Read Our User Submitted Book Reviews.

On this page are the book reviews in alphabetical order by author, this page covers authors from R to Z.

Alternatively you can search for a book by genre in our Fiction section or our Non Fiction section and a Children/Young Adult section.

As we receive more reviews we make split the pages down further but will ensure that the site is easy to navigate.

Enjoy reading the reviews that have been submitted and as always if you wish to Submit A Review we are always happy to receive them.

Book Reviews By Authors

You can find the rest of our Book Reviews By Authors here.

 

Authors U

Thrity Umrigar – Everybody’s Son

Thrity Umrigar’s Everybody’s Son is an emotional novel of two families, one white, one black. During the heat wave of 1991, 10-year-old Anton is locked in a flat, while his mother Junita is discovered, unconcious and half-naked following a sexual assault from her drug dealer. While his mother goes to jail, Anton is placed in child services and then adopted by a privileged white US senator who uses his powers and influences. Anton learns the truth about his life and this man of the law must come to terms with the complexities of the crimes committed by the people he loves the most. Everybody’s Son is an uncomfortable but necessary exploration of race, class, privilege, and power from the critically acclaimed author of The Space Between Us and The World We Found.

Vikas Upadhayay and Atul Sethi – Magic in Mussoorie

Nakul and his friend Kuku stumble upon an antique book that transports them back in time to the Mussoorie of over a century ago and on an adventure that can change the course of history.

Leon Uris – Trinity

This sweeping and powerful epic adventure captures the “terrible beauty” of Ireland during its long and bloody struggle for freedom.

Luis Alberto Urrea – The House of Broken Angels

For his last days of life, Miguel Angel De La Cruz has summoned his crew for one last birthday meal. however, as the days drew closer, his nearly one hundred year old mother dies herself, leading to the celebration of both lives.

Sandra Uwiringiyimana – How Dare the Sun Rise

Sandra Uwiringiyimana’s How Dare the Sun Rise is a memoir for Young Adult readers.  How Dare the Sun Rise is the moving and remarkable true story of Uwiringiyimana, a child who grew up in Democratic Republic of the Congo, survived a massacre and then immigrated to America where she learnt to overcome her trauma through activism and art. This story of survival, finding hope and giving people a voice is a reminder that life stories should not be reduced to the word ‘refugee’.

Authors V

Bijal Vachcharanjani – A Cloud Called Bhura: Climate Champions to the Rescue

Bijal Vachcharanjani’s A Cloud Called Bhura is a children’s book which tells the story of four friends trying to save their city from a very brown and dangerous cloud which takes over the sky. A Cloud Called Bhura is about the global climate crisis and the havoc is can reap but it also offers hope that we can counter this deadly threat to humanity if we come together as a community.

Ritu Vaishnav, Vishnu M Nair – Pink and Blue

Pink and Blue have always been attached to a gender but no more, this book encourage parents and children to break down these stereotypes and allow children to like what they like and be who they are.

Carl-Johan Vallgren – The Merman

Bleak yet fantastical fiction, translated from Swedish. I absolutely loved The Merman and will definitely be looking for more of Vallgren’s work in the future.

Glendy Vanderah – Where the Forest meets the Stars

In Glendy Vanderah’s debut novel, Where the Forest Meets the Stars, a mysterious child teaches two strangers how to trust and how to love again. After the loss of her mother and her own battle with cancer, Joanna Teale throws herself into her graduate research work on nesting birds in rural Illinois but her solitary routine is disrupted by a mysterious young girl who turns up barefoot and bruised. The girl says her name is Ursa and she claims she was sent from the stars to witness five miracles. Joanna agrees to let her stay, at least until she learns more about the child, and she enlists her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash to help. The three form an incredible bond and as Ursa approaches her fifth miracle, her dangerous past catches up with her.

Various – The Puffin Book of Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Dive into the Hindu mythology and find out fun facts about the gods and goddesses, from epic battles and nasty monsters to divine divas and silly arguments all will be reviled along with colourful illustrations.

Various Authors – Flipped

This children’s book is comprised of two different stories with very different themes, if you’re not enjoying one story just flip the book over and try the other!

Juan Gabriel Vasquez – The Shape of Ruins

A fast-paced political thriller set in Columbia. Two assassinations, both political, gunned down 30 year apart. Are they connected?

