Nadiya Hussain reveals feelings on parting ways with the BBC: "I'd had really difficult conversations"
Nadiya Hussain on the end of her relationship with the BBC – and why she’d like to be more like Prue Leith.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. After winning The Great British Bake Off in 2015, Nadiya Hussain became one of television’s biggest breakout stars – a stay-at-home mum turned global cooking personality with a string of TV programmes, books and endorsements to her name. Then, last year, the BBC cancelled her shows and Hussain, 41, retreated from public view, only recently stepping forward again to promote her latest book Nadiya’s Quick Comforts – this time without a supporting TV series. “It’s sad because I love showing people how to make recipes and how excited I am about them,” says Hussain, before admitting that “near the end” of her relationship with the Beeb, she had voiced concerns about how her programmes were being made. “I’d had really difficult conversations,” she says. “I was like, ‘These are the people I don’t want to work with any more. This doesn’t align with me any more. I need the recipes to be the focus. I need it to be less about what I’m wearing, the props and the colour of my lipstick. It needs to be about the food.’ Not long after, my show was cancelled.” A recent news story suggested one reason the BBC pulled the plug was because Hussain had become “increasingly difficult to work with”. What’s her take? “If I was less vocal and I’d shut my mouth and did as I was told all the time, there’s a likelihood that I would have jobs that I don’t have now,” she replies. “Unfortunately, as a woman – and a woman of colour – if you speak up, often it’s considered ‘being difficult’ or ‘being a nuisance’, whereas I know, from experience, that if I was a man, they’d be like, ‘Oh, you know what he’s like.’ ” To date, “other offers” from broadcasters have “for now” been declined, but if Hussain’s next chapter is in television, she insists the terms will change: “Unless it’s with purpose, I’m not doing it. I’ve been doing this for 11 years and I very rarely see a diverse set or meeting. Often, people of colour and from ethnic minority backgrounds don’t have that person who works in television so they don’t get a little step stool into the industry. I’d like to be that step stool.” She’s toying with the idea of launching her own production company to action those goals (“I’m scared, but I’ve got nothing to lose”), though for now says she feels happiest away from the spotlight – where “nobody is calling the shots, nobody pulls my strings, nobody can tell me what I can and can’t do”. Last September, she began working as a primary school teaching assistant near her home in Milton Keynes, but because of a weakened immune system due to fibromyalgia and gastric atrophy, she’s been forced to step away. “I had to hand in my notice because working with children I was constantly ill,” explains Hussain, adding that next she’s planning to train in special needs education, which would involve teaching smaller groups. She has already started learning sign language. Musa, 19 – Hussain’s eldest with her husband Abdal – has moved out of the family home, and her other son, 18-year-old Dawud, who is mid A-levels, will be leaving for university in September. “I’ll have a whole house and just my little girl,” says Hussain, of her daughter Maryam, 15. “We want to think about moving somewhere smaller with some land so we can maybe get some alpacas and a donkey.” Hussain is no longer frequently absent from home. Thumbing through photo albums with Abdal, 44, she realised she had “missed chunks of the kids’ lives” while filming everywhere from LA to Cambodia and Thailand. She even missed three house moves. Was it worth the sacrifice? “To some extent, yes, but I don’t want to look back at the next 10 years and think I should have thought about my kids before my career,” she says. “If anyone tells you your kids need you less as they grow up, that is an utter lie.” Hussain describes Abdal as “still very much the breadwinner” who pays her phone bill and is an emotional pillar, too. “He always says, ‘Everything is figure-out-able’. He’s like Superman. He has the broadest, strongest shoulders of any man I know. If I’m completely honest, I love being taken care of.” One thing they won’t do together is sit down to watch Bake Off. “The magic has disappeared for me,” she admits. “Sometimes it feels like it’s competing with some of the shows on Netflix where it’s bigger and bolder and more outrageous, and I don’t think it needs any of that. It’s a beautiful show, it’s a classic.” It’s also changing shape, with food writer Nigella Lawson replacing judge Prue Leith, who succeeded Mary Berry when she joined alongside Paul Hollywood in 2017, as the series moved from the BBC. “Nigella’s got a lot to live up to following Prue,” says Hussain. “It’s very easy to become quite stuffy and very proper, and I love that she’s got a little wild streak about her. I want to be like Prue when I’m older. If I get to that lovely age.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Books coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
How to read Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books in order
We've put together the ultimate guide to the beloved time-travel series.
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series has become an absolute phenomenon, celebrated for its epic blend of romance, historical adventure and time-travel twists. Its devoted fan base is made up of readers of all ages, inspired not only by the main novels but also by the hit Outlander TV adaptation and spin-offs such as Blood of My Blood. Whether you’re a longtime enthusiast of Jamie and Claire or just discovering the allure of the Scottish Highlands, here’s a complete guide to reading the Outlander books in order. How to read the Outlander books and spin-offs in order Virgins (a novella found in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall) Outlander Dragonfly in Amber A Fugitive Green (a novella found in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall) Voyager Lord John and the Hellfire Club (a short story featured in Lord John and the Hand of Devils) Lord John and the Private Matter (a standalone novel) Lord John and the Succubus (a short story found in Lord John and the Hand of Devils) Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (a standalone novel) Lord John and the Haunted Soldier (a short story found in Lord John and the Hand of Devils) The Custom of the Army (a short story found in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall) The Scottish Prisoner (a standalone novel) A Plague of Zombies (a short story found in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall) Besieged (a short story found in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall) Drums of Autumn The Fiery Cross A Breath of Snow and Ashes An Echo in the Bone Written in My Own Heart's Blood A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows (a short story found in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall) The Space Between (a short story found in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall) Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone What happens in Outlander by Diana Gabaldon? In Outlander, Claire Randall, a World War II-era combat nurse, is mysteriously transported back in time to 1743 Scotland while on a second honeymoon with her husband. She becomes entangled in the Jacobite uprising and must navigate a dangerous and unfamiliar world, where her modern knowledge both helps and endangers her. Amid the political turmoil, Claire meets the dashing Highlander Jamie Fraser, and a passionate romance develops that changes the course of her life forever. What are the Outlander books about? Outlander (1991) Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is transported back in time to 1743 Scotland, where she becomes entangled in the Jacobite risings and a passionate romance with Jamie Fraser. Dragonfly in Amber (1992) Returning to 1968, Claire reflects on her time in the past and the events that led to her departure from Jamie. Voyager (1993) Claire discovers that Jamie survived the Battle of Culloden and embarks on a perilous journey to reunite with him. Drums of Autumn (1996) Now in the American colonies, Claire and Jamie settle in North Carolina, where they face new challenges and adventures. The Fiery Cross (2001) As tensions rise in the colonies, Jamie and Claire navigate the complexities of family, loyalty, and impending war. A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005) The Frasers confront the harsh realities of the American Revolution and its impact on their lives. An Echo in the Bone (2009) The story weaves together multiple timelines as characters grapple with the consequences of their actions. Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (2014) The Frasers face personal and political upheaval as they navigate the tumultuous events of the 18th century. Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (2021) The latest instalment continues the saga of the Fraser family amid the backdrop of the American Revolution. What is Seven Stones to Stand or Fall about? Published in 2017, this collection of seven novellas by Gabaldon offers readers deeper insights into the Outlander universe. This compilation includes two previously unpublished novellas and features beloved characters such as Jamie Fraser, Lord John Grey, and Master Raymond. Virgins In 1740 France, a young Jamie Fraser and his friend Ian Murray embark on their first mercenary mission, facing challenges and adventures. A Fugitive Green Minnie Rennie, a young woman searching for her mother, crosses paths with Hal Grey, leading to an unexpected connection in 18th-century Europe. The Custom of the Army It's 1759, and Lord John Grey is summoned to Canada to assist his friend Charlie Carruthers, who faces court-martial after a duel. A Plague of Zombies In 1761, Lord John Grey is sent to Jamaica to quell a slave rebellion, only to find himself investigating a mysterious death and a possible zombie outbreak. Besieged Set in 1762, Lord John Grey learns that his mother is in Havana, Cuba, just as the British Navy plans a siege, prompting a daring rescue mission. The Space Between This novella follows Michael Murray and Joan MacKimmie as they journey through Paris in 1778, encountering Master Raymond and the enigmatic Comte St. Germain. A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows Set during World War II, this poignant story reveals the origins of Roger MacKenzie's parents, Jerry and Dolly, and their connection to the standing stones. Which Outlander books are about Lord John? It seems we’re not the only ones who can’t get enough of English aristocrat and friend to the Frasers, Lord John Grey. Lord John is the focus of three short stories that appear in the collection, Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. Additionally, Gabaldon has written several standalone novels and stories about his various adventures. Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) is a collection of three novellas by Gabaldon that delve into Lord John's investigative adventures during the 18th century, blending elements of mystery, supernatural intrigue, and personal discovery. Lord John and the Hellfire Club Set in 1756, this novella follows Lord John Grey as he investigates the death of a man in London, leading him into the clandestine world of Sir Francis Dashwood's notorious Hellfire Club. Lord John and the Succubus In this 1757 tale, Lord John is called to investigate a series of mysterious deaths among soldiers in Prussia, believed to be caused by a supernatural entity known as a "night-hag". Lord John and the Haunted Soldier Written specifically for this collection, this novella takes place in November 1758, following the events of Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade. Lord John investigates the case of a cannon explosion on the battlefield, leading to the discovery of treason within His Majesty's ranks. Additionally, there are three books dedicated to Lord John, occasionally featuring Jamie as well. Lord John and the Private Matter It's 1757 and Lord John Grey must navigate scandal, secrets, and personal danger when a sensitive political case lands squarely in his lap. Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Set in 1758, this novel follows Lord John as he uncovers a deadly conspiracy within a secretive military society, forcing him to rely on his wits and courage. The Scottish Prisoner Against the backdrop of 18th-century Europe, Lord John and Jamie Fraser reunite to unravel a treacherous plot while contending with political intrigue and imprisonment. When should you read the Outlander companion volumes? There are also two companion volumes of Outlander. These are best read after you have completed the series, to avoid any spoilers. The Outlandish Companion A comprehensive guide to the series, including character profiles, historical notes and behind-the-scenes insights. The Outlandish Companion Volume Two Continues the exploration of the Outlander universe with additional information and commentary. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club.
Nick Hornby crowns Nero Book Awards winner as he discusses his next novel
“ It's incredibly helpful to win a prize like this with your first book,” Nick Hornby told us backstage at the Nero Book Awards last night (Wednesday 4 March 2026). Hornby — the acclaimed author behind such beloved books as High Fidelity, Fever Pitch and About a Boy — served as the Head Judge at this year’s Nero Book Awards, which ultimately gave its top prize to debut author Claire Lynch for her book A Family Matter. “I won a prize for my first book,” Hornby recalled, “and I know the difference that it made for me at the time. And it's not just this one. It’s Claire's second book, as well, which will have more attention as a result of the first book doing perhaps better than she might have anticipated because of the spotlight that will be on it after today.” So, what made Lynch’s novel — which tells the story of a family torn apart by secrets across two generations — deserving of the prestigious Nero Gold Prize? “We were all impressed with how confident a debut it was,” Hornby explained. “I mean, it's not the sort of book where you think, ‘Oh, when she's written three or four, she'll be up and running’. It really feels like she knows what she's doing straight away. “I think, tonally, it was pitched perfectly. It's moving, but it starts off with a sad and funny comic set piece. That, I think, immediately got us all on side. It's got this dual time narrative, and the section of the book set in the past, set in the 1980s, was actually quite shocking, in terms of what it indicates about social morals in the eighties, which… the eighties feels quite close to me, and reading this book made it seem a lot further away.” Fans of Hornby’s own work will be wondering, of course, what is the man himself writing at the moment? We couldn’t help but ask. Hornby revealed, “ Well, I've got a novel that I'm halfway through, which will be out next year. “And I have three or four screenplays or TV series, all completely marooned at various points in the process. Waiting for money, waiting for cast, waiting for whatever. “And that is a long and painful process, so I'm quite glad to be writing the book while that stuff's going on.” It’s good to have different irons in different fires, then? “ Yeah,” Hornby agreed. “There's no point in waiting for these things to happen. They just take too long. So you just gotta let it go, move on with the next thing and hope something happens at some point. Speaking of screenplays, what has it been like for Hornby to see some of his works adapted for the screen for a second time? For example, High Fidelity has now become both a film (starring John Cusack in the year 2000) and a TV show (starring Zoë Kravitz in 2020). "Well, things like that, the TV High Fidelity, it's quite reassuring to think that it's gone through its initial life, and yet it's still alive. It means something to a whole different generation of people. It meant something to Zoë Kravitz, who's a lot younger than me, and it spoke to her and it spoke to the people who adapted it. “And you think, ‘Oh, okay, whatever it is, 30 years, it survived’. And I kind of enjoyed feeling that, perhaps more than when things are adapted immediately, or within their first phase of life, because that's quite a well trodden route. “More or less anything with a story and characters gets optioned by someone, somewhere along the food chain. Doesn't mean it'll be made, but sometimes it's made. So you kind of get used to that. But things being made, then receding, then coming back, that is interesting.” Hornby has also had a hand in adapting other people’s books for screen, notably working on the movie version of Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn. And with Brooklyn now having a sequel book, Long Island, is Hornby working on adapting it? “ I was asked to do it,” Hornby admitted. “And I keep meaning to read it. I haven't read it. I wanted to say no before I'd read it, because I didn't want Colm Tóibín to think that I was turning it down because I didn't think that book was as good as the previous one. “I just knew that the film turned out pretty well, and I was anxious about going back on old territory, and everything not being quite as good as it was the first time. So, I think it's much better that someone else does it.” And has Hornby ever been to write sequels to any of his own books? “ I've had no interest so far,” he said. “I think as long as I keep having ideas about different characters, then I'm gonna be working with those.” And do fans ever ask him what happened next to certain characters? “Not so much,” Hornby said. “All Arsenal fans want a sequel to Fever Pitch, but I think I said everything I had to say in the first book.” On my bookshelf with… Nick Hornby The book that made me want to be an author… was Anne Tyler's Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, something that changed what I wanted to do with my writing. I'd been trying to write scripts up until that point, and when I read that, I thought, ‘Okay, I can see that there is a kind of writing that I hadn't yet come across, something that was a little bit more direct and conversational, and could sort of see how I might manage prose in a way that I hadn't seen until that point. So she was a big influence on me. The book I'd recommend to anyone… is by an author who gets overlooked in the UK and I've yet to fail with in terms of recommendation. It’s the American writer Kevin Wilson, and his book, Nothing to See Here. I think if anyone's stuck in their fiction-reading life, this is a book to get you unstuck. The books I'm reading right now... I was lucky enough to get an early copy of the next Elizabeth Strout novel, and she's a big inspiration to me. I love her work. I just finished that at the end of last week. And now I've moved on to the next book by Louise Kennedy, who wrote Trespasses. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Rose Ayling-Ellis: "When you grow up not seeing yourself in stories, you don't stop imagining"
Rose Ayling-Ellis wrote The Big Bang! to celebrate World Book Day – here, she tells Radio Times why books teach us much more than just how to read.
I loved Sleepovers, like I did all of Jacqueline Wilson’s books. Usually late at night, hiding under my duvet with a torch, trying to not get caught on a school night. I loved the emotional depth, the messiness, the tragedy, the way her stories never pretended that everything is perfect. What stayed with me, however, was something that felt small at the time but was actually huge. There was a disabled character in that book. Not as a lesson, not as a historical figure. Not a ‘problem to fix’. Just a character. A person. Existing. That representation mattered, but the sadness came with it too, because even as a child, I noticed how rare it was; what I never saw were deaf characters. So I did what children do. I imagined them. I pretended characters were like me. I drew hearing aids on my Barbie. I made space for myself where none existed. When you grow up not seeing yourself in stories, you don’t stop imagining. You imagine more, but imagination shouldn’t have to replace representation. So, I didn’t wait for change – I created the children’s book I wished I had growing up. The Big Bang! is a story about three cats learning how to communicate with each other. I didn’t want the story about “overcoming”, I didn’t want an “inspiration” narrative. I wanted this story to be about trying and trying again. About making mistakes, learning, adapting and meeting each other halfway. Halo and Rocky don’t just expect Casper to change, they learn that they have to do the work too. No one is left behind, no one is made to prove themselves. That is what real inclusion looks like. Not spotlighting difference, but normalising it. Some people may ask, “Surely no child is thinking in that much depth?” Or, “Why is everything so ‘woke’ these days?” But if you’re only noticing representation now, then you’re one of the lucky few who didn’t need it. For some of us, not seeing ourselves was impossible to ignore. And the truth is, I don’t want children to think about representation at all, in fact, I want the opposite. I want them to not notice it. I want it to feel natural, for them to just enjoy the story, falling in love with the characters and be entertained. Because the absence was loud for me and I hope it is quieter for deaf children today. But children today are growing up with new challenges that many of us didn’t have. I used to go to my local library to get books, then to Blockbuster to rent DVDs. It feels like a precious memory now. A time where life felt slower and choices felt more thoughtful. As I got older, the torch under the duvet became a laptop, and the rented DVD became endless scrolling. My attention span got shorter as libraries started closing down. Now only one in seven primary schools has a library, and access to reading feels more fragile than ever. World Book Day has never felt more important. I remember those days my brother dressed as Willy Wonka and I just wanted to be a fairy. Now that memory reminds me not to take stories, books or imagination for granted. View oEmbed on the source website Now I put time limits and blockers on my phone. I put it away when I’m watching a film or a good drama. I read more. I’m more creative. My mental wellbeing is the best it’s been, I’m more patient. Reading slows us down in a world that constantly speeds us up. If it’s making this much of a difference to me, what is doing to a child’s brain? Reading gives children something that technology can’t, having an imagination that isn’t algorithm-led. I hope I’ve inspired you in some way not by my story or by being deaf but by something simpler. To slow down, to be more present. To make more space for stories, for imagination, and for each other. Next time you buy that book, really do make time for it. Books don’t just teach us how to read, they teach us how to see. In a world that moves ever so fast, learning how to really see each other might be the most important story of all. Rose Ayling-Ellis wrote The Big Bang! for World Book Day on Thursday 5 March 2026 – The Big Bang! is available now, and you can find out more about World Book Day at its website. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Author Sarah J Maas confirms next books in best-selling A Court of Thorns and Roses series
The book series has become a global phenomenon.
