Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt
A charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.
Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
Carolyn Huynh
A vengeful mother-in-law once cursed the Duong family to never find love or happiness, and to give birth only to daughters. In modern-day Orange County, Mai turns to her trusted psychic and receives an earth-shattering prophecy: Her family will experience a marriage, a funeral and the birth of a son this year. The news brings gossip, bickering, matchmaking and all-round hilarity.
Inciting Joy
Ross Gay
Ross Gay examined the cornerstones of delight, then gratitude and now joy. In this essay collection, the award-winning poet and author considers those tender moments when we support one another. But joy is not merely a state - it can become a path to heal, as Gay emphasizes while caring for his dying father and eventually grieving the loss.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
Marianne Cronin
Lenni, 17, and Margot, 83, meet in a hospital art class, and when they realise that between them, they have lived 100 years, they decide to create a project, with a painting for each year. Told through stories and memories, we learn about the pair’s pasts.
This multi-generational novel about friendship is something special: moving, joyful and life-affirming.
Still Life
Sarah Winman
Set in Italy in the years after the Second World War, this joyful book about love in all its forms tells the story of Ulysses and how a chance encounter with a woman named Evelyn changes the course of his life. The cast of characters are unforgettable, and the gorgeous descriptions of the sun-baked Tuscan landscape and food will warm your soul.
The Switch
Beth O’Leary
This story has everything you want to lift your spirits: laughs, romance and lovely characters you connect with emotionally. After high-flyer Leena is forced to take a sabbatical from work, she and her 79-year-old grandmother Eileen decide to swap lives. As Leena struggles to fit in with small village life, Eileen tries online dating in London.