Juan Gabriel Vasquez – Song for the Flames

Song for the Flames by Juan Gabriel Vasquez is a collection of short stories by the award-winning author of The Sound of Things Falling and The Shape of the Ruins. The characters whose stories are told are all people touched by violence, sometimes indirectly and other times tangibly but what links them all is that they are all changed forever by the experience.

Sarah Vaughan – The art of baking blind

Five competitors cook for the chance to become the new Mrs Eaden. No spoiler review by Claire Knight.

Sarah Vaughan – Little Disasters

From the best-selling author of The Anatomy of a Scandal, comes Sarah Vaughan’s latest novel, Little Disasters. Liz sees Jess as a stay-at-home mother with a never-ending supply of patience and love, until that is, one moment changes how she sees everything. Dark thoughts and carefully guarded secrets are revealed and Liz is left questioning everything she knows about her friend in this thrilling, edge-of-the-seat novel which explores the complexity of motherhood and connection.

Timur Vermes – Look Who’s Back

Read our submitted book reviews of Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes, which is a book that tells the story Hitler reappearing in a park in Germany.

Jules Verne – Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Jules Verne’s classic sci-fi novel is considered to be the first Steampunk book, launching an entire genre. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea should demand inclusion on any reader’s list.

David Videcette – The Theseus Paradox

D. I. Jake Flanagan’s job with the Metropolitan police anti-terrorist branch sets him on the path of investigating bombings on the London underground, but with secret intelligence given to him, he follows the leads which could cost him everything.

Madhuri Vijay – The Far Field

A début novel that examines politics, prejudice and sexuality in Indian through the grief of Shalini in the aftermath of her mother’s death as she sets out for a remote village in the Himalayas and is faced with the volitivity and the twisted family history of the family she stays with.

Pandit Vishnu Sharma – Panchatantra

Written as early as the third century B.C from the Indian subcontinent  the Panchatantra is written to enlighten and educate and is enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Siobhan Vivian – The List

Two girls from each year are chosen, their names are on a list of the prettiest and ugliest in their year, how will this change the way they see themselves?

William T. Vollmann – Butterfly Stories

The search for love is just the tip of the iceberg in this look into the world of prostitution in South East Asia.

Authors W

Kit de Waal – The Trick to Time

Kit de Waal’s The Trick to Time is a beautiful novel about grief and the preciousness of time. The novel tells the story of Irish-born, Mona, who moves to Birmingham, gains a new job, meets the love of her life in a whirlwind romance but is then struck by a tragic loss. Decades later, Mona is determined to find happiness and live in every precious moment, before it’s too late.

Fred Waitzkin – Strange Love

Narrated by a man on vacation in a remote fishing village of Costa Rica, Fred Waitzkin’s Strange Love is a novel in which an American tourist finds himself obsessed with a Costa Rican woman. As Rachel shares her story with the man, he is quickly mesmerised by her beauty and the details of her past. Soon, he begins to allude to the fact that he is the famous author, that he always dreamed he could be, and that he has the power to change Rachel’s life.

Nico Walker – Cherry

Typed out on a prison typewriter after everything goes wrong, Cherry is raw, bleak and hilarious, giving a poignant voice to the darkest side of America.

Sophia Walker – The Christmas Quizmas Book

How about switching off the technology at Christmas and having some fun with all the family. Questions cover lots of subjects, from film and food to traditions from around the globe. This Quizmas book contains 150 festive questions to challenge everyone.

Suzanne Walker – Mooncakes

Teenage witch, Nova Huang knows more about magic than most having worked in her Grandmother’s bookshop, loaning out spell books and investigating the supernatural occurrences that unfold in their New England hometown. One night, her childhood crush, now a werewolf, Tam Lang turns to Nova for help in this spellbinding and magical graphic novel by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu about self-discovery, love, demons, family and witchcraft.

Chris Wallace – Countdown 1945

In Countdown 1945, Chris Wallace, a veteran journalist and anchor of Fox News Sunday takes the reader to 1945, America following the news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. The book tells the gripping true story from behind-the-scenes in the 116 days that led up to Vice President Harry Truman’s order to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Robert James Waller – High Plains Tango

Carlisle McMillan finds Salamander, a peaceful place out the way, bulldozers soon follow threatening to disrupt his peaceful retreat.

Robert James Waller – The Long Night of Winchell Dear

Romantic fiction from the author of The Bridges of Madison County. Loved by our reviewer, Teresa M.

David Walliams – The Boy in the Dress

From David Walliams, co-creator and co-star of the multi-award-winning Little Britain, comes Dennis. Dennis was different. Why was he different, you ask? Well, a small clue might be in the title of this book!