Best-selling “romantasy” author Sarah J Maas has announced the release dates for the next two new novels in her A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Maas’ series, which was first published in 2015 and consists of five books, follows 19-year-old huntress Feyre Archeron, who is taken prisoner into the mystical faerie lands of Prythian. During an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast on Wednesday evening (4th March), Maas revealed that the sixth and seventh novels in the series are set to hit shelves on 27 October 2026 and 12 January 2027, while also revealing that a third is in the pipeline. She clarified that this will be one story split into four parts across the three books. “The story that was finally ready to come out of me was big — really, really, really big,” she explained. “By the time I got to the end of part one, it was like 400 pages long.” She went on to explain that book six will be part one, book seven part two and three, while book eight will make up part four. “Part one was this huge, huge thing and then I realised it was going to be a book told in four parts. Then I wrote part two and part three and those were really f***ing long," she said. She continued: “Part four has yet to be written because right now I’m trying to just get part one [out]… It’s basically going to be three physical volumes, but it’s one thing all together. It’s meant to be read in one long story, but it’s not a trilogy.” Writing on Instagram after appearing on the Podcast, Maas said: "I wish I had the words to express how grateful I am - truly, deeply, overwhelmingly grateful - to be able to share this news with you. In just a few short months, ACOTAR 6 & 7 will be yours!!! "I know how long you've waited. I know how much these characters mean to you. And I also know these stories deserve more than speed and deadlines. They deserve my best self. They deserve the right moment." She continued: "When the moment came, what I thought would be one book... very quickly became something else. The story just kept expanding, and I couldn't wait to share a single part of it any longer!!" Maas is also the author of the Throne of Glass and Crescent City series. She has sold more than 75 million books worldwide. Buy A Court of Thorns and Roses boxset at Amazon For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here – we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
How to read the Young Sherlock books in order
The new Prime Video series focuses on Sherlock's investigations at age 19.
Following on from his Sherlock Holmes films released in 2009 and 2011, director Guy Ritchie has returned to Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic character with Young Sherlock, a new Prime Video series starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin as the title character. The series sees a 19-year-old Sherlock team up with a new friend, one who will go on to be his arch-nemesis - James Moriarty. At this point, they are detectives together, looking into a case which unravels a globe-trotting conspiracy and leads to an explosive showdown that alters the course of Sherlock's life forever. All eight episodes of the series are available to stream now, but is the show based on a book or series of books? Read on for everything you need to know about the Young Sherlock book series. Is Young Sherlock based on a book? Yes and no. Young Sherlock is loosely based on the spin-off books by Andrew Lane, the Young Sherlock Holmes series, but the use of the word 'loosely' is key. Predominantly, the series tells a brand-new story, and focuses on Sherlock's investigations at a later age than the books. While the books start with Sherlock being aged 14, in the series he is 19 at the start of the run. The novels are all written by Andrew Lane, who has also written a number of books and audio dramas related to Doctor Who and Torchwood. There have been a number of links between Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes over the years, most prominently the fact that Sherlock, the BBC series which transposed Holmes's adventures to the modern day, was created by two Who writers, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. Episodes of that series were also written by Steve Thompson, another screenwriter who has worked on Doctor Who and who has also returned to writing for Holmes in the new series. Thompson is not only a writer on Young Sherlock, but also an executive producer. How many books are there in the Young Sherlock Holmes series? There are eight novels in the Young Sherlock Holmes series in total. They were released between 2010 and 2015. How to read the Young Sherlock Holmes series in order The Young Sherlock Holmes novels are designed to be read in release order, with each story leading into the next. That means readers should start with 2010's Death Cloud, and finish with 2015's Night Break. Here's the full list of Young Sherlock Holmes novels in order. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Cloud-Young-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/1035063697/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vitbW53fhVpEvknh4qyYjl4JsL6W35kyixSC2JI69hDNBYONo7FmTOaYLupOLzj07ndE5dcMIteEsmmeIsG2IJB12RbRAWrIaYB-ZIiIQWwJQ0sVfWrorIpH92mThRqx8k8EDTZZ_eoZpixrpJMxyVGLzStrSn9rYqq0FPPSKqsbprGeuHoI_4vHmaK9jJm7Oxqc_85egbIsCXA5jAiDFbc0jPDPWRV2Yd2q5zVirvI.g_ZgyNHcZ-5yiiCKIp6XlTP9j5tH8CzdN5H_1VRrJmY&qid=1771858175&sr=8-1&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2398065" target="_blank" rel="sponsored" data-id="iframe-1-anchor-5">Death Cloud (2010) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Leech-Young-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/1035063700/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RPBMME2UA9N4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7UKfdV2zPiVEQwq45uvvaxrBgTTavz4j_7HfUA-fh-vQNiJnDCQT-XhqSYmghynx-0xQussbQYo9wc8u306znnu25ldYbGU-BXsfedHJN-KC8dclpUglVp3UuJdy5pk4mw5jM9OuDa4v4GaNXIksMy17f2vDcd6Owj1zbnPHnOHrAatjLiNrz7d1TK1Xh7RqNZVgeHzoAFv5jRRFuAlPYJ3neooPivsSwXGrrrD4Lm8.g-Iki9_i8fo3dIn-jMFU6a54474EnyHxAb42g6d_niA&dib_tag=se&keywords=red+leech&qid=1771858195&sprefix=red+leec%2Caps%2C279&sr=8-1&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2398065" target="_blank" rel="sponsored" data-id="iframe-1-anchor-6">Red Leech (2010) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Ice-Young-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/0330512005/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3G2kkzlcUZrQJ9qonccsQoHz6yFT65BUu6dwySOZbUEUrkStvcdibKET_szziln3xuagKN_VtSWF6HBcCNgY3hirZFDxzniy8SF9PX_JxlWYmpbS0zwYpn1i0AZ8GMC-Zzy7k5L01IfngttYw4kzEw.InvdzXQqRelxPK0ixXSANmrnj1l1_K8JI_lwHYmtYv4&qid=1771858213&sr=8-1&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2398065" target="_blank" rel="sponsored" data-id="iframe-1-anchor-7">Black Ice (2011) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fire-Storm-Young-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/1447265610/ref=sr_1_1?crid=31HI8UFW9QWN7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.bfsIVLPIwdeMyx3fcOlaeiDSHVoFM3aR23aRHR6QpXcdzMNp_DegMwZU-KtOx3jRm7EItMlyCNS8-yIMLS0lUirn93qP_XzfKCkw5Lenu4CYmpbS0zwYpn1i0AZ8GMC-KpIOncgFbWnycxtZcv387Q.K2VmtrIEOeIVf7Uz_mfevWFT9ojxakxoliTd8dcbXXk&dib_tag=se&keywords=fire+storm+sherlock&qid=1771858271&sprefix=fire+storm+sherloc%2Caps%2C260&sr=8-1&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2398065" target="_blank" rel="sponsored" data-id="iframe-1-anchor-8">Fire Storm (2011) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snake-Bite-Young-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/1447265629/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2W9U6MC6J0AX1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8qHF4ISvNs7IjicB3oSWMwE-dfiWEinqGPotLb5WCcxLnFe8XdGFn8zRlKMAxJkKIr3u_x7JaMWizuAXKJ9eKw.VLh-LDYqYIw26Dss1pIEar4Nv1JTEFmCZq8WULMUCv4&dib_tag=se&keywords=snake+bite+sherlock&qid=1771858318&sprefix=snake+bit+sherlock%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-1&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2398065" target="_blank" rel="sponsored" data-id="iframe-1-anchor-9">Snake Bite (2012) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knife-Edge-Young-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/1447200322/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3A6VA00ZUPD4W&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.A0zX5cEEE9Lr9_BvF8W3hpXAphE6l1e8-xT0i77yOo0iPZ43DpnNsuNoZCZC7mZ8jeJnv9Y0-ny4GH5zx7WQonRSNefw6n93tzH-cyeF7S4.ST0moZoO2g9KDoJvTYT8I3EHR9CDV6enASc68XRgkcM&dib_tag=se&keywords=knife+edge+sherlock&qid=1771858333&sprefix=knife+edg+sherlock%2Caps%2C271&sr=8-1&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2398065" target="_blank" rel="sponsored" data-id="iframe-1-anchor-10">Knife Edge (2013) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stone-Cold-Young-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/1447228014/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RLGWZZ8NYIBH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.BtPKE6NZWk923hgPClTk8b3Yza3ED0FT6EuMxwm8jtb8aYiMNo0eexXKeOhgkAKlszeOH0vIWPNZmSQuOxzFqwH_LB79yPIFvkG23CbPbFU._y22Zx5wZiPKzsyt15vDbCguccgu4jB4FtDdNfNha64&dib_tag=se&keywords=stone+cold+sherlock&qid=1771858348&sprefix=stone+co+sherlock%2Caps%2C280&sr=8-1&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2398065" target="_blank" rel="sponsored" data-id="iframe-1-anchor-11">Stone Cold (2014) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Break-Young-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/1447294572/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WYCYBRPBQFSN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gSfS_ctAQj2VJGGm48vbAdx4lz4TCGK8zTaLFkofoaKm7XQFV0-xnwpA420OCWGfaXpt64LYYmY05itQEMkJ0_eVhalmecOc7PhtYBJHmyIY595mLROsnMmNBbBxXmm28eAkV5G4sfjvNtRySpxSDIgKlORm0jfMWF5M5KJ4XKdQYZsMLOUZ7eEYokwu4CjkWNavwSTHsTwW2Hfs40dJn1_VnlTAACpFbB2J6P0XvgA.kQh3-zWxpZjnW5hzel5BZc-1ZM8O3Jo9SxYfie8bvZM&dib_tag=se&keywords=night+break&qid=1771858371&sprefix=night+break%2Caps%2C242&sr=8-1&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2398065" target="_blank" rel="sponsored" data-id="iframe-1-anchor-12">Night Break (2015) Young Sherlock will premiere on Prime Video on 4 March 2026 – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Plus, read our guides to the best Amazon Prime series and the best movies on Amazon Prime. Add Young Sherlock to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Dept Q books in order: How to read Jussi Adler-Olsen stories
Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Dept Q series is a cornerstone of modern Scandinavian crime fiction, blending dark, intricate mysteries with sardonic humour and a cast of unforgettable characters. The novels follow Detective Carl Mørck as he heads Copenhagen’s cold case division, unearthing secrets that others would rather stay buried. With the arrival of the Netflix adaptation – relocating the action to Edinburgh and bringing the stories to a new audience – there’s never been a better time to explore the original books in the order they were published. Bear in mind, the books have different titles in the UK compared to the US, so we've stuck with the UK translations here. So here’s your definitive guide to reading the Dept Q series from start to finish. Dept Q books in order: Mercy (2011) - also known as The Keeper of Lost Causes in the US Disgrace (2012) - also known as The Absent One in the US Redemption (2013) - also known as A Conspiracy of Faith in the US Guilt (2013) - also known as The Purity of Vengeance in the US Buried (2014) - also known as The Marco Effect in the US The Hanging Girl (2015) The Scarred Woman (2017) Victim 2117 (2020) The Shadow Murders (2022) Locked In (2024) Mercy (2011) The series opens with Mercy, introducing Detective Carl Mørck, who is sidelined to the newly-created Department Q after a traumatic shooting incident. Tasked with investigating cold cases, Mørck begins with the disappearance of politician Merete Lynggaard, a mystery everyone else has written off as unsolvable. This first novel establishes the series’ signature blend of psychological depth, grim humour and the complex moral landscape of Danish policing, while setting up the dynamic between Mørck and his soon-to-be indispensable assistant, Assad. Disgrace (2012) Disgrace sees Department Q handed a closed case – the brutal murder of a brother and sister two decades earlier. Although someone has confessed, Mørck is unconvinced by the official version and is drawn into a world of privilege and power. The novel deepens the partnership between Mørck and Assad, and introduces themes of institutional failure and the long reach of past sins. Redemption (2013) A cryptic message in a bottle, written in blood, lands on Mørck’s desk and launches Department Q into a harrowing investigation involving missing children and a chilling serial killer. Redemption is a turning point for the series, raising the stakes and expanding the team with the arrival of Rose, whose own backstory and sharp wit add new layers to the group dynamic. A relentless read. Guilt (2013) Guilt sees Mørck and his team drawn into a decades-old disappearance that soon reveals a pattern of vanished individuals and a sinister web of abuse and revenge. The investigation forces Mørck to confront his own past as well as the consequences of institutional neglect. This instalment stands out for its exploration of vengeance, justice, and the cost of unaddressed pain. Buried (2014) In Buried, Department Q investigates the case of a missing civil servant, presumed dead after returning from Africa, only to find that the answers may lie much closer to home. The novel introduces Marco, a streetwise teenager on the run, who becomes central to the investigation. The story weaves together themes of corruption, exploitation, and the resilience of those society overlooks, while giving the team one of their most challenging cases yet. The Hanging Girl (2015) A call from the Danish island of Bornholm draws Mørck and his team into the cold case of a 17-year-old girl found hanging in a tree. What begins as a local tragedy soon links to a shadowy cult and a series of new murders. The Hanging Girl is notable for its atmospheric setting and the way it pushes each member of Department Q to their limits, both professionally and personally. The Scarred Woman (2017) The Scarred Woman finds Department Q threatened with closure, with the team under pressure to deliver results. When the murder of an elderly woman in a Copenhagen park echoes an older unsolved case, and a series of attacks on young women rocks the city, Mørck and his colleagues must work against the clock. The novel delves deeply into Rose’s troubled past, making it one of the most personal and emotionally charged entries in the series. Victim 2117 (2020) The eighth novel, Victim 2117, brings the refugee crisis to the heart of Department Q’s work. The death of an unnamed refugee in the Mediterranean becomes the catalyst for a sprawling investigation with international implications – and a direct link to Assad’s own hidden history. This is a deeply political and personal story, broadening the scope of the series and revealing new details about the central characters. The Shadow Murders (2022) On her 60th birthday, a woman’s apparent suicide draws Mørck and his team into a labyrinthine case spanning three decades. As they connect a series of mysterious deaths, it becomes clear they’re dealing with a calculating murderer who has evaded justice for years. The Shadow Murders is the penultimate book, raising the tension and pushing the team to the brink as secrets from the past threaten to destroy them. Locked In (2024) The series concludes with Locked In, where Carl Mørck finds himself imprisoned, framed for crimes he did not commit, and with a bounty on his head. Department Q is fractured, trust is in short supply and the team must race against time to clear Mørck’s name and expose the true mastermind. This final entry is both a culmination of long-running threads and a high-stakes thriller, offering a fitting send-off to one of crime fiction’s most compelling teams. How to get started The best way to experience Dept Q is to read the novels in publication order, as each book builds on the last and the characters’ personal journeys are as important as the cases themselves. Whether you’re coming to the series fresh from the Netflix adaptation or are a returning fan, it doesn't matter – Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Dept Q series is sharp enough for all-comers. Now get to it... For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Richard Osman confirms brand new sequel novel with "lots of thrills" and when fans can expect it
Steve, Amy and Rosie D'Antonio will be back...
Richard Osman has announced a second book in his We Solve Murders series and confirmed when fans can expect it. We Chase Shadows, which Osman has teased will be filled with “lots of thrills, lots of laughs, and lots of murders", is set to be released in September 2026. The author of the best-selling Thursday Murder Club mystery novels – the first of which was recently given the big-screen treatment – said in a video posted on his social media: "I have great news for fans of We Solve Murders: We Solve Murders 2 is on its way. "To celebrate I have got a perfect facsimile of Trouble the Cat on my lap. Steve, Amy and Rosie D'Antonio are back." We Chase Shadows is available for pre-order now. We Solve Murders hit shelves in September 2024. It follows private security officer Amy Wheeler and her father-in-law Steve Wheeler, an ex-policeman turned reluctant private investigator, as the pair solve murders while dodging death at every turn. View oEmbed on the source website “It’s a bit more airport thriller-y than The Thursday Murder Club," Osman told Radio Times of the novel at the time of its release. "I knew I wanted to set myself a new challenge, but this book absolutely has the same sensibility, the same warmth and humour based in characters. I get to go around the world with it, which is nice, but Steve has no interest in that. "I thought a fun character to send on a cat-and-mouse chase around the world would be somebody who’s thinking, 'I hope we get this done by Tuesday because I want to get back for the pub quiz.'" In another interview, Osman also told Radio Times that there will be a television series adaptation of the novel, though he didn’t provide any further details. Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. The official synopsis for We Chase Shadows teases: "In the Italian hills, a body is found on the steps of a private villa at sunrise. Our mis-matched detective trio Amy, Rose and Steve return, in pursuit of an elusive and ruthless killer. "Between Italy and Palm Springs, via Barcelona and Steve's sleepy village pub, they uncover an impossible case where it seems that everyone is hiding something..." We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman is released in September 2026 and is available for pre-order now. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Harriet Tyce: 'No jury in the land would be able to crack The Traitors'
Tyce talks Witch Trial, her latest book out now – and it's unintentional link to The Traitors.
