No catches, no fine print just unadulterated book loving, with your favourite books saved to your own digital bookshelf.
New members get entered into our monthly draw to win £100 to spend in your local bookshop Plus lots lots more…
Find out moreOur new humour section is filled with books with elements of humour. Books that will make you laugh, chortle and chuckle as you read.
So very readable, this debut is an amusing, sparkling and smart look at contemporary life. When separate calamities hit publicist Ginny and her neighbour, actress Cassie, they might just find a helping hand closer than they thought. While the friendship between the two women grows, potential love interests also enter their lives. I adore the fact that the occasionally feisty friendship between two neighbours of different ages takes centre stage. Can I say that Cassie rather steals the show with her antics, she certainly made me smirk, but this isn’t all fun and frothy frolics. Nicola Gill takes a thoughtful step into the more challenging and emotional side of life, handling the difficulties experienced with beautiful consideration. Fresh, witty and sharp, yet warm, wise and loving, The Neighbours really is a rather gorgeous read!
This new story in the Jackson Lamb Thriller Series of awkward back room spies, just fills my slightly warped little heart with joy. Slough House is full of exiled spooks, led by the indomitable Jackson Lamb who somehow manages to keep the slow horses moving. Here, the team are hunting down a man who could just break them. One particular sentence had me snorting, and reading it out to a friend, who also snorted. But, if I told each of my friends in order, about every clever sentence I came across in Joe Country, I would probably run out of friends to be able to tell. This is a series that makes me shout with laughter, cringe as things go from slightly to spectacularly wrong, and wince as the barbs shoot home. Mick Herron started with Slow Horses, and each book has been as skilfully written as the first, earning him amongst other accolades two Crime Writers’ Association Daggers. Joe Country is the the sixth in the series, it’s amusing with cracking writing and a storyline that kept me wide-eyed until the early hours. Loved, loved, absolutely loved it, and I’ve chosen Joe Country as one of my Liz Picks of the Month.
A sharp and smart debut novel, containing real heart (both ache and joy). 25 year old Queenie is on a break from her boyfriend, can’t concentrate at work, and is having a hard time balancing her life. Feeling trapped as she moves in with her grandparents, she soon finds her life closing down. Within a few pages I was settled in my chair and didn’t budge as I read this in one wonderfully heady sitting. Popping backwards and forwards in time Candice Carty-Williams opens a doorway into Queenie’s soul. She created a connection for me to reach out and touch and I felt as though I had become a part of Queenie’s life. I was there with her as things went wrong, wanted to reassure, vent, be there to support her. There are parts that tiptoed across my awareness, spiking stray thoughts. Elsewhere is raw and unflinching making my senses burn, before a moment later I was tipped into a sunshiny smile and chortle. While Queenie herself breaks down stereotypes about black women, her friend Cassandra doesn’t do the same with regards to Jewish stereotypes. Big bad life in all its pain and glory stamps across the page. Queenie is a bold, fiercely provocative and thought-provoking read.
"I feel like, in an equal world, there would be more penis admin ..." Kat Evans doesn't know much about feminism, but she does know this. Utterly hilarious and boldly honest, Kat tells it how it is - and it is INCREDIBLY embarrassing. 15-year-old Kat wants to do GOOD FEMINISM, although she's not always sure what that means. She also wants to be a writer, get together with Hot Josh (is this a feminist ambition?), win at her coursework and not make a TOTAL EMBARRASSMENT of herself at all times. But the path to true feminism is filled with mortifying incidents, muddling moments and Instagram hell. And it doesn't help that Hot Josh is just, well, properly, distractingly hot. And when everything at school starts to get a bit too much, Kat knows she's lost her way, and the only way forward is to ask for help ... Bold, authentic and laugh-out-loud funny, Kat's diary fearlessly navigates mooncups, mental health and #TimesUp - perfect for fans of Geek Girl, Juno Dawson and Sex Education.
Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village in North Yorkshire, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son Nathan and ageing Labrador Dido, both at the discretion of his former partner Julia. It's a picturesque setting, but there's something darker lurking behind the scenes. Jackson's current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, seems straightforward, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network-and back into the path of someone from his past. Old secrets and new lies intersect in this breathtaking new literary crime novel, both sharply funny and achingly sad, by one of the most dazzling and surprising writers at work today.
Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize When Emira is apprehended at a supermarket for 'kidnapping' the white child she's actually babysitting, it sets off an explosive chain of events. Her employer Alix, a feminist blogger with the best of intentions, resolves to make things right. But Emira herself is aimless, broke and wary of Alix's desire to help. When a surprising connection emerges between the two women, it sends them on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know - about themselves, each other, and the messy dynamics of privilege.
