Chinese Parents Don't Say I Love You by Candice Chung

About the book: After a thirteen-year relationship came to an end, food journalist Candice Chung found herself losing not only her first love but also her most reliable restaurant review partner. And so when her parents offer to be her new plus-ones, she faces a dilemma: Is it better to eat together in polite silence or to try to broach how, for the past decade, they have managed to drift so profoundly apart?

Through shared meals and culinary adventures, Candice and her parents begin to break their silence. Yet when a new relationship begins to bloom, it forces her to try to address what still remains unsaid. To do so, she must find a new vocabulary - a way to unscramble what her family has been trying to express all along. Not through words, but with food.

Set against the backdrop of this burgeoning new relationship, grasped-at date nights mid-pandemic, and an uncertain future across seas, Chinese Parents Don't Say I Love You (2025) is packed with heart, humour, and those bright-hearted moments around a dinner table that bring us together.

Chinese Parents Don't Say I Love You: A Memoir of Saying the Unsayable with Food is a Financial Times Best Summer Book and LoveReading’s Best Books of the Year 2025.

About the author: Candice Chung is a Glasgow-based writer and editor. Her work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, Good Food, The Australian Gourmet Traveller, The Guardian, Gutter, and more. She is a founding member of Diversity in Food Media Australia, which supports and promotes underrepresented voices in food. Her story ‘Why Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You’, first published on The Sydney Morning Herald, generated more than 2 million page impressions.

Three Wee Bookshops At The End Of The World by Ruth Shaw

About the book: Following the international bestselling success of The Bookseller at the End of the World (2022), Ruth Shaw continues her remarkable story in this charming sequel. 

Having found love with Lance, Ruth shares their sailing adventures, world travels, conservation efforts, and the joy of running their beloved bookshops together. 

Written in Ruth’s characteristic style, this absorbing memoir weaves together extraordinary people, laugh-out-loud funny situations, and tales from the bookshops, all interwoven with expert book recommendations. 

Despite life’s challenges, Ruth’s story traverses the highs and lows of a life lived to the full, creating another deeply satisfying and heartwarming read.

About the author: Ruth Shaw runs a cluster of three wee bookshops in remote Manapōuri in the far south of New Zealand. She lives with her husband, Lance. In 2022, she published her first memoir, The Bookseller at the End of the World, which has since become a critically acclaimed national and international treasure. It has been translated into Italian, Dutch, German, Turkish, Chinese, Swedish, Russian, Slovakian, Korean, Spanish and Arabic. Her second book, Bookshop Dogs, came out in October 2023, and instantly became a New Zealand bestseller. It was published in both the UK and in the US in late 2024 and is translated into Italian and Russian. 

Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World is Shaw's third book published in 2025.

How Carelessly I Lived

Antoinette

Visitation by Carolyn Gillespie

About the book: How can you believe your own eyes when nothing feels real anymore?

It is 1983 Dundee, Scotland. Smart, lonely and raging with grief, Ella is done trying to fit in. 

Caught up in the post-punk scene and on the verge of going off the rails, she is packed off to St Cecilia's, a convent boarding school to keep her out of harm's way. 

But when her new classmates claim to have been visited by the Virgin Mary, Ella is drawn into a far darker world of chaos.

And who can tell what is fake and what is real?

From the immersive and beautifully rendered 80s setting to the timeless themes of belonging and identity, Visitation (2025) is a captivating exploration of loss, longing and difference.

About the author: Born and raised in Scotland, Carolyn Gillespie now lives and writes in the South of England. Winner of the Wells Festival of Literature Open Poetry Prize, she has written a collection of poems for children and is currently working on a middle grade novel. Her work has appeared in Molecule Tiny Lit Mag, The Crank, Oddity magazine, Coin Operated Press's Poetry zine and Scotland Outdoors. Shortlisted for the Soutar and Fish prizes. Carolyn was a panellist at the Guildford new Writers Festival where she read an extract from Pilgrim. She runs creative writing workshops in schools. Married, with three grown-up children, Carolyn (Kari) is hooked on long-distance walking. When she is not off a trek with the Sturdy Girls, she is fighting a losing battle to gain control of her unruly garden and Bernard, her rumbunctious pup.

