Whether cosied by the fire or sprawled in the sun, there is always occasion for a good book, no matter where the season may take you. Here, we deliver a line-up of recently-released, unmissable reads that run the gamut from moving memoirs to gripping novels to funny, romantic romps. And while it was certainly a difficult task to whittle down our favourites, these are the page-turners you’ll want to keep on your bedside table.
A Visible Man by Edward Enninful
In his own words, one of the most important cultural change makers of our time delivers an astonishing, moving and powerful memoir. A lifelong champion of inclusion, Edward Enninful’s ascent to becoming the first black Editor-in-chief of British Vogue has seen his tenure break barriers in a way that no others have done before. Here, the icon delves into his astonishing journey as a black, gay, working-class refugee with big dreams, to reaching the pinnacle of the world’s most exclusive industry.
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Bliss Montage by Ling Ma
A collection of eight short stories that touch on the madness and reality of our collective delusions, this rich narrative series marries elements of the fantastic with those grounded in the everyday. From a woman who lives in a house with all her ex-boyfriends to a toxic friendship that grows around an invisibility drug, Bliss Montage is outlandish and ordinary and undeniably compelling.
Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan
The result of over 40 hours of conversations between Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagen, this book offers thoughtful, intriguing insight into the musician’s inner life. Examining questions of art, faith, music, freedom, grief and love, this moving book offers a picture of Cave’s life, as the creative visionary offers inspiration and hope.
The Novelist by Jordan Castro
In his witty and wise debut, Jordan Castro explores ideas of language and the Internet via a writer trying (and failing) to pen an autobiographical novel. Drawn into procrastination, the unnamed protagonist offers funny inner commentary prompted by a variety of quotidian tasks, in a narrative that marks Castro as a talent to watch.
Yoga by Emmanuel Carrère
Emmanuel Carrère is of the greatest storytellers of our time and in his latest work, he offers a raw self-portrait of a man searching for peace. The novel-memoir starts at 10-day Vipassana retreat in France, before turning into a powerful story that reckons with the Yin and Yang of life in Carrère’s revered style — humorous and compelling.
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
From this New York Times bestselling author comes the story of a man who wakes to find his skin has turned darker. Soon, reports of similar occurrences see more and more people transform into new incarnations of themselves, changing the social order for good. A tale of love, loss and rediscovery, this book asks us to rethink who we are and who we might become.
On The Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Set against the backdrop of a gentrifying 1950s San Francisco, this stunning novel follows three sisters pushed into stardom by their mother. But, on the verge of a big break, it becomes apparent that the girls (now women) have dreams that might no longer align and are called to face challenges of their own.
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
Centred around a cynical, millennial, ghostwriter of romance novels who doesn’t believe in love, The Dead Romantics is a rollicking read, in which the protagonist is forced to confront everything she thought she knew about love stories.
Madly, Deeply the Diaries of Alan Rickman Introduction by Kate Winslet
A look inside the mind of Alan Rickman — beloved actor, political activist, avid traveller and thoughtful intellectual — this new book delivers Rickman’s anecdotal, indiscreet, witty, gossipy and utterly candid thoughts, drawn from the pages of his own diaries and told as though he were sitting in the room with us.
