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
Circle of Liars by Kate Francis
‘Seven liars in the circle. Only one can survive…’
Seven teens arrive for a school retreat – only to find an abandoned motel and a sinister text message waiting for them: I know what you did a year ago.
Each of the seven buried a guilty secret about their tragic school fire. And now someone is out for revenge.
Every hour they must choose the guiltiest one among them to cross over the white line that circles the motel and be killed. Otherwise, they all die.
But who deserves to live, and who to die? Because only one of them can survive…
Do you dare enter the circle of liars? (Credit: Usbourne Publishing)
Getting Away by Kate Sawyer
Margaret Smith is at the beach.
It is a summer day unlike any other Margaret has ever known.
The Smith family have left the town where they live and work and go to school and come to a place where the sky is blue, the sand is white, and the sound of the sea surrounds them. An ordinary family discovering the joy of getting away for the first time.
Over the course of the coming decades, they will be transformed through their holiday experiences, each new destination a backdrop as the family grows and changes, love stories begin and end — and secrets are revealed. (Credit: Bonnier Books)
Havoc by Rebecca Wait
Fleeing Scotland in the wake of family disgrace, 16-year-old Ida Campbell secures a scholarship at a failing girls’ boarding school on a remote part of the south English coast. Despite the eccentricities of her new Headmistress, who warns her of the dangers of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of the bomb, St Anne’s seems like a refuge to Ida. But all this is about to change. For a start, her new room-mate is the infamous Louise Adler, potential arsonist and hardened outcast.
Meanwhile, the geography teacher Eleanor Alston, in her late thirties, a disastrous love affair in her wake, faces the new term with weary resignation. But the fragile ecosystem of the school is disrupted by the arrival of a new teacher, Matthew Langfield. Eleanor has an uneasy feeling he is not who he says he is.
And things only get worse when a mysterious sickness starts to spread throughout the school, causing strange limb jerks and seizures among the pupils. What is happening to the girls of St Anne’s? Could there be a poisoner among them? Is Ida’s scholarship really an escape, or is it instead a new nightmare? (Credit: Quercus)
The Counting Game by Sinéad Nolan
Into the woods.
Count to ten.
Only one of us comes home again.
1995, Ireland. Panic grips the village of Drumsuin when a teenage girl goes missing in the nearby forest.
Saoirse is not the first girl to disappear in those woods. And when it’s revealed she was playing the Counting Game that day – a ritual believed to ward off the forest’s evils – old superstitions send the community into turmoil.
One person saw what happened to Saoirse. But 9-year-old Jack won’t tell the Gardai. Freya, an English psychotherapist with her own history of grief, is brought in to help the investigators break his silence.
As the race to find Saoirse alive accelerates, can Freya make Jack talk? Why is he keeping the forest’s secrets? And who is hell bent on driving Freya out of Drumsuin before the truth is discovered? (Credit: HarperCollins)
River of Stars by Georgina Moore
‘It’s all over the papers, what teenagers are getting up to on that island. Sex and drugs and wild music…’
Steeped in bohemia and music legend, Walnut Tree Island is home to a thriving community of artists and musicians. It is where teenager Mary Star once caught the eye of a rock star about to hit the big time, only to be left with a new baby and a broken heart.
Years later, Mary lives on the houseboat where she raised her daughter and her granddaughter, Jo. But now one of the island’s prodigal sons has returned. Oliver Greenwood has inherited Walnut Tree and changes are coming.
Jo hasn’t seen Oliver since that glorious, life-changing summer when their idyllic island paradise was shattered. And while the islanders are thrown into a frenzy of speculation over their futures, Oliver’s return has opened the wounds of a love she had thought was lost for ever…
Beautifully written, featuring a cast of magnetic characters, River of Stars is the captivating new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author, Georgina Moore. (Credit: HarperCollins)
Listen Closely by Leon Egan
Jude’s smile is magnificent. Their sharp edges melted away into a rare and beautiful joy. The flash illuminates them as their photo is taken, and for just a second, they glow. It feels like lightning has struck.
When Jude and Aiden are paired up together for an internship at a local radio station, things are awkward. Jude is quiet, withdrawn, has one friend, and is suspicious of everyone. Aiden is charming, outgoing, and popular, with a seemingly easy confidence and golden retriever energy.
But after they discover a shared love of podcast dramas, Jude and Aiden realise that they have more in common than they first realised – especially after Aiden reveals that he is a huge fan of Jude’s own podcast, The Night Merchant.
With a wonderful and original meet-cute premise, an adorable couple with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic and gorgeous chemistry, and themes of forced proximity, found family, and mistaken identity. (Credit: HarperCollins)
Let The Bad Times Roll by Alice Slater
Expected Publication Date: July 10
New Orleans: Then.
Alone in New Orleans, Selina is struggling to fit in. When a charismatic stranger invites her for a drink, she’s grateful for the company – but as their friendship grows, she can’t help but sense a darkness within her new friend. Who is Daniel, and what does he want from her?
London: Now.
Daniel is missing. No one has seen or heard from him in weeks. Beside herself with worry, his sister Caroline hosts an intimate gathering in her beautiful North London home so those closest to Daniel can come together and compare notes.
But all isn’t quite as it seems: Caroline has invited a stranger to the table, an accomplished psychic who claims to have met Daniel four thousand miles away in New Orleans.
As evening turns to night, the dark truth of what really happened in New Orleans begins to emerge…(Credit: Hodder & Stoughton)
The Body In The Kitchen Garden by Paula Sutton
Expected Publication Date: July 10
Welcome to the idyllic village of Pudding Corner. Tea is poured, secrets simmer, gardens hide more than just weeds – and murder is blooming once again…
Pudding Corner is abuzz: the enigmatic Lord Hugh Darlington has returned to his crumbling ancestral home after years away. With his fiancée, he plans to revive the grand Darlington Hall – and who better to help than vintage aficionado Daphne Brewster?