If books were friends (and more than a few are) then I feel as though I have met the most wonderfully quirky forever friend. Gravity is the Thing is a complete joy of a book, and one that refuses to be pigeonholed into a genre. Abi, a Sydney cafe owner, has been invited to attend a retreat to learn the truth about ‘The Guidebook’, chapters have been arriving since she was a teen, and have kept her company in the darkest of times. The book floats between 1990 and 2010, and as Abi opens up her life, she revisits, examines, and searches for answers. Jaclyn Moriarty writes with the most beautiful eloquence, sharp pointed observations sit alongside the tightest of warm hugs. I wanted to meander, to wander, to eke out my reading time, and yet hoover up the words and the feelings they created in one heady go. I contemplated loss and grief, I smiled, laughed, and believed… oh how I believed! Gravity is the Thing is different (in the best possible way), and I predict that this will be one of my favourite books of the year. So, as well as being one of our Books of the Month, it has also been chosen as a LoveReading Star Book. It really is that gorgeous! Explore our '80+ Books That Deliver a Hug' listicle for more feel-good or uplifting books.
A smirky, fabulously quirky, poignant novel and an absolute joy to read. It is 1980, Lizzie is 18, she starts a new job working for a dentist, moves into her own flat, and thinks she may have got herself a boyfriend (but isn’t entirely sure). Lizzie is a total delight, her courage, spirit and pithy observations mix into a heady cocktail alongside her apprehension and doubt. The other characters are beautifully realised in their own right, every utterance perfectly placed, it is difficult to pick just one out as when I called them forward in my mind, they clambered over each in a riot of energy. Nina Stibbe excels in the small, in fact the incy wincy details that are so beautifully observed you didn’t know they were missing until you read them, and could see and feel the entire picture. The understanding of human frailty and poignancy of human absurdity is so wonderfully explored. There is something compelling about the writing that lodged in my mind, and took up residence in my heart. I snorted (yes actually snorted) out loud with laughter and while heartache and break is never far away, thoroughly loved every word of Reasons To Be Cheerful, it’s just gorgeous!
This is an interesting story, a poor man who seems to embody and "reflect" other people's worst opinions about themselves. The Day Jack sacked his therapist is a good story, like someone taking the "when you point a finger there's three pointing back at you" concept and added a sprinkling of magic. You really feel for Marion and Jack from the start as everyone around them seems desperate to think the worst of Jack and their relationship, if not downright manipulating and actively hindering his attempts at self-improvement. The magical realism aspect of this book appears toward the end of the book and Jack and those nearest to him are caught up in a siege/hostage situation which spins beyond the control of the authorities involved. This book is a struggle against the odds relationship story, with a hint of magic thrown in as well as doubling as a cautionary tale to not judge people by what others have said, form your own opinions because you don't know where other people's have come from. I read this in one sitting and I would recommend it to those wanting to leave reality at the door and step into a slightly different world for a spell. Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading Ambassador
Bad Days in Broadacre is a melodrama with dramatic twists that you won’t be expecting. When Bill moves his family to New England, America in order to work on a new screen-writing project, he would never have predicted what was going to happen. This book doesn’t just focus on Bill and his family, we begin with an insight into a more sinister character and lean more about the townspeople of Broadacre along the way. The author has done a brilliant job creating a town right out of a soap opera, with lots of quirky characters, people keeping secrets, murders and civil disputes with the Broadacre Historical Society to keep the reader interested and entertained if not slightly beguiled about where exactly the plot is headed. I was slightly confused as the book started out, as the synopsis states that Bad Days in Broadacre would follow Bill, A struggling screenwriter recently moved to the USA, however he isn’t the first person we meet, which I found a bit disorientating. I understand that the author wouldn’t want to give too much away, but I think it would be a good idea for the synopsis to be tweaked slightly to reflect the book's wider focus on the town, as well as Bill and his family. As I have said, there are a lot of dramatic turns of events throughout the plot which I found entertaining. This is a plot that requires you to suspend your disbelief and revel in the chaos. I found that the book came together nicely at the end, and all of the questions I had were answered by the final page.
IS ANYONE'S LIFE . . . Beth shows that women really can have it all. Ruby lives life by her own rules. And then there's Lauren, living the dream. AS PERFECT AS IT LOOKS? Beth hasn't had sex in a year. Ruby feels like she's failing. Lauren's happiness is fake news. And it just takes one shocking event to make the truth come tumbling out... The bold and brilliant new novel from Dawn O'Porter, the bestselling author of The Cows.
I stepped willingly inside the pages and gave myself up to the story in this quirky, feel-good tale. When Charlie Price has to relocate his family, they end up in the small town of Coraloo where the Blackwell’s rule the roost at the market. As Charlie, Velveteen, and their son Gideon find their lives turned upside down, will the Blackwell’s be a help or hinderance? Alongside the main story, sits another from long ago, it almost feels like folktale as it meanders along, yet is completely in tune with the occurrences of now. I was absolutely charmed by the characters, town, and storyline on offer. Lauren H .Brandenburg adds enchantment to this tale, without using magic or wizardry. My expectations altered as I read, and the story developed beautifully. I thoroughly enjoyed The Death of Mungo Blackwell, it is gorgeous escapism while focusing on love, family, and friendship.
Read, Learn & Laugh!