5 new books to read this week

A vampire novel that does more than the usual and comedian Suzi Ruffell’s witty take on life are on our bedside tables this week…

Fiction

The Original by Nell Stevens is published in hardback by Scribner UK, priced £16.99 (ebook £8.99). Available June 19

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Does life imitate art, or art life? This commonplace is given new depths by Nell Stevens’ latest novel The Original. The impoverished cousin of a wealthy Victorian family, Grace’s hopes of independence depend on her talent for copying famous paintings, though her artistic skills do not extend to original work. The apparent return of her cousin, Charles, after many years thought dead, provokes a crisis in her family, as well as questions about imitation and originality. Grace is a moving and lively narrator, and we are also drip-fed a tender account of Charles’ missing years. Both strands provide a sensitive historical portrayal of queer love as well as serious reflections on art, identity and truth. The conclusion is, if anything, too kind in tying off its protagonists’ loose ends; lingering uncertainty could have been more apt. But, as a whole, The Original adds to Stevens’ growing reputation as a creative and insightful novelist.
8/10
Review by Josh Pugh Ginn

The Rush by Beth Lewis is published in hardback by Viper, priced £18.99 (ebook £7.99). Available June 12

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It is Canada in 1898 and gold fever has taken over. Men are convinced they will unearth a fortune, meanwhile the women are just trying to survive. The Rush, Beth Lewis’s fifth novel, begins with journalist Kate as she travels through the Yukon in search of her sister. Her path crosses with that of hotelier Martha, who is trying to save her livelihood in Dawson City, and Ellen, whose husband is gambling everything they have in the hope of striking gold. The novel, picked for BBC Radio 2’s The Book Club, transports the reader to a lawless wilderness. Escapism is provided in spades as Lewis expertly spins a historical tale of adventure and intrigue.
8/10
Review by Eleanor Barlow

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V E Schwab is published in hardback by Tor, priced £22 (ebook £11.99). Available now

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V.E. Schwab’s exploration of the fictional paranormal continues with Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Three concurrent coming-of-age vampire stories (spanning the medieval ages to now) are cleverly juxtaposed across vividly depicted worlds. Alice’s experience of isolation in an unfamiliar school is set against Maria’s loneliness having married a Lord, while Charlotte grapples with an impossible decision. Although it’s a book wrapped in vampire tropes we’re used to, it’s dusted with fresh ideas. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil gives the more you read, it’s challenging, topical and manages to punch above the status quo of most vampire lit.
6/10
Review by Connor Fitzpatrick

Non-fiction

Am I Having Fun Yet? by Suzi Ruffell is published in hardback by Bluebird, priced £18.99 (ebook £9.99). Available now

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Suzi Ruffell’s Am I Having Fun Yet? is a funny, honest and heartfelt look at adolescence and adulthood. The title comes from a question hilariously asked by Ruffell’s young daughter, and answers key questions like: was Miley Cyrus right? And does peaking in high school really ruin your life? Ruffell writes about anxiety, identity, motherhood and the messy weirdness of growing up, covering varied and sometimes heavy topics with warmth and sharp humour. Some parts read like stand-up, others like a conversation with a friend; the book as a whole is funny, self-aware and genuinely relatable. It feels like a fond memoir with expert interjections, the kind that makes you laugh, nod in recognition, and maybe take a picture to text someone and say, ‘Same’.
8/10
Review by Katharina Schulenburg

Children’s Book of the Week

Our Pebbles by Jarvis is published in hardback by Walker Books, priced £12.99. Available now

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The illustrations in this thoughtful, quietly moving story are utterly lovely – even the spine of the book is beautifully smudged with the vibrant colours of the myriad pebbles that dot its pages. Artist and writer Jarvis distills a practically perfect childhood memory; a child and their ‘silly old’ grandad, collecting pebbles on the beach and painting moments from their day on the smooth surfaces. But then comes a day when grandad can’t come to Pebble Beach anymore. Prepare for pangs of loss and tripping back in time to moments with your own grandparents when you read it. But more so than the words, the artworks are captivating, full of movement, humour and incredible detail, from squawking seagulls to happy looking crabs popping up in corners. A useful book for children dealing with the loss of a loved one, or a change in family circumstances, but mostly you’ll want to turn the images into wallpaper.
6/10
Review by Ella Walker

CHARTS

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 7

HARDBACK (FICTION)
1. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
2. Never Flinch by Stephen King
3. The First Gentleman by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson
4. A Death on Location by Reverend Richard Coles
5. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
6. The Passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa
7. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
8. Quicksilver by Callie Hart
9. Silver Elite by Dani Francis
10. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)
1. A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir by Jacinda Ardern
2. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robbins
3. Live to Eat by Emily English
4. Big Dunc by Duncan Ferguson
5. Sword: D-Day – Trial by Battle by Max Hastings
6. Don’t Believe Everything You Think By Joseph Nguyen
7. Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
8. Ocean:Earth’s Last Wilderness by Sir David Attenborough and Colin Butfield
9. The Art and Making of Arcane by Elisabeth Vincentelli
10. Sceptred Isle by Helen Carr
(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NONFICTION)
1. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
2. By Your Side by Ruth Jones
3. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
4. Never Flinch by Stephen King
5. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
6. I Love You, Byeee by Adam Buxton
7. Atomic Habits by James Clear
8. The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer
9. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Book 1 by J.K. Rowling
10. The World’s Worst Superheroes by David Walliams and Adam Stower (illustrator)
(Compiled by Audible)