It's been quite the year already for Harriet Tyce. Fresh off an iconic stint on The Traitors where she put the cat among the pigeons in an explosive episode, Tyce has now returned to the day job – writing crime novels. Her first, Blood Orange, was published in 2019 and immediately climbed charts and placed her firmly in the batch of exciting crime writers to watch out for. But it's her latest novel Witch Trial, which is out today (Thursday 26 February), that's got the most attention. "It's always an exciting time [around publication]. I have to say this time it's like it's on steroids. It's been amplified so much," Tyce tells Radio Times a couple of days before her novel is published. Witch Trial tells the story of two girls who are on trial for the murder of their best friend, Christian. As the trial begins, the story is uncovered through the eyes of the jury who can barely comprehend the story they're being told – and when it takes a supernatural turn, it makes us question everything. "My editor at the time suggested I write a book about teenage serial killers. I wasn't so much interested in a serial killer, but a teenage defendant stuck in my head," Tyce explains about the origins of the novel. "I had become very interested in the idea of jurors, in what each individual person brings to the jury room. And the third bit of the puzzle that was missing was the supernatural element, which came from going to see a production of The Crucible. "I've never done anything with a supernatural element before and I've always been terrified of that kind of thing. It was frightening but it was an interesting frightening because I was looking at subject matters I knew nothing about – and that always brings a level of excitement as well, to embark on a completely new topic." A dark puzzle set in Scotland, supernatural presence and an unlikely bunch of people coming together to determine if someone is guilty or not? Sounds an awful lot like Tyce's recent turn on The Traitors. She laughs. "The mad and crazy thing is that I handed in a near-complete first draft on Halloween of 2024 and I put my application in for The Traitors in mid-December! There were six weeks clear water. "I mean, I've obviously loved the show from the beginning and I'm fascinated by its tropes and the whole Gothic supernatural – of course at some point it was going to play into a book. "While 'zeitgeist' is an awful word, I think there have been a lot of books and films which are part of that, so it's not actually that spooky a coincidence that I'd write a book that falls on some of the tropes. The weird bit is that I actually got onto the show." The Traitors cast do act as a would-be jury as Tyce thoroughly explores in Witch Trial throughout the show with the Faithfuls desperately searching to find those pesky Traitors - though her fictional characters get a lot more evidence than they do on the TV show. "The thing about the roundtable is that all you can go on is your best instincts - your best instincts when we have no actual evidence can be very, very tough... no jury in the land would be able to perform on what you actually have to go on in The Traitors because there's just nothing. "It turned out I had a good gut instinct, but I don't think gut instinct is good enough when it comes to actually finding someone properly guilty of an offence..." Tyce is keen to keep playing in the supernatural space, perhaps with a follow-up to Witch Trial. And her Traitors experience is already seeping into her authorial world, too. "I was fascinated by how real it became to me; it was my life. We were all living in it. It’s incredibly clever, the way they set the scene and keep you in an isolated space where you don’t have to think about anything except playing the game. "You know perfectly well it’s a game – of course it’s a game – but when you’re there day after day, it does feel a little bit life or death. I’m quite interested in the idea of what happens if you don’t snap out of it." It’s been a very rich year for Tyce – and, if her readers are lucky, many of those experiences will find their way into a future thriller. On my bookshelf with... Harriet Tyce The book that made me want to be an author... was reading a series of books by Dorothy L Sayers, featuring Harriet Vane. Detective fiction and crime fiction are brilliant. The book I wish I'd written... was David Nichols's One Day. The thing about it is that it's genius in its simplicity – something is just such a brilliant idea and you can't think how nobody had thought of it before, but they didn't and he did. That would've been great. And the adaptation was so painfully done; I cried buckets watching it. The book I'd recommend to anyone... is Rivals by Jilly Cooper in order to get people to transcend any snobbery of genre. It's just such a cracking read, it's so much fun – and again, we can see from the brilliant adaptation. The books I'm reading right now... are the diaries of Helen Garner (it's made me very nostalgic for a world before phones when we wrote letters!). I'm a judge for the Crime Writers' Association so I'm reading lots of collections of short stories by crime writers, and a book called Blank Canvas by Grace Murray. It's about a girl at college who has told a lie that her father is dead. It's very good but it's written by someone who's just a year older than my son, and that is bothering my deeply! For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Next Heated Rivalry book release date delayed as author Rachel Reid offers health update
The novel has been delayed by almost a year.
Rachel Reid, the author of the Game Changers series upon which hit HBO hockey drama Heated Rivalry is based, has delayed the release of her next novel due to health reasons. Unrivaled, which was due to be released in September 2026, will now be published on 1 June 2027. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Reid, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2023, explained that her symptoms have “gotten a bit worse”, which has made “it difficult physically to write”. She added: “Ultimately it’s going to be a much better book and that’s the most important thing to me, and I think it’s going to be better for the readers and better for the characters." Rachel Reid's Game Changers book series is available now Reid published her first novel in the Game Changers series in 2018, before following it up with five further books. Unrivaled is the seventh book in Reid’s novel series, and will continue Ilya and Shane’s story. Following its release on Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the US last November – and on Sky and NOW in January in the UK – Heated Rivalry quickly became a significant hit. The show, which is adapted and directed by Jacob Tierney, follows two rival and closeted NHL superstars – Canadian Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) – as they navigate a years-long love story and an environment in which coming out could damage their careers. The series has been praised by fans and critics alike for its sex positivity and its groundbreaking representation of LGBTQ+ athletes. In December, Reid shared that the success of the TV adaptation had helped her access better care for her Parkinson’s disease. In an interview with Variety, the author revealed that a Parkinson’s expert had contacted her after hearing about her diagnosis in a publicity interview for the show. She added: "I've never gotten to talk to a Parkinson's expert. I've been on a five-year waiting list here because I live in a very small place. Now he's found me a Parkinson's expert, a neurologist, and I have an appointment in a couple weeks. "That could change things for me because I'm not really getting the treatment that I should be getting." Unrivaled by Rachel Reid is available to pre-order now. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Why Lord of the Flies author William Golding didn't put girls on his classic novel's island
William Golding’s daughter Judy Carver recalls the seismic effect Lord of the Flies had on her father’s life and work.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. When Judy Carver was a child, her schoolmaster father regularly sent off a parcel to London that always, to his dejection, came back. She eventually understood that it was a story called Strangers from Within. One day, there was elation in the house. The story was going to become a book. Judy heard the words “Faber and Faber” so often she thought that was now the book’s title rather than the name of the publisher, but Lord of the Flies, written by her father William Golding, was published in September 1954, when Judy was nine. The book is now 72 years old and flourishing again as a four-part BBC One drama that concludes this week. Judy – Carver is her married name – remembers that much-travelled and long-unwanted manuscript: “It was dog-eared. That was one of the things that [editor] Charles Monteith at Faber spotted: other publishers had been reading it, but it was well read only up to a certain point, when people gave up. So he pushed on further, and transformed my father’s life.” Judy agrees that Faber’s choice to call the book Lord of the Flies – a traditional name for the Devil, that also alludes to a buzzily scary scene in the novel – was an improvement on her father’s original. It reflects ominous, mystical qualities in the story of a group of schoolboys stranded on a tropical island following the crash of a government plane evacuating them during a nuclear crisis, who descend into violently competing cliques. Does Strangers from Within, though, address more directly the book’s theme of how people can transform when in extremis? “Well, indeed,” says Judy. “That word ‘strangers’. Another phrase, in an essay my father wrote, is that we are suffering from ‘the terrible disease of being human’. And you could say what he is talking about is an internal intrusion or a malignant growth or something like that.” In one way, the famous title became an irritation to Golding. His daughter’s 2012 memoir, The Children of Lovers, includes a story about photographer Lord Snowdon capturing a furious reaction from Golding after congratulating him on having written The Lord of the Rings, the JRR Tolkien book that is another adolescent classic. “People made that mistake lots and lots of times,” says Judy. “I think he knew he was being manipulated by Snowdon to get a reaction, but he couldn’t help looking thunderous in the picture. The mistake still happens and I just have to let it go. I think it was clever of Snowdon to do that because Daddy loved to subvert photographers’ expectations of what the author of a book like Lord of the Flies should look like by smiling and telling jokes.” The island dystopia of Lord of the Flies has been shared with tens of millions of readers and viewers of movies and now TV. But what was Judy’s experience of it? “When it was first published, I was nine, and Daddy said I could read the first 50 pages before things got bloodthirsty. And all I really remember is thinking: goodness, there’s a reference to [Arthur Ransome’s] Swallows and Amazons! I really loved those books. “I read the whole of Lord of the Flies when I was 14 and can still feel the sense of dread. I wouldn’t say that I re-read it now reluctantly but it’s always going to be a tough read. It’s a very sad book.” Today’s TV viewers of Lord of the Flies will find it unusual to see four hours of drama featuring only male characters. Judy remembers that when Hollywood producer Sam Goldwyn bought the film rights to the book, he had a “bit of a rumpus” with Golding: “Goldwyn wanted to put little girls on the island and my father said, ‘No, if you do that, you completely change the story and have to have things like sex.’” An interesting aspect of the book is that the government seems only to have put boys on the evacuation flights; if the aim was to repopulate elsewhere, surely girls would eventually be required? “There’s a lot more detail in the full unedited manuscript that I sometimes think I might publish and then think: no, he cut that stuff out. I don’t remember any reference to girls in the manuscript. But actually I will rush back to it and have a jolly good look because it’s a good question.” Judy later contacts me to say that, in the first paragraph of the initial version, there is a reference to politicians sending abroad “a job lot of children”. However, her father crossed out “children” and replaced it with “boys”. With that pen stroke was born what has come to be seen as a handbook about masculinity. Golding had been a teacher of boys – is the book very directly about the male psyche? “He never said that specifically. What he did say was that he was a son and a brother and a father, and so he knew about boys and didn’t know about girls. The fact that he was the father of me seems to have eluded him at that point! I don’t think, though, he wanted to commit himself to the book being about what we now call ‘toxic masculinity’.” The late Sir Tom Stoppard told a story about his sons studying Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at school and getting bad marks when the playwright helped them with their essays. Did any later generations of Goldings get Lord of the Flies as a set text? “That Stoppard story is wonderful. My children’s schools carefully avoided them being in the tutor groups that did Lord of the Flies. None of my grandchildren, as far as I know, has been taught it, although one was told that he should read The Inheritors [Golding’s 1955 novel about Neanderthal society]. Which I don’t believe he has done.” Golding wrote other novels that were arguably greater – such as The Spire (1964), in which a spiritually uneasy Dean supervises the building of a huge cathedral – but his story of feral plane-wrecked boys so dominated the novelist’s reputation that the subtitle of John Carey’s posthumous biography was The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies. Did Golding ever regret or resent the book being seen as his creative pinnacle? “I think Daddy was superstitious about ever regretting it, because it changed so much. Later in his life – when he was in his 60s – he had a nightmare about Charles Monteith writing to him and rejecting the book. So it still seemed to him a bit of a knife-edge. He felt the same thing about being interviewed or praised too much: that he was tempting fate.” Judy recalls that, when asked to list his favourite books, her father “would say he thought The Inheritors was his best. Then The Spire. Then he’d add, in a slightly shamefaced way: ‘And Lord of the Flies isn’t bad!’” Golding “hated the idea of a film being made” but came to love Peter Brook’s 1963 movie adaptation, especially the black-and-white photography, and the use of choral music by Raymond Leppard, an admirer of Benjamin Britten, whose own music is, in a deliberate link, used in the current BBC version. However, the novelist refused to see Harry Hook’s 1990 version due to suspicions that seemed justified by the reviews. In 2005, the BBC broadcast Golding’s trilogy about an early 19th-century sea voyage as the mini-series To the Ends of the Earth, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jared Harris (now available on Amazon Prime). But, as a director of the family company that manages the Golding estate, Judy says that most inquiries involve Lord of the Flies. “A very good film director held the rights to The Spire for many years, but that won’t happen now. People often want to turn The Spire into an opera. And a very determined man tried to make an animation of The Inheritors, which would have been interesting. But none of these things seem to happen. Maybe they will now.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
I quit my job of 25 years to write a book – I felt frozen with fear
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Jennie Godfrey is the author other authors hate. “I think, being really honest, that some of them absolutely do,” she confirms. It’s not that she’s unpleasant or a bad writer (she’s very much neither); what’s put literary backs up is her success, and the apparent ease by which she came by it. Her first novel, 2024’s The List of Suspicious Things topped The Sunday Times charts, was one of the UK’s all-time bestselling debuts, sold 10,000 copies in its first week – and (can you hear those teeth grinding?) was the first thing she’d ever written. “I’ve had lots of people cast aspersions on my route to the bestsellers charts,” she sighs. “I wrote a SubStack post [about it], and I got accused of lying, of having connections in publishing, of secretly working for publishers, of being rich, of having a rich family…” It would all be quite depressing if it weren’t for the fact that, on the other hand, “there are a lot of people who’ve taken great hope from my story. Because when you do start writing, all you hear is how difficult it is, how you’ll never get an agent, you’ll never get a book deal… And particularly women of a certain age [Godfrey is 55], you’re told you’ve missed your chance. And I’m the opposite of all that.” Hers is certainly an inspiring backstory: after a 25-year career in corporate HR, she chucked in the job to pen a book – “before I’d started writing it or even had the idea for it. Which was like jumping off a cliff without a parachute.” The day job that Godfrey says she was “insane” to quit was a good grounding, though, it seems: “As an HR person, people tell you stuff. You get to know their secrets and what lies behind everyone’s façades.” Handy, because that’s very much the subject of her new novel, published earlier this month: “The Barbecue at No 9 is set in July 1985, and takes place over the 12 hours of the Live Aid concert. It’s the story of the residents of a new-build cul-de-sac, and how they all get together to celebrate the historic concert, and all their secrets come tumbling out.” Why Live Aid? “It felt like this seismic event, and everyone who was around at the time remembers it. Even people who weren’t born then know about it, and they’ve seen clips of it on YouTube. My own memories of that day are vivid: I remember crying on the phone to my friend Sam about how amazing Freddie Mercury was…” Given that – and given the eye-widening nature of some of the characters’ secrets revealed in the book – it’s impossible not to wonder if there’s a touch of autobiography to it. Godfrey’s first novel, The List of Suspicious Things, was partly inspired, alarmingly, by her dad’s real-life realisation that he had known Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper. “When I was 11 or 12 we did move to a new-build estate ourselves [like The Barbecue at No 9’s central characters], transplanted from our Yorkshire mill town to Milton Keynes, which felt like a fate worse than death for us northerners. But it’s not such a direct personal experience as the Sutcliffe link was for the first book.” In fact, adds Godfrey, the idea for this one came out of the blue: “After the success of List, I felt frozen with fear, and I was just working out how to tell my editor that I was never going to write another book, when I got on a train and the idea for Barbecue landed in my brain, almost the whole book in one go.” The author now lives in Somerset, where she works occasional shifts at her local Waterstones, because “all novelists should have to work in a bookshop. It’s an absolutely invaluable experience as a writer to understand who your readers are.” Her own, she’s found, are much more disparate than she expected: “I’ve been really surprised by how many men are massive fans of my work, and also how many young people. They think, because its set in the 1970s or 80s, it’s historical fiction, though! That makes you feel pretty old.” At least Godfrey has a few A-list fans for comfort. Among others, broadcaster-turned-author Graham Norton and author-turned-broadcaster Marian Keyes are devotees. “I’ve met them both and was completely star-struck,” she giggles, “and a little bit intense. They were lovely.” But aren’t authors supposed to hate her? “Well, maybe they were just nice to my face. Maybe they were the ones on SubStack being mean…” For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door! The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here.
Beloved author Marian Keyes reveals why 'chick lit' exposes the "hollowness" of post-feminism
Marian Keyes’s novels were seen as fluffy fiction, but a new drama about her Walsh sisters is fun and fearless.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. The award-winning Irish author Marian Keyes has sold millions of books in an internationally acclaimed career, but still behaves as if she has everything to prove. A few years back she was invited to be on the BBC arts programme Imagine. Her reaction? “You’ve rung me by mistake, it’s Roddy Doyle you want.” And despite the fact that two of her novels have now been adapted into a six-part series, The Walsh Sisters – a cracking, tragicomic saga of five sisters living it large in Dublin – she still doesn’t think she deserves it. “Well, it’s 30 years since my first book was published, and things have been suggested all the time, and nothing ever gets made, and it’s the hope that kills you,” she says. “So I just never bothered expecting it, because I felt there was no point.” When I ask why she’s so down on herself, she widens her green eyes and looks directly at me. “Because I write popular fiction. People were so keen to tell me that that my voice was worthless and my books were worthless…” she shrugs. Not only does Keyes write popular fiction – albeit peppered with Shakespearean allusions and quotes from the King James Bible – but that fiction often comes with pink covers. “I have stayed the course and I have defended myself for a long time, especially with men. I mean, sexism was so rife. It was OK for men to mock books with pink covers.” The eyes get even wider. “The patriarchy was so confident. One great way of hanging on to the power and the money is to mock the things that women love. A woman might read a book and love it. And a man will say, ‘You’re not reading that pink fluff, are you?’ And immediately a woman feels foolish and embarrassed.” Keyes is charming, but there is anger just under the smiley surface. Take her first novel, Watermelon. It deals with a number of the most urgent of female issues (single parenting, the pay gap, body dysmorphia). Yet, when it was published in 1995, it was put into a pink dust jacket and filed under a new, fluffy genre, known for its pastel dust jackets and adorned with drawings of high heels and cocktail glasses. “Chick lit. It was degrading. It was meant to be degrading. What it did was ‘defang’ post-feminism,” says Keyes wearily. “We were told, ‘The second wave of feminism has ended, you can be anything you want.’ But women knew that was absolutely not the case. Women could not expect to get paid the same as men, to get promoted with the same speed as men, to be welcomed back after maternity leave, to have sex with the same freedom that men do – and not get judged. And that is exactly what so-called ‘chick lit’ was about,” she says, with scorn. “It was about the hollowness of post feminism. Slap a title like chick lit on; instantly, it’s defanged.” Indeed, it blunted the weapon she wielded. Which was? “Writing about the lives of women who were confused by a world where men still had all the power. None of that was picked up. Because of the pinkness of chick lit.” Did the pink fluffiness of the covers make her change her subject? Did it hell. “I write about women. I’m 62 now, and as I age, the women I write about get older. My focus shifts. I wish younger women well, but I can’t really relate to their lives in the same way that I used to. Now, I love the thing you have in your late 50s, of being too exhausted to care about getting your legs waxed. Or just that feeling the world won’t end if your roots are on show.” She smiles beatifically at me. She explains she hasn’t helped with the scripting by Stefanie Preissner of The Walsh Sisters. “She didn’t ask me to, and I wouldn’t have wanted to. I like writing books. And forgive me, this sounds ungrateful, but when I finished the books, the books were done. And no matter what the series is like, the books are still the books that I wrote. Secondly, I knew Stefanie. I find her fascinating and admirable. So, I thought if anybody could do it, she could. I also felt that the producers had paid for the option. It was theirs for them to do with what they liked, and that’s the deal.” No worries then? “Well, it was a risk, but you can’t do it without risk. I moved house recently, I sold my house to somebody else, and what they do with it is up to them. They gave me the money. It’s now their house.” A woman who has coped with addiction and has defined herself as an “ordinary alcoholic”, Keyes clearly has enormous strength, as well as a no-nonsense approach to the vagaries of the media. “I have used humour in the books to deal with painful subjects, and that’s a personal survival mechanism, but it’s also immensely Irish. When people told me I was crap back then, I wondered if I was, if my books were… I always knew their worth, but it was exhausting to be told, constantly, that my books counted for nothing.” Now they count in their millions, and have presumably made Keyes an extremely wealthy woman. Not that this was the plan. “My first book was published only in Ireland, set in Ireland about Irish people. I honestly thought nobody outside of Ireland would have any interest. I still can’t believe how lucky I am.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. The Walsh Sisters airs at 9:15pm on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 21 February. Check out more of our Books coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
How to read James Patterson’s Alex Cross books in order
We've put together the ultimate guide to James Patterson’s Alex Cross series, from his very first case to his latest showdown.