David Walliams – The Ice Monster

Elsie a 10-year-old orphan from the streets of Victorian London and a 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth bought together for a heroic adventure of a lifetime.

David Walliams – Fing

Another hilarious tale from the King of Children’s fiction. Myrtle Meeks has EVERYTHING but she still wants one more Fing.

Jeanette Walls – The Glass Castle

Walls doesn’t pull her punches in this personal memoir, gritty, unputdownable and well-received. Be aware that this review contains some spoilers.

Dawnie Walton – The Final Revival of Opal and Nev

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is a historical fiction novel that tells the story of a duo on the verge of stardom with one night that will define their story forever. Opal is a fiercely independent, Black, female punk artist, and Neville is the British singer/songwriter who discovers her. Set first in the early seventies in New York City, just as Opal is finding her footing in the scene, a rival band raises a confederate flag at a promotional concert and Opal’s bold protest sets off a chain of events. Decades later, as Opal considers a reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton jumps on the opportunity to curate an oral history about her idols.

Jesmyn Ward – Sing, Unburied, Sing

Jojo is a thirteen year old boy trying to understand what it is to be a man, his mother is conflicted between looking after her children and her drug addiction while being comforted and tormented by visions of her dead brother.

Rhiannon Ward – The Quickening

The Quickening by Rhiannon Ward is set in England 1925, when the widowed and child-bereft Louisa, now remarried and 7-months pregnant is commissioned by her employer to journey to Clewer Hall in Sussex and photograph the home’s contents for auction. Louisa learns that Clewer Hall was host to an infamous séance which still haunts the house and its family. Before the Clewer’s leave England, the lady of the house invites those who attended the 1896 séance to return and recreate the event. Soon, Louise becomes involved in the strange happenings that occur in Clewer Hall and as long-held secrets unravelled, Louisa finds that her own fate is intertwined with Clewer Hall’s.

Ruth Ware – In a Dark, Dark Wood

Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years, not since she walked out of school one day and never came back. That is until an invite to Clare’s hen do arrives and something goes very wrong. Secrets can’t stay secret forever in this dark and mysterious thriller novel from Ruth Ware.

Ruth Ware – One by One

In Ruth Ware’s One by One, shareholders and directors of Snoop, a hot new music app, gather for a make or break corporate retreat to decide the fate of the company at an exclusive ski resort. The clock ticks on the offer and an avalanche shuts off the chalet for anyone who can help. One board member is missing in the snow, forcing the group to consider whether someone would result in murder to get what they want.

Sam Wasson – The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the last years of Hollywood

Chinatown, with its twist ending and haunting closing line, became a Holy Grail of 1970 Cinema. Now, for the first time, readers can explore the incredible story of the making of this modern American masterpiece of film in The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the last years of Hollywood written by New York Times bestselling author of Fifth Avenue, Sam Wasson.

Jemma Wayne – Chains of Sand

29 year old Daniel is an investment banker that yearns for something more, but as he looks to Israel for answers he can’t know that a relationship between star-crossed lovers a decade earlier will complicate everything he thinks has become clear.

Robert Webb – How Not to Be a Boy

Actor, comedian and writer Robert Webb’s autobiography is a hilariously funny, feminist, and authentic exploration of gender, masculinity, socialisation and complex issues including domestic abuse, depression, and losing a loved one.

Brent Weeks – The Black Prism

The Black Prism is the first book in the Lightbringer fantasy series and here it gets a mixed review from our reading addict Debbie McCarthy.

Dietmar Arthur Wehr – The Synchronicity War, part 1

During a space battle with a xenophobic alien race set on exterminating the United Earth Space Force one officer experiences precognitive visions that could win the war.

Dietmar Arthur Wehr – The Synchronicity War, part 2

With the war with against the mysterious alien race going badly, only Victor Shiloh’s precognitive visions are slowing the onslaught, can they survive the new vision of a massive attack on Earth.

Dietmar Arthur Wehr – The Synchronicity War, part 4

Yet another large Sogas fleet is heading to Earth and Space Force barely managed to fend off the last attack, decisions will have to be made if the Human race is going to have any chance of survival.

Jennifer Weiner – Good in Bed

Cannie’s  life is going well, she loves her friends, her rat terrier Nifkin and her job as a pop culture reporter, she’s even made peace with her plus-size body, that is until she’s faced with an article her ex has written about “Loving a Larger Woman”

Andy Weir – The Martian

Mark Watney’s been stranded on Mars, with supplies running low, what is he to do?

