Book Reviews
Wondering what to read next?
Here, you’ll find engaging, down-to-earth reviews of books—from magical picture books and page-turning young adult novels to compelling adult fiction and insightful nonfiction. Whether you’re a parent, educator, or lifelong reader searching for your next favourite book, our regularly updated reviews are here to inform, inspire, and spark your love of reading.
The Top New Books Recently Published
The National Year of Reading has begun, so it is the perfect time to share the incredible books that are being published. Here is a quick round up of the best new releases.
Week commencing 24th August 2026
Children’s Early Readers
Witchy Boo: Casts her First Spell
Arden Jones and Saoirse Lou
The start of a spellbinding, new illustrated young fiction series featuring Witchy Boo, a little ghost with a BIG magical secret! Perfect for fans of Isadora Moon and Kitty’s Superhero Adventures. Even though she’s a ghost, Boo has never liked being scary – not like her brothers Shock and Shriek. But when a witch’s hat finds its way onto her head, Boo learns that not all ghosts have to be scary.
Some ghosts can be witchy!
Format: Paperback
Published by: Puffin
ISBN: 9780241729267
Young Adults
Tell the Ghosts I’m Gone
Kalynn Bayron
A paranormal YA mystery about a group of teens with unique and potentially deadly gifts. Perfect for Moll can see and manipulate people’s emotions, Agnes is psychic, Ossie can control pests and Redd has the power of distraction. Together, they run a blog called The Oculus, documenting the strange and unexplainable and offering paranormal investigative services. When the group is recruited to investigate a (supposedly) haunted mansion, Moll is eager to finally gain some firsthand experience with the paranormal world. But digging deeper into the origins and extents of her powers could have deadly consequences.
Format: Paperback
Published by: Bloomsbury YA
ISBN: 9781526678652
Historical Fiction
The Goddess Queen
Alice Roberts
The Roman Republic is crumbling, torn apart by rivalries. Egypt is a wellspring of wealth, but its rulers have squandered their advantage and ended up hopelessly indebted to the protection racket that called itself Rome. Now a woman, as Pharaoh, has a chance to reclaim what Egypt has lost. And a disgraced Roman commander has his chance to reclaim his sword and wield it to build an empire unlike anything the world had seen. Their stories collide in a maelstrom of ancient history, high politics and power. This is the story of Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen who confronted and contested the power of Rome. And Antonius, the soldier who might be her salvation or her downfall.
Format: Hardback
Published by: Simon & Schuster Ltd
ISBN: 9781398563032
Spy Thriller
Cold Sunset
William Boyd
Gabriel Dax is on route to Russia, tasked with delivering a mysterious Blanco drawing to celebrated defector, Kit Caldwell. But Caldwell is convinced that the KGB suspects him of treachery and he wants to get out, now. When Gabriel is ordered by his enigmatic handler Faith Green to help, he is pulled into a web of shifting loyalties and dangerous escape plans. As tensions rise and trust fractures, he is forced to confront the fine line between devotion and deception. But which will he choose?
Format: Hardback
Published by: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241761090
Music
A Life in Lyrics
Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin
Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest showmen of the twentieth century. But behind the glamour lived a musician and lyricist talented beyond measure, and the creative force behind one of the most culturally significant and musically diverse bands the world has ever seen. From his earliest works before Queen was formed, right through to the end of his solo career, his notebooks and doodlings contain previously unpublished material including alternate lyrics and abandoned verses for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and multiple drafts of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, as well as entire songs that were never recorded. Accompanied by stories, memories, and anecdotes from his lifelong companion, and illustrated with photographs from Freddie’s personal collection.
Format: Hardback
Published by: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008735388
Week commencing 24th August 2026
Picture Book
The Green Child
Hollie Hughes and Britta Teckentrup
This local popular author (previously wrote The Girl and the Mermaid & The Girl and the Dinosaur) is paired with a highly acclaimed illustrator for their new stunning book. In the deepest, darkest forest, where the trees twist gnarled and wild, along a winding path we find a deep asleep Green Child. As winter shifts into spring, the Green Child rouses from slumber and breathes new life into the world. Through ever-brightening days, she ushers in the changing seasons until summer finally arrives. But as the days grow hotter and longer, the forest begins to wither away. The Green Child realises she has a job to do: to send a message to all of mankind, but will anyone listen?
Format: Hardback
Published by: Post Wave Children’s Books
ISBN: 9781836270577
Children’s Older Chapter Books
Impossible Creatures: The Neverfear
Katherine Rundell
The third book in the popular series ‘Impossible Creatures’, The Neverfear will have a lot of keen followers. It’s the Midsummer Feast on the Islet of Glimt and on this magical moonlit evening, the word on everyone’s lips is bandits. Reports of masked men burning villages are spreading throughout the Archipelago, but worse is still to come: Christopher and Anya are ambushed and one of the people they love most is kidnapped. The two children (alongside Ratwin the ratatoska and Jacques the Jaculus dragon) set sail on the Neverfear to recover three precious treasures. Together they must face fearsome giants, win a daring race, and outwit deadly enemies to save those they love most.
