Is your TBR stack piling up on your shelves? Have you found yourself reading an unfortunate succession of novels that were just... fine? Has it put you off picking up a new book for a while? We’ve all been there – and we’re also perfectly placed to help you out of that reading rut.
This isn’t a task for the weak (plotlines), so below you’ll find a hand-picked list of books guaranteed to grab your attention and keep you captivated from beginning to end. There’s something for everyone, no matter your tastes – whether you’re after a juicy memoir, gripping thriller or a little something to spice up your evening (or even life), we’ve got you. Think of us as your rope out of the not-reading ravine, pulling you up and into the light of a great read.
Heartbreaking, candid and at times genuinely hilarious, Jennette McCurdy’s memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died made shockwaves when it was published in 2022. If the title alone doesn’t draw you in, then the gripping first pages certainly will. This fraught depiction of an abusive mother-daughter bond places you right inside Jennette’s head, exposing her traumatic upbringing as a child star – and she doesn’t shy away from admitting her own imperfections either. Plus, her highly anticipated new fiction novel, Half His Age, has just been released in the US and the UK. Both are unmissable, and sure to get you out of any reading ditch.
The Small-Town Thriller
Kala by Colin Walsh
Next up is this propulsive pick with a thriller spin. Kala, a 15-year-old girl with a tight-knit crew of friends, mysteriously disappears after a Halloween party. Fifteen years later, the rest of the now-disbanded group are reunited in their home village of Kinlough, Ireland. Her disappearance has never been solved and, as the friends come together, the knock-on effects and the shadow of Kala’s absence begin to surface in the community. When human remains are found and two more girls go missing, the group are thrown back into the tumult of their teen years. Narrated by friends Joe, Helen and Mush, the distinct voices, pacy perspective-switching and converging stories will have you turning pages like it’s your job.
The Timely Literary Pick
If Hamnet/Hamlet fever hasn’t reached you yet, this might be the book to tip you in – Isabella Hammad’s thoughtful, beautiful novel exploring the many layers of Palestinian identity. Enter Ghost follows Sonia, an actor living in London who returns to Palestine and accepts a role in an illicit production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Isabella deftly weaves the themes of Hamlet into the book, a play that was banned in Israel prisons for its depiction of a man hungry to avenge injustice. The result is a searing novel about the radical role art can play in the resistance against oppression and fear. For more from Isabella, read On Recognising the Stranger: a bitesize, moving essay responding to the war on Palestine.
The Slightly Spicy One
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
In her introduction to Three Women, Lisa Taddeo reveals that she spent nearly a decade interviewing three real American women about their lives and desires, driving across the country six times to build trust and do justice to their stories. The result is a trio of true accounts that are meticulous, raw and painfully human. In each tale, desire and power form messy knots. Maggie is in her early twenties, reeling from a coercive relationship with her older high-school teacher. Lina, in her thirties, rekindles a steamy physical relationship with her first love in the wake of her passionless marriage’s collapse. Sloane and her husband are middle-aged swingers with a carefully controlled set of rules that are suddenly challenged by a third party. Each story is rife with questions surrounding consent and agency – will sexual equality and liberation ever be possible for these three women? It’s completely gripping, — provocative without tipping into sensationalism, and deeply literary throughout. To hear more from Lisa, listen to her conversation with Dua on our podcast, At Your Service, here.
The One That Will Make You Fall In Love With Reading Again
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-Reum
The perfect remedy for anyone going through a reading slump. This cosy, quiet collection of essays feels like browsing the shelves of a bookshop with a friend – perfect for when you’re not quite ready to commit to a new fictional world but want to remind yourself of the joys of reading. Hwang Bo-reum, author of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, thoughtfully captures the essence of what makes reading such a rewarding pastime, while offering practical ways to engage more intentionally: keeping a reading list; collecting favourite quotes; not following the crowd; even providing her own carefully chosen recommendations. Above all, it’s a lovely reminder that reading isn’t about racing to the final page, but about staying with stories long enough to gain a deeper understanding – and feeling transformed as a result.