As Aldis Hodge returns as Alex Cross in the second season of Prime Video's adaptation, simply titled Cross, now could be the perfect time to revisit or read for the first time the novels that inspired it. Over more than three decades, Alex Cross has emerged as one of suspense fiction’s most enduring characters, appearing in 34 novels to date by James Patterson. Of course, the Alex Cross series isn't the only one written by Patterson, but it is a fan favourite, with readers finding themselves hooked by the adventures of the Metropolitan Police Department. Whether you're a newcomer who's enjoying the Prime Video series, a seasoned Cross-head who's read all of the novels, or someone looking for a lighter spin-off fix, you’ll find everything you need to know in this guide to Patterson’s most popular series. Here’s how you read the Alex Cross books in order. How to read the Alex Cross books in order Along Came a Spider (1993) Kiss the Girls (1995) Jack & Jill (1996) Cat & Mouse (1997) Pop Goes the Weasel (1999) Roses Are Red (2000) Violets Are Blue (2001) Four Blind Mice (2002) The Big Bad Wolf (2003) London Bridges (2004) Mary, Mary (2005) Cross (2006) Double Cross (2007) Cross Country (2008) Alex Cross’s Trial (2009) I, Alex Cross (2009) Cross Fire (2010) Kill Alex Cross (2011) Merry Christmas, Alex Cross (2012) Alex Cross, Run (2013) Cross My Heart (2013) Hope to Die (2014) Cross Justice (2015) Cross the Line (2016) The People vs. Alex Cross (2017) Target: Alex Cross (2018) Criss Cross (2019) Deadly Cross (2020) Fear No Evil (2021) Triple Cross (2022) Cross Down (2023) Alex Cross Must Die (2023) The House of Cross (2024) Return of the Spider (2025) What’s the appeal of the Alex Cross series? Meet Alex Cross: a forensic psychologist turned DC detective, a widower raising children and a dogged crime-solver with a heart. Since the first novel was published in 1993, readers have followed Cross through gruesome murders, ruthless masterminds and personal heartache. Patterson’s lightning-paced plotting and emotional chords – rooted in family, ethics and vengeance –have made Cross one of thriller fiction’s most iconic heroes. An ongoing theme in the earlier books is the unsolved murder of his first wife, Maria. What happens in Along Came a Spider by James Patterson? Along Came a Spider (1993) is the first book in James Patterson’s Alex Cross series and introduces the Washington DC detective/psychologist who will go on to anchor more than 30 thrillers. The debut sees Detective Alex Cross pulled from a high-profile murder case in his own neighbourhood to investigate the kidnapping of two wealthy children from an exclusive private school. The abductor, Gary Soneji, is a math teacher with delusions of grandeur who dreams of committing “the crime of the century” and cementing his place in history alongside infamous criminals. Cross teams up with Secret Service agent Jezzie Flannagan to track the missing children, but the deeper he digs, the more twisted the case becomes – blending abduction, murder, betrayal and psychological manipulation. The first book in the Alex Cross series establishes the hallmarks of the series: Patterson’s short, punchy chapters, high-stakes suspense, and Cross’s personal tug-of-war between duty and family life. It’s also one of the most psychologically driven entries, with Cross pitted against a chillingly unpredictable villain. When did Return of the Spider come out? The latest novel in the Alex Cross series, Return of the Spider, was released on 9th October 2025. It takes us back to where it all began, with the infamous Gary Soneji case from Along Came a Spider. When a hidden cabin yields a cache of grisly trophies and diaries, Alex Cross is forced to face a devastating possibility: he may have put the wrong man behind bars. As he retraces the steps of his rookie investigation, Cross learns the case was never truly closed... and the “Spider” might be deadlier than ever. Short break: Alex Cross spin-offs and novellas Novellas and spin-offs If you want a shorter, faster-paced taste of Alex Cross, James Patterson has written a handful of novellas and side stories. These are designed as quick thrillers, perfect for reading between the main books, or if you want to see Alex in action without committing to a full-length novel. Cross Kill (2016) is part of Patterson’s BookShots series. This novella pits Alex against an old enemy thought to be long dead, blurring the line between past and present dangers. Detective Cross (2017) is another BookShots instalment where Cross investigates a deadly explosion in Washington, DC, racing against time to prevent more attacks. Ali Cross series These spin-offs follow Ali Cross, Alex’s son, who takes after his father’s detective instincts but navigates them through the lens of a teenager. Written as middle-grade/young adult mysteries (aimed at readers roughly 9–14), they blend Patterson’s trademark fast pace with themes of friendship, family and growing up under the shadow of a famous detective. There are currently three books in the series: Ali Cross (2019) follows Ali as he gets caught up in a case when one of his friends goes missing. Ali Cross: Like Father, Like Son (2021) is a mystery that forces Ali to balance school life with living up to his dad’s legacy. Ali Cross: The Secret Detective (2022) sees Ali take on a case involving a school field trip and missing items. Which Alex Cross novels are the Prime Video Cross series based on? Cross on Prime Video is actually not based on any of Patterson's novels, and instead tells new stories while utilising the characters from, and world of, the books. Stars Aldis Hodge and Isaiah Mustafa previously discussed this when speaking with RadioTimes.com, with Hodge explaining: "What people will learn is that every season, the seasons aren't based on the books, right? They are new mysteries, new characters, new villains, with obviously your staple characters - your Cross, your Sampson, you know what I mean? "The benefit is that we get to create a world that stands as an asset to the Cross universe as it is. So people get the books, and then when they come to the series, they get an extension of the world that they love and know. And we get to create these magnanimous characters that really are truly inspired, they're creative, there's depth to them, a lot of mystery going on. "But we get the freedom to play and create how we do as artists, always celebrating the fabric and the foundation of the books. And we get to give the audience kind of like, again, the final full experience that they want to get out of the world of Cross that they love so much." Meanwhile, Mustafa added: "I think they complement each other, whereas the books can kind of introduce you to the characters and the world, but our show will fill in any gap, and create new things that you never even thought. "Like, 'I had no idea Sampson was like that, no idea that Alex was like that.' Like, it would create this world that is fully fleshed out and breathed into." Read more: Holly Jackson: 'I'm surprised I wasn't arrested for research on Good Girl's Guide to Murder' Daisy Jones & The Six star: 'Taylor Jenkins Reid has a great ability to take you on an adventure in the world' For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Need more Bridgerton now? 17 steamy historical romances and raciest Regency books to whet your appetite
Gentle Reader, it's time to actually read a book.
Gentle readers, if you binged the first half of Bridgerton season 4 and devoured Benedict and Sophie’s blossoming romance, you’re probably now staring at the calendar, counting down to Part Two on 26 February. We feel you. To pass the time, why not become a true gentle reader? Close that Netflix tab and pick up a book, it’s the best way to immerse yourself in the Regency romances of Bridgerton and other period dramas. To make it easier, we’ve rounded up the best historical romances and Regency-style reads to tide you over until the next episode. Let's get into some historical fiction. What to read after finishing Bridgerton An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn Marry Me By Midnight by Felicia Grossman Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke A Waltz on the Wild Side by Erica Ridley A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin A Lady For a Duke by Alex Hall A Rogue of One's Own by Evie Dunmore Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander Hathor and the Prince by JJ McAvoy Remember When by Mary Balogh The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell Notorious by Katherine Harlow Denying the Duke by Callie Hutton The Duchess Takes a Husband by Harper St George Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas 1. An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn It’ll come as no surprise that if you’re looking for books like Bridgerton season 4, the place to start is the novel that inspired it. The third book in the Bridgerton series follows Benedict and Sophie’s love story – a classic Cinderella tale, though even more enchanting on the page. Sophie Beckett was adapted into Sophie Baek for the series to suit the brilliant Yerin Ha and add extra layers to the role, and the novel has been rereleased with a series tie-in, making it the perfect follow-up to the season. Sophie never imagined she’d sneak into Lady Bridgerton’s legendary masquerade ball – or that her very own ‘Prince Charming’ would be waiting. Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie had been relegated to servant by her cruel stepmother. But that night, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she felt like royalty… even if all enchantments must eventually end. 2. Marry Me By Midnight by Felicia Grossman It’s 1832 in London, and Isabelle Lira may be in distress, but she is no damsel. Since her father’s death, his former partners have been trying to edge her out of their joint equity business, leaving her with one urgent solution: marry fast – to a powerful ally outside the respected Berab family’s sphere. Finding the right spouse means casting a wide net, so she hosts a series of festivals, inviting every eligible Jewish man in town. Think of it as a romance full of fake dating and arranged agreements… which, naturally, get a little messy along the way. It has some Cinderella vibes, much like Bridgerton season four, except this time she’s the wealthy heiress, and he’s the penniless orphan. And if you loved this one, don’t miss Felicia’s other books, including Dearest Beast, out in June. 3. Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke Once again, a Cinderella retelling worthy of An Offer From a Gentleman, now sprinkled with a cosy bookshop and a classic makeover trope — the perfect book for fans of Bridgerton season 3 as well. Evie Harlow runs a quaint little bookshop in London, the grandest adventure an unmarried woman with no prospects could hope for. That is, until Maximillian Shaw, Duke of Westbourne, strolls in with a daring proposition: to win a bet with his friends, he’ll transform her into the diamond of the season. The duke may be devilishly handsome, but Evie has no intention of accepting his outrageous offer. When disaster strikes her shop, however, she finds herself with little choice but to be swept up into his dazzling high-society world. 4. A Waltz on the Wild Side by Erica Ridley A wilder take on historical romance, packed with danger, daring rescues, and swoon-worthy heroes. Advice columnist Miss Vivian Henry despises the Wild Wynchesters her young cousin idolises. Privileged families might get away with murder while ordinary people remain firmly in their place. But when her cousin goes missing, and the authorities turn a blind eye, Viv has no choice but to seek help from the very vigilantes she loathes. Animal trainer and secretive poet Jacob Wynchester leaves his comfort zone and finds himself on an adventure far beyond anything he could have imagined. With the gentlemanly charm of Bridgerton and its own Lady Whistledown-style intrigue, this one’s a historical romance with bite. 5. A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin Kitty Talbot doesn’t need love; she needs a fortune, and she sees marriage as her only way to secure it. With just twelve weeks to find a wealthy husband and save her sisters, she must use every ounce of cunning and ingenuity to climb London society. The only person she can’t fool is Lord Radcliffe, who sees straight through her schemes and is determined to stop her at any cost. Much like Bridgerton, the author deftly explores the era’s social dynamics, highlighting the sexism that favoured men, the pressures faced by the eldest child, and the biases and prejudices of the upper class toward those less fortunate. 6. A Lady For a Duke by Alexis Hall One of the standout elements of the Bridgerton adaptation is its thoughtful approach to queer storylines, and this remarkable LGBT historical romance delivers in the same spirit. Presumed dead at Waterloo, Viola Carroll seized the chance to live authentically as herself, but freedom came at a steep price: the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Years later, when their families reconnect, Viola discovers just how deep that loss ran. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises the lonely, brooding man he has become. As Viola works to restore Gracewood to himself, new desires give fresh names to old feelings, ones that were impossible before, and perhaps still are, yet Viola cannot deny them. Even if embracing them risks losing everything all over again. The stakes are high! 7. A Rogue of One's Own by Evie Dunmore If you love your Regency romance with a strong heroine – think Sophie Baek or Kate Sharma – you’ll devour this novel by Evie Dunmore. Lady Lucie and her band of Oxford suffragists are ready to stage a coup against Parliament, but the one obstacle she didn’t expect? Her old nemesis and London’s notorious lord of sin, Lord Ballentine. And he’s only willing to hand over the reins for an outrageous price: a night in her bed. Yep, this is one delightfully racy Regency you won’t want to miss. 8. Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James The stakes are never higher than a woman’s virtue, something we’ve seen play out in nearly every season of Bridgerton. Lady Roberta St Giles, the sheltered only daughter of a marquess, falls for a man glimpsed across a crowded ballroom: a duke, a masterful player, and notorious rakehell with no interest in marriage... until he lays eyes on Roberta. Yet the Earl of Gryffyn knows all too well that the price to gain a coronet can be dangerously high. Damon Reeve, the earl, is determined to shield the exquisite Roberta from the wrong destiny, but can he entice her into a high-stakes game of his own, even if it means risking his own heart along the way? 9. Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux Fancy another masquerade ball? Margaret Arden dreams of living like the passionate, daring heroines in her novels. Life at Mosely Cottage with her mother and two younger sisters is safe, but Margaret craves more than the demure, dainty existence she’s always known. After a particularly brutal rejection from an annoyingly attractive publisher, she fears being forced into marriage to protect her family. Then her cousin’s glamorous wedding masquerade sets her on a thrilling collision course with scandal, notoriety, and maybe even love. 10. A Gentleman's Gentleman by TJ Alexander Lord Christopher Eden is far from your typical gentleman. Preferring the quiet company of his childhood cook and his elderly butler to the endless eyes and ears of the ton, he enjoys a life removed from society’s scrutiny. But when his late father’s will demands that he marry by the end of the season to inherit the family fortune and Eden estate, Christopher faces a daunting challenge: he isn’t attracted to women, and making a wife happy seems impossible. Then comes the real complication: James Harding, his new, distractingly handsome valet. Their growing friendship carries secrets that could upend everything — and puts Christopher’s impending nuptials in jeopardy. 11. Hathor and the Prince by JJ McAvoy Daphne may not have ended up with a prince in Bridgerton season 1, but Hathor Du Bell might just get her fairy-tale ending. Long overshadowed by her sister and thoroughly bored by the ton’s uninspiring suitors, Hathor finds herself facing the close of the London season with no match in sight. That is, until the Queen announces the arrival of Prince Wilhelm Augustus Karl von Edward of Malrovia at a glittering week-long society event hosted at the Du Bells’ Belclere Castle. The fantasy quickly unravels when Hathor finally meets the prince, and he’s nothing like she imagined. What follows is a deliciously flirtatious rivalry that neither can resist, making this a Regency romance that’s as addictive for the reader as it is for its heroine. 12. Remember When by Mary Balogh Feeling particularly taken by Violet and Marcus's storyline this season? Well, then we'd love to introduce you to Clarissa Ware, the Dowager Countess of Stratton. After sorting a suitable match for her daughter, she returns to Ravenswood, intending to spend the summer alone there. But that's difficult given the return of Matthew Taylor, a gentleman who became the village carpenter she was close to when younger, who never would've made a match. Now everything is different, as their summer friendship deepens into romance, they stand together on the precipice of change. 13. The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell Before he was searching for the Lady in Silver, Benedict was a painter refining his craft, so it seems only fitting to include this tale of a Royal Academy painting student. Lucy Coover quickly comes to the aid of the naked drunkard she stumbles upon one evening in the Shoreditch slums. If only she could banish his lovely form from her dreams as easily. Instead, she finds herself compelled to paint the man in his natural form. Little does she know that her impromptu subject is none other than the seventh Duke of Weston, Anthony Philby. He needs the painting destroyed to save his reputation, so he goes hunting for the artist and finds more than he bargained for. 14. Notorious by Katherine Harlow Oh, you want steamy? Say no more. Rumours swirl around the rakish Viscount Rochford, a man who’s left a trail of broken hearts in his wake and built a fearsome reputation for jilting society women. So when whispers suggest he’s finally ready to settle down, the ton is shocked, none more so than Miss Penelope Stratton. Beautiful, shy, and armed with a sizeable dowry, Penelope has no shortage of suitors, yet against all better judgement she finds herself drawn to the one man least suited to marriage: a notorious rake with a scandalous past. Consider this the perfect follow-up for fans of rakish Benedict Bridgerton. 15. Denying the Duke by Callie Hutton Lord Alexander Pemberton lost the love of his life, Lady Patience, to an arranged marriage with his brother, driving him to bury his broken heart in the military. Four years later, he’s summoned home to inherit the title after his brother’s death – only to discover a shocking truth: Patience never married his brother, and now Alex is expected to marry her instead. But Patience can’t wed a man who no longer loves her… or does he? Can they find their way back to each other before it’s too late? 16. The Duchess Takes a Husband by Harper St George Let’s be honest: Lady Danbury is one of Bridgerton’s most iconic characters – and this book serves up that same unapologetic girlboss energy. Camille, Duchess of Hereford, is a society outcast thanks to her American ways and outspoken interest in the suffrage movement. Enter Jacob Thorne, the illegitimate son of an earl and co-owner of London’s notorious Montague Club. Camille proposes a scandalous deal: she’ll lend him the respectability of a fake engagement if he shows her whether pleasure is something she can claim for herself. This is a provocative tale you don't want to miss. 17. Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas Let’s close our list of steamy Bridgerton-style reads with this racy delight. Lady Sophia Sydney will stop at nothing to ensnare the unattainable Sir Ross Cannon, scheming to ruin his reputation and spark a scandal that will rock all of London. She charms her way into his life, earning his trust and taking up residence in his home. By day, her intoxicating presence tempts him beyond reason; by night, her eyes – and her body – promise hours of unbridled passion before dawn, if only he’ll let her share his bed. She knows he’s falling for her more with each passing day… but she never expected to fall in love with him herself. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? 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The Gruffalo series to get sequel with new character – more than 20 years after last instalment
Beloved children's author Julia Donaldson has confirmed she has written a new story about her iconic character, the Gruffalo, and will be introducing a new character. Gruffalo Granny will mark the third book in the series about the creature and his family and friends, and currently is due for release in September. As previously, it will be illustrated by long-term collaborator, Axel Scheffler. Donaldson made the exciting announcement during an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today programme (Friday 6th February), saying: "It'a always a challenge to write a sequel. I've had this idea for the best part of two decades but I've just been so busy writing other things. And now of course I'm a granny myself, so maybe that's what spurred me on..." Scheffler added: "I've been saying for more than 20 years there wouldn't be a sequel, and it's taught me to never say never. It was a complete surprise for me, but Julia came up with such a wonderful story and I got very excited about it." The Fox, Snake, Owl and Mouse will all return for the sequel. So far, one line has been revealed: "The Gruffalo said to his daughter one day, your Gruffalo Granny is coming to stay." The Gruffalo was first published in 1999, with The Gruffalo's Child following five years later. It was turned into a short film for the BBC by Magic Light Pictures in 2009, with a star-studded cast made up of Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, James Corden and more. The film would go on to be nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. The Gruffalo's Child was adapted in 2011 with the same cast returning. The Gruffalo's Granny will be released on 10th September 2026. You can pre-order it here. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Gossip Girl author confirms sequel novel about Blair Waldorf with major time jump and release window
The announcement will ignite fresh hope of further TV adaptations.
