The best recent poetry – review roundup
The Bonfire Party by Sean O’Brien; Plastic by Matthew Rice; Retablo for a Door by Michelle Penn; Jonah and Me by John F Deane; Intimate Architecture by Tess Jolly
Blank Canvas by Grace Murray review – a superb debut from a 22-year-old author
In this energisingly original novel, an emotionally detached English student at college in New York tells a big lie
The Bright Side by Sumit Paul-Choudhury review – a hymn to positivity
The science writer pragmatically shows how optimism can bring about real improvements in everyday life and change in the wider world
Googoosh: A Sinful Voice by Googoosh with Tara Dehlavi review – the extraordinary story of an Iranian icon
Her songs soundtracked the 60s and 70s, but the revolution silenced her. The legendary artist finally has her say, in this uneven memoir
The Master of Contradictions by Morten Høi Jensen review – how Thomas Mann wrote The Magic Mountain
A vivid account of the creation of one of literary modernism’s greatest achievements
The Dead Don’t Bleed by Neil Rollinson review – a gripping tale of family and forbidden love
Two brothers attempt to escape their father’s gangland past in a tense, tender debut that moves between Thatcher-era Northumberland and southern Spain
Cape Fever by Nadia Davids review – a power struggle between mistress and maid
Set in a colonial city after the first world war, this story of a battle of wills between an elderly widow and her young servant is deftly told
The Zorg by Siddharth Kara review – scarcely imaginable horrors at sea
A vivid and chilling account of the deadly voyage that triggered the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade
The English House by Dan Cruickshank review – if walls could talk
A deep dive into the creation of eight buildings from the 1700s to the 1900s tells some very human stories
This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin – set to be a standout novel of 2026
From an acclaimed short-story writer, this epic of power and class across generations in Pakistan is brutal, funny and brilliantly told
The Cat by Georges Simenon review – Maigret author’s tale of a toxic marriage
The Belgian author’s genius comes to the fore in a dark domestic drama
The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy; Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan; The Nancys and the Case of the Missing Necklace by RWR McDonald; Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino; Your Every Move by Sam Blake
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell audiobook review – the life and loss of the woman behind the Bard
The wife of William Shakespeare takes centre stage in a rich, sensitive examination of parental grief, sensitively narrated by Jessie Buckley
Ice by Jacek Dukaj review – a dazzling journey to an alternate Siberia
The 1908 Tunguska comet changes the direction of history and gives rise to a weird new reality in this acclaimed epic from the Polish author
Converts by Melanie McDonagh review – roads to Rome
A thought-provoking examination of the literary stars who became Catholic – from Evelyn Waugh to Muriel Spark