Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Jonathan Cape, £9.99
A gorgeous 130-page novel, this year’s Booker Prize winner would be right at home in any stocking. Orbital transports us out to space where a team of six astronauts observe the world below. Asking big questions about humanity and the fragility of life, and offering some much-needed perspective on our planet, this book is a thing of beauty.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Fourth Estate, £14.99
Inspired by a real case, Butter is the deliciously dark tale of a female cook who murders lonely businessmen, and the journalist who becomes entangled in the story. Examining power and greed through a feminist lens, this novel has become quite the cult phenomenon both in Japan where it was originally published, as well as here: don’t miss Waterstones’ special gold-covered edition.
Rivals by Jilly Cooper
Corgi, £9.99
Here is the perfect present for those who binge-watched Disney+’s adaptation without having read the novel, and want more insight into the world of Rupert Campell-Black and the rest of the Rutshire set. As anyone who has been a longtime reader of Jilly Cooper will tell you, the book is just as funny, sexy, and smart as the TV show, and then some.
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Viking, £16.99
For Strout enthusiasts, of which there are many, the fact that this novel weaves together the worlds of two of her most beloved characters – Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge – is like Christmas itself. Tell Me Everything is a typically intelligent, warm novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author.
Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst
Piacador, £22
Hollinghurst is one of Britain’s foremost storytellers, and this might be his finest work yet. With the feel of a beautifully told memoir, it charts the life story of David Win, from his scholarship days through to marriage and work as an actor. It’s a novel about identity and sexuality, but also, at its core, love – domestic, romantic, familial, extraordinary love.
The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier
The Borough Press, £20
In 1999, The Girl With the Pearl Earring cemented Chevalier as one of our great period novelists. Her latest book takes us back to 15th-century Venice, where a talented glass blower struggles to be accepted in a patriarchal world. It continues to mark out this author as leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to rich and evocative storytelling.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Sceptre, £16.99
This time-hopping love story centres on a British-Cambodian woman from the near-future who must serve as a “bridge” to a commander from 1847, helping him to assimilate to his new environment. With a TV adaptation already on the way, the novel has been one of the breakthrough debuts of the year, and is smart, engrossing and ingeniously told.
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Faber, £20
The morning Sally Rooney released her fourth novel, eager readers formed queues outside outside bookshops across the country. Such is the influence of this Irish author, who won’t be escaping her “Salinger for the Snapchat generation” mantle any time soon. Intermezzo also happens to be her best work yet, a towering Dublin-set novel about two brothers and their complex relationships.
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
Fig Tree, £16.99
One of the best debut novels of the year – it even received an award saying so – this is a ridiculously fun book set in 412BCE Sicily, where locals Lampo and Gelon decide to turn the imprisoned Athenian soldiers into a cast for their play. It’s a poignant story about war, art, and friendship, while also being very funny.
Ex Wife by Ursula Parrott
Faber Editions, £9.99
A re-issue of a forgotten classic, this is an acid-drop sharp portrait of a young woman’s divorce and its aftermath that was first published anonymously in 1929. It might be set in Jazz Age New York, but Ex-Wife is utterly timeless, as Monica Heisey writes in her foreword.
Think Again by Jaqueline Wilson
Bantam, £22
For a certain generation of readers, Jaqueline Wilson’s novels are what prompted them to fall in love with books in the first place. So her return to adult fiction with Think Again, in which revisits the beloved characters of the Girls series now they’re all grown up, is pure joy.
And Then There Were None: The Ultimate Mystery Edition by Agatha Christie
HarperCollins, £22
The bestselling mystery novel of all time has had an irresistibly gift-worthy makeover in time for the festive season. The story, for those who don’t know it, is set on an island where a group of strangers drop dead one by one. Why were they all brought there, and who is the killer amongst them? In this special collector’s edition, the answer is tucked in a sealed envelope at the back.
Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway
Viking, £22
When John Le Carré wrote The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, he missed out an entire decade of his famous creation George Smiley’s life. Now, his son, a successful novelist in his own right, fills that gap by setting his own Smiley story in 1963, and doing a very fine job of it too.
You Are Here by David Nicholls
Scepte, £20
From the much-treasured author of One Day, this is the slow-burn love story of Marnie and Michael, who end up walking the coast-to-coast path across Cumbria and Yorkshire together. An ode to second chances, it’s sweet and funny and comforting; gifting this novel would be a bit like gifting a balm for the soul.
Brotherless Night by V V Ganeshananthan
Penguin, £9.99
Telling a timeless yet urgent tale of conflict, survival and human connection, Brotherless Night follows Sashi, a young Tamil woman growing up as the Sri Lankan civil war rages around her. The winner of this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, it’s completely immersive and quite the tear-jerker.