Daphne is enchanted by the estate’s stained-glass windows, regal turrets, and sprawling kitchen garden. But amidst the overgrown greenery, she stumbles upon something far less picturesque: a body. A body that nobody can identify.
As the shocking murder rocks the village, Daphne dusts off her sleuthing skills – despite the local PC’s warnings to stay out of trouble. When Lord Darlington is attacked and a string of burglaries shakes Pudding Corner, it’s clear that no one is safe.
With secrets buried deep and loyalties more tangled than ivy, Daphne must unearth the truth… before the killer strikes again.(Credit: John Murray Press)
A Mudlarking Year: Finding Treasure In Every Season by Lara Maiklem
Expected Publication Date: July 10
For over two decades, Lara Maiklem has been scouring the banks of the tidal Thames looking for objects – lost or discarded – that tell forgotten stories. In this charming sequel to the bestselling Mudlarking, Lara widens her search beyond the river and reflects on life lived post-pandemic, reminding us that it’s possible to draw meaning in the most unlikely of places.
As she searches the foreshore through the changing seasons, she is at times aided by the gentle illumination of the falling winter sun or hindered by bright summer skies and lashing rain. Yet, by working in harmony with the unpredictable terrain, she finds solace in aligning with the elements and uncovering the treasures that are bestowed by the tide. From medieval pilgrim badges and Tudor love tokens, to Georgian wig curlers and Victorian pottery, each passing day unearths ordinary and extraordinary objects that tell the rich story of London’s past and its inhabitants.
A Mudlarking Year is a gentle ode to nature, history and the simple art of looking. Guided by Lara’s curiosity, warmth and wisdom, it is your invitation to discover hidden objects in the most overlooked part of the city, the secrets they reveal and the stories that are patiently waiting to be told. (Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing)
A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith
Expected Publication Date: July 17
1901. Gabriel Ward KC is hard at work on a thorny libel case involving London’s most famous music hall star and its most notorious tabloid newspaper, but the Inner Temple remains as quiet and calm as ever. Quiet, that is, until the mummified hand arrives in the post…
While the hand’s recipient, Temple Treasurer Sir William Waring, is rightfully shaken, Gabriel is filled with curiosity. Who would want to send such a thing? And why? But as more parcels arrive – one with fatal consequences – Gabriel realises that it is not Sir William who is the target, but the Temple itself.
Someone is holding a grudge that has already led to at least one death. Now it’s up to Gabriel, and Constable Wright of the City of London Police, to find out who, before an old death leads to a new murder. (Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing
A Neighbour’s Guide To Murder by Louise Candlish
Expected Publication Date: July 17
Your new neighbour will be the death of you.
It’s rare for a room in beautiful, iconic Columbia Mansions to be up for grabs and retiree Gwen is thrilled when its new occupant Pixie turns out to be the most delightful neighbour she could have wished for. Before long the two women have formed an unlikely age-gap friendship and Gwen is making herself useful to Pixie in all kinds of ways.
But when a crime comes to light Gwen’s protective instincts go into overdrive, igniting an appetite for revenge that none of the residents are prepared for.
The last thing they need in Columbia Mansions is a scandal.
The last thing they want is a murder. (Credit: HarperCollins)
Black Dolls Vol. 1 by Rachel Faturoti and Flo Woolley
Expected Publication Date: July 24
Band founder, Jada has always dreamed of tearing up the music industry rules – she’ll fight anyone or anything who says otherwise. So when auditions open for Clash of the Bands, she forms Black Dolls. Influencer Sassy is lead vocals; Silvee’s a killer bassist; DIna, an ex-child star who hates the cameras is on guitar, and Jada, self-proclaimed rhythm legend is on drums and vocals.
But band life is continual drama and everyone’s got their secrets. Black Dolls battle each other, overbearing families, identity questions and media exploitation, trying to keep their dream alive.
Can Black Dolls overcome their differences and take the world by storm? Or will they crash and burn before they skyrocket . . .(Credit: Hachette Children’s Group)
To The Sea By Train: The Golden Age of Railway Travel by Andrew Martin
Expected Publication Date: July 31
Throughout the twentieth century, the seaside service posters of Britain’s railways promised fresh air and frivolity to millions of urban dwellers with the phrase: ‘To the sea by train’. A staple of modern British life, the seaside getaway was intertwined with the train, in whose compartments holidaymakers were shunted from smog-choked cities to sandy coves.
With his signature wit and anecdotal style, Andrew Martin captures an era defined by its railways: from the development of Brighton and Scarborough into pleasure resorts, and the introduction of bank holidays and two-day weekends, to the advent of cheap flights and the British coast’s subsequent decline. Humorous and evocative, To the Sea by Train takes a charming tour through Britain’s most beloved pastime. (Credit: Profile Books)
Two Kinds of Stranger by Steve Cavanagh
Expected Publication Date: July 31
Ellie Parker had everything.
Perfect husband. Perfect apartment. Perfect friends and the perfect job.
As an internet celebrity – famed for her random acts of kindness – everyone knew it.
So when a betrayal causes her to lose it all, millions of people are watching.
But even at her lowest, Ellie will always help someone in need.
Which makes her the perfect target for a sadistic game.
Because as she soon learns, you can never trust a stranger – and a seemingly random encounter plunges her into a nightmare worse than she ever imagined.
The only person she can turn to is conman turned trial lawyer Eddie Flynn, who must take on a case where nothing is what it seems. With the most cruelly ingenious mind manipulating events from the shadows, everyone is in danger – including Eddie and his family. (Credit: Headline Publishing Group)
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