a stab of joy June knew he was afraid of her and that she hated him.
It is summer in small town Havenport. Protected from the world by her devoted mother, fifteen-year-old June is content and completely self-absorbed. Her biggest concern is where she will be holidaying this year.
When June’s father reappears after twelve years in Australia, she is thrust abruptly into a different life: new house, town, school. She soon suspects that she does not know the full story about her father, and when she meets Tony Townsend, he and his London life suddenly promise a glamorous and alluring alternative. (Credit: Daunt Books)
A Fire in Their Hearts by Philip Paris
Expected Publication Date: August 28
Locked in the hold when the crew abandons their ship, The Crown of London,Violet and Samuel cling to each other as the doomed vessel breaks up on rocks off the islands of Orkney. Their love for each other has helped them survive a conflict that has dominated their lives since childhood. They have been persecuted and punished, fought through bitter battles and spent desperate months together as prisoners in Edinburgh’s Greyfriars churchyard. Now, banished for life and being transported to work on a plantation in a far-off country, it seems they will pay the ultimate price for their defiance.
Scotland is being ripped apart by a civil war that has already seen thousands die as Covenanters fight the armies of King Charles II over who has the right to be head of the Church of Scotland – King or Jesus. As The Crown of London breaks in two, Violet and Samuel are sucked violently through the broken hull and into the waiting blackness and the freezing waters of the North Sea.
Violet is recaptured along with dozens of other Covenanters, but Samuel is not amongst them. Clinging to the hope that he has somehow survived and that they will meet again, Violet is sent to Barbados where she is forced to work as an indentured servant on a sugar plantation and experience horrors that she could never have imagined possible. But has Samuel survived? And can Violet ever escape her fate on the plantation to search for her lost soulmate?
This epic tale is the story of two ordinary people caught up in the Killing Times, bringing to life a brutal but forgotten period of Scottish history that forged a nation’s future. (Credit: Bonnier Books)
Small Wonder by Ross Montgomery
Expected Publication Date: August 28
‘Remember everything I taught you, Small Wonder. Take care of Leaf. Take care of Pebble. I’ve done all I can. The rest is up to you…’
Small Wonder lives peacefully at the edge of Ellia, along with his little brother and faithful horse.
But then a deadly assassin descends. Enemies are invading and the kingdom is in danger. Small Wonder has six moons to get to Kings’ Keep and warn their ruler.
Travelling forests and mountains, encountering bandits and rogue knights, Small Wonder is determined to honour his grandfather’s last advice…
Make it count. (Credit: Walker Books)
The Game I Will Never Forget by Onjali Q. Raúf
Expected Publication Date: August 28
Just after his tenth birthday, the last thing Zak expects to hear is that his mum is having a baby and he has to give up his room for an ageing old grandmother who is coming to live with them!
With the help of his friends and a series of cheeky pranks, Zak is convinced it’ll be no time before he can reclaim his rightful territory!
But Zak soon discovers that his nani is no ordinary old grandma but a former chess prodigy, able to outwit and outdo him – and his friends – at every turn.
Just as both players begin to forge a mutual respect and a friendship that might finally overcome all obstacles, Zak begins to notice things. Like how Nani sometimes forgets where she is… Or who Zak is…
In a desperate bid to ensure his nani never forgets again, Zak enters her into the chess competition of a lifetime.
But will Zak’s nani remember long enough to play? (Credit: Hachette Children’s Group)
Torchfire by Moira Buffini
Expected Publication Date: August 28
Welcome back to a world where songlight – or telepathy – is either your greatest power or your greatest curse.
Elsa has fled Northaven and is urgently seeking a safe haven.
Nightingale is being held Captive by Sister Swan and forced to use her songlight against her own people.
Piper has been promoted up the ranks of the Airmen, where nothing but bloodshed is demanded of him.
Rye has stumbled across an incredible airship, the likes of which has never been seen before . . .
All four are united by their desire for peace.