The world of Gossip Girl is about to expand with a brand new novel from original author Cecily von Ziegesar to reveal what became of one of the franchise's standout characters. Simply titled Blair, the book will follow fan favourite Blair Waldorf, now in her 40s, as she returns to New York City and resumes navigating the Upper East Side's wealthy socialite circles. Further details about the plot are being kept under wraps, but speculation is already brewing that this new book could pave the way for a(nother) revival of the once-dominant TV property. Blair is scheduled for release in summer 2027, with Grand Central Publishing to handle the release in the US, and Orion Fiction to publish in other international territories, including the UK (via Deadline). Based on Von Ziegesar's young adult novels, Gossip Girl had a hugely popular run on television between 2007 and 2012, helping to launch the careers of stars including Blake Lively (It Ends With Us), Penn Badgley (You) and Chace Crawford (The Boys). However, an HBO Max follow-up featuring an all-new cast couldn't recapture the magic, receiving mixed reviews from critics and ultimately getting axed after only two seasons. Could the upcoming Blair novel offer a fresh chance for Gossip Girl to thrive on-screen? Potentially, although it's unclear whether actor Leighton Meester has any interest in returning to the role that she originated. The actor recently addressed her Gossip Girl past at last year's SAG Awards, where she appeared alongside the show's narrator Kristen Bell for a skit targeted at some of the famous faces in the crowd. View oEmbed on the source website However, when the HBO Max revival was launching, Meester appeared unsure about the prospect of reprising her role, telling Fox 5 New York that she didn't feel she would "fit in" to the new iteration. Meester recently appeared alongside Bell and her own real-life husband Adam Brody in Netflix's Nobody Wants This, in addition to roles in Apple's period drama The Buccaneers and HBO comedy I Love LA. Alloy Entertainment still holds the TV and film rights to Gossip Girl, with the company being known for its long-running book-to-screen projects, including The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars. Gossip Girl is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Add Gossip Girl to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
26 book-to-screen adaptations in 2026: Including contentious Brontë film and Frankenstein (but not as you know it)
From BookTok to classics, there's a wealth of great books being adapted this year.
Film and TV makers are increasingly looking to page-turning books for their inspiration for stories to tell - and why shouldn't they? There's a wealth of gripping plots and twists just waiting to be projected onto the big (and small) screen. This year, there's set to be a plethora of delightful book-to-screen adaptations for us to enjoy, with classics like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein being adapted (again... but not as you'd think), and of course, Emerald Fennell's already-contentious Wuthering Heights film. For those over on TikTok, there are a few titles coming up you'll definitely recognise from #BookTok, like Colleen Hoover's Reminders of Him and Verity, among others. The best bit of all? We've rounded up the hottest adaptations coming to the big and small screens in 2026 - so you can read the books in good time. Make sure to keep this page bookmarked in case any new adaptations are slotted into the release schedule. TV and film adaptations in 2026 Agatha Christie's Seven Dials - out now A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - out now H is for Hawk - out now Hamnet - out now His and Hers - out now People We Meet on Vacation - out now Bridgerton season 4 - 29th January Wuthering Heights - 13th February Outlander season 8 - 6th March The Bride! - 6th March Scarpetta - 11th March Reminders of Him - 13th March Imperfect Women - 18th March Project Hail Mary - 20th March Margo's Got Money Troubles - 15th April Remarkably Bright Creatures - 8th May The Odyssey - 17th July The Book of Magic - 28th September Verity - 2nd October Remain - 23rd October Sunrise on the Reaping - 20th November Dune: Part Three - 18th December Carrie - TBC Pride & Prejudice - TBC The Love Hypothesis - TBC The Other Bennet Sister - TBC 1. Agatha Christie's Seven Dials How to watch: now on Netflix Agatha Christie is a master of suspenseful whodunnits, making her works prime suspects for adaptations. The latest on Netflix is a three-part series based on The Seven Dials Mystery which investigates a mysterious death the morning after a party in a grand stately home. Mia McKenna-Bruce is joined by Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman in this fun and gripping adaptation. 2. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms How to watch: now on Sky George R.R. Martin's epic world of Westeros expands again in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. This time, set 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones, we follow the adventures of Dunk and Egg as the travel the land and encounter various challenges along the way in the Targaryen dynasty. 3. H is for Hawk How to watch: in cinemas, 23rd January Helen Macdonald's 2014 memoir tells the story of grief and a love of falconry and it's been adapted into a gorgeous film starring Clare Foy and Brendon Gleeson - with a delicate script from novelist Emma Donoghue. 4. Hamnet How to watch: in cinemas now Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel was a bestseller upon release and the adaptation starring Jessie Buckley is storming the awards season, too. Chloé Zhao directs Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as his wife, Agnes, in this extraordinary portrayal of grief after the death of their son, Hamnet. 5. His and Hers How to watch: now on Netflix Alice Feeney's twisty thriller, His and Hers, is heading to Netflix with Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal in the leads. This complex story follows Anna, a newsreader, who gets tied into a murder case with her ex-detective husband Jack Harper - and there's way more than meets the eye to it. 6. People We Meet on Vacation How to watch: now on Netflix Chances are you'll have already binged through Emily Henry's page-turning romance and now it's been brought to life on Netflix. Poppy and Alex are best friends who stop speaking after a fateful trip to Croatia two years ago. The action goes back and forth between that holiday and the present day. 7. Bridgerton season 4 (An Offer From a Gentleman) How to watch: Netflix, 29th January Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha) are at the heart of Bridgerton season 4 as Julia Quinn's iconic series continues to get its big budget adaptation on Netflix. 8. Wuthering Heights How to watch: in cinemas 13th February Emily Brontë's classic is getting yet another adaptation - but this one has already generated a lot of buzz and chatter, rightly or wrongly. Emerald Fennell directs Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliffe in this stylish and current re-telling of the classic love story. Adolescence's Owen Cooper also appears as a young Heathcliff - and if that wasn't enough, Charli XCX is behind the soundtrack. 9. Outlander season 8 (Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone) How to watch: Amazon Prime Video, 6th March Diana Gabaldon's series continues in the ninth book with Jamie and Claire's remarkable love story. It's 1779 and they're reunited with their daughter, Brianna and her family as they try to rebuild on Fraser's Ridge. However, tensions run high across the States and it isn't long before war is on Jamie's doorstep. 10. The Bride! How to watch: in cinemas 6th March Maggie Gyllenhaal has written and directed this dark and imaginative take on Frankenstein, starring Jessie Buckley as the eponymous character and Christian Bale as the creature. This adaptation takes place in 1930s Chicago and follows the creature who asks a doctor to make him a life-long companion — carnage swiftly follows, of course. 11. Scarpetta How to watch: Amazon Prime Video, 11th March Nicole Kidman stars as forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta, the lead character of Patricia Cornwell's series. It's the first time the character has been brought to screen and the series will see Kay solving crimes while battling her own personal demons. 12. Reminders of Him How to watch: in cinemas 13th March Kenna returns to her hometown after a stint in prison and she's determined to rebuild her life with her young daughter. But she soon realises that the past is hard to forget and no matter how hard she tries, not everyone can be so instantly forgiving. Maika Monroe stars in this adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestseller. 13. Imperfect Women How to watch: Apple TV+, 18th March Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and more star in this adaptation of Araminta Hall's popular psychological thriller. A devastating crime has a detrimental impact on two friends who've been friends for decades and as the truth spills out, secrets about the friends does too. Did they ever really know each other at all? 14. Project Hail Mary How to watch: in cinemas 20th March Ryland Grace is aboard a spaceship all by himself with no memory of how he got there. All he knows is that he was sent on a last-ditch attempt with some other scientists to save the Earth. But with everyone gone, will he be able to save the planet? This gripping adaptation sees Ryan Gosling take on the lead role in Andy Weir's epic novel. 15. Margo's Got Money Troubles How to watch: Apple TV+, 15th April Margo is the child of an ex-pro wrestler and a Hooters waitress but has always been destined to make it on her own. When life isn't going to plan, she takes desperate measures and joins OnlyFans. When Margo suddenly becomes an overnight success, will she realise that having money and fame isn't all it's cracked out to be? Elle Fanning stars in this adaptation of Rufi Thorpe's novel. 16. Remarkably Bright Creatures How to watch: Netflix, 8th May Shelby Van Pelt's story on love, loss and friendship has won over a legion of fans already — and it will continue to do so when an adaptation of it lands on Netflix this Spring. Tova Sullivan is a cleaner at Sowell Bay Aquarium, consumed by grief since her 18-year-old son vanished over 30 years ago. But, as she goes about her work, Tova becomes enchanted by a giant octopus named Marcellus, and it's via these two unlikely friends that the story wonderfully unfurls. 17. The Odyssey How to watch: in cinemas 17th July Homer's classic text is getting the Christopher Nolan treatment in this highly ambitious and epic retelling. Expect a huge budget and an even bigger cast starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Zendaya to name a few. Odysseus sets off on a 10-year journey home facing mythical creatures, gods and other grand challenges - all while his wife Penelope and son Telemachus deal with suitors back at home. 18. The Book of Magic How to watch: in cinemas 28th September Alice Hoffman's second book in her Practical Magic series continues the story of the Owens, who have always struggled with love thanks to a dreadful curse. Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock star in the cinematic adaptation. 19. Verity How to watch: in cinemas 2nd October Colleen Hoover's work is being once more adapted for the big screen, this time alongside a star-studded cast of Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and more. Lowen Ashleigh can't seem to make money doing what she loves but she gets the chance of a lifetime to make a name for herself when she's asked to finish the books of renowned author, Verity Crawford. Lowen moves into the Crawfords' home and soon finds out some dark secrets about the family who have taken her in... 20. Remain How to watch: in cinemas 23rd October Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor star in an adaptation of Nicolas Sparks and M. Night Shymalan's ambitious novel. New York architect Tate Donovan has just arrived in Cape Cod to work on his best friend's house. He's also hoping for a fresh start after a terrible bout of depression following the death of his sister. But, when Tate meets the beautiful Wren, he starts to challenge everything he thought he knew in his controlled world. 21. Sunrise on the Reaping How to watch: in cinemas 20th November Set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins' prequel recalls the story of the 50th Hunger Games which would eventually end with Haymitch Abernathy becoming the victor. Joseph Zada stars alongside Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin and more. 22. Dune Messiah (Dune: Part Three) How to watch: in cinemas 18th December Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and more return for the third Dune film, directed by Dennis Villeneuve. Frank Herbert's iconic series has received blockbuster treatment, making it one of the most popular and expansive sci-fi franchises since Star Wars. Dune Messiah will wrap up Paul Atreides' remarkable journey. 23. Carrie How to watch: Amazon Prime Video, date TBC Stephen King's iconic horror is once again being adapted for an Amazon Prime Video series. Summer H Howell takes on the role of troubled teenager Carrie White who has a difficult relationship with her repressed mental superpowers. When her kindness is abused by a terrible prank, her town will soon learn how strong she can be... 24. Pride and Prejudice How to watch: Netflix, date TBC Jane Austen's seminal romance novel needs no introduction, having already been adapted numerous times. The latest will air on Netflix and sees Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet, Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy, Fiona Shaw as Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Olivia Colman as Mrs Bennet. 25. The Love Hypothesis How to watch: in cinemas TBC Ali Hazelwood tells the story of a third year PhD student, Olive Smith, who doesn't believe in long-lasting love. However, her best friend does, and gets her into a situation where she must prove she's dating. Olive ends up kissing a young professor and she concocts a plan for him to pretend to be her boyfriend to get her friend off her case - but what happens when feeling start to come into play? 26. The Other Bennet Sister How to watch: BBC One, date TBC Pride and Prejudice adaptations are like buses: two come at once. The Other Bennet Sister takes the world of Austen's novel and flips it on its head by exploring the over-looked middle daughter of the Bennets: Mary. Ella Bruccoleri, Ruth Jones and Indira Varma star in this fun BBC miniseries. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club.
Harriet Tyce books in order: How to read The Traitors star's crime novels
All of the barrister turned crime writer turned Faithful's books, including her upcoming release.
As the UK becomes captivated by the latest season of The Traitors, one Faithful is standing out for her cunning strategy: Harriet Tyce. Not only is Tyce a successful crime writer, but she’s also a former barrister – though her fellow Faithfuls and the Traitors themselves remain blissfully unaware. Her sharp mind and calculated approach have made her a standout on the show, proving that her legal and writing skills translate perfectly to reality TV – and she's already caught one Traitor. While viewers cheer for Harriet on screen, many are also turning to her novels off screen, eager to dive into the dark, twisty worlds she creates and to support their crime-solving hero. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Harriet holds a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and has published four gripping crime novels, with a fifth on the way. Her books have been praised for their clever plotting, so perfect for fans of suspense and thrillers. Here’s everything you need to know about Harriet Tyce’s books, how to read them in order, and details on her newest release. Harriet Tyce’s books in order Blood Orange (2019) The Lies You Told (2020) It Ends at Midnight (2022) A Lesson in Cruelty (2024) Witch Trial (2026) Blood Orange (2019) Harriet Tyce released her debut novel in 2019, drawing on her own legal experience to craft a far wilder tale of fiction. The story follows Alison, a woman who seemingly has it all: a doting husband, an adorable daughter, and a career on the rise. But Alison has just been handed her first murder case to defend, and beneath the perfect façade lies a life full of secrets. She drinks too much, neglects her family, and is having an affair with a colleague whose appetite for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle. When her client wants to plead guilty to stabbing her husband, Alison senses that something isn’t right. Meanwhile, someone is watching her… and they know all of her secrets. Can Alison save her client? Can she save herself? The novel comes with a glowing recommendation from crime-writing extraordinaire Lisa Jewell, so you know it’s a gripping read from start to finish. The Lies You Told (2020) Sadie Roper gave up her high-flying career as a criminal barrister for marriage ten years ago, but now she’s back in London, ready to reclaim her career and determined to get her daughter into one of the city’s most prestigious schools. But as always, it’s not quite that simple. The school is unwelcoming to newcomers, her daughter hasn’t made a single friend, and the other parents are as fiercely competitive as their children. Sadie quickly finds herself on the outside as she navigates the fraught politics of the school gate. Things take a turn when a high-profile case lands on her desk, and the queen of the school mums starts taking an unusual interest in her. But in a world of ambition, secrets and rivalry, everything is not as it seems. Sadie may be keeping her friends close, but she doesn’t yet know that her enemies are closer still… It Ends at Midnight (2022) Tyce’s third novel takes us to Edinburgh, a city she knows all too well. Set in one of the poshest neighbourhoods, the story begins with a lavish New Year’s Eve party that ends in a gruesome double murder. At the centre is Sylvie, a woman hiding a secret that could destroy both her relationship and her burgeoning legal career. When her friend Tess is diagnosed with cancer, she decides it’s time to make amends for past wrongs, and what better backdrop than an extravagant New Year’s Eve party for her dramatic confessions? But as midnight approaches and the countdown begins, it becomes clear that one of the guests doesn’t want reconciliation. They want revenge. And they want someone at this party to die. A Lesson in Cruelty (2024) A novel recommended by bestselling authors Lucy Clarke and Lisa Jewell? Sign us up. For her fourth novel, Tyce mixes things up with multiple narrators, through the three strangers Anna, Lucy and Marie. Anna wants a fresh start after three long years behind bars. Lucy craves the attention of the only man she can't have, her alluring Oxford professor. Marie has spent too long as a recluse living by someone else's rules. The three strangers are brought together through a dead body and an elaborate web of lies, causing them all to discover the cost of getting the life they desire so badly. When is Harriet Tyce's new book released? It will come as no surprise that Tyce’s stint on The Traitors is being followed up by a new book – and we’re not complaining in the slightest. Having penned some of the sharpest thrillers of recent years, and now living her own real-life murder mystery on reality TV with Claudia Winkleman, Tyce gives readers another must-read crime novel for 2026. Witch Trial is set for release on 26th February. The story begins with the death of 18-year-old Christian Shaw, whose body is discovered in an Edinburgh park. The community is in shock, and that shock deepens when the police charge Christian’s best friends, Eliza Lawson and Isobel Smyth, with her murder. Two teenage girls accused of killing their classmate ignite a modern-day witch trial that captures the nation’s attention. Called reluctantly for jury duty is Matthew Phillips, a respected heart surgeon. But as the trial unfolds – and the girls reveal a chilling defence no one expected – Matthew begins to question everything: the evidence, the motives, and even his own judgement. A very different crime novel from Tyce’s previous work, Witch Trial explores not just the investigation, but the trial itself. It delves into social media, online bullying, stalking, and the ways public opinion can shape justice, making it a timely, tense read for 2026. Perfect for fans of 2025's hit show Adolescence. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
When is the next Heated Rivalry book released?
Your guide to Rachel Reid's Game Changers series.