Rating: 5/5

The Curious Case Of Mike Lynch: The Improbable Life & Death Of A Tech Billionaire by Katie Prescott

About the book: A maverick outsider. An improbable life. An even more improbable death. Discover the real story of Mike Lynch, Britain’s enigmatic billionaire.

On the morning of 19 August 2024, the Bayesian yacht tragically sank off the coast of Sicily, taking with it the lives of Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others. Hours earlier, Lynch’s associate and co-defendant in one of the biggest fraud cases in Silicon Valley history, Stephen Chamberlain, was hit by a car in Cambridge and killed.

The odds of these two deaths occurring together were estimated at four in one billion.

Drawing on extensive research and exclusive access to key sources, award-winning Times journalist Katie Prescott forensically explores the life and death of this elusive maverick. Prescott guides us from Lynch’s humble beginnings, through his meteoric rise to CEO of Autonomy, and beyond to a vicious legal battle lasting more than a decade following the 2011 sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for more than £11 billion. A truly brilliant feat of investigative reporting, this is a tale where nothing is quite as it appears.

The Curious Case Of Mike Lynch: The Improbable Life & Death Of A Tech Billionaire (2025) is named one of the Times and Sunday Times 'Best Books of 2025'.

About the author: Katie Prescott is technology business editor at The Times and a weekly columnist for the newspaper’s award-winning business section. A regular on Times Radio and The Times’ daily podcast The Story, she is a familiar voice to millions of listeners after a decade reporting for the BBC and presenting the business news on Radio 4’s Today. She is the current host of The Times Tech Podcast, and was the winner of ‘Tech Commentator of the Year’ at the UK Tech Awards.

A Gift Before Dying by Malcolm Kempt

About the book: AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, CAN JUSTICE STILL BE FOUND?

After a botched high-profile murder investigation, Corporal Elderick Cole is exiled to the remote, rugged landscape of Nunavut, a vast territory in the Arctic Circle known for its untamed beauty, frigid temperatures, and endless winter nights. 

With his family having severed all ties, Cole waits out the result of a civil lawsuit alone - the wrong verdict could end what is left of his flailing career.

His bleak existence takes a sinister turn when he discovers the hanging body of Pitseolala, a troubled Inuit girl whom he had sworn to protect. 

Her death dredges up demons he thought he had buried along with the scars of a fractured marriage and the aching divide between him and his estranged daughter.

As Cole’s life unravels - and with it, the fragile thread of his investigation, he turns to Pitseolala’s younger brother, Maliktu, a fellow outsider. 

It is then that Cole uncovers what binds them - a singular mission to find her killer.

Against fierce backlash, Cole’s overriding desire to redeem just one aspect of his otherwise failed life becomes an obsession - and he is willing to break every rule in his unyielding pursuit of justice and the smallest shred of redemption.

A Gift Before Dying (2026) is Kempt's debut novel. 

About the author: Malcolm Kempt worked as a criminal lawyer in the remote Arctic for seventeen years before leaving to write full-time. He won the Percy Janes Award for Best Unpublished Novel in 2023. He now lives on the island of Newfoundland.

Rating: 5/5

Moderation by Elaine Castillo

About the book: Moderation is a bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—​bringing Castillo’s trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love.

Girlie Delmundo is the greatest content moderator in the world, and despite the setbacks of financial crises, climate catastrophe, and a global pandemic, she is going places: she is getting a promotion. 

Now thanks to her parent company Paragon’s purchase of Fairground—the world’s preeminent virtual reality content provider—she is on the way to becoming an elite VR moderator, playing in the big leagues and, if her enthusiastic bosses are to be believed, moderating the next stage of human interaction. 

Despite the isolation that virtual reality requires from colleagues, friends, and family, the unbelievable perks of her new job mean she can solve a lot of her family’s problems with money and mobility. 

She does not have to think about the childhood home they lost back in the Bay Area, or history at all—she can just pay any debts that come due. 

