FANTASTIC FICTION – Escapes to other places and other times

Mary Costello (Mary Costello – Canongate Books) was a teacher before becoming a full-time writer. Her collection of short stories, The China Factory, published in 2012, was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award. Her second book and first novel, Academy Street, was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa First Novel Prize and the EU Prize for Literature in […]

Are you looking for a novel which is heartbreaking and heartwarming? A novel which is funny, sad and deeply moving? Reach for Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, a debut by Gail Honeyman from 2017. The summary is as follows: Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats

Benjamin Myers (Writer | Benjamin Myers) is a writer and journalist who grew up in County Durham. He formed the punk rock band Sour Face whilst at school. Rare Singles (2024) is his ninth publication. The novel takes place over a single weekend in Scarborough. Earlon ‘Bucky’ Bronco is a forgotten singer from Chicago who,

Claire Keegan (Claire Keegan | Author | Books, Video, Quotes, Articles | Faber) is an Irish writer known for her short stories, which have been published in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, Granta and The Paris Review. Two of her novellas have been brought to the screen. This novella is set in the

Neal Shusterman (About | Neal Shusterman) is an American writer of young adult fiction. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for his book Challenger Deep. To sample Shusterman’s large body of work try Unwind (2007). The summary is as follows: The story takes place in a future version of the United

Martha Batalha (batalha-martha | RCW Literary Agency) is a Brazilian born writer and journalist. She has written for the newspapers O Dia, O Globo and Extra. In 2013, Batalha founded the publishing house Desiderata, which was sold to Ediouro publishing group in 2008. The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmão was published in 2017 and the

Any rational person’s appetite for horror is met in early 2026 by turning the radio on each morning. Should the world not be disturbing enough for your taste, reach for a recent horror novel by Gabino Iglesias (Gabino Iglesias | Facebook). The summary is as follows: For childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo,

Andrew Miller (Andrew Miller | Award-winning writer) has published ten novels and has won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa Book Award of the Year, the Winston Graham Historical Prize and the Walter Scott Prize. Miller’s most recent novel is ‘The Land In Winter‘, and would be a great start

The 2025 Booker Prize winner might be the best option to finish your reading programme this year. The author, David Szalay, (David Szalay interview: ‘I wanted to write about what it’s like to be a living body in the world’ | The Booker Prizes), was born in Montreal in 1974 in a Jewish family of a