Find your next good read!
On this page, we share our recommended reads. We have organised them by category. To reserve a book our find out more information select the book title. You can find many more great books on in our library catalogue.
We also have a wide range of specialty books in our catalogues including:
Adult fiction
The Impossible Fortune
It's been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favourite criminal. But when Elizabeth meets a wedding guest who's in trouble, kidnap and death are hot on their heels once more.
Secret of Secrets
Dan Brown
Accompanying celebrated academic, Katherine Solomon, to a lecture she's been invited to give in Prague, Robert Langdon's world spirals out of control when she disappears without trace from their hotel room. Far from home and well out of his comfort zone, Langdon must pit his wits against forces unknown to recover the woman he loves.
Boleyn Traitor
Philippa Gregory
Jane Boleyn watches from the shadows of the Tudor court. Where nothing is more powerful than a secret. And power rests on the edge of a tyrant king's sword. They called her a liar and a traitor. But the truth is far more dangerous.
The Hallmarked Man
Robert Galbraith
A dismembered corpse is discovered in the vault of a silver shop. The police initially believe it to be that of a convicted armed robber - but not everyone agrees with that theory. One of them is Decima Mullins, who calls on the help of private detective Cormoran Strike as she's certain the body in the silver vault was that of her boyfriend - the father of her newborn baby - who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.
The Strawberry Patch Pancake House
Laurie Gilmore
Fall in love with Laurie Gilmore's #1 New York Times bestselling cozy seasonal romance set in Dream Harbor! As a world-renowned chef, single dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive. The Strawberry Patch Pancake House is a cozy romantic mystery with a single dad and found family dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!
Circle of Days
Ken Follett
From the master of epic fiction comes the deeply human story of one of the world's greatest mysteries: the building of Stonehenge. Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his stone at the Midsummer Rite, and to find Neen, the girl he loves. Her family lives in prosperity and offers Seft an escape from his brutish father and brothers, within their herder community.
What We Can Know
Ian McEwan
A quest, a literary thriller and a love story, What We Can Know spans the past, present and future to ask profound questions about who we are and where we are going. Tom Metcalfe, an academic at the University of the South Downs, part of Britain's remaining island archipelagos, pores over the archives of that distant era, captivated by the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith. When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the lost poem, a story is revealed of entangled loves and a crime that destroy his assumptions about people he thought he knew intimately well.
The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop
Takuya Asakura
For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, What You Are Looking for Is In the Library, and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop comes an enchanting novel that will linger in your heart long after the last page is turned.'I honestly can't remember the last time a single book made me cry so much.' Welcome to The Cherry Blossom Bookshop, a haven for book lovers that only appears during the fleeting cherry blossom season. Nestled amidst the bloom of delicate petals, you’ll find a sanctuary for those burdened by regrets and past sorrows. Here, Sakura, the mysterious young owner, and her wise calico cat, Kobako, patiently await the arrival of souls in need of solace and healing.
Shadow Ticket
Thomas Pynchon
A private eye is catapulted on to a continent-hopping journey that proves difficult to escape. Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labour-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, private eye, thinks he's found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who's taken a mind to go wandering.
Katabasis
R.F Kuang
2025’s most unexpected love story is going to be hell in the new No.1 Sunday Times bestselling novel by R.F. Kuang, the author of Yellowface. Prepare for one hell of a journey…
Grad student Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become the brightest mind in the field of analytic magick. But the only person who can make her dream come true is dead and – inconveniently – in Hell. And Alice, along with her biggest rival Peter Murdoch, is going after him.
Adult non-fiction
Eat Yourself Healthy
Jamie Oliver
Kickstart your good life with Jamie's first cookbook for better long-term health – Eat Yourself Healthy. But Jamie’s health journey will be all about more not less: more taste, more joy, more energy, more sleep, more of the things that we all want . . . Jamie's back with 120 incredible recipes to energise, satisfy, nourish and revitalise you. He's here to prove that healthy eating can be joyful, generous and abundant - this is all about what you can have, not what you can't.
When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between
Ruth Jones | James Corden
Gavin & Stacey is a TV series like no other. Now, for the first time, its creators James Corden and Ruth Jones tell the full extraordinary story of how they turned their little show into a full-on cultural phenomenon. As they recount the rejection, obstacles and challenges they faced on the way to giving birth to their beloved comedy creation, James and Ruth also explore the flourishing of their own real-life friendship. When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between is the perfect final chapter in this incredible story and is essential reading for all Gavin and Stacey fans.
