5 new books to read this week

This week’s top books span settings from Korea to Iceland…

Fiction

1. Song For Another Home by Bora Lee Reed is published in hardback by Serpent’s Tail, priced £14.99 (ebook £12.99). Available August 6

Song For Another Home is a sweeping family tale set in 1950s Korea, after the Chinese army attacks Pyongyang. Teenage Oksoon, her brother and her mother flee to Seoul in search of safety and their father and eldest brother, who went ahead for business opportunities. But with war raging and so many refugees on the streets, life in Seoul is challenging – to say the least. Oksoon’s tale is interspersed with her cousin, Junho’s, who has found a home in an orphanage struggling to keep food on the table. It’s a beautifully written story, with the threads of Oksoon and Junho soon weaving together. Lee Reed lets her characters shine amidst war and turmoil, giving human faces to a tumultuous time in history. Perfect for fans of Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.
8/10
(Review by Prudence Wade)

2. Sky City by Jacqueline Crooks is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £18.99 (ebook £8.99). Available August 6

Women’s Prize-shortlisted author Jacqueline Crooks’ second novel is a deeply emotional exploration of the long-term effects of childhood trauma. Set in the 1990s, Sky City follows the story of Jaycee, a young woman living alone for the first time in a housing estate in north London. When Jaycee’s school friend suddenly re-enters her life and her best friend leaves the city and moves to New York, Jaycee is forced to confront painful memories of her past. At its heart, the novel is about friendship and the idea of a chosen family, with the three main characters’ lives intertwining by chance. Crooks’ has explored complicated themes with sensitivity making it a powerful and thought-provoking read.
8/10
(Review by Georgia Bates)

3. The Depths by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, translated by Victoria Cribb, is published in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton, priced £22 (ebook £12.99). Available now

Yrsa Sigurdardottir has enjoyed a stellar career as one of Scandinavia’s leading crime novelists, and her latest thriller – The Depths – is another surefire winner. It’s a story that brings together two strands, slowly building until it becomes clear how the stories meld into one. It makes the most of the claustrophobic feeling of life onboard a fishing trawler through the eyes of the ship’s cook Gunndis, who is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of how her father died at sea. With a neighbourly feud taking place on dry land, Sigurdardottir keeps the reader guessing as to who is responsible for all manner of crimes, including murder – demonstrating that she still has the knack for a great thriller, more than 20 years on from her crime-writing debut.
8/10
(Review by Karl Hornsey)

Non-fiction

4. The Ego Trip by Kimon de Greef is published in hardback by White Rabbit, priced £23 (ebook £12.99). Available August 6

Kimon de Greef explores the world of so-called toad smoking – where a secretion produced by the Sonoran desert toads of Latin America is used for its psychedelic effects. He sets out how self-styled toad guru Octavio Rettig made himself the face of a growing movement and netted a following of devotees as he administered the substance to addicts and hippies with a promise of healing. But a series of troubling allegations and reports of dangerous methods follow. Rettig is just one piece of this puzzle, which involves an indigenous tribe, Mexican cartels and the impact of the practice on the toad population – as well as efforts to synthesise what is sometimes called “the god molecule” for regulated medical use. As de Greef seeks to untangle the truth about the effectiveness and safety of the drug, he uncovers a murky underworld and is confronted with a series of unreliable narrators. He weaves a compelling tale once the story gets going and the threads come together. The book builds on a deeply reported piece for the New Yorker, and fans of Patrick Radden Keefe, who mentored de Greef, are likely to enjoy it.
7/10
(Review by Helen Corbett)

Children’s book of the week

5. We Are Fairies by John Condon, illustrated by Patrick Corrigan, is published in paperback by HarperCollins Children’s Books, priced £7.99 (ebook £3.99). Available August 13

How much fun can four fairies have when they leave the attic to use their magic around the house? Over the gloriously illustrated pages, they have lots of fun – and chaos – as the foursome attempt to complete a family’s ‘to-do’ list. They knock over furniture, spill food on the kitchen floor and splash water in the bathroom, but also bring bedroom toys to life and artfully trim hedges before being chased away by garden gnomes. After such a busy day, the fairies return to the attic and soon fall asleep, ready for another day of adventures. This is the second collaboration between writer John Condon and art teacher-turned-illustrator Patrick Corrigan, and it’s a colourful, easy-to-read picture book that’s ideal for younger children – especially if they believe in fairies.
7/10
(Review by Alan Jones)

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING AUGUST 1

HARDBACK (FICTION)
1. May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry
2. A Snake Among Swans by Hannah Kaner
3. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
4. One Of Us Is Guilty by Steve Cavanagh
5. Twisted Love by Ana Huang
6. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
7. Twisted Hate by Ana Huang
8. Twisted Games by Ana Huang
9. Twisted Lies by Ana Huang
10. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)
1. How Lucky Am I by Christian Watson
2. The Odyssey by Homer
3. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
4. BBQ by Jamie Oliver
5. Biological War by Annie Jacobsen
6. Regime Change by Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan
7. The Land And Its People by David Sedaris
8. Things I Told My Notes App by Milly Goldsmith
9. Witchland by Marion Gibson
10. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins
(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)
1. Odyssey by Stephen Fry
2. It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell
3. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
5. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
6. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
7. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
8. The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
9. Better The Devil by JD Kirk
10. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinnima
(Compiled by Audible)