Who would’ve thought we’d all be tuning in to watch men play ice hockey? Only, of course, we’re not really watching Heated Rivalry for the hockey — we’re here for the magnetic romance between the two star players, Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). Their fierce on-ice rivalry is mirrored by undeniable off-ice chemistry, as the pair struggles to balance a secret relationship with the intense demands of their professional lives. It’s high-stakes sport meets high-stakes romance, and viewers have been hooked. The series became an instant hit when season 1 premiered in its native Canada in December 2025, with such a strong response that a second season is already in the works. UK viewers were finally able to dive in when the show landed on 10 January 2026, and many of us have been eagerly devouring it ever since. What some viewers may not realise, however, is that Heated Rivalry is adapted from a hugely popular book series. The show is based on Heated Rivalry, the second novel in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, which centres on different gay couples navigating love, ambition and life in the world of professional ice hockey. Once you’ve finished binge-watching the TV adaptation, chances are you’ll want even more heat on the ice. That’s where the books come in... Here’s everything you need to know about the Heated Rivalry novels — also known as the Game Changers series. Happy reading. When is the next Heated Rivalry book out? Unrivaled is currently set for release on 29 September 2026. The Heated Rivalry duo are easily the most beloved characters in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series — a fact made clear by one very important detail: Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are the only couple to receive not just a sequel novel, but now a third book as well. On 12 January 2026, Reid officially announced that Shane and Ilya would be returning for another instalment. Titled Unrivaled, the upcoming novel is the seventh book in the Game Changers series and follows the couple after The Long Game, exploring the next chapter of their relationship — and the new challenges that come with it. The official synopsis reads: "For the first time in their professional hockey careers, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander have nothing to hide. After more than a decade of keeping their love secret, they’re out, married, and even playing on the same team. The support has been incredible. Most of the time." It continues: "While fans celebrate them, others in the hockey world are still reeling from the reveal. A growing backlash — led by the popular hockey podcast Top Shelf and the #TakeBackHockey movement — is making its presence felt. Standing together in the light was everything Shane and Ilya ever wanted. Now, they may be facing their biggest challenge yet." And who knows, if season 2 of the TV adaptation proves just as successful as the first, this third novel could well provide the perfect blueprint for a potential season 3. Heated Rivalry books in order Game Changers (2018) Heated Rivalry (2019) Tough Guy (2020) Common Goal (2020) Role Model (2021) The Long Game (2022) Unrivaled (2026) 1. Game Changers (2018) This one will feel instantly familiar to fans of the show. Scott Hunter, the captain of the New York Admirals, is a star centre who finds himself stuck in a frustrating on-ice slump. One day, he stumbles into the Straw+Berry smoothie shop, and everything changes when sparks fly with grad student Kip. Before long, Scott becomes a regular, with Kip’s smoothies (and unmistakable flirting) helping to pull him out of his rut. What starts as a chance encounter quickly turns into something far more meaningful. Viewers were first introduced to Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie G.K.) in season 1, making their story the perfect entry point into the Game Changers book series. Their romance offers a striking contrast to Heated Rivalry: instead of a slow burn rivalry, Scott and Kip fall hard and fast, while still tackling the realities of hockey’s deeply ingrained homophobic culture and the very real fears surrounding coming out. 2. Heated Rivalry (2019) This is the book that had everyone frantically Googling the rules of ice hockey — especially those of us in the UK. Heated Rivalry follows Canadian golden boy Shane Hollander and Russian rebel Ilya Rozanov, who first meet as teenage prodigies on the road to the MLH (Major League Hockey) draft. From the very beginning, they’re each other’s fiercest competition. Their legendary rivalry makes every on-ice matchup an unmissable event, fuelled by national pride, ego and an intense drive to win. But while the hockey world fixates on their clashes on the ice, the real tension simmers off it. Behind closed doors, Shane and Ilya find themselves unable to resist one another, blurring the line between rivalry and desire, and setting the stage for one of the most addictive, slow burn romances in contemporary sports fiction. 3. Tough Guy (2020) Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye to Ilya and Shane — for now — but there’s no need to worry, because book three in the Game Changers series is just as irresistible. This instalment follows Ryan Price, an enforcer: a 6’7” giant whose role on the ice is to protect his team’s star players. Beneath the intimidating exterior, however, Ryan struggles with anxiety and deep-rooted self-esteem issues. When he’s transferred to Toronto, he’s determined to put down roots and finally connect with the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Things take an unexpected turn when Ryan runs into his childhood crush, Fabian Salah. Confident, extroverted and a musician by trade, Fabian is the polar opposite of Ryan, and he can’t stand hockey. As the pair reconnect, Fabian becomes Ryan’s guide to Toronto’s gay scene, helping him step outside his comfort zone and into a life he’s long wanted. But with their worlds colliding once again, the question remains: can a relationship survive when hockey threatens to come between them? 4. Common Goal (2020) How do you shake things up in the fourth instalment of an MLH hockey romance series? You go for an age-gap romance. Eric Bennett, the 41-year-old goalkeeper for the New York Admirals, has decided this will be his final season. He’s ready to retire, but is also facing an uncertain future after ending his 16-year marriage. Always aware of his bisexuality, Eric is now stepping into the dating world with men for the very first time... and has no idea where to start. Enter Kyle Swift, a 25-year-old bartender at the Kingfisher (aka Kip’s favourite bar!). Kyle has made a personal vow to steer clear of older men, but when he and Eric meet, sparks fly. The two start off in a friends-with-benefits arrangement, but as the hockey season progresses, they both realise that hearts are rarely so easy to contain. 5. Role Model (2021) It’s time for some classic grumpy-meets-sunshine energy — think black cat meets golden retriever. Role Model brings back a familiar face from Game Changer: Troy Barrett, the closeted sidekick to homophobic bully Dallas Kent. Recently traded to the struggling Ottawa Centaurs after a scandal and a messy breakup, all Troy wants is to do his job and go home… until he meets the team’s social media manager, Harris Drover. Sunny, outgoing Harris is determined to lift Troy’s spirits, even as he starts developing what he assumes is a one-sided crush. Slowly, Troy begins to see Ottawa not just as a fresh start on the ice, but as a chance to make amends for past toxic behaviour and embrace his full self. And for fans of the series, there’s a bonus treat: Ilya Rozanov makes a memorable appearance in Role Model, keeping the Game Changers universe delightfully connected. 6. The Long Game (2022) They’re back! The Long Game is the long-awaited sequel to Ilya and Shane’s story. At the start of the novel, it’s been 10 years since Shane and Ilya’s secret hookup blossomed into a full-blown romance, and the pair have reached a crossroads. Shane is at the top of his game and doesn’t want to rock the boat, while Ilya, now playing for Ottawa, worries they could be sneaking around for another decade. Now it’s time to decide what truly matters: each other, or hockey? For fans of the television show, The Long Game will likely provide the foundation for season 2 of Heated Rivalry, promising even more drama, passion, and on-ice tension. How is the show different to the books? As always, adaptations require some changes, and Heated Rivalry is no exception. The TV series speeds up the timeline, condenses events, and trims much of the internal monologue that gives readers insight into Shane and Ilya’s thoughts. These adjustments make sense given the show’s six-episode run and budget constraints. The differences are noticeable right from the opening. While the book spends time exploring Shane and Ilya’s lives before they meet — giving readers a sense of their personalities and why we should root for them — the series drops viewers straight into their first encounter. Surprisingly, the show also downplays the hockey itself. The intensity of their on-ice rivalry and the stakes that drive their competitive spirit are less prominent than in the book. However, the series adds new layers, particularly to Shane’s character. His Asian-Canadian identity is explored in greater depth, and his mother emerges as a more formidable 'mom-ager' presence. One change fans particularly lamented is the omission of the book’s prologue, as well as a different, shortened ending that cuts the original epilogue, one of the most beloved parts of the novel. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
The Young Ones' Nigel Planer says Adrian Edmondson "regrets" falling out with late Rik Mayall before death
Nigel Planer discusses his role as Neil the hippy in The Young Ones and much more in his new memoir.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Even Nigel Planer’s own mum used to confuse him with Neil the hippy, the character he created for The Young Ones back in 1982. “She usually got my name right, at least,” he sighs, admitting that his friends sometimes don’t, “but she did think I was vegetarian, simply because he was.” He’s not the first actor, of course, to become indelibly conflated with a part he’s played. But with a career that’s also taken in TV shows from Blackadder to Blackeyes, West End musicals, writing poetry and plays and more than 100 episodes of The Magic Roundabout, it must annoy him, no? “Should I be like a lot of comedians, and go, ‘I don’t want to talk about that’? My colleague Adrian [Edmondson, who played punk Vyvyan in The Young Ones] has an attitude that’s done him a lot of good: saying, ‘That was two months of my life, 45 years ago. Why should I be talking about it now? I want to move forward.’ That works for him, and all power to him – but I can’t seem to get away from it. “When we’re going around together, he avoids people but I always end up chatting to them. Maybe it’s because I’m 6ft 3in, or because I’ve got a stupid face: he can just walk past people and they don’t notice, but I still get 'Neil, Neil, orange peel' [one of the show’s many memorable phrases] three times a day. "But why be mean to them? I just think about my favourite series, Dad’s Army, and the people in it: the actors might think, ‘I’ve been cornered now,’ but I love those characters. And if I can generate in other people just a quarter of what I feel about Ian Lavender – ‘Don’t tell him, Pike!’ – I can die happy.” Certainly Planer’s new memoir gives a satisfyingly significant chunk over to his most famous role (and takes its punning title, Young Once, from the show, too). But the multi-hyphenate has many more stories to tell: married three times, a grandfather at 29, with stints as bellringer, gravedigger and Top of the Pops performer on his CV, he describes the book as “a coming-of-age story” as well as a love letter to his third wife (and first love) Roberta, whom he met when he was 25 and she 38, and finally married in 2013. (“I’m 72, so it’s about time I came of age, really,” he adds.) Meanwhile, the misspent youth is a lot of fun to read about. At the height of their fame, Planer and his castmates were at what he calls the “knicker-throwing” level of celebrity (though the book reveals it got a lot weirder than that: people would write to them, sending polythene bags, asking for them to be filled with certain bodily fluids and posted back). There were famous fans, too. Al Pacino, Mick Jagger, Jack Nicholson, Sting… they all came to watch Planer and his colleagues at Soho’s Comic Strip revue – so zeitgeisty was its new “alternative comedy” scene in the 1980s – though “Robin Williams was our main contact with the stars”. Planer recounts taking the latter to “a sort of junkie party in Brixton, and he wasn’t too happy about it. But we had no idea who he was, because Google hadn’t been invented. It took us a week to work it out, asking around, saying, ‘What was his name, that bloke?’” Planer remembers the lows as vividly he does the highs (another reason, perhaps, why people mix him up with the lugubrious Neil). An anecdote about buying little Christmas presents for the team – which none of them even bothered to take home – makes even Planer concede his “Neil-like” nature. But, playing against character, the overall arc of his book (and life) is a cheerful one, tied up neatly with his marriage to Roberta after decades apart. “My life is cheesy,” he says with no shame. For readers, the wedding means a lovely story about Edmondson and comic partner Rik Mayall: “Double acts do fall out – the only ones who never did were Dawn [French] and Jennifer [Saunders] – and at this point Rik and Ade weren’t speaking to each other. But Roberta and I deliberately sat them together at the wedding, and we saw them laughing their heads off together. “Unfortunately Rik died while they were in one of their falling-out periods, which left Ade with a lot of regret, but we’ve got photographic evidence of them making each other laugh even in that phase.” And for Planer, meanwhile, the wedding means a happy ending – a “romcom”, he calls it. “I interviewed plenty of other candidates for the role of partner. Even apart from my two other marriages, I certainly put it about in the interim period,” he says. “I think I was born with a real deficit of what they call ‘emotional intelligence’, but I finally managed to maybe pass my O-levels in it,” he adds – slightly Neilishly. Young Once by Nigel Planer is available now The latest issue of Radio Times is out now - subscribe here Check out more of our interviews or visit our TV guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Queen legend Brian May argues we've lost the ability to "discuss" and "respect" other people's point of view
"There's so much suffering in the world, why would we want to add to it?"
This article originally appeared in Radio Times Magazine. Brian May has an affinity with big numbers. When he stood on the roof of Buckingham Palace in 2002 and played the national anthem on his electric guitar to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, it was in front of a reported worldwide audience of 200 million. Prior to that he walked out on stage at Live Aid with Queen, who stole the show in front of an estimated two billion viewers. And in a musical career spanning more than half a century, his band has sold more than 300 million records, including 1975’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which remains the most streamed song of the 20th century. Yet all these figures are dwarfed by the numbers on May’s mind today, as he reels off the jaw-dropping statistics at the centre of his new book, Islands in Infinity: Galaxies in 3-D, the first publication to present galaxies in three-dimensional form, thanks to stereoscopy, a historic photographic method using pairs of images to simulate depth. “This is the culmination of a series of projects linking stereoscopy with astronomy,” May tells Radio Times. “We previously did Mission Moon 3-D (about the Apollo landings), Bennu 3-D, about a rendezvous with an asteroid, and Cosmic Clouds. Where do you go from there, once you go outside our galaxy? The answer is: other galaxies. And there are billions of them – we’re only now realising how vast the universe is and how densely packed. “Astronomy is marching forward, daily, at a vast speed, and it’s hard to keep up. But if you know what makes galaxies tick, you know what makes the universe tick. So we’ve tried to make an easy way for people to be completely up to date.” May, who has a doctorate himself on the velocity of the zodiacal dust cloud, has co-authored the book with renowned experts in the field Derek Ward-Thompson and J-P Metsavainio, and describes his role as “the catalyst, the guy who puts it together, and the editor”. He explains: “When it’s mapped out, I ask every question under the sun – why this, why that? If I don’t understand it, other people won’t. I’ve become an editor, which is a really interesting calling. The problem is, now I can’t read a book without trying to edit it.” May’s love of astronomy is as lifelong as his enthusiasm for playing the guitar; he remembers begging his parents to let him stay up to watch The Sky at Night. “I was a kid hiding behind the sofa, taking all this stuff in, getting very excited,” he reminisces. “Patrick Moore was a huge influence. I used to listen to what he said and rush outside to see if I could see it in the sky. Very inspiring.” Although May was a post-grad student at Imperial College London when he first met Moore, the pair became close friends, later collaborating on a project for the BBC. “We hit it off and he became my surrogate uncle,” May remembers. “We had so many wonderful times.” With so many disparate interests – from the protection of badgers to the construction of his own distinctive Red Special guitar – how does May fit it all together? Don’t the music and science, for example, get in each other’s way? “That’s an easy one,” he says. “Most of the most famous astronomers were musicians, from Isaac Newton onwards. It’s not unusual to have this connection in your brain. I’ve always thought that art and science were part of the same thing, although I was told as a kid, ‘You have to choose one.’ I’ve fought that all my life. I think appreciating the beauty of the universe is a big part of finding out how it works.” Such intense regard for the further frontiers brings with it consternation when May looks closer to home. “I feel despondent about the world of humans,” he says. “It keeps me awake at night. The cruelty, the ignorance, the lies, the rewriting of history. I think an understanding and love of art and music make it impossible to be the kind of person who wants to go out and be cruel to others. “There’s so much suffering in the world, why would we want to add to it? We’ve lost the ability to discuss things and respect other people’s point of view, we have a horrendous polarisation. If people spent more time looking at the stars and making music, none of this would be possible.” Fortunately, he is quick to smile when I ask if he ever tries to explain his love of complex science to his wife of 25 years, actor Anita Dobson. “We are very different and very busy,” he muses. “We don’t really have time for what doesn’t interest us, I suppose. If I try to explain too much about stereoscopic imagery, she’ll say, ‘Yes, darling, if it makes you happy, fine.’” The latest issue of Radio Times is out on Tuesday – subscribe here. You can purchase Islands in Infinity: Galaxies in 3-D, our book of the month. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Best books released in 2026: including anticipated next novel from best-selling author
Get your tote bag - it's time to go shopping.