Last Rites
Ozzy Osbourne
At the age of sixty-nine, Ozzy Osbourne was on a triumphant farewell tour, playing to sold-out arenas and rave reviews all around the world. Then: disaster. In a matter of just a few weeks, he went from being hospitalised with a finger infection to having to abandon his tour - and all public life - as he faced near-total paralysis from the neck down. 'Last Rites' is the shocking, bitterly hilarious, never-before-told story of Ozzy's descent into hell. Along the way are reflections on an extraordinary life and career, including his marriage to wife Sharon, and what it took for him to return to the stage for the triumphant Back to the Beginning concert, streamed around the world, where Ozzy reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates for the final time.
Ferment
Tim Spector
From the world-leading gut scientist and no. 1 bestselling author of Food for Life, comes an introduction to the life-changing benefits of fermentation. Of all the ways to prepare food, fermenting is surely the most mysterious, miraculous and misunderstood. As Tim Spector shows in this groundbreaking book, the science is now clear that adding fermented foods to our diets brings an astonishing range of benefits for our health. He explores the extraordinary science of fermentation and the transformative role of microbes, in our kitchens and in our guts – and reveals why fermenting is the key to good food and good health.
What Have I Done?: My Autobiography
Ben Elton
Ben Elton has done everything and worked with everybody. Now, in this frank, forthright, and hugely entertaining book, he tells the whole story. Discover the truth behind iconic hits like The Young Ones, Blackadder, and We Will Rock You. Relive the pioneering stand-up of Saturday Live that birthed a comedy revolution. From being the BBC’s youngest-ever sitcom writer to his most recent, critically acclaimed stand-up tour, Ben reveals unique insights into his groundbreaking work. He talks honestly about his relationships with brilliant friends, inspiring contemporaries, and occasional foes. His life off-screen has been just as challenging and funny as it has been on, and he unpacks it all with wit, insight, and of course, a ‘little bit of politics’.
The Let Them Theory
Mel Robbins
What if the key to happiness, success, and love was as simple as two words? One of the most respected experts on change and motivation, New York Times best-selling author Mel Robbins will teach you that you only need one month to reset on your life, confidence, and motivation and achieve unimaginable breakthroughs. In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins―New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset―teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly matters: YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life.
Vagabond
Tim Curry
A memoir of Tim Curry's life’s work - including the iconic Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show - and a testament to his profound impact on the entertainment industry as we know it today. In his memoir, Curry takes readers behind-the-scenes of his rise to fame from his early beginnings as a military BRAT with difficult family dynamics, to his formative years in boarding school and university, to the moment when he hit the stage for the first time. He goes in-depth about what it was like to work on some of the most emblematic works of the 20th century, constantly switching between a camera and a live audience. He also explores the voicework that defined his later career and provided him with a chance to pivot after surviving a catastrophic stroke in 2012 that nearly took his life.
Keep Laughing: The Autobiography
Chris McCausland
Already one of the country's best loved comedians, Chris McCausland's participation on Strictly was a phenomenon. But how did the boy from Liverpool end up winning the hearts of the nation? This is his remarkable story, of a twenty-five-year journey through sight loss to blindness. Of the highs, the lows and the downright hilarious along the way. Warm, honest, insightful and laugh-out-loud funny, this is the most likeable, cheering and uplifting book of the year!
Softly, As I Leave You
Priscilla Presley | Mary Jane Ross
The long-awaited, candid memoir by Priscilla Presley chronicling her difficult, inspiring journey beyond the walls of Graceland and behind the elegant image the world sees. The Elvis legacy seen from the inside ... Softly, As I Leave You, is the deeply personal story of what Priscilla lost and what she found when she walked away from the man she loved. Despite the legal separation, their love for one another transformed into a touching and tender dynamic that endured until Elvis's untimely death four years later. She shares her journey with a quiet dignity that will comfort and reassure anyone who has suffered - and survived - seemingly unbearable loss. A passionate, compassionate, and inspiring story of finding your place in the world, Softly, As I Leave You, is a sweet Southern melody that will take the reader with Priscilla on her long road home.
Children and young adults
Paddington's Twelve Days of Christmas
Michael Bond
Suitable for ages 0 to 5
Celebrate Christmas with everyone’s favourite bear, Paddington – now a major movie star! Everyone in the Brown family is singing about some wonderful Christmas gifts they’ve received. But Paddington can’t even find the partridge in a pear tree! He sets out to solve the mystery and is soon planning a spectacular Christmas Day surprise …
Oh Dear, Look What I Got!
Michael Rosen
Suitable for ages 0 to 5
A classic new picture book by the creators of the bestselling We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. "I went to the shop to get me a carrot. Oh dear, they gave me …. a parrot! Oh dear, look what I got! Do I want that? No I do NOT!"
From beloved author and illustrator pairing Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury comes a brilliant new picture book that will delight a new generation of children. Each visit to the shop brings an animal surprise in this playful read-aloud, with a final twist and a joyful ending. Young readers will love joining in the rhyming text and guessing what comes next in this hilarious picture book, sure to become a timeless classic.