Ross Welford – The Dog Who Saved the World

Georgie and Ramzy stumble into an adventure which all starts when they meet the eccentric retired scientist Dr Emilia Pretorius.

Ross Welford – Into the Sideways World

In this fun and adventurous children’s book – designed for readers aged 10 and up – twelve-year-old friends, Willa and Manny hear about a mysterious animal prowling around their town, and the pair set out to prove that the creature is real. The friends are swept into an alternate world where pollution and conflict are a thing of the past but without proof of the Sideways world and with a war threatening to erupt in their own world, the pair are in a race against time to get proof of their discovery.

Irvine Welsh – Skagboys

Follow the early lives of Renton and Sick Boy as they enter the world of heroin addiction, a prequel to the 1993 novel Train spotting.

Irvine Welsh – Trainspotting

Trying to stop using is going to be a real challenge and some lose more than the fight against drugs. Read different individual’s stories regarding the heroin culture around Edinburgh.

Karen Wheeler – Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My High Heels for a New Life in France

After her boyfriend Eric leaves, Karen gives up her life as a fashion editor and heads to rural France for a new start. Contains Spoilers.

Chris Whitaker – We Begin at the End

An Instant New York Times Bestseller, Chris Whitaker’s We Begin at the End is a thriller novel that tells the story of Duchess Day Radley a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. She is fiercely protective of her young brother, and single mom, Star, who is unable to look after herself let alone her children. When Star’s ex-boyfriend Vincent King, who became a killer thirty years ago, is let out of prison, Duchess’ determination to protect her mother will inadvertently set off a chain of tragic events that have consequences not only for her family but the whole town.

D. L. White – Brunch At Ruby’s

Debra, Maxine and Renee have been friends for years, but with a man coming between Maxine and Renee that could all change. Debra has her own challenges as secrets come to light that could lose her everything.

E.B. White – Charlotte’s Web

E.B. White’s classic children’s book, Charlotte’s Web is a tale of friendship, bravery and animal magic. Wilbur the Pig is saved once by a young girl named Fern’s love and then again by an ingenious talking spider called Charlotte A. Cavatica and her webs which express her feelings for Wilbur.

Kathryn White – Cats, Scarves and Lies

The title sells this one, how intriguing! This offbeat thriller from Kathryn White sounds interesting, but our reviewer wasn’t all that struck.

Colson Whitehead – Harlem Shuffle

From the author of The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle is a family saga, crime novel set in 1960s Harlem, that explores race and power. Ray Carney is seen as an upstanding salesman to his customers and neighbors and very few people know he is descended from a line of crooks. When cash gets tight though, Ray begins to tussle between his striver side and his crook side. As he navigates his double life, can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin and maintain his good reputation?

Colson Whitehead – The Nickel Boys

The latest novel from Pulitzer prize-winning bestselling author of “The Underground Railroad”, this is the story of a young black boy punished for an innocent mistake. The Nickel Academy is supposed to rehabilitate young offenders, the reality is very different.

P.J. Whiteley – Close of Play

Romantic comedy set on the cricket field. Laugh out Loud funny according to our reviewer, Sandra Foy.

Lori Wick – The Princess

Shelby Parker has been chosen by the king and queen to become the new wife of their widowed son, Prince Nikolai, a gentleman in public, when alone he’s uninterested. Can they find love, or will Nikolai’s only love be for the wife he lost?

Aditya Wig – King’s Fall

With their ancient kingdom destroyed and the land stalked by war, two brothers, King Arjuna and his brother, Prince Karna stand at the heart ready to fight.

Oscar Wilde – De Profundis

Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis is a letter written by the Irish writer while he resided in Reading Gaol to ‘Bosie’, portraying to the reader more of Wilde’s emotions and personal thoughts and feelings.

Amirtharaj Christy Williams – Tipu, Sultan of the Siwaliks A Wildlife Adventure

Tipu, Sultan of the Siwaliks A Wildlife Adventure is a memoir by Amirtharaj Christy Williams, an Asian elephant specialist, who spent time during the mid-90s at Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand. In this biography, Amirtharaj Christy Williams recalls the years he spent tracking elephants, and the relationships he formed with the animals. Warm, funny and hopeful, this book will remind readers of great nature writers such as Gerald Durrell.

S Williams – Tuesday Falling

Tuesday Falling is the debut novel from S Williams. A thriller said to be loved by those who love The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Reviewed here by reading addict Claire Knight.