Last year was a great 12 months, packed with fantastic books to keep you entertained all year. And luckily for us bookworms, 2026 looks to be no different. It can be a little overwhelming finding something to read in a bookshop, and while it's fun browsing the shelves, it's good to know what's worth your time. Thankfully, RadioTimes.com is on hand with our pick of the hottest fiction releases in 2026 you'll want to add to your TBR immediately. And in good news for you, it will be updated as more fantastic books appear on the release calendar – so keep it bookmarked. Read on for our picks of the best books in 2026. 21 best books of 2026 so far Meet the Newmans - Jennifer Niven Half His Age - Jennette McCurdy The Old Fire - Elisa Shua Dusapin (translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins) Helen of Nowhere - Makenna Goodman Glyph - Ali Smith Greedy - Callie Kazumi Lost Lambs - Madeline Cash Orange - Curtis Garner Suckerfish - Ashani Lewis Cleopatra - Saara El Arifi Gloria Don't Speak - Lucy Apps Strange Buildings - Uketsu Hooked - Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton) Six Little Words - Sally Page Minor Black Figures - Brandon Taylor Tangerinn - Emanuela Anechoum (translated by Lucy Rand) The Ending Writes Itself - Evelyn Clarke My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction - Deborah Levy The Calamity Club - Kathryn Stockett Land - Maggie O'Farrell Agrippa - Robert Harris 1. Meet the Newmans - Jennifer Niven Released: 15/01/26 Niven's latest novel is about America's favourite TV family - but when the façade starts to crack, secrets and explosive truths come to light. This one's for fans of Lessons in Chemistry and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. 2. Half His Age - Jennette McCurdy Released: 20/01/26 From the bestselling author of I'm Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy is back with an equally sad and funny novel about sex, class, desire and power. Waldo is going through a range of emotions, but above all, she's desperate to have Mr Korgy, her creative writing tutor. This novel is about a 17-year-old who will disregard all obstacles to get what she wants - even if it tears apart families. 3. The Old Fire - Elisa Shua Dusapin (translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins) Released: 29/01/2026 In the wake of her father's death, Agathe leaves New York to return to her home in the French countryside after 15 years away. She hasn't seen her sister, Véra since and now they must empty their home before it's knocked down. The act of emptying the house brings about a wealth of memories - and resentments - to life for both sisters. 4. Helen of Nowhere - Makenna Goodman Released: 29/01/26 In the middle of the countryside, a disgraced professor is being shown around a gorgeous secluded abode. The realtor speaks not only about the home's many qualities, but also about the mystical previous owner, Helen. The man soon learns that his story isn't over as he hears about Helen's, uncovering that perhaps the simple life is how he will find peace. 5. Glyph - Ali Smith Released: 29/01/26 Glyph follows on from Ali Smith's 2024 novel, Gliff, which tells a story hidden in the first. The less you know about it the better as you immerse yourself back into Smith's world. 6. Greedy - Callie Kazumi Released: 05/02/2026 A reclusive billionaire is looking for a private chef - and she finds the perfect candidate with down and out Ed. However, her unusual tastes launch him into a world he can't control and can't get out of. 7. Lost Lambs - Madeline Cash Released: 05/02/2026 Bud and Catherine opened up their marriage and nothing has been quite right since with their daughters also spiralling. A local billionaire's ruthless actions in their town prompts the family to actually grow closer together. 8. Orange - Curtis Garner Released: 19/02/26 In the quaint fishing village of Portscatho in Cornwall, two teenagers find an unexpected connection which neither of them can quite explain. Years later, they reconnect in London and both are in a very different space. Can their bond withstand all that's happened since they first met? If you're a fan of the tenderness of nuanced relationships found in Sally Rooney, you'll want to pick up a copy of Orange. 9. Suckerfish - Ashani Lewis Released: 26/02/2026 Kolia may have moved on from the all-encompassing grip of her mother in her twenties. but she may have no choice but to be drawn back into her orbit in Suckerfish which makes for a complex depiction of motherhood and the connection between a mother and daughter. 10. Cleopatra - Saara El Arifi Released: 26/02/2026 Everyone knows something about Cleopatra but what was it like inside her mind? Was she really a seductress? Was she really bloodthirsty? Was she involved in witchcraft? Saara El Arifi ponders all these questions within her gripping historical fiction. 11. Gloria Don't Speak - Lucy Apps Released: 26/02/2026 Gloria has a learning disability which limits her world - she tends to go round the local parks, keep out of trouble and see her friend Jack. He needs her company, but he's unpredictable. An act of violence leaves Gloria on her own. How will she navigate her world when he gets out of prison? 12. Strange Buildings - Uketsu Released: 26/02/26 Uketsu returns with their remarkably unique murder mystery series. Each building within this book tells a horrifying story - and each one is part of a puzzle. Look closely for the connections and see if you can work out what links it all... 13. Hooked - Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton) Released: 12/03/26 Eriko's life might look perfect on the outside, but she's wracked by loneliness. She becomes obsessed with a blog written by Shoko, a housewife, who lives a life very different to how a typical manicured Japanese housewife's life is. Eriko, meanwhile, can't shake her obsession with Shoko and befriends her before acting very suspicious... From the author of Butter comes an exciting new thriller that you won't be able to put down. 14. Six Little Words - Sally Page Released: 12/03/26 Kate wanted to be a painter but she gave up on her dream years ago. Six words pinned to the noticeboard of her local cafe could change her fortunes forever... Meanwhile, Brady, a retired English teacher is also struggling with writer's block. The words ("To be or not to be...") prompt them on a breadcrumb trail which helps them to rediscover their creative spark. 15. Minor Black Figures - Brandon Taylor Released: 19/03/26 Wyeth is new to New York City and struggles to fit in the Manhattan art scene. He shares a studio with his friends and starts working for a gallery - but really struggles with his own portrait painting. That changes when he meets Keating, a former priest struggling with his faith. As the men grow closer of a hot summer, they are forced to confront what they are willing to risk for love and art. 16. Tangerinn - Emanuela Anechoum (translated by Lucy Rand) Released: 26/03/26 Mina has entered her thirties and lives in London, with little spontaneity. Her world is thrown upside down when she gets a call from her mother saying her father had died. She returns home and ends up staying in her small seaside town where the bar her dad used to ran welcomed in immigrants and those who didn't feel welcome in this new place. Mina finds her family and memories in this place as she learns to come to terms with her new world. 17. The Ending Writes Itself - Evelyn Clarke Released: 07/04/26 World-famous author Arthur Fletch is dead and his final novel remains unfinished - but the ending won't write itself. Six struggling authors are invited to his private Scottish island with an opportunity of a lifetime - the chance to finish the book and win a book deal and cash prize. How far would they go to get this life-changing prize? 18. My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction - Deborah Levy Released: 16/04/2026 Who is Gertrude Stein? And why does she matter? The narrator of Levy's novel has travelled to Paris to find out. What she uncovers is how to cope with life in the whirlwind of Paris, and how Stein's life had similar challenges in the 20th century as she does in the 21st. 19. The Calamity Club - Kathryn Stockett Released: 21/05/26 It's been over 17 years since Stockett's bestselling book, The Help, took over the charts and now she's back with The Calamity Club. Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur learned the hard way not to trust anyone ever since her mother didn't come home last Christmas Eve. She's now one of the "unadoptable" girls at the children's home but fights every day to keep her mind sharp. Meg is drawn to two females who are also down on their luck and their shared experience brings about an unexpected kinship. However, in a town filled with hypocrisy, the smallest act of defiance could have disastrous consequences... 20. Land - Maggie O'Farrell Released: 02/06/26 Tomás and his son, Liam, are tasked by the Ordnance Survey to map the whole of Ireland. It's 1865 and the task isn't as easy as one might think in a land ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger. But Tomás is determined that his maps will reflect what happened - no matter what. 21. Agrippa - Robert Harris Released: 27/08/26 Julius Caesar has died and his nephew, Octavius, has been made his heir. When the time comes, he chooses to conquer the Roman Empire with his best friend Agrippa. Together they rule the world for 20 years. Now 50, Agrippa has retired to Naples and starts to write his memoirs - but stirring up the past can be very dangerous... For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
Michael Rosen: "This may sound extraordinary, but I'm not traumatised by the death of my son"
Writer and broadcaster Michael Rosen has had more than his fair share of difficult times – but in his latest book, he comes up with hints on how to find the positive.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. "This may sound extraordinary,” says Michael Rosen, “but I’m not traumatised by the death of my son.” While I try to take that in, the broadcaster and writer continues. “And I’m not traumatised by having been in a coma for 40 days. I’m concerned, I’m worried, I’m saddened, I’m all those things. But that word ‘trauma’ means something else: it comes from German, the idea of a dream you can’t get out of – you’re stuck in it, and at a loss. And I can genuinely say: I think about it, but I’m not stuck. I can love my son who died, and live with it, and not feel traumatised by it.” It’s perhaps the ultimate affidavit for Rosen’s new book, Good Days. There are plenty of self-appointed gurus out there telling us how to live our “best lives”, but Rosen is a man who’s faced some truly dark times – and if he can come out the other side untraumatised, his advice is probably worth listening to. He’s written before about the sudden death of his son, Eddie, aged 18, in 1999, and about his own near-death experience with Covid, and that almost biblical-sounding 40-day coma. (He’s also, of course, written, some of Britain’s best-loved children’s poetry, including the classic We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.) But this is his most practical work yet, an ‘A-Z of Hope and Happiness’ as the publishers have subtitled it – complete with not just the author’s trademark profound-but-amusing observations on life, but also “hints, reminders, tips and suggestions” that readers might want to “imitate, adapt or adopt”. Rosen is a natural pedagogue: his much-memed poetry readings are as popular with kids as his studies of language are on Radio 4’s Word of Mouth, which returns for its 34th year this week. But the tone of Good Days is anything but lecturing. “It’s a little bit like a recipe book,” he agrees. “It’s saying, ‘If you want to try and make a cake this way, then this is how you can do it’. It doesn’t tell you that’s what you have to do. So, for instance, I say in one chapter, ‘You can listen to music any way you want, but one of the ways you can do it is…’” In fact, it’s more in the fine old BBC tradition of public service than self-aggrandisement. “If you’ve had an experience like mine, people want to know what it was like. When I meet people, they ask me how I go on, day by day. I have the same curiosity myself. I listened to [musician] Nick Cave on Desert Island Discs, and he’s lost two of his sons, and it’s utterly compelling hearing him talk. “I met Holocaust survivor Eva Clarke, who was born in a concentration camp, and when she tells her mother’s story you can’t believe how she actually went on living. People ask: if the human spirit is an elastic band, why didn’t it snap? And what did you do to get through it? Quite often the anwer is, ‘Well, I got up every morning and I made myself porridge.’ “It’s hard to explain to people who get fed up doing mundane things, but if you’ve had trauma then there’s something incredibly satisfying or distracting or absorbing about doing mundane things wholeheartedly. That’s obviously a less interesting answer than saying, ‘I drink an enormous amount, or I take these narcotic substances’, but finding those small points of contentment is often what seems to help people. So that’s how this book came about.” If it sounds sententious, or like some cutesy little ‘book of cheer’, it’s certainly not. (Rosen’s daughter calls him an “optimistic nihilist”, he reveals.) He’s well aware that “plenty of people have plenty of things to be unhappy about”, but says “the aim of the book was to find routes out of that unhappiness”. As an example, he returns to Eddie: “On the Holloway Road [in north London], there’s a lovely Turkish restaurant where my teenage sons and I would go for these crazy midnight meals. It was a lovely time, but I can ruin that reminiscence for myself by saying, ‘Oh yes, but Eddie died’. You don’t have to do that, though, and I’ve taught myself not to. So now I remember these funny, great moments without adding the sadness of, ‘That was one of the last times we did that’. I’ve learnt how not to let the bereavement spoil the happy memory.” Most telling of all, perhaps, the book has a whole chapter on death (“which caused a little stir with the publishers, who weren’t sure they wanted that”). It’s there, says Rosen, because accepting death’s inevitability is important for getting the most out of your days. “And because you can’t live for ever. I mean, I’ve tried, but it’s not working.” Good Days by Michael Rosen is available now The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Books coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
39 best books of 2025: From Stephen King epic to the Booker Prize winner
Like we needed another excuse to go book shopping.
It's been a fantastic year for book lovers with some extraordinary releases. From Stephen King's latest in the Holly Gibney series to the winner of the Man Booker prize, there's been a wealth of literary feasts to devour. It can be a little daunting seeing so many releases and not quite knowing which books are worth a trip to the shop (not that we really need an excuse). We at RadioTimes.com have picked out the books you need to buy from 2025 – in no particular order. 39 best book releases of 2025 Here is our list of the best book releases of 2025: Normal Women - Ainslie Hogarth Blessings - Chukwuebuka Ibeh So Thrilled for You - Holly Bourne Water Moon - Samantha Sotto Yambao Confessions - Catherine Airey Made Up, but Still True - Donald Sutherland We All Live Here - Jojo Moyes The Voices - Natalie Chandler Carrion Crow - Heather Parry Show Don't Tell - Curtis Sittenfeld Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Hunchback - Saou Ichikawa (translated by Polly Barton) Universality - Natasha Brown A Thousand Blues - Cheon Seon-ran (translated by Chi-Young Kim) Deep Cuts - Holly Brickley I Want to Go Home but I'm Already There - Róisín Lanigan Greater Sins - Gabrielle Griffiths The Vipers - Katy Hays Fair Play - Louise Hegarty Aftertaste - Daria Lavelle Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros The Impossible Fortune - Richard Osman The Long Shoe - Bob Mortimer Never Flinch - Stephen King Not Quite Dead Yet - Holly Jackson Strange Pictures - Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion The Man Who Died Seven Times - Yasuhiko Nishizawa, translated by Jesse Kirkwood The Compound - Aisling Rawle The Killing Stones - Ann Cleeves Buckeye - Patrick Ryan Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid Men in Love - Irvine Welsh The Eleventh Hour - Salman Rushdie Flashlight - Susan Choi What We Can Know - Ian McEwan Flesh - David Szalay Perfection - Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins The End of the World as We Know It - Brian Keene & Christopher Golden Here is all you need to know about these books... 1. Normal Women - Ainslie Hogarth Dani, a new mother, has got a fair bit going on in her life. While everything seems to be going well, with her perfectly coiffed hair, she's filled with anxiety that her husband will die, leaving her and her baby with nothing. Her life changes when she goes to a yoga centre, The Temple, which helps women reach their potential through any means necessary. But when the leader goes missing, Dani turns into detective to track her down... Normal Women - Ainslie Hogarth 2. Blessings - Chukwuebuka Ibeh Obiefuna's father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family apprentice, which prompts the strict dad to banish Obiefuna to a boarding school that harbours terrible violence and rules. While alienated from his family, Obiefuna starts a journey of self discovery, bringing together a novel about love and loneliness in this outstanding debut novel. Blessings - Chukwuebuka Ibeh 3. So Thrilled for You - Holly Bourne Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi have been friends for over a decade, but life has its way of pulling them apart - that is, until a baby shower provides the perfect excuse to bring the gang back together. Under the intense heat of a summer day, tensions rise and a fire at the house leaves everyone a suspect - and their friendship damaged forever. So Thrilled for You - Holly Bourne 4. Water Moon - Samantha Sotto Yambao A mysterious disappearance in a pawnshop in Tokyo takes its young owner on a fantastical adventure with a charming physicist. Water Moon is a heartwarming love story for those who love the works of Studio Ghibli. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Water-Moon-captivating-real-world-adventure/dp/0857505335/ref=asc_df_0857505335?mcid=8ec466f34569339d967b86c789f8d4be&th=1&psc=1&tag=radtim0b-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697301145313&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16057931521126359066&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9196631&hvtargid=pla-2302474292110&gad_source=4&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2188615" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">Water Moon - Samantha Sotto Yambao 5. Confessions - Catherine Airey Confessions is set in the aftermath of 9/11 as teenager Cora is searching for her father who worked in the North Tower. The novel flits between 1970s Donegal and 2001 as one secret takes years to unravel. This one's for fans of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch and is an extraordinary debut novel by Airey, who's bound to be a household name very soon. Confessions - Catherine Airey 6. Made Up, but Still True - Donald Sutherland The candid and long-awaited personal story of movie legend Donald Sutherland, who will speak open and honestly about his successful career, life and devastating loss. Made Up, but Still True - Donald Sutherland 7. We All Live Here - Jojo Moyes The Kennedy household is full of secrets, with everyone harbouring something - even the dog has a crime. When something happens in the household, their odd familial relationships will change - for better or for worse. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Live-Here-Jojo-Moyes/dp/0241415519/ref=asc_df_0241415519?mcid=72e188b087a330a88735d1fe0462129b&th=1&psc=1&tag=radtim0b-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697296731017&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1489124246460724763&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9196631&hvtargid=pla-2311831735651&gad_source=4&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2188615" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">We All Live Here - Jojo Moyes 8. The Voices - Natalie Chandler Tamsin Shaw has been unresponsive in hospital for 3 years, and when her husband Jamie takes the difficult decision to end treatment, she's listening to everything - and she also hears everything surrounding her accident. Can she wake up in time to get justice for what happened to her? The Voices - Natalie Chandler 9. Carrion Crow - Heather Parry Carrion Crow has been described as a "spine-tingling tale" that explores rampant Victorian colonialism, bodily freedoms and a complex relationship between a mother and a daughter. Carrion Crow - Heather Parry 10. Show Don't Tell - Curtis Sittenfeld This collection of 12 short stories will explore the likes of marriage, fame and female friendship, finally putting pen to paper about thoughts we cannot speak. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Show-Dont-Tell-bestselling-Romantic/dp/1529925894/ref=asc_df_1529925894?mcid=bfe816207dbd320195ff82360210dca3&th=1&psc=1&tag=radtim0b-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697296731017&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7821779915644884133&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9196631&hvtargid=pla-2334505816699&gad_source=4&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2188615" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">Show Don't Tell - Curtis Sittenfeld 11. Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Acclaimed author Adichie is back with a novel that's been 10 years in the making. Dream Count is the story of four women and their loves, desires and longings. Set in the pandemic, Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer, reflects on her past decisions while alone in America. Zikora, her best friend, has to turn to someone she thought she didn't need after being left heartbroken. Omelogor, Chiamaka's cousin, questions how well she knows herself. Kadiatou, Chiamaka's housekeeper, is under threat. Adichie's writing is always exciting and relevant, with her latest novel about to cement her place as a literary great. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Count-best-selling-award-winning-Americanah/dp/0008685738/ref=asc_df_0008685738?mcid=4bc83916c3b63c09b841499fcd48b86a&th=1&psc=1&tag=radtim0b-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=714627642393&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14556837229610212634&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9196631&hvtargid=pla-2370840695895&gad_source=4&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2188615" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 12. Hunchback - Saou Ichikawa (translated by Polly Barton) Shaka Isawa was born with a congenital muscle disorder, and as a result has to use an electric wheelchair and ventilator. In the limits of her care home, she lives her life online, studying, tweeting and posting erotica on a blog. When a new male carer reveals he's read it all, she makes an indecent proposal... Hunchback's author was the first disabled author to win Japan's most prestigious literary award (Akutagawa Prize). Hunchback - Saou Ichikawa 13. Universality - Natasha Brown Those who read Brown's debut, Assembly, will be ready to head to the bookstore on day of release for this one. Universality focuses on a journalist trying to uncover the truth around a brutal bludgeoning of a man with a gold bar in Yorkshire. While she solves the mystery, the journalist's exposé raises more questions than it answers. Like Assembly, Brown's unflinching use of language will keep you guessing, while cementing her as the most exciting young authors around at the moment. The hype is real. Universality - Natasha Brown 14. A Thousand Blues - Cheon Seon-ran (translated by Chi-Young Kim) It's 2035 and two sisters grow up working in a local cafe, but one of them loses their job to an automaton, promoting their family life to become quite uncomfortable. The sisters love their friendship with famous racehorse, Today, but when it's time for the horse to retire, they take it among themselves to rescue the horse before it's put down - and instead of making it go as fast as they can, they have to convince it to go slow. If you love the work of Kazuo Ishiguro, A Thousand Blues will sing to you. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thousand-Blues-heart-warming-Korean-bestseller/dp/1529938023/ref=asc_df_1529938023?mcid=22d2d85dc8b33dbebd589a3b3ddde629&th=1&psc=1&tag=radtim0b-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=714627642393&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6738160640418958002&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9196631&hvtargid=pla-2371702962881&gad_source=4&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2188615" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">A Thousand Blues - Cheon Seon-ran 15. Deep Cuts - Holly Brickley If you're a lover of One Day and High Fidelity, you'll want to pick up Deep Cuts when you can. It's 2000 and Joe and Percy are in college. When Percy hears one of Joe's songs, she realises he's a star, she can help shape his music, and he will leave her for his dreams. With heartbreak on the horizon, will Percy be able to put her feelings aside to help Joe on his path? Deep Cuts - Holly Brickley 16. I Want to Go Home but I'm Already There - Róisín Lanigan As a haunted house story which is set during the rental crisis, the novel follows Áine and Elliot who find a dream rental that's too good to be true - and it is. When strange things start to happen, Áine finds herself not settled and uncomfortable in every facet of life. Funny, relatable and just so real, I Want to Go Home but I'm Already There will explore the difficult circumstances many young people face today as they enter adulthood. I Want to Go Home But I'm Already There - Róisín Lanigan 17. Greater Sins - Gabrielle Griffiths In 1915 Aberdeenshire, a Scottish community is disturbed by the discover of a body in a peat bog that's been perfectly preserved. Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy landowner, and Johnny, a singer and farm hand, pull the body out of the ground as it ends up revealing secrets they themselves are hiding. Greater Sins has an extraordinary sense of place and time, written by an exciting new voice from Scotland. Greater Sins - Gabrielle Griffiths 18. The Vipers - Katy Hays Hays enjoyed considerably success with her debut novel, The Cloisters, and is set to release her next thriller, The Vipers. This time, we're taken to luxurious Capri as a past murder haunts a rich family. If you love twisty thrillers and The White Lotus, pick up The Vipers in March. The Vipers - Katy Hays 19. Fair Play - Louise Hegarty Abigail and her brother, Benjamin, have always been close, and to celebrate his birthday, Abigail decides to hire an old house and host a murder mystery party with their friends. While the night gets out of hand, the morning is a sobering affair as Benjamin is found dead, launching a real murder mystery. With everyone a suspect, centring on a locked room and plenty of twists, Fair Play is a prime example of the genre. Fair Play - Louise Hegarty 20. Aftertaste - Daria Lavelle Aftertaste focuses on Kostya, a dead-end dishwasher who finds the ability to summon spirits through the food he cooks. With his special gift, he decides to open a restaurant that serves a side of closure with every meal. However, with ghosts of his own, a fragile afterlife preparing to crash and a mysterious lover on the menu, Aftertaste is simply one of those books everyone's going to be talking about. Aftertaste - Daria Lavelle 21. Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros This is the third part in Yarros's romantasy series, following on from Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. Our hero, Violet, has to return beyond the walls of Basgiath to find allies to help her in the revolution. This series has taken BookTok by storm for a reason - it's a gripping read and one you'll want to be involved in the discussion about. Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros 22. The Impossible Fortune - Richard Osman This is the fifth instalment in Osman's charismatic and thrilling Thursday Murder Club series. This time around, a wedding guest in danger seeks help from Elizabeth which in turn sets in motion a complex investigation involving cryptic codes and ruthless villains. This is one of the slickest in the series yet and pushes our beloved bunch beyond the safety of Cooper's Chase. The Impossible Fortune - Richard Osman 23. The Long Shoe - Bob Mortimer Iconic British comedian Bob Mortimer returns for a third outing of his irreverent and fun cosy crime books. Boardroom salesman Matt is at a crossroads in life, but a new job comes along and his life changes as he realises he's perhaps part of something more sinister.. If you love Mortimer's humour, these books are a must-read. The Long Shoe - Bob Mortimer 24. Never Flinch - Stephen King The master of the thriller returns with his beloved character Holly Gibney for a complete page-turner. Two terrible crimes involving a deranged serial killer and a misogynistic stalker start to interweave... a must-read if you love either King, thrillers - or both. Never Flinch - Stephen King 25. Not Quite Dead Yet - Holly Jackson The author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder returns with her first ever adult novel. After a terrible attack, Jet is left with just one week left to live before she will eventually succumb to her injuries. She sets upon an ambitious plan to solve her own murder - before it's technically happened. Will she succeed? You'll race through this thrilling novel to find out. Not Quite Dead Yet - Holly Jackson 26. Strange Pictures - Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion This Japanese mystery horror is based around a series of creepy drawings and the reader has to play detective. A young woman makes strange images before her death while a child's horrible picture of his house is drawn and a sketch by a murder victim in his final moments prompts a murder investigation like no other. Strange Pictures - Uketsu 27. The Man Who Died Seven Times - Yasuhiko Nishizawa, translated by Jesse Kirkwood Part sci-fi, part murder mystery, Nishizawa's inventive novel sees a man relive the day of his grandfather's death on a time loop while he tries to uncover what really happened on that fateful day. With only a limited amount of times he can rerun the day, can our hero Hisataro prevent his grandfather's death? The Man Who Died Seven Times - Yasuhiko Nishizawa, translated by Jesse Kirkwood 28. The Compound - Aisling Rawle If you're a fan of Love Island and dating shows in general, The Compound flips everything you might think they are on its head. Ten women and 10 men land in a desert and while they're all beautiful, most of them are terrible humans too. Those who couple up and survive to the end will win everything they could ever desire. If they lose? Well, don't think too hard about that. Rawle's dystopian world is haunting and chilling, showcasing the lengths reality TV could get to. The Compound - Aisling Rawle 29. The Killing Stones - Ann Cleeves Jimmy Perez returns in another chilling mystery from the creator of Vera. A violent storm lands on Orkney and leaves a dead body in its wake which causes ripples around the community. Perez has to delve into a personal case to uncover his community's darkness and find out who killed his childhood friend. The Killing Stones - Ann Cleeves 30. Buckeye - Patrick Ryan In a small town in Ohio, Cal and Margaret come together in a moment of passion which is sparked in the aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe. That moment of intimacy will ripple through to the next generation as Ryan explores the meaning of community, love, loss and the need for connection above all. Buckeye - Patrick Ryan 31. Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid In the summer of 1980, astrophysicist Joan Goodwin gets the call of a lifetime when she's put on the astronaut training programme at Houston's Johnson Space Centre among excellent candidates from across the country. Joan finds a connection with Vanessa that has a stronger pull than gravity as the pair learn what it means to accept their identities in a world that doesn't always accept them. You'll be in tears by the end of this epic novel. Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid 32. Men in Love - Irvine Welsh Welsh's iconic Trainspotting crew return in this highly-anticipated sequel to his classic novel. As the late 80s rave culture sweeps over Edinburgh, the boys go looking for love - but will they find it? Men in Love - Irvine Welsh 33. The Eleventh Hour - Salman Rushdie Rushdie flits between important locations in his life in this extraordinary novel, asking fundamental questions we will all encounter - how do you cope when you enter the eleventh hour of your life? How do you say goodbye? The Eleventh Hour - Salman Rushdie 34. Flashlight - Susan Choi Shortlisted for The Booker Prize 2025, Choi's remarkable tale tells the story of one family swept up in the tides of the 20th century, going from post-war Japan to suburban America and the North Korean regime. When Louisa's father disappears, a traumatic mystery commences as she tries to work out what happened to him. Flashlight - Susan Choi 35. What We Can Know - Ian McEwan A lost poem from 2014 prompts an academic in 2119 to explore what its message could have been when he finds a cryptic clue pointing towards the missing words. What could the poem possibly say? And in a future world, is all really lost? What We Can Know - Ian McEwan 36. Flesh - David Szalay The winner of The Booker Prize in 2025 ranges from post-communist Hungary to London. Teenager István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment in Hungary and becomes isolated in his community with his only companion a married woman which causes his life to spiral out of control. Later on, he finds himself in London, carried on the tides of money and power - but is it all it's worth? Flesh - David Szalay 37. Perfection - Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes A young expat couple are living the dream in Berlin - at least that's what their social media says. When work becomes tiresome, friends move away and get on with their lives, Anna and Tom desperately try to find true authenticity in a world consumed by what everyone thinks of you. A perfect novel for 2025 and scathing in its commentary. Perfection - Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes 38. Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games world expands further in this prequel novel which sees Haymitch Abernathy at the centre of the action. This gripping tale packed to the brim with action and drama tells the tale of the 50th deadly contest. Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins 39. The End of the World as We Know It - Brian Keene & Christopher Golden The End of the World as We Know It continues to expand the enormous world of Stephen King's The Stand. Award-winning authors Keene and Golden bring together some of the best and most exciting authors who have terrifying and painfully human tales to expand on King's remarkable world-building in his epic novel. A must for any fan of King's original. The End of the World as We Know It - Brian Keene & Christopher Golden Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Joanna Trollope on ditching 'Aga sagas' for career women and gay relationships
The writer spoke to Radio Times magazine in 2017 about redressing the balance with her novel, City of Friends.
Joanna Trollope, who has died aged 82, was a novelist with an unerring eye for the tensions shaping modern life. Though often – and inaccurately – labelled the "queen of the Aga saga", she bristled at the tag, arguing that it diminished the seriousness of her work. As Fay Weldon once put it, Trollope had “a gift for putting her finger on the problem of the times”, whether she was writing about marriage, family, faith or the shifting expectations placed on women. That instinct is clear in this Radio Times interview from 2017, resurfaced to mark her passing, in which Trollope discusses City of Friends, her novel about women, power and work in the City. Speaking with characteristic candour, she explains why she felt compelled to write about professional women on their own terms, challenging the idea that ambition, authority and success must look male. At 73, she remained sharply observant, intellectually curious and determined to interrogate the world as it was, rather than as clichés suggested it to be. This article was originally published in February 2017 in Radio Times magazine. "I just didn't think there were any serious novels about women and work," says Joanna Trollope. "There were a few novels about women in the City, on the trading floor, behaving like men, getting drunk and having sex with clients. They were tough-girl, ladette novels. But I couldn't find one about the way women work – because I don't think they work the same way as men." So the 73-year-old writer has set about redressing the balance. Her new novel, City of Friends, focuses on four 47-year-olds, who first met studying economics at university and are now City high-flyers. And it's an impressively diverse group. "I wanted to include a marriage that had no children, a marriage that had children, a gay relationship and a single mother, because that sort of covered everything." City of Friends is Trollope's 20th novel. The Oxford-educated daughter of a rector (and distant relative of novelist Anthony Trollope), she was dubbed the queen of the Aga saga because her early bestsellers, A Village Affair, The Choir and The Rector's Wife, all of which were made into TV series, had a Home Counties domestic setting. But actually Trollope is far more subversive. Fay Weldon once said admiringly that Trollope "has a gift for putting her finger on the problem of the times". Her books have tackled adoption and adultery, contested wills and post-traumatic stress. Researching her last book, 2014's Balancing Act, about a family business, she visited the Emma Bridgewater ceramics factory in Stoke-on-Trent, and became fascinated by how modern women take working for granted. "I was born at the very end of 1943 and for my generation there were almost no women who worked. I knew I wanted to, and I did. Then you get my daughters' generation – I've got one of 48 and one of 45, the same age roughly as the characters in City of Friends – and they all work. And by the time you get to the generation of my 18-year-old granddaughter, they wouldn't think of not working." City of Friends is "a sort of sequel" to Balancing Act. To research the new novel, Trollope met women working in the finance industry and even lived in London's Canary Wharf for a while ("a fascinating place, completely unreal"). She was very impressed by the women she met. They struck her as the sort who "might have gone into politics" if the culture of the House of Commons was "less laddish and uncivilised". The reason we know little about these women, she says, is that they prefer to go under the radar. "They're very powerful and very quiet. And they want it to stay that way." But in the novel we also see the sacrifices alpha women make for their love affair with work. Part of the problem is that women don't compartmentalise their lives into work and play, as men do, Trollope suggests. And also women's love affair with work still makes society feel uncomfortable. "If women work, then we become more random, we become something of a threat." Before becoming a writer in 1980, Trollope worked in the Foreign Office and as a teacher. Her first husband was a banker, with whom she had her two daughters. When she married her second husband, the television dramatist Ian Curteis, she became a stepmother to his two boys. Now a divorced grandmother of nine, she lives in Kensington. The jacket of City of Friends (above) features the four doors where her female characters live, from the gritty East End to the townhouses of Islington. Getting that sort of detail right is essential. "A man needs to know what another man does for a living so he can put him in a hierarchical pecking order. Women need to know where people live, do they live alone, have they got a cat?" Almost all women need a personal life – whatever form it takes, she says dreamily. "Women need a real, solid personal life, from which they all sally forth to slay dragons." <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2017/02/joanna-trollope-royals-3e71039.jpg" width="2426" height="1804" alt="Joanna Trollope with a suited Prince Charles holding a drink, alongside Camilla in a dark jacket, at a drinks reception in an ornate library with bookshelves and guests in." title="The Prince Of Wales & Duchess Of Cornwall Attend The Friends Of The National Libraries Reception" /> Trollope is great company. One minute she's talking about Sarah Waters, whose 1940s-set gay novel, The Night Watch, inspired the lesbian relationship in City of Friends. "I just thought we know a lot about gay betrayal, but we don't know very much about lesbian betrayal," she says. The next moment she's marvelling at the success of the lifestyle blogger Zoella Sugg, whose debut novel was revealed to have been penned by a ghostwriter. "I think: hats off to this girl in her Essex bedroom with its G-plan furniture pulling off this extraordinary commercial stunt." The appeal of Zoella is that she's a fantasy older sister for young girls. "I remember before my 11-plus, when I was at prep school, I was obsessed by the tennis captain. She was 17 and I was completely addicted to her. It still happens, but now they do it to a distant object, a Kim Kardashian, a Zoella." The fact teenagers would rather text than speak face to face alarms her. "I think the 'Snowflake' generation – this kind of 'Don't say anything horrid to me because I might not be able to bear it' – is a reaction to the pressures of social media. I don't think it's because they are pathetic little wimps. It's because they're the first generation who've had this completely relentless avalanche of information, criticism and bullying, and they've retreated to a place which says: 'If I'm here in the corner with a shield in front of me, you can't get at me.'" By contrast, Trollope is a modernist who believes in progress. Researching City of Friends she met academics and business psychologists – "so many people thinking outside the box about how to make life better, make humanity more productive, how to link humanity in a way that isn't pathetic little Instagram snaps," she beams. "There are so many people working for the good of their fellow man." Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Looking for more reading recommendations? 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Jane Austen’s enduring and universal appeal revealed by hit writers, from Pride & Prejudice 1995 screenwriter to David Baddiel
As Radio 4 marks 250 years since Jane Austen’s birth, Philippa Perry explains why the author remains so influential today
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. This year, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, has seen ample celebration of the life and works of this singular observer of English life in the early 19th century. So far on TV, we’ve had a three-part documentary exploring Austen’s rebel spirit, the drama Miss Austen starring Keeley Hawes, and soon to follow is another version of Pride and Prejudice, this time with some big Netflix bucks and an all-star cast. When it comes to Austen, it seems broadcasters never scrimp, and Radio 4 is proving no exception – celebrating this important anniversary in style, with a dedicated season that has already featured a new take on Northanger Abbey, Radio 4 Extra mining its archive of classic dramas, and newly commissioned radio dramatisations of Pride and Prejudice (see below right) and, next weekend, Sense and Sensibility. The latter is also explored in a special episode of Bookclub on Tuesday (Austen’s 250th birthday) with Emma Thompson. Fans can also feast on a ten-part factual series, When I Met Jane Austen, in which her biographer, Dr Paula Byrne, asks a star line-up of guests – David Baddiel, Katherine Rundell, Val McDermid, Kate Atkinson, Andrew Davies, Amy Heckerling, Gurinder Chadha, Marlon James, Colm Tóibín and Philippa Perry – about how Austen’s work has shaped and influenced their lives and own creative efforts. Like so many of Austen’s many millions of fans across the world, psychotherapist and bestselling author Perry can barely remember life without recourse to the wit and wisdom of the author she credits with “changing her life” after she first encountered her work aged 12, and studied Pride and Prejudice for English O-level. So, what is so special about Austen’s small but peerless collection of works that includes six novels (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion), one novella (Lady Susan) and the tantalisingly unfinished The Watsons and Sanditon? “It’s like having a gossip with a good friend when you’re working out what people are like,” says Perry, who has been working out what makes people tick for more than 40 years, since she first volunteered for the Samaritans. Perry is the author of four bestselling books, including the ground-breaking The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did), which was published in 2019 and became one of the great breakout publishing hits of lockdown. She takes a keen psychologist’s eye to Austen’s writing and is convinced that, despite the author writing about social mores observed more than 200 years ago, she continues to have a great influence on her own work today. “She is such a great observer of human behaviour,” she reflects. “I remember quotes from her that remain fresh and relevant. For example, ‘To be sure, you knew no actual good of me – but nobody thinks of that when they fall in love.’ This is Elizabeth Bennet explaining to her suitor Darcy that no one falls in love with someone because they are good.” Austen was an observer, not a speculator, adds Perry. “She never had a scene where men were talking together without a woman present because, being a woman, she had never observed that.” For Perry, that makes the author the most reliable of documenters of the human condition. “Observation, observation, observation. She may have made up the stories, but she observed humans rather than reinventing them.” What subjects would Austen be writing about if she were alive today? Perry doesn’t believe her style would be any different: “She’d be noticing how humans are with each other and what becomes of them because of how they are with each other.” Speaking as one observer of the human condition in consideration of another, would Austen have made a good psychotherapist? Perry has no doubt. “She and Shakespeare would have had a phenomenal practice!” David Baddiel - Comedian and author “I’ve never met anyone who said, ‘Oh, my God, you like Jane Austen. What’s wrong with you? I thought you were just a football lad.’ But I used to have a Times column and the people I wrote most about were John Updike and Jane Austen. I was writing against the voice that thinks Jane Austen is just a lovable maiden aunt, but also probably against the voice that was ‘David Baddiel and his Three Lions and laddishness likes Jane Austen? That can’t be right!’ I like the fact that’s challenging. But, I’m a storyteller primarily, and Austen is possibly the greatest storyteller in English literature, so I’m always going to love her.” Andrew Davies - Writer of the 1995 TV dramatisation of Pride and Prejudice “I first read Pride and Prejudice in school and remember really enjoying it right from the start. That was the one I taught most often as a teacher. I used to read it aloud to sixth formers. You think, isn’t that a terrible waste of time? Just reading aloud like they were little kids, but they would get so much more and then be able to read it themselves. One of the things I always said in teaching is that this book is not just about social fripperies and little bits of irony. It’s about sex and money and primal urges and all sorts of big important things.” Katherine Rundell - Children’s author “I first met Jane Austen when I was really quite young, maybe nine or 10, at a time that I don’t think I would have had the stamina to read her. She is absolutely staggering. [Her Juvenilia] is like no other young person’s writing I have ever encountered in my life. It is so funny; it is so sharp. The majority of the children’s writing that I read has not yet worked out that the way a character moves through a plot is what makes a story. Children usually don’t have enough of a hinterland of knowledge of the way normal literature might work to understand how you might subvert it.” Kate Atkinson - Creator of the Jackson Brodie crime novels “You read Mansfield Park and think, well, that’s not Emma. That’s not Pride and Prejudice. I’m not sure I like that book. I revisited Fanny Price and Mansfield Park a few years ago, and wondered: why did she write this book? She’d had success with Pride and Prejudice, which she started writing quite early in her life. So at that point, she knew she was a writer, but I think that she wanted to write something that established her as a real writer, that showed she knew how to shape a novel, that she wasn’t just going to be writing Elizabeth Bennet — because there must have been a pull to write Pride and Prejudice Two.” Val McDermid - Crime novelist “I first read Northanger Abbey when I was 17, the same age as Catherine Morland and I thought, she’s ridiculous, she’s stