Our favourite books of the year so far...

Kelly: 

1. Any Human Heart by William Boyd - "The ordinary and extraordinary life of one man over almost the entire twentieth century. Has gone straight to my favourite books of all time. Still not recovered."

2. Peacock by James Hynes (Sparrow #2) "A young boy fighting for survival in the last days of a dying Roman Empire. Brilliant. Vivid. The last paragraph made me bawl. The next one already, please."

3. ⁠One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad - "The book that began as a single tweet seen by ten million people. Its message is simple and devastating. A heartsick reckoning with the West’s failure to live up to its own values, told through the lens of Gaza."

David:

1. Wimmy Road Boyz by Sufiyaan Salam - "One of the most exciting and exhilerating debuts I've read in quite a while. Tackling themes of race, masculinity, religion and so much more, it sees three British-Pakistani youths come of age over the course of one event-filled night on Manchester's Wilmslow Road"

2. The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin - "The latest novel from one of my favourite authors and it might just be his best yet - another quiet masterpiece chronicalling life on the outskirts of America that will both warm and break your heart"

3. Seven by Joanna Kavenna - "An absolutely wild philosophical shaggy-dog story about the nature of games, loss and... well everything really! Stunning!"

Hannah:

1. Smallie by Eden McKenzie-Goddard - "An astonishing, gut-wrenching debut about three generations of a Bajan-British family impacted by the Windrush scandal. Beautifully written and a must-read. "

2. People in Love by Claire Daverley - "As with Talking at Night, nobody writes love and yearning and tragedy quite like Claire Daverley does. Nora and Robin are newly engaged when on the night of their engagement party, her childhood sweetheart Bren appears on their doorstep throwing everything into question. "

3. Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett - "A sensual, compelling and claustrophobic novel about art, friendship, sex, Class and societal expectations deliciously told over the course of a fortnight on an island in Greece. One of the best affair novels I’ve read with one of the most dramatic dinner party scenes. I loved it."

Tom:

1. Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy - "Half his age is a captivating story about love, discovery and navigating an unconventional relationship. The first novel from Jennette after her best selling “I'm Glad My Mom Died” memoir. Hard hitting, emotional and uncomfortable yet a great read."

2. Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman - "Matt’s newest series outside of the smash hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series sees the protagonist try and defend not just himself, but his entire world against the evil apex corporation who have set an ‘eviction notice’ on their planet. Fun, humorous, action packed and I can’t wait to see where this one goes!"

3. I Still Believe in Miracles: Poems to Find Meaning in Difficult Times by Lucas Jones - "A beautifully crafted assortment of poems that do exactly as the title says. I laughed, cried and found solace in some of the poems on display here. Accessible, yet powerful, I’d say this collection is a great introduction in to poetry."

Anna (O'Boyle): 

1. Name by Constance Debre - "At times a memoir, others an essay and always cut through with creative license, Name is the last in Debre’s autofictional trilogy. The hybrid work interrogates marriage, family and the French bourgeoise through the elusive voice of D, a character whose experiences of parental addiction, troubled lesbian relationships, and a deeply held apathy towards upper-class family structures echo Debre's own."

2. The Son of Man by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo - "Featured as part of Dua Lipa's book club, Del Amo's novel explores the nature of inherited violence, telling of a boy whose long missing father returns to their village and then to Les Roches, the isolated home of his grandfather. With acute psychological insight, Del Amo's portrayal of the young boys relationship with the older man is compulsive, and the story he draws out it claustrophobic yet compelling. "

3. Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth - "A family drama documenting the road trip two adult sisters take and the memories that they may be running from. Funny, emotional and a novel that evokes with aching sharpness the feeling of being uncertain, in between, Unsworth’s Slags is at times chaotic, but always affectionate."

Jo:

The Skandar Series - "I have been reading the Skandar books. Loving them. 'BUT, they're kids books!' I hear you say. Well, a wise woman said to me that if you are going through a life transition, you must read young adult/kids fantasy books. They have hope built into them at every turn and what you read changes how you feel about things. So, these books did not disappoint. Join Skandar, a 'normal boy' who just also happens to be able to ride a flying unicorn! They are not your pretty rainbow type of unicorn though. Most of them are bloodthirsty and dangerous, and that's to say nothing of wild unicorns! Join him and his group of friends ( good representation of cultures and backgrounds and even mental health and sexuality that feels normal for the ages represented) as they navigate their new human - beast partnerships! Also worth supporting this inclusive female British writer." 

Dev:

1. There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm - "Marie Quinn is the head of the Antimemetics Division, tasked with nullifying an imminent threat to mankind from 'anomalies' that erase themselves from the memory of anyone who sees them. How do you stop an invasion from an enemy you forget even exists. 'No, this is not your first day.'  Absolutely grips you from the first chapter and never lets go. Fighting a mental virus hellbent on manipulating humanity seems all too plausible, and all too relatable in this age of disinformation."

2. Regime Change by Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan - "Investigative journalists, Haberman and Swan, shine a spotlight on Trump's second presidency, and reveal an almost real-time account of the dismantling of democracy and an unprecedented abuse of presidential power. Can they be the Woodward and Bernstein of our current times? Only time will tell."

3. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - "Having last read this in my late teens, and as someone who doesn't tend to re-read a book, I was able to appreciate a more deeper understanding of the novella that my younger self was probably too naive to fully comprehend.   A menial worker undergoes a surgery that skyrockets his IQ. Suddenly his personal relationships change, and the disparity between this sudden intellectual ascent, and his ability to process this emotionally, becomes ever more apparent. Was it a curse after all?"

Anna (Burchill):

1. Morning Star by Pierce Brown - "The third book in Pierce Brown's bestselling Red Rising series sees lowborn Darrow escape capture and resumes his campaign against the tyrannical Sovereign of the Society."

2. The Butcher's Masquerade by Matt Dinniman - "The fifth volume in the phenomenonal Dungeon Crawler Carl series that  just gets better and better with each book!"

3. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - "Thought-provoking, entertaing and bursting with huge ideas, Adrian Tchaikovsky's award-winning sci-fi novel is an epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet told from the perspectives of the last remnants of the human race and a rapidly evolving civilization of spiders."