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 2025 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. Now on with the recommendations!
Featured Book of the Month
Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone? by Louise O’Neill
2002
Twin sisters Madeline and Chelsea Stone are joint stars of the AtomicKids sitcom Double Trouble, but everyone knows it’s Maddie who shines most brightly. Until Chelsea beats her sister out for the role of a lifetime and is catapulted into the spotlight. But just as Chelsea’s star reaches impossible new heights, Maddie disappears.
2025
Chelsea Stone retired from acting after her sister’s disappearance – but living life under the radar is easier said than done when you’re the most famous woman of your generation.
When a storage locker is found containing heart-breaking truths about the year Maddie went missing, Chelsea feels a flicker of hope for the first time in twenty years.
This is her chance to discover what really happened to her twin, but to follow the trail, is she ready to face the past and step back into the spotlight? (Credit: Transworld Publishers)
Two Is A Crowd by Cath Howe
A stunning contemporary real-life story from the brilliant author of Ella on the Outside, with beautiful illustrations by Miguel Bustos.
Hattie’s life is already complicated enough. She’s about to start secondary school, her best friend is going off with someone else and her dad seems to have completely forgotten his promise to let her have a room of her own.
So when her mum’s goddaughter, Seren, arrives and gets special treatment, Hattie feels pushed out.
Could it be that Hattie’s family actually prefer Seren? (Credit: Nosy Crow)
A Million Tiny Missiles All At Once by Lucas Maxwell
Being a teen’s a tough gig, but what if one gig could save your family?
Elias’s brain is a swamp of fears and bad things. His once-lovingbrother Bo has become a stranger, and his parents are at breaking point.
When Bo falls in with dangerous people, Elias decides he’s the only one who can bring his family back together. But what begins as a simple pizza-night plan quickly spirals into chaos. Can Elias find a way to reach the people he loves the mostbefore it’s too late?
The stunning debut novel from Lucas Maxwell, winner of the Times/Chicken House Competition 2024. Set in wintry Nova Scotia, Canada and inspired by the author’s childhood, this special novel explores themes of family addiction and growing up neurodivergent. (Credit: Chicken House)
How to Talk to AI: (And How Not To) by Jamie Bartlett
Knowing how to speak to AI – and how not to – is a skill that everyone now needs. This book will help the reader understand how to make the most of these incredible new technologies, without succumbing to new powers of manipulation and control.
Hundreds of millions of people now talk to AI like ChatGPT every day. They organise their finances and holidays, ask advice, seek therapy and find love – via machines. Almost overnight, chatbots are transforming society, politics and business.
This is one of the biggest and fastest technological changes in history – but most people still don’t really understand how AI works, how to make the most of it – or what the dangers are. As some people use it to turbo-charge their productivity at work, others are falling into dangerous conspiracies, delusions and psychosis.
In How to Talk to AI, tech commentator Jamie Bartlett takes the reader inside the machine: showing how we can stay in control of our powerful new companions, even as they are changing the way we live, feel, and think. (Credit: Ebury Publishing)
The Tattooed Hills: Journeys to Chalk Figures by Jon Woolcott
A journey through Britain’s chalklands, uncovering the stories, symbolism and shifting meanings of the mysterious figures carved into our hills.
Across southern England and beyond, the land bears the marks of centuries – white horses, giants, crosses, badges, even a lost panda – cut into the chalk and exposed to the sky. In The Tattooed Hills, writer Jon Woolcott travels to these remarkable sites, exploring their history and the deep cultural roots that link landscape to identity.
Part travelogue, part cultural history, Woolcott examines how these figures – sometimes ancient, sometimes surprisingly recent – reflect our collective imagination, and how their interpretations have changed over time. Once emblems of pride or remembrance, they have become mirrors of our shifting values and contradictions.
From Iron Age hillforts to modern regimental carvings, The Tattooed Hills brings together archaeology, folklore, art, literature and music to reveal the evolving story of Britain’s chalk landscapes and the people who shaped them.
Beautifully written and steeped in a sense of place, it illuminates the powerful ways in which we inscribe meaning onto the land itself.