Tennessee Williams – A Streetcar Named Desire

A street car named desire deals with a culture clash between Blanche DuBois, a relic from the Old South and Stanley Kowalski, a rising member of the urban working class. It presents a catastrophic confrontation between fantasy and reality.

Jacqueline Wilson – My Mum Tracy Beaker

Best-selling children’s author, Jacqueline Wilson, returns to the much-loved but raucous character of care kid, Tracy Beaker, now grown up with her own child, Jess, a heroine and struggling single parent in one.

Kevin Wilson – Nothing to See Here

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Family Fang, comes Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here; a moving, tender and at times humorous magical realism novel about a woman who finds meaning in her own life when she starts taking care of two children with unexpected and remarkable talents.

Bebe Winans with Timothy Willard – The Whitney I knew

BeBe Winans and Whitney Houston considered each other family, BeBe gives a personal look into Whitney’s life as only he could.

Jeanette Winterson – The Gap Of Time

The winter’s tale gets a modern twist in the first of a series in which well known novelists take on Shakespeare’s work.

Jeanette Winterson – Gut Symmetries

While travelling across the Atlantic Alice and Jove meet and by the time they get to their destination have become lovers which only becomes more interesting when Alice meets Stella, Jove’s wife.

Jeanette Winterson – Frankissstein

In Frankissstein, Jeanette Winterson’s modern telling of Mary Shelley’s gothic tale ‘Frankenstein’, the author explores artificial intelligence, gender binary, love and what it means to be human in a Brexit Britain.

A.C Wise – Wendy, Darling

A.C Wise’s Wendy, Darling is a feminist retelling of Wendy’s adventures in Neverland. Wendy left and grew up to be a woman, mother, patient, and survivor. Now, Neverland is not as perfect as she remembers, it has a darker side. Then, Peter Pan returns to claim a new Wendy for his lost boys.

P.G. Wodehouse – Galahad At Blandings

Sam Bagshott, had been at Blandings Castle only a short while, but long enough to know that anyone enjoying its hospitality must get the occasional shock.

P.G Wodehouse – The Girl on the Boat

Red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina Bennet “Billie” find herself on an ocean liner heading for England with a lot of romantic attention heading her way, but which will she end up with at the end of her journey?

P. G Wodehouse – Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit

With Jeeves’ feudal spirit needed to help Bertie when he visits Brinkley Court, can Jeeves look past the moustache Bertie has chosen to grow?

P.G. Wodehouse – The Heart of a Goof

Nine hilarious golfing stories that delve into courtship, friendship and business relationships that are formed around the greens of the ninth hole.

P. G. Wodehouse – Uncle Fred In The Springtime

Joy and hilarity ensure with Uncle Fred, believing his can do anything in the Springtime, disguises himself as a doctor with truly comic effect.

Michael Wolff – Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House

Michael Wolff gives the insight into the White House and the man who has become the king of discord and disunion.

Blake Wood – Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse by Blake Wood is a profound collaboration of more than 150 photographs both black and white, and colour of the artist in her prime.

Monica Wood – The One In A Million Boy

With the sudden death of his son Quinn Porter seeks redemption for his absents in the boys life by completing the requirements for his son’s Boy Scout badge and gets new insight into his child’s life.

Neil Woods and J. S. Rafaeli – Good Cop, Bad War

Neil Woods worked undercover dealing with some of the most violent and unpredictable criminals in Britain, here is the true-account of his time.

David B. Woolner – The Last 100 Days

During the last hundred days as the president Franklin Roosevelt displays remarkable political talent as he focused his energy on shaping the peace to come.

Beth Worsdell – Earths Angels

Humans and angels are on an important mission to save our planet and prepare for battle in this epic, magical and futuristic YA novel.

Gillian Wright – Mishti, the Mirzapuri Labrador

Born in Mirzapur on the banks of the Ganga, Mishti, a little golden Labrador is adopted by Gilly and Mark and so the adventures begin.

Snowden Wright – American Pop

Fact and fiction blend together in this story of American culture and history bought to life through Pan-Cola a fictional rival to Pepsi and Cocoa-Cola America’s first major soft-drink company.