But peace between the Aylish and Brightland feels more fragile than ever now that evil Brother Kite has seized power.
And there is a new threat, not just to Brightland, but to Ayland and the world beyond. The airship that Rye has discovered is owned by the Teroans, a race of elite Torches that left Earth after its destruction. Back on a reconnaissance trip, they are keen to resettle on their recovering planet, but mere human beings are seen as second class citizens and accepted collateral damage.
The future of civilisation is on a knife edge, with those from Brightland wanting to stamp out songlight, those from Ayland wanting harmony and those from Teroa wanting songlight to rein, whatever the costs . . . (Credit: Faber & Faber)
Helm by Sarah Hall
Expected Publication Date: August 28
Helm is a ferocious, mischievous wind – a subject of folklore and awe, who has blasted the sublime landscape of the Eden Valley since the very dawn of time.
Through the stories of those who’ve obsessed over this phenomenon, Helm’s extraordinary history is formed: the Neolithic tribe who tried to placate Helm, the Dark Age wizard priest who wanted to banish Helm, the Victorian steam engineer who attempted to capture Helm – and the farmer’s daughter who loved Helm. But now Dr Selima Sutar, surrounded by infinite clouds and measuring instruments in her observation hut, fears human pollution is killing Helm.
Rich, wild and vital, Helm is the story of a unique life force, and of a relationship: between nature and people, neither of whom can weather life without the other. (Credit: Faber & Faber)
Not Going To Plan by Tia Fisher
Expected Publication Date: August 28
Marnie’s really messed up this time – expelled and forced to change schools, the only empty seat in Marnie’s new school is next to Zed, a nerd with zero tolerance for mistakes. Marnie (skilled at art and Spanish, struggles with numbers) can’t wait to lose her virginity. Zed (brilliant at maths and physics, loathes languages) is a loner who can’t stand being touched. They couldn’t be less alike, but they both need good grades in the subjects they hate.
What starts as a trade in tuition turns into an unlikely friendship – and after Marnie has sex with a boy who lies about using a condom, she needs Zed’s help to make the hardest decision of her life. (Credit: Hot Key Books)
Paper Heart by Cecelia Ahern
Expected Publication Date: August 28
Pip’s world is small. But it’s about to become a whole lot bigger.
For years she’s tucked away her dreams, shrinking herself into the space left behind – like the delicate origami she creates alone in her room.
Then hope comes from an unlikely place: an astronomer from the local observatory. He teaches her to look up at the stars, and to see a world far bigger and more beautiful than she ever imagined.
And perhaps in that big, beautiful universe there’s someone waiting for her. If she can find the courage to open her heart.
Pip never stopped dreaming, but now it’s time for her to live – and maybe even to fall in love. (Credit: HarperCollins UK)
Geomancer: The Ship of Strays by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Expected Publication Date: August 28
Ysolda has unlocked the earth magic, and its powers are rising within her. Could she really find out what it is like to fly, or to control the creatures of the deep?
With a rebel princess by her side, she is racing against the fearsome wolf queen. But they’re in for a stormy journey across the sea, facing pirates and the elements, and with the future of the whole world at stake … (Credit: Hachette Children’s Group)
The Pieces of Us by Claire Alexander
Expected Publication Date: August 28
Three generations of women. Three life altering events. As they discover the truth of their heritage, they’ll discover what makes the pieces of us…
At fifty-eight Minnie McAllister isn’t an old woman. But as Alzheimer’s ravages her mind, her brain says otherwise.
Cat McAllister is tackling everything life can throw at her. And just when she thinks it can’t get any worse, she’s faced with the discovery that Minnie might not be the mother she once knew.
Meanwhile, Cat’s daughter, Ruby McAllister, who is staring at a two very blue lines, faces a decision that will change the course of her life.
As three generations of women are pulled in three different directions, each are forced to learn lessons about themselves that they never could have imagined. (Credit: Penguin Books)
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