Format: Hardback
Published by: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
ISBN: 9781408897515
Contemporary Fiction
Dream Count
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
From the writer of ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ comes an unforgettable story of four women, their loves, longings and desires. Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, has been successful at everything until she is betrayed. Brokenhearted, she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin Omelogor is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America – but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve. A novel that takes up the very nature of love itself.
Format: Paperback
Published by: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008685775
Historical Fiction
Agrippa
Robert Harris
Julius Caesar is dead, and the lives of two teenaged boys are about to be changed forever. One is Caesar’s 17-year-old nephew, Octavius, whom he has made his heir. The other is Octavius’s closest friend, Agrippa. Together, they fight the giant figures of the Roman Empire and against all odds they win. Octavius becomes the Emperor Augustus.
Now Agrippa is fifty. Ailing and alone, betrayed by his wife’s infidelity, he takes refuge in his house on the Bay of Naples and begins to write his memoirs. Yet to stir up the past can be dangerous. When it comes to power, does friendship exist at all?
Format: Hardback
Published by: Cornerstone
ISBN: 9781529154412
History
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan
Lyse Doucet
The winner of the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction 2026 is now coming out in paperback. In 1969, the luxury Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul opened its doors: a glistening white box, high on a hill, that reflected Afghanistan’s hopes of becoming a modern country, connected to the world. Lyse Doucet first checked into the Inter-Continental on Christmas Eve 1988. She has witnessed a Soviet evacuation, a devastating civil war, the US invasion, and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban, all from within its increasingly battered walls. Now, she weaves together the experiences of the Afghans who have kept the hotel running to craft a richly immersive history of their country. Through these intimate portraits of Afghan life, the story of a hotel becomes the story of a people.
Format: Paperback
Published by: Cornerstone
ISBN: 9781804957943
Week commencing 17th August 2026
Children’s Non-Fiction
The History of the Bayeux Tapestry
Lyse Doucet
With the arrival of The Bayeux Tapestry in the UK, they have produced a fascinating gift book aimed at children 6+, to introduce them to this magnificent historical artefact. What is the Bayeux Tapestry? How was it made? Who created it and what story does it tell? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this illustrated child-friendly guide filled with facts, tales, theories and secrets. Written in consultation with curators from the British Museum, this is a celebration of the Bayeux Tapestry and its place in history.
Format: Paperback
Published by: Nosy Crow Ltd
ISBN: 9781807080167
Graphic Novel
Wilomina: The Land
John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs
A fantasy graphic novel where Wilomina boards a mysterious train travelling away from the world she knows. Joined by Mephisto, a talking cat, she tumbles into Nocturna—a parallel land where dreams and nightmares come from. But something eerie is happening: the nightmares are taking over. However, Nocturna is slowly transforming Wilomina into a ferocious ‘Werepire’.
Format: Paperback
Published by: Scholastic
ISBN: 9780702340918
Contemporary Fiction
The Forever Home
Erica James
Hope Hall was once a grand country house, but it’s now been converted into beautiful luxury apartments, and its new residents are moving in. Cassie is blissfully in love with her partner Ben and looking forward to life in their new home, but shadows from Cassie’s first marriage loom large.
Gallery owner Nina needs a fresh start since losing her husband two years ago, but moving on will mean confronting a painful decision that will shatter her mother-in-law’s dreams. Into their lives comes Venetia, a lively seventy-nine-year-old with a penchant for secrets. As Venetia faces her own bittersweet history with Hope Hall, the lives of the three women become intricately connected, revealing the power of friendship and the courage to confront the past.
Format: Paperback
Published by: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008703554
Historical Romance
Henrietta
Sophie Irwin
Henrietta has secretly loved Arthur, Lord Allerton, since childhood. He is the only man who is interested in her rather than her fortune just not in the way that she wants. After three years away at war, Arthur has returned to London to find everything changed. His finances are ruined, his family in chaos. And sweet, shy Hetty is different. For Hetty has set herself a challenge: she has one summer to become the charming, dashing Diamond she’s always wished to be.
And either Arthur will notice her, or she’ll give up her dreams entirely. But in a glittering Season plagued by scandal and intrigue, is there still room for love. Perfect for fans of Period romance and Bridgerton.
Format: Hardback
Published by: Cornerstone
ISBN: 9781529963519
History
Vengeance
Wilbur Smith and Tom Harper
The warrior king is dead. Ralph Courtney and Ann Waite have escaped. From the chaos and bloodshed that consumed the Zulu nation after the murder of King Shaka. From Ralph’s enemies. From the man who would have enslaved Ann and sold her to the highest bidder. Now Ralph and Ann, and their son Harry, are safe. Rescued by the missionaries at Mahikeng, they can finally dream of a new life.
Can Ralph finally lay to rest the ghosts that haunt him? Can Ann overcome the enemy she believed they’d escaped forever? Can Harry make his peace with the secrets and lies that have shaped his life? On a blood-soaked battlefield, as a new nation is forged in violence and slaughter, all three will be given a choice – to succumb to the past, or to stand and fight for their family’s future.
Format: Paperback
Published by: Bonnier Books Ltd
ISBN: 9781806171460