How Winston Came Home for Christmas
Alex T. Smith
Suitable for ages 5 to 7
Join Winston the mouse as he sets out on another irresistible Christmas adventure! A Christmas mystery written in 24-and-a-half-chapters – one to read every day of December, each chapter includes it's very own festive activity for all the family to enjoy together.
It is five days until Christmas and Winston has a Very Curious Mystery to solve. He has hazy rememberings of another mouse, and he just knows that someone very important to him is lost. After promising Oliver that he will be back in time for Christmas, no matter what, Winston sets out on an exciting round-the-world adventure to find the missing mouse, helped along the way by wonderful old friends and delightful new ones, too.
The Magic Faraway Tree: A Christmas Adventure
Jacqueline Wilson
Suitable for ages 5 to 7
Explore the much-loved Magic Faraway Tree at the most special time of the year. This brand-new story by superstar author Jacqueline Wilson is set in the original world created by Enid Blyton.
Milo, Mia and Birdy are excited to return to the cottage beside the Enchanted Wood for Christmas. They can't wait to visit their magical friends Silky the fairy and Moonface again. Which amazing worlds will arrive at the top of the Faraway Tree at this time of year? The children are hoping for a trip to the Land of Presents or perhaps the Land of Snow. But before they can celebrate, there is a chilling visit to the Land of the Frozen North . . .
Big Jim Begins
Dav Pilkey
Suitable for ages 7 to 9
In DOG MAN: BIG JIM BEGINS, discover the origin of our beloved characters from the Dog Man series as they join forces to stop the Space Cuties from destroying the city. Will the past predict the future for Dog Man and his friends? Will goodness and bravery prevail? Can anything happen if you truly believe?
ADHD: Rapped Up!
Jamie Gilbert
Suitable for ages 7 to 9
Join TikTok sensation Mr G on a fun, interactive journey into the ADHD brain – packed with raps, tips, movement breaks, and cool illustrations to help kids thrive! Discover how neurodivergent brains work, take movement breaks by ‘shuffling’, learn how to handle tricky situations – and more! This book also includes a free audiobook, free movement break video and a fidget feature. As well as having ADHD himself, Mr G has been teaching and helping children with ADHD for ten years. He has also helped thousands of people understand ADHD better through his TikTok videos.
The Court of the Dead
Rick Riordan | Mark Oshiro
Suitable for ages 9 to 11
From #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan and award-winning author Mark Oshiro comes a new adventure featuring two of the most popular characters from the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
It’s been three months since demigod boyfriends Nico di Angelo and Will Solace returned from Tartarus, and there hasn’t been a single quest for them in all that time. So, when Nico’s half sister Hazel asks them to come to Camp Jupiter to help with an ‘issue’, Nico shadow-jumps at the chance to do something. What Hazel didn’t tell the boys is that she’s providing a haven for a group of monsters who’ve escaped the Underworld! Apparently, during Nico and Will’s trip to the Underworld, they showed the monsters that they don’t have to be evil – that the monsters have options. But then the monsters start disappearing from the camp and it’s clear a dark force is at work – and Nico, Will and Hazel are shocked to find that they’re connected to it . . .
Pesky Pets and Parties (Hopefully)
Liz Pinchon
Suitable for ages 9 to 11
The multi-million-copy bestselling series is back with this laugh-out-loud story! Get ready for the return of Tom's iconic band DogZombies, Tom dressed up as a dolphin and badly behaved pets causing chaos at parties. Norman's told the whole school that DogZombies have a NEW SONG and a NEW LOOK for the BIG end of term party. But the problem is... they don't. How can they be the best band when they will be up against Oakfield Manor school? This and SO much more answered in this hilarious extra special story.
Thorn Season
Kiera Azar
Suitable for ages 12+
With an irresistible cast of characters, an incredible high fantasy world, and a unique, dangerous magic system, THORN SEASON is an epic court romantasy - perfect YA for fans Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse. In the Kingdom of Daradon, a persecuted few are Wielders – able to exert a physical power that extends beyond their visible body: a shimmering tendril that can pick a lock, a gentle coil that reaches out to give a loving caress, or an inexorable rope that will kill a man before he knows it is around his neck. Feared and mistrusted for this ability, Wielders have always been Hunted. Only the sharpest will survive.
A Language of Dragons
S.F. Williamson
Suitable for ages 12+
The most exciting debut of 2025 – an incredible fantasy Dark Academia, perfect for fans of Babel, Fourth Wing, and the Scholomance trilogy.
EVERY FIRE STARTS WITH A SINGLE SPARK.
Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons. London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war. An epic, sweeping fantasy with an incredible Dark Academia setting, a clandestine, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, and an unputdownable story, filled with twists and turns, betrayals and secret identities.