For example, Jon Woolcott visits:
- The Westbury White Horse
- The Cerne Abbas Giant
- Groundtruthing the Panda
- The Long Man of Wilmington
- The Lost Red Horse of Tysoe
A captivating exploration of landscape, culture and belonging, The Tattooed Hills reveals how the chalk beneath our feet connects us to our past and continues to shape who we are today. (Credit: Quarto Publishing)
The Last Death Poet by Stephen Daly
‘I know about the visions. I have your camera. Call me. Please.’
When Michael is uprooted to Belfast, he isn’t just hoping for a fresh start. He’s determined to discover the truth about his dad’s mysterious absence. But from the moment he arrives, he’s plagued with visions of the city’s troubled past.
Michael begins settling into his new life and even meets a boy who helps erase the painful memories of his ex. But as the visions grow stronger and more intense, the only person he can really confide in is his new friend Meg.
As Meg delves into the supernatural source of the visions, Michael begins to question whether events of the past are linked to his dad’s disappearance.
Can he use his powers to find his dad before he’s gone forever? (Credit: Oneworld Publications)
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Rex Power – Invasion of the Fear Bugs! by RAMZEE and illustrated by Claude
Dino-Cop – from space!
Rex is an alien descendant of the mighty Tyrannosaurus and a skilled bounty hunter. After one of his bounties – the mad alien scientist, Zardax – escapes, Rex is forced to crash his ship on Earth. Stranded in Catford, south east London, an accident causes Rex to merge with a young, teenage orphan called Korey. Once bonded, Korey and Rex will have to learn how to get along so they can stop an army of Zardax’s alien parasites from taking over the district, the city, and then the planet!
Written by Ramzee (Marvel’s Edge of Spider-Verse, The Cheat Book) and featuring the kinetic art of Claude T.C., Rex Power is the freshest, new British superhero on the block! (Credit: Rebellion Publishing Ltd.)
The Drowning Place by Sarah Hilary
Expected Publication Date: April 16
Every place has its ghosts.
Edenscar, a town in the Peak District, has more than most. 17 years ago, its inhabitants were hit by tragedy when a school bus veered off the road and everyone on board drowned. Everyone, that is, except Joseph Ashe. His miraculous survival has haunted him and the town ever since.
Now a Detective Sergeant in the local police, Joe is called to the scene of a brutal and apparently inexplicable crime. The whole town is spooked, but Joe’s new boss, DI Laurie Bower, more used to inner-city police work, has no time for superstition. She just wants to find the very real killer who has left no trace and apparently had no motive.
Joining forces, Joe and Laurie work to uncover the secrets of Edenscar, both past and present.
But when you dig up the dead, expect to get your hands dirty…
The first in a stand-out and haunting new crime series for fans of Vera, Broadchurch and Happy Valley. Set in a town steeped in history and horror, the series follows DS Joseph Ashe, a young man haunted by the ghosts of his past and struggling with survivor’s guilt, and DI Laurie Bower, an outsider fighting to fit in. (Credit: Vintage Publishing)
Hijab and Red Lipstick by Yousra Imran
Expected Publication Date: April 16
“You cannot do anything in this country without my permission.”
For sixteen-year-old Sara, life has always been about following the rules; her father’s rules.
Makeup? Haram.
Fashion magazines? Haram.
Friends who don’t meet his approval? Definitely haram.
When her strict Egyptian dad moves the family to the Arabian Gulf, Sara’s world shrinks overnight. In a place where a woman’s freedom depends on a man’s permission, every dream feels out of reach. But Sara refuses to disappear quietly.
As her passion for writing, beauty and independence grows stronger, so does her courage to challenge the expectations that bind her. Can she stay true to her faith while finding her own voice, and a future she chooses for herself?
Candid, courageous and unforgettable, Hijab & Red Lipstick is a powerful coming-of-age story about identity, patriarchy and the fight to belong – inspired by the experiences of women who dare to defy. (Credit: Hashtag Press)
Turn The Dial For Death by Jeremy Vine
Expected Publication Date: April 23
An impossible death.
A seaside town on the brink.
Stay tuned for murder…
Sidmouth is gearing up for summer – but murder is all year round…
When a doctor is found dead in the woods, shot through the heart with a crossbow, his wife is the prime suspect, despite an ironclad alibi. Desperate to clear her name, she appeals to radio presenter Edward Temmis for help.
