Paperbacks are compact and cheaper than hardcovers so we are recommending ten today.
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Big Swiss follows Greta who transcribes sex therapy sessions. Throughout the book, we learn the stories of several clients but the story mostly focuses on this client nicknamed Big Swiss. While Greta (and thus readers) don’t get to chat with the clients directly, it is equally interesting and fun to learn their stories and not being able to ask the questions you want to ask (because the therapist sucks). The book explores trauma and sex but most of all, this is just a strange but fun book. HBO apparently is turning this into a show and we are excited to see how that would pan out.
Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Old God’s Time is written by Irish writer Sebastian Barry and we have recently noticed that there are many amazing Irish novelists who write the most harrowing books. This particular one follows retired policeman Tom Kettle who is asked to revisit a cold case relating to a dead priest. Through this, Tom slips back to memories of his dead family, until those memories became unreliable, in a manner that reminds us of the new movie All of Us Strangers. This is not an easy read as Sebastian Barry explores how grief can have such a great impact on a person. We can’t wait to explore all the Irish storytellers in a feature here one day. Old God’s Time was longlisted for the Booker’s Prize in 2023.
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
We have actually featured Pineapple Street on our site before — after all, Pineapple Street is the debut book of Jenny Jackson and we love to show some love to debut authors. The story follows the filthy rich The Stockton family who struggles with (first world) problems. It is a fun, unusual read, even if readers might find it hard to feel passionate for the characters. But hey, if we can’t be rich like the Stockton family, at least we can learn more about their inner dialogue.
This Old Eden by Paul Harding
Every reader knows someone who tells them to read non-fiction because fiction teaches them nothing. Ignoring how incorrect that statement is, books like This Old Eden will definitely prove these people wrong. Paul Harding tells the story of Malaga Island in his book, detailing how a group of outcasts are living happily in a community until a racist missionary is here to change everything. While this is a relatively short book, you will grow to love the community almost immediately. It’s no wonder that This Old Eden was shortlisted for the Booker Prize last year.
The Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKenzie
The Dog of the North was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction last year and we definitely recommend it to people who think their lives are a little too much to handle. The book follows Penny who has had a rough few days running around hospitals, elderly homes, and talking to police — all things she didn’t sign up for. Maybe reading The Dog of the North will make you even more exhausted but for us, it is the perfect book when our own lives become too overwhelming because Penny definitely has it worse. A funny book that tackles relationships with people.
The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent
We don’t know what took us this long to pick up The Things We Do to Our Friends. This is Heather Darwent’s debut and it is a dark academia tale, and you know we love our dark academia. The Things We Do to Our Friends follows Clare who reinvented herself in Edinburgh to fit into a weird friend group, who somehow is happy for her to be there, but not necessarily out of kindness. While most people just think about rom-com tropes, this book ticks all the dark academia tropes – toxic friendship, unhinged behaviors, suffocating atmosphere.
Happy Place by Emily Henry 
Everyone has their own favourite Emily Henry book but Happy Place is perhaps our favourite. It’s totally fine if you disagree but let’s hear us out: Happy Place features a group of 3 couples who have been friends since college – except one of them is secretly broken up. Readers will naturally root for Harriet and Wyn to get back together but Emily Henry really explored why they broke up, to the point that we were fully on board should they decide to stay apart. The exploration of depression and its role in a relationship were also very well done.
Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
The cover of this book always reminds us of Wednesday Addams and Sally Diamond is, yes, strange, but also dark. And just as we all love Wednesday, it is impossible not to care deeply for Sally Diamond who has been abused and neglected, until she became a recluse. Liz Nugent’s writing is so enthralling, and works perfectly for the chilling tale as we get to read from the perspective of Sally, who just doesn’t understand why throwing her dad’s corpse in the bin is not alright…
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
We have always thought that short story collections are the best options to curing a reading slump or fitting some reading time in a busy schedule. But we have found something even better – serials. Tales of the City is the first book in this 10-book series written by Armistead Maupin. While this volume was first published in 1978, the story does not feel dated at all. In fact, because of the nature of serials, Armistead Maupin included many details that reflected the true image of the city, which helped us imagine San Francisco during that period vividly. The chapters cycle across a wonderful cast of characters, all wonderfully explored and interconnected.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Pete Davidson became the talk of the whole world when he started dating Kim Kardashian under her appearance on SNL. Romantic Comedy explores if the reverse ever happens – hot male celebrity dating an average looking woman. While it was lovely to read about the behind-the-scenes of a show like SNL, the protagonist was a little too self-deprecating for us to root for her. And while we have always loved books with mixed media elements, there were perhaps too many emails, especially when we think people prefer doing calls during the pandemic.
Thief Liar Lady by D.L. Soria
Thief Liar Lady is inspired by Cinderella, and this time, Cinderella is scheming with her stepsisters to con the prince. We really enjoy this concept, as it gives more of a role to Cinderella, and deviates from the usual feminist retelling in that the main character is morally gray. This is definitely a fun read and we can’t help but imagine what other fairy tales can be given this type of morally gray retelling.
Ravensong by TJ Klune
Ravensong is the second book in TJ Klune’s Green Creek quartet, which follows 4 male leads in the same universe where there are werewolves and witches. This is perhaps our favourite type of book series — we have already met all the lead characters in book 1, Wolfsong, which means that we have plenty of time to meet and fall in love with them. This is particularly important as the Green Creek quartet is very heavy on character development and emotion-building. TJ Klune also has impeccable writing and honestly, 10/10 recommend.
Masters of Death by Olivie Blake
Olivie Blake is known for the dark academia series, The Atlas Six, but we have to admit that we love Masters of Death a lot more. The story follows the most wonderful and fascinating cast of characters — the son of Death, a vampire, a grim reaper, an angel, and a ghost. Even without a plot, we would have been very satisfied to read about their interaction and can almost imagine it as a manga. And of course, the plot is wickedly clever and thought-provoking, perhaps not surprising given the cast here. We will let you figure out the plot yourself.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
We will be talking non-stop about Carissa Broadbent’s books and this shouldn’t be surprising. After all, we did write a reading guide for Crowns of Nyaxia. The romantasy series has 2 books out currently, with the 3rd and 4th one coming later this year. Similar to the Green Creek quartet, this series follows different characters set in the same universe, but Carissa Broadbent’s books follows different vampire tribes. The books are plot-driven, but there are also sexy scenes that will unfreeze any vampire’s heart.