Phoebe Wynne – Madam

Phoebe Wynne’s gothic début novel, Madam, is set in Caldonbrae Hall, a boarding school for girls that promises pupils will leave resilient and ready to serve society. Rose Christie joins the establishment as a classics teacher and new head of department, as is overwhelmed by the institution’s arcane traditions, prestige, and vindictive students. Her classroom becomes her haven where she can share the stories of fearless women from ancient Greek and Roman history, igniting her students’ curiosity and unknowingly teaching them to be suspicious of the powers that be. As Rose uncovers the darkness of  Caldonbrae Hall the lines between myth and reality blur, and it’s up to her and the fierce young women under her care to find a way to escape what the school has in store for them before it’s too late.

Authors X

Rebecca Xibalba and Tim Greaves  – Misdial

In this gripping and terrifying tale by Rebecca Xibalba and Tim Greaves, a caller misdials a number which then takes her on a rollercoaster ride of terror and confusion as a man of the very edge, with nothing to lose, finally thinks he’s found the idyllic life he’s always dreamed of. This dark and frightening novel will make you dial phone numbers with a lot more care.

Xinran – Sky Burial

The story of one 26 year old woman’s amazing journey as she tries to find out what really happened to her husband.

Authors Y

Don Yaeger and Brian Kilmeade – Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans

History comes alive in this true story of the battle among the war as New Orleans becomes the point of interest so that America could become what it is today.

Hanya Yanagihara – To Paradise

The Follow-up to the acclaimed A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara’s To Paradise spans three different centuries and three different versions of the American experiment. In an alternate world of 1893 America, residents of a Free State New York are allowed to love whoever they want, or so it seems. While in 1993, Manhattan is in the midst of the HIV epidemic and a young man – living with his older, wealthier partner – is hiding from his troubled childhood. Then, in 2093, the world is besieged by new plagues and rules by a totalitarian government. During this time, a powerful scientist’s granddaughter tries to navigate her damaged life without him as she tries to solve the case of her husband’s mysterious disappearance.

Shirley Yanez – The Mind Detective

Anyone at any time in their life can be in need of some help with their mental health. This is not your usual self-help book. Shirley Yanez’s Mind Detective is part memoir and part self-therapy guide written for everyone.

Banana Yoshimoto – Hardboiled and Hard Luck

Two very different stories, from the fantasy world around a small town, to the emotional observations of a tragic time in a siblings life.

Charles Yu – Interior Chinatown

Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown is a novel about race, pop culture and escaping the stereotypical roles that were are pushed into, from the author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. Interior Chinatown tells the story of Willis Wu who always feels like he plays a background role in his own life, his mother, however, is the one person who believes he can step out of the box and she says to him ‘be more’.

Authors Z

Carlos Ruiz Zafon – The Shadow of the Wind

Eleven year old Daniel picks a book from the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, but it’s not till years later when Daniel starts searching for the rest of the authors works that the adventure really begins

Trixie Mattel & Katya Zamolodchikova – Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood

Drag queens, Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamo rose to fame after starring on the seventh season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Their quirky friendship, however, really blossomed during their own show, UNHhhh. Now, they’ve written a book and it’s about whatever they want to talk about because it’s their book and not yours.

Yevgeny Zamyatin – We

An exhilarating dystopian novel said to have inspired George Orwell’s 1984 and a foreshadow of the worst excesses of Soviet Russia.

Gabrielle Zevin – The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

Grumpy bookshop owner, A.J. Friky is having a hard time following the loss of his beloved wife, that is until he finds two-year-old Maya on the bookshop floor with a note asking him to look after her, from that point onwards, his life is changed forever. Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is a beautiful love letter to books and a reminder of why we love to read.

Emile Zola – Therese Raquin

A grisly, dreadfully realistic and twisted tale of adultery and murder in the lower classes of 19th Century Paris, Emile Zola’s Terese Raquin is said to be the author’s first great novel.

Leni Zumas – Red Clocks

Embryo’s have the right of life, liberty and property meaning not only can pregnancy not be terminated but must be natural, five women are pulled together by circumstance regarding these new laws.

Markus Zusak – Bridge of Clay

Markus Zusak, author of the acclaimed novel The Book Thief, returns with Bridge of Clay. A touching and emotive novel, Bridge of Clay follows the five Dunbar brothers who are living, fighting and grieving in a house bereft of any adults, their mother dead and their father fled. They are a family shaken by tragedy and shrouded in secrets and to understand his family, Matthew must go in search of three things, where he learns of a mother who travelled for a new home, a father searching for love and a brother Clay who will make the most life changing and challenging journey of them all.

Markus Zusak – The Book Thief

Despite world war 2 going on around them Hans Hubermann teaches his foster child Liesel to read, wanting more to read leads Liesel to collect the books the Nazis are looking to destroy.