Books

Late 1980s fashions are back with a twist — big hair, high-waisted trousers, jean vests, Doc Martens. And though it was an era rife with homophobia, sexism and other small-mindedness that I’m glad and hopeful we’re moving past, it was also…

"Novels teach us through empathy – through our heart. I’m hoping that readers will connect with issues around identity and human rights as well as building peace and respect – those concepts can apply much wider than just Northern Ireland."

"What I’m interested in people’s ability to do good, regardless of the difficult starts to their lives."

"I also find not thinking about what I’m writing often helps new expressions to flow."

This post is sponsored by Bloomsbury. Following gay Cuban-American teen, Luis Gonzalez, as he travels back to the 80's in an attempt to save the life of a closeted student, David Valdes' irresistible YA debut, Spin Me Right Round, brings…

"Amidst the trauma and sadness there was humour, and a determination to build new, possibly even better, communities."

This post is sponsored by Walker. A beautifully written and page-turning exploration of grief, passion, heartbreak and fate, Kelis Rowe's debut YA novel, Finding Jupiter, is an emotional and powerful contemporary read your bookshelves will…

"Novel writing is about you sitting a desk until that draft is done, so it’s a solitary, immersed process. And then you rewrite it. And again..."

"One of the things a conquered people lose first is their language, so keeping a hint of that language in the narrative is very important to me."

Win a set of Heartstopper books, the graphic novel behind the beloved Netflix adaptation.

2022 has already gifted our bookshelves with countless new YA reads to fall in love with and despite the year having reached its halfway point, the fabulous new releases just keep coming. With stories of belonging, first love, wishes,…

Every Line of You is a thriller about a girl who uses AI to cope with her grief, except the project becomes bigger than she ever anticipated...

"Compassion, because Isabel is human and deserves second chances and deserves safety, and hope, because there is too much despair in the world already."

"Short stories, like radio, need to be succinct and every word must be essential."

"Hope is knowing that there is always another day, another minute, another second to make things right."