By Anais Aguilera, Sophie Poirier, Olivia Paris and Katie Norris
Take a break from the heat with this week’s top reads.
Amazon
This month’s Amazon bestsellers are all about self-reflection and growth. The late Dr Michael Mosley’s self-help book Just One Thing could be the “one thing” you read this month to transform your life. Based on the popular BBC podcast of the same name, the book details the small, simple changes you can introduce into your routine to uplift your mental and physical health.
Another self-help book on Amazon’s bestseller list is Things No One Taught Us About Love by Vex King. The book refines the ideas found in King’s Closer to Love and gives you the ultimate guide on self-love. Whether that is strengthening your relationships by learning to love yourself or understanding the true nature of love, King deconstructs misconceptions around love and relationships to tell you that it starts with you.
WHSmith
Making it into the top ten in WHSmith’s fiction charts this week is The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella. Utterly overwhelmed by commitments to work, friendships, relationships and family, Sasha makes a much-needed escape to a resort in Devon. It’s not long before her haven of tranquillity and nostalgia is rudely interrupted by a broody and sullen man side-eying her from across the beach. Forced to begin talking after mysterious messages appear in the sand, the pair might learn they have more in common than they initially believed.
If you are interested in something more sinister this summer, WHSmith’s number one fiction book, The Wrong Sister by Claire Douglas, might be the one for you. When Tasha leaves her sister Alice to look after her children whilst she is away, the last thing she expects is a phone call reporting an attack on the family. With Alice’s husband dead and Alice in intensive care, Tasha’s mind races, wondering who could possibly wish harm upon her sister. That’s until she finds a note revealing the attack was, in fact, intended not for Alice but for her.
Waterstones
Coming in on the Waterstones Bestseller list are two historical novels to transport you away from the heat and into another era. First up is the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024 winner, Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan. Sashi is a sixteen-year-old girl with big dreams of being a doctor. But as the Sri Lankan civil war uproots everything she’s ever known, her life takes a different turn. Watching those around her succumb to violence, she decides to do her part by becoming a field medic. But the more she sees the real face of war, the less sure she is of what side she’s really on. Does war leave anyone unscathed?
Next up, nineteenth-century London and Jamaica intertwine in Zadie Smith’s novel The Fraud. Take a front seat to the proceedings of the Tichborne trial, inspired by real-life events. A man claims to be the Tichborne baronetcy’s missing heir, calling on Andrew Bogle, to whom he once enslaved, to support his claims. All the while, a Scottish housekeeper named Eliza watches on. All three players have their own story to tell in Smith’s stunningly interweaving novel.
Social Media
Any new release from Tessa Bailey is sure to generate online buzz, and it looks like The Au Pair Affair is about to be her next big hit. Tallulah is bright, but she needs money to help her finish her challenging marine biology degree – so when the opportunity arises to work as a live-in nanny for a retired pro ice hockey player, she can’t say no. It helps that he’s handsome, charming and recently single. Bailey is an expert in writing sweet romances full of all your favourite tropes, and her fans love this latest addition to her catalogue.
It’s not only romantic stories getting all the attention – novels exploring complex female friendships have been trending in 2024. The Summer Pact by Emily Griffin follows a group of four young women from vastly different backgrounds who met at university and formed a lifelong bond. After an unexpected tragedy, they made a pact to remain friends long after university, no matter where their diverging life paths take them. Ten years after their graduation, the four reconvene, reflecting on who they used to be, who they have become and what kinds of lives they want to live.
Noteworthy Author
American author Ottessa Moshfegh is best known for her novels My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Eileen and Lapvona. Her novel Eileen won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, and she has also been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She is known for her dark psychological writing, where she emphasises human imperfection. Speaking on her debut novel Eileen, Moshfegh was asked why she wanted to write about a woman who is imperfect, to which she responded, “For the same reason that you can’t stop talking about how imperfect she is.” Moshfegh does not shy away from the supposedly “ugly” and her authority of prose proves her to be a literary force to be reckoned with.