But Edward has troubles of his own. With his beloved radio station in crisis and a mysterious motorbike crash on the seafront, the doctor’s death is the least of his worries.
Edward, Kim and Stevie must reunite on a treacherous path to uncover the truth. Can they solve the case before everything tumbles down? (Credit: HarperCollins)
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A Song I Wrote For Charlotte by Caitlin Devlin
Expected Publication Date: April 23
Connie Moore has never failed at anything. That is until the Royal Academy of Music decide her piano playing isn’t good enough and she finds herself pursuing her back-up plan: moving into student halls to study English Literature. With her grandmother piling on the pressure and her father’s absence weighing on her, she knows she has to stay focused this year – mediocrity must be avoided at all costs.
Just across the corridor, Music Production student Charlotte Owen has other ideas. Sweet, sociable and not a girl who takes no for an answer, Charlotte drags Connie determinedly into university life. As an unlikely friendship blossoms between them, Connie begins to wonder if there’s something more to the way she feels about Charlotte – and, even more terrifyingly, whether there’s something more to the way Charlotte feels about her.
But Charlotte isn’t the kind of person you can hold on to forever. And Connie might have to consider whether the life that Charlotte has built for her is one that she can sustain alone.
Caitlin Devlin’s exquisite eye for detail perfectly captures a particular moment of adolescence, effortlessly moving between hilarious, laugh-out-loud writing on one page to heartbreak and poignancy on the next.
With an irresistible voice and an absolutely one-of-a-kind heroine, you’ll fall in love with A Song I Wrote for Charlotte from the very first page – a perfect coming of age debut celebrating difference, self-discovery, and LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent identities. (Credit: HarperCollins)
Shakespeare’s Strong Women: The Wit, Wisdom and Wickedness of His Fiercest Female Characters by Royal Shakespeare Company
Expected Publication Date: April 23
‘If I be waspish, best beware my sting’
Meet a dazzling array of bold, brainy, mischievous and sometimes downright wicked women in this witty, empowering guide to Shakespeare’s fiercest female characters.
From clever Rosalind to ruthless Lady Macbeth, via some lesser-known but equally captivating ladies, this irreverent guide explores the power, passion and most perceptive observations of Shakespeare’s characters. These women are not just part of the plot; they’re the driving force behind the action, cracking jokes, taking matters into their own hands and refusing to play by anyone’s rules.
Alongside behind-the-scenes tales of performances from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s archive, you’ll also find timeless quotes to deploy in everyday life, for example:
- When your alarm goes off on Monday morning: ‘Dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom’
- When dealing with a traffic warden: ‘What wilt thou do, thou peevish officer?’
- When a colleague forgets to unmute on a call: ‘Alas, she has no speech’
This is the ultimate gift for anyone wanting to add a dash of wit and wisdom to their lives the Shakespearean way. (Credit: HarperCollins)
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Her Many Faces by Nicci Cloke
Expected Publication Date: April 23
ONE TRIAL. FIVE TRUTHS. BUT ARE THEY READY FOR HERS?
When Katie is charged with murdering four men at the exclusive private club where she’s a waitress, her personal life and upbringing are thrust into the spotlight.
During the trial, the people closest to Katie start to question how well they really know her.
Her father remembers the sweet schoolgirl.
Her childhood friend misses her kindness and protection.
Her lover regrets ever falling for her.
Her lawyer believes she is hiding something.
A journalist is convinced she is a cold-blooded killer.
To each of them she’s someone different. But is she guilty? (Credit: Vintage Publishing)
Among The Ruins by Claire Coughlan
Expected Publication Date: April 23
Dublin, summer 1970. Nicoletta Sarto is juggling work as the women’s editor at the Irish Sentinel with twin baby girls at home. When she’s approached by a barrister, Louise Leonard, whose aunt has just died, she’s drawn into a story that could have dangerous consequences. Was Helen Leonard murdered, as her niece thinks? And who was the mysterious nurse who has now vanished, but to whom Helen left everything?
As Nicoletta investigates, she has to fight not only her own family’s disapproval of her being a working mother, but also society’s.
And as she slowly unpicks the mystery of Helen Leonard’s death, she’s unaware that danger lurks around every corner… (Credit: Simon & Schuster)
A Deadly Night at the Theatre by Katy Watson
Expected Publication Date: April 23
MURDER IS WAITING IN THE WINGS . . .
Actresses Posy Starling and Caro Hooper both gained a name for themselves playing fictional detective Dahlia Lively on screen – but now they are back treading the boards in London’s theatre district, starring in two very different plays.
Their fellow Dahlia, Rosalind King, is in the city to catch their opening weeks, but she can’t help but notice some tensions between Posy and Caro. Perhaps because of Caro’s new friendship with her co-star Luke Burrows, who seems to have a history with Posy . . .
Before Rosalind can get to the bottom of what’s going on, Luke is found dead. Worse, his body is found in Posy’s dressing room – with Posy standing over him, covered in his blood.
The West End is in uproar, but the cast of the two plays have closed ranks. Posy needs her fellow Dahlias to prove her innocence – but first she has to convince them that she didn’t do it.
The play’s the thing… but when all their suspects are actors, how can the Dahlias tell what’s real, and what’s just theatre? (Credit: Little, Brown Book Group)
Also get it at US Kobo store
Anxietyland by Gemma Correll
Expected Publication Date: April 28
Come and join us in the magical world of Anxietyland, a theme park like no other. Here, there’s so much to see and do: revel in the ups and downs of the Hormonal Rollercoaster, feel the twists and turns of the Overcaffeinated Teacups, and take a scenic ride on the Train of Overthinking to Comorbid Park. There’s no better place for making new friends such as our fun mascot Scaredy Cat, enjoying world-class entertainment, from the Parade of the Therapists to the Well-Meaning Advice Jamboree, and making memories that you’ll never forget – even if you want to!
In Anxietyland cartoonist, writer, and long-time-anxious-person, Gemma Correll takes us on a riotous journey through her struggles with anxiety, to the desperate search for relief and finally to the realization that it really is possible to feel OK again. Because sometimes, when you’ve tried every remedy, all you can do is laugh. (Credit: Penguin Books)
Lost London: From Crystal Palace to Heston Airport, a History in 25 Missing Buildings by Paul Knox
Expected Publication Date: April 28
An engaging, beautifully illustrated history of London told through twenty-five lost buildings
London has been rebuilt and reshaped perhaps more than any other city over its two-millennia history. From the construction of the Underground to slum clearance and the Blitz, buildings have long been damaged or demolished to pave way for the new. Today, demolition is big business, and around 3500 buildings are destroyed each year, most of which are social housing.
Paul Knox traces the history of London from the Great Fire to the present day through twenty-five lost buildings. Knox explores surprising and unusual locations in the city’s history, like the Necropolis Station in Waterloo used by funeral parties traveling to a burial ground in Surrey. We see historic landmarks, like Christ Church Greyfriars and the Crystal Palace, as well as everyday places like the White Horse pub in Poplar and a housing estate in Hackney. This is a fascinating study of London’s restless landscape, showing how conservation has changed over 400 years. (Credit: Yale University Press)
Under A Pink Sky by Esther Ghey
Expected Publication Date: April 30
On 11 February 2023, 16-year-old Brianna Ghey left home to meet her friend in a park local to her home in Warrington, Cheshire. Her mother, Esther, was relieved to see her go – a positive step after a difficult and increasingly isolated few years. What Esther didn’t know that day was that Brianna was being lured to the park where she would be tragically murdered.
There was at once an international outpouring of anguish and outrage for a young life brutally snatched away and a mother’s worst nightmare come true. Amidst global displays of support, the usually shy and private Esther began to reflect on how she could channel her own personal grief into campaigning to help others and to create a lasting legacy for her child.
This is the story of Brianna’s death, but it is also the story of her life and of a mother who had to find a way to survive without her. It is a story of transforming unimaginable tragedy into change, of the power of empathy, and a call for understanding and unity in the face of the threats our young people face in an increasingly unchecked digital world.
This is Esther’s fight for a safer, more hopeful future. (Credit: Penguin Books)
Princess Olivia Investigates: The Knights of Nature by Lucy Hawking and illustrated by Zoe Persico
Expected Publication Date: April 30
The third title in this unique series by global bestseller and science educator Lucy Hawking about a former princess desperate to find out about the world around her – and what she can do to help it. Illustrated throughout by Zoe Persico and with fascinating non-fiction sections from world-renowned scientists, this is perfect for readers 7 and over.
Olivia much prefers life as a scientist to life as a princess. And now she has to solve her biggest science mystery yet!
‘We have done some investigations into the changes we see, feel and experience in the climate around us. You might not want to know about these changes, but you need to know about them because this is the world you’re going to leave to us young people when we’re adults!’
Olivia and her best friends, Ravi and Helga, aka The Climate Crew, start to realise that the problems in the environment around them are all connected to each other,
and all to do with the way the Earth is being looked after by everybody on it. They need to help.
When they realise that a group called the Knights of Nature, set up years and years ago, believe the same things they do and also want to help, they decide to work together.
Protecting Alez’s weather and countryside and animals and people – and, well, everything, really! – awaits them. (Credit: Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
An Accidental Death by Peter Grainger
Expected Publication Date: April 30
When a young man drowns after a boisterous party in a small riverside town, his friends and family report it to the Kings Lake police as a devastating accident.
DC Smith, newly returned from leave, and the young, ambitious trainee Christopher Waters are assigned to the case as a routine investigation. But the post-mortem reveals violent injuries, witnesses give contradictory accounts of the events leading up to the drowning and locals seem determined to redirect their attention.
Becoming increasingly suspicious of institutional caution and external interference, Smith and Waters strike out on their own. As they get closer to the truth, they realise the danger is not quite over. (Credit: Cornerstone)
The Power of Music: How Music Connects Us All by Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Expected Publication Date: April 30
‘Music is what makes us alive, mindful and connected to each other. Music is what makes us human. This is the power of music.’Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason knows and feels the transformative power of music as much as any musician alive. From winning the prestigious BBC Young Musician Award to performing at Harry and Meghan’s wedding; from Bach’s solo suites to Bob Marley’s reggae; his ferocious passion shines through in every single performance, whether in a packed-out concert hall or on record.
But how was it that someone like him – a person of colour, from a state school in Nottingham – rose to the upper echelons of the classical music world? What were the obstacles that he had to overcome, what did he learn along the way, and how could a young person follow in his footsteps today?
In The Power of Music, Sheku explores the experiences and values that led him here, from a childhood of football practice and family music sessions, to his work today in the world’s finest concert halls and in the less privileged communities that surround them. As his star continues to rise, he shows us the darker side of an industry ruled by exclusivity and stubborn adherence to tradition.
With its power to transform our mental and physical health, to effect social change, and to make a house a home, Sheku shows us that classical music is for everyone, not just an elite few. The Power of Music is a celebration of music of all sorts and those who make it, and a rallying call to change. (Credit: Penguin Books)
Also get it at US Kobo store
The Black Death: A Global History by Thomas Asbridge
Expected Publication Date: April 30
Thomas Asbridge’s remarkable new book reveals the global impact of humanity’s greatest natural disaster, and the terrible human cost of this calamity.
In the mid-fourteenth century, a lethal plague struck the medieval world, causing unimaginable suffering and destruction. This terrifying pandemic – the Black Death – was unquestionably one of history’s defining episodes, yet a critical feature of its progress has often been ignored: the disease was not confined to Europe, but rather affected almost all of the known world, including the Near and Middle East, Byzantium, north Africa and Asia.
Tracing the pandemic’s course across the medieval globe, The Black Death contrasts the experiences of different peoples, including Christians, Muslims and Jews, charting this catastrophe’s transformative effects on diverse aspects of medieval life. And crucially, Asbridge demonstrates that the plague was often at its most destructive in the Islamic world, where it ultimately played a role in the collapse of the mighty Mamluk Empire.
The Black Death also brings the human drama of this calamitous era to life, evoking the terror and the turmoil that beset cities such as London, Cairo and Florence. Asbridge reconstructs the lives of the men, women and children who faced the Black Death – from ruling monarchs to peasant farmers – laying bare both the abject horror they endured and the courageous resolve they often demonstrated while striving to survive.
Uncovering a story that speaks to our own age, The Black Death highlights humankind’s capacity for compassion and resilience amidst a global crisis to explain how the medieval world confronted, and ultimately overcame, this shattering pandemic. (Credit: Penguin Books)
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