The holidays offer up the best opportunity to tick all the books off our list that we didn’t quite get to in 2024. Whether you plan on hitting the beach or curling up in a shady spot, these are some of the best books to have on hand this summer, from poignant memoirs to thought-provoking novels and everything in between.
The Happy Couple
by Naoise Dolan
A sharp, witty exploration of modern relationships. As Celine and Luke plan their wedding, their friends grapple with love, jealousy, and life’s expectations. The Happy Couple is full of biting humour and keen observations, as Dolan examines whether happiness truly lies at the end of the aisle, or if the journey there reveals
deeper truths.
Gliff
by Ali Smith
Ali Smith’s Gliff explores a near-future dystopia where two children confront a world of shifting boundaries. A mysterious red line around their home and a horse symbolise resistance in a fractured society, as, with Smith’s unique insight into human complexity, Gliff sets the stage for its upcoming counterpart — Glyph. A powerful, thought-provoking read.
Before We Forget Kindness
by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
In the fifth instalment of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, four new visitors enter the time-travelling café, each seeking closure from their past. Masterfully woven, Kawaguchi’s heartwarming tale explores love, regret, and healing, offering a tender reflection on moving forward despite life’s missed moments.
Playground
by Richard Powers
Richard Powers’ latest novel intertwines the lives of four individuals who converge on a remote island in French Polynesia. As an audacious plan to build floating cities unfolds, Powers weaves a rich tapestry of environmental themes, human connection, and the complexities of tech, set against the majestic backdrop of the Pacific.
Woo Woo
by Ella Baxter
Through nuanced dialogue and keen observation, Ella Baxter’s surreal, pyrotechnic novel Woo Woo takes an unsettling dive into the mind of Sabine, a conceptual artist facing both a career-defining exhibition and a menacing stalker. With dark humour, sharp wit, and visceral intensity, Woo Woo captures the chaos of creativity and the madness of modern life.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls
by Haruki Murakami
As a young man embarks on a journey to find his vanished girlfriend, he’s led to a mysterious dream library. As reality and fantasy blur, he faces profound questions about love, memory, and loss. Haruki Murakami’s long-awaited novel is parable for these strange times — brimming with magical realism, and offering an ode to escapism.
What A Way To Go
by Bella Mackie
Secrets unravel and tensions mount in this darkly comedic novel, as the murder of a wealthy patriarch sends his dysfunctional family into a frenzy over his vast fortune. With each sibling under suspicion, this wickedly sharp tale blends murder, greed, and high-stakes family drama, offering a biting commentary on privilege, morality, and the complexity of family.
Kataraina
by Becky Manawatu
The much-awaited follow-up to the award-winning international bestseller Auē, Kataraina follows Kat and her whānau as they recount her childhood and trauma, rooted in ancestral ties and a tragic past. Unflinchingly exploring the destructive ways people love and the connection to whenua, Manawatu’ssecond novel solidifies her powerful voice and astute observational prowess.
Cher, The Memoir
Part One
by Cher
In Cher, The Memoir, Part One, the iconic artist and actor shares her life story with candidness and humour. From her turbulent childhood to her rise as a global superstar, Cher reflects on her complicated relationship with Sonny Bono and her trailblazing career. This first instalment reveals the woman behind the fame, in a life too immense for a single book.
What I Ate in One Year
by Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci’s What I Ate in One Year is a delightful memoir chronicling a year of meals, blending food with poignant reflections on life, family, and loss. From memorable dishes shared with loved ones to quiet meals alone, Tucci’s diary captures the emotional richness food brings to his evolving life.
The Garden Against Time
by Olivia Laing
Exploring the concept of paradise through gardens, The Garden Against Time blends personal memoir with historical and cultural reportage. As Laing restores a walled garden in Suffolk, she examines gardens as symbols of privilege, resistance, and community, as her beautifully woven narrative connects real and imagined Edens.
Corker
by Hannah Crosbie
Often referred to as the ‘Nigella of wine’, Hannah Crosbie’s informed yet tongue-in-cheek approach creates a relaxed and refreshing space to learn about the often-esoteric world of wine. Her first book is an informal guide to wine — a go-to guide that matches wine with life’s important (and unimportant) events.
Didion & Babitz
by Lili Anolik
Joan Didion is revealed at last in this outrageously provocative and profoundly moving new work “that reads like a propulsive novel” (Oprah Daily) on the mutual attractions—and mutual antagonisms—of Didion and her fellow literary titan, Eve Babitz.
A Thousand Feasts
by Nigel Slater
From an award-winning writer comes a beautifully-crafted collection of notes, memoir, and small moments of joy. Extracted from his notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, Slater captures life’s small, often overlooked everyday pleasures with warmth, humour, and tenderness in an exquisite anthology.