Precipice by Robert Harris
Hutchinson Heinemann, £22
No one does historical thrillers quite like Robert Harris. Here, he transports us to 1914, where 26-year-old Venetia is having an affair with Prime Minister Asquith, a man twice her age, and war is breaking out. The intelligence officer assigned to investigate the leak of top secret documents, meanwhile, gets more than he bargained for.
There Are Rivers In the Sky by Elif Shafak
Viking, £18.99
If you were going on aesthetics alone, Shafak’s latest novel would make a gorgeous gift purely for its mesmerising blue and gold cover. But its contents are even more dazzling. Sweeping between multiple settings and timelines, from Victorian London to modern-day Turkey, it’s a story about the lives of three very different characters who are interconnected by a lost poem and a single drop of water.
All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whittaker
Orion,£20
When Patch is abducted late one summer, his best friend Saint sets out to find him. Meanwhile, in a pitch-black room, Patch falls for a girl named Grace, who later disappears into thin air (or was she simply a figment of his imagination?). This novel is part missing person mystery, part serial killer thriller, and part love story – and totally enthralling.
James by Percival Everett
Mantle, £20
One of the very best books of the year, James turns The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on its head by retelling it from the enslaved character Jim’s perspective. In doing so, you will never think of Mark Twain’s seminal 19th-century novel in the same way again. Everett’s version is subversive, clever and exciting, while also being a rollicking good read.
The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
Doubleday, £22
The author of the megahit psychological thriller The Girl on the Train continues to get better and better. The Blue Hour is an intelligent mystery in which the discovery of a human bone in an art gallery sets off a chain of events so gripping you can’t look away.
Empireworld by Sathnam Sanghera
Viking, £20
A follow up to the much-lauded Empireland, which was an enlightening deep dive into the legacy of colonialism in the UK, Empireworld broadens the focus globally. 2.6 billion people live in former colonies across the world, and Sanghera’s assured, absorbing look at what that means is another terrific piece of nonfiction.
Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
Abacus, £25
Twenty-five years ago, The Tipping Point, an accessible social science book about what causes behaviours and trends to suddenly explode, was such a hit it launched the “big idea” publishing phenomenon. Now Gladwell has developed his own ideas in order to examine how individuals and companies might be taking advantage of tipping points and influencing our lives.
The Position of Spoons Deborah Levy
Hamish Hamilton, £20
A dream read for writers, creative thinkers and Levy devotees, this collection of essays and short prose pieces covers language, art, inspiration, gender and more. No one writes with such precision and intimacy, and this book truly gives a glimpse at the mechanisms behind her talents.
Cher the Memoir
HarperCollins, £25
The first installment of Cher’s memoir – because her life has been “too immense for only one book” – spans her early, roving childhood through to her marriage and subsequent breakup from Sonny Bono. Far from an inane celebrity autobiography, it is startlingly candid and a compelling read.
What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci
Fig Tree, £20
From jam sandwiches to slurpy bowls of spaghetti, laid-back barbecues to haute cuisine, the actor reflects on his year through the lens of everything he ate. It’s witty, joyful and hunger-inducing – a perfect gift for foodies if there ever was one.
An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi
WH Allen, £25
Badawi upends the Western narrative about Africa’s past by visiting 30 of the continent’s countries and interviewing everyone from historians to anthropologists. Revisionist history at its best – and most important – this journey of discovery has been a much deserved bestseller.
Shattered by Hanif Kureishi
Hamish Hamilton, £18.99
On Boxing Day two years ago, the British-Pakistani writer and filmmaker suddenly became paralysed after a fall. His memoir is an unforgettable, extraordinary feat, one of hospital wards, helplessness and pain, but also of resilience, hope, and learning to live again.
Want by Gillian Anderson
Bloomsbury, £18.99
The actor collects and introduces the sexual fantasies of women worldwide (along with her own anonymous submission) in order to explore what drives our deepest desires. It is perhaps more a gift for a friend than a grandmother – although the latter would be just the taboo-breaking exercise Gillian Anderson would vouch for.
Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over by Michael Caine
Hodder & Stoughton, £25
One of our most esteemed and beloved British actors shares the wisdom he has won over his 91 years on the planet. A lovely blend of memoir – replete with wonderfully illuminating anecdotes – and personal development, this would be a dream unwrap for many.
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
Canongate, £18.99
This is the most gorgeous piece of nature writing published this year, and one that ought to become a classic of the genre. The titular hare is an animal Chloe Dalton discovered as a baby, abandoned with little chance of survival. Her story of caring for it, before re-releasing it into the wild, is just the soul-soothing read we all need right now.
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