But when she meets William Cheung, Playground’s wry, reticent co-founder (now Chief Product Officer) and slowly unearths some of his secrets, and finds herself somehow falling in love, she will learn that history might be impossible to moderate and the future utterly impossible to control.

Moderation (2025) is named a Best Book of 2025 by The New Yorker, TIME, Slate, and Kirkus Reviews.

About the author: Elaine Castillo, named one of “30 of the Planet’s Most Exciting Young People” by the Financial Times, was born and raised in the Bay Area. Her debut novel, America Is Not the Heart, was a finalist for numerous prizes including the Elle Big Book Award, the Center for Fiction Prize, and the Aspen Words Literary Prize and was named a best book of 2018 by NPR, Real Simple, Lit Hub, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Post, Kirkus Reviews, and the New York Public Library.

Rating: 4/5

Running My Own Airbnb by Angela Jackson

About the book: Ever wondered what it would be like to run your own Airbnb business?

Or maybe you are already running a successful short-term let business and fancy some light reading about someone else's tentative first steps experience?

If this is you, then this book will appeal.

It is written with a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek perspective.

Running My Own Airbnb: A Light-Hearted Diary of a 60-Something's Entrepreneurial Journey (2026) is an entertaining diary of a 60-something's approach to entrepreneurship which chronicles an 18-month journey from viewing a potential property through to completing the first 12 months as a host.

This is not a "how to do it book". There is plenty of those on the market.

This book merely highlights the (many) ups and downs of buying a property, setting it up as an Airbnb, navigating the Online Travel Agency platforms, dealing with guests and learning to be a housekeeper extraordinaire.

"If you are looking for a book to give you the 'instant formula' for running your holiday let successfully, then don't buy this book. For those already running your own Airbnb prosperously, you will know how hard but rewarding it can be. For those thinking of taking a leap into the unknown world of short-term holiday letting, read my light-hearted approach to running my first year. I hope you find my book entertaining, useful and inspiring. If I can do it, so can you." - Angela Jackson

Running My Own Airbnb: A Light-Hearted Diary of a 60-Something's Entrepreneurial Journey is available in both paperback and e-book formats on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry

About the book: She is a curator, who spends her time dressing the rooms of historic buildings to bring them to life. 

But in the lush private quarters of a medieval palace, she finds herself so transfixed by the reign of an almost-forgotten King that the edges of her life begin to blur.

He is a reluctant ruler with no hunger for power, rushed to the throne after the untimely deaths of his older brothers. But it is not long before whispers begin to fly around the court. And with the growing belief that the King is not fit for the throne comes the idea that another might rule in his stead.

May We Feed the King (2026) dances between the lives of a historical subject who risks the future of his kingdom and a woman who turns to the past to hide from her present. Laced with desire and longing, it is a playful, stirring meditation on history and storytelling: on what makes a King 'Great', and a life meaningful.

May We Feed the King is an Observer Best Debut Novelist 2026.

You can join Rebecca Perry for an evening of conversation to celebrate the release of her brilliant new novel May We Feed The King on Wednesday 11 February 2026 at Waterstones, King's Road, SW3 3NR. General Admission: £10; Book & Ticket: £20 can be purchased on the Waterstones website under Events.

About the author: Rebecca Perry was born in London in 1986. She graduated from the Centre of New Writing at The University of Manchester in 2008 with a master’s degree in Creative Writing and now lives and works back in London. Rebecca has had work published in Iota, Smiths Knoll, The Manchester Review and The Rialto. She placed third in the 2010 Plough Prize, and was Highly Commended in the 2011 Bridport Prize. Rebecca has also contributed to This Line is Not for Turning: An Anthology of Contemporary British Prose Poetry. 

Perry is the author of two full-length poetry collections - Beauty/Beauty and Stone Fruit - both published by Bloodaxe Books (2015, 2021), as well as four pamphlets. Her poetry has been shortlisted for awards including the TS Eliot Prize and her first collection won the Michael Murphy Memorial Prize. Her first work of creative non-fiction - On Trampolining - was published by Makina Books in 2023.

Rating: 5/5

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell

About the book: Discover the tragically beautiful world of So Long, See You Tomorrow, a quietly devastating masterpiece of human frailty and resilience

Away from the quiet farmlands of Illinois, two lonely teenagers – bound by the burden of their home lives – forge a delicate friendship. 

But when jealousy ignites in one of their families, it leads to unthinkable tragedy, and severs the two boys' bond forever.

Fifty years later, haunted by the past, the narrator seeks to piece together those harrowing events and find redemption for a lifetime of regret. 

So Long, See You Tomorrow is a haunting exploration of memory, loss, and the enduring quest for forgiveness.

So Long, See You Tomorrow (2025), originally published 1979, was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year 2025 and was a finalist for the 1981 Pulitzer Prize. The novel is based on fact and has been described as an "autobiographical metafiction.

About the author: William Maxwell was born in 1908 in Lincoln, Illinois. He studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and after earning a master’s at Harvard, returned there to teach freshman composition before turning to writing. He published six novels, three collections of short fiction, an autobiographical memoir, a collection of literary essays and reviews, and a book for children. For 40 years, he was a fiction editor at The New Yorker. From 1969 to 1972 he was president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He received the Brandeis Creative Arts Award Medal and, for So Long, See You Tomorrow, the National Book Award and the Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He died in 2000.

Rating: 5/5

Jess And Norma by Jessica Asquith and Norma Burton

About the book: Hi! I'm Jess, and if you follow us on social media, you’ll already know my Nan, Norma. We’ve had so much fun writing this book together.

As well as plenty of personal stories we’ve never shared before – about our childhoods, our relationships and the moments that have shaped our lives together – this book is filled with Norma’s brilliant one-liners and hilarious views on the world. You'll hear her thoughts on a huge range of topics, including me (‘a tiresome little monkey’), my partner Jake (‘Somebody must be paying him’), sex and dating (‘Can’t we get through a blurb without you bringing the tone down?’), self care (‘Astral cream, you can’t beat it’) and more.

This book, Jess and Norma: A lifetime of laughter and our unbreakable bond (2026) is for everyone who has laughed, cried and found comfort in our videos. It's been a joy to write it together. With it, we promise to bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart.

With love,

Jess and Norma xx

About the authors: Jessica Asquith graduated with a first from Sheffield Hallam University in 2020. She supported adults in the local community as a social worker until she became her grandmother Norma's full-time carer in 2023. In 2022, Jess started documenting her life with Norma on social media; the heartwarming content they share has inspired millions around the world.

Norma Burton was born in Nottinghamshire in 1934 and grew up in war time Britain. She trained as a telephonist and worked at the General Post Office exchange in Retford until she was married in 1962. From the early 1970s, Norma worked as dinner lady where she remained for 20 years. She planned to have a long retirement, day-tripping with her husband Michael, until her granddaughter Jessica arrived in 1996 and shattered the peace.

Irish Monks

The Year I Lay My Head In Water by Laura Hall

About the book: Laying your head in water is what you do when you’re having a bad day. The water is where you go when you need time to think. It’s where you go when you reach a crossroads in your life.

Living in Copenhagen had been a dream for Laura Hall and it was working out - until it wasn’t. She discovered that the trials of life will follow you anywhere and felt herself disintegrating into stress and burn out. She was unmoored and unsure of how to find her place in the world.

What followed was a year swimming the cold seas of Scandinavia in search of answers and meaning. She swam in iceberg-filled seas in Greenland, experienced Viking spas in Iceland and visited beaches and piers all over Norway, Denmark and Sweden. 

During this year of discovery, Laura met other people doing the same thing and swapped notes, discovering ways to use the water to strengthen a bond with nature and get back to a more human way of life.

The Year I Lay My Head in Water (2026) is a love letter to the sea and the people of Scandinavia, this book is also a clarion call for anybody stuck in a rut who needs to rekindle their lust for life. It’s time to reconnect with the natural world. It’s time to lay your head in the water.

About the author: Laura Hall is an award-winning author, travel writer and journalist based in Copenhagen. She has written for outlets including The Sunday Times, BBC Travel, the Guardian, the Independent and Lonely Planet. Published on 8 January 2026, The Year I Lay My Head in Water is her first memoir.