Recommendations
What to read next
Each list is drawn from titles in the current festival programme, grouped by the mood they suit rather than by marketing category — with the actual books and covers so you can start tonight.
Literary Fiction
Quiet, character-led novels
For readers who like slow burns and sharp sentences.
Normal People
Sally Rooney · Ireland
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong · United States
The Vegetarian
Han Kang · South Korea
Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo · United Kingdom
Poetry
Poetry for slow mornings
Collections to keep beside the kettle.
Historical Fiction
Stories that travel through time
The past, told close-up.
The Forty Rules of Love
Elif Shafak · Turkey
Homegoing
Yaa Gyasi · Ghana
The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead · United States
The Shadow Lines
Amitav Ghosh · India
Memoir
Lives told honestly
First-person accounts, no varnish.
Strangers I Know
Claudia Durastanti · Italy
Wild
Cheryl Strayed · United States
Crying in H Mart
Michelle Zauner · United States
Educated
Tara Westover · United States
Mystery
Puzzles worth staying up for
Cases, clues and clean endings.
Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn · United States
The Night Fire
Michael Connelly · United States
The Thursday Murder Club
Richard Osman · United Kingdom
Speculative Fiction
Worlds slightly beside our own
One step off the edge of the familiar.
Fever Dream
Samanta Schweblin · Argentina
Time Shelter
Georgi Gospodinov · Bulgaria
American War
Omar El Akkad · Canada
Zoo City
Lauren Beukes · South Africa
Children's Literature
Read aloud with younger readers
Stories that work out loud.
Reading kits
Everything you need to read together
Each kit pairs a short reading list with discussion prompts and a simple session plan — ready for book clubs, classrooms or a quiet month on your own.
Book clubs
Book Club Starter Kit
- · Three linked novels
- · Ten discussion questions
- · Meeting run sheet
- · Author background notes
Three meetings · about six weeks
Writing groups
Poetry Circle Kit
- · Three collections
- · Read-aloud guide
- · Five writing prompts
- · Close-reading worksheet
Four sessions · one a week
Teachers & students
Classroom Memoir Kit
- · Three memoirs
- · Lesson outlines
- · Personal-essay exercise
- · Reflection journal pages
Half-term unit
Parents & young readers
Family Reading Kit
- · Three picture and chapter books
- · Read-together tips
- · Drawing activities
- · Bedtime question cards
One month of evenings
Not sure where to begin?
Start with the author of the month on our portfolio page, or follow a narrative sequence — a curated reading arc with a set order and a live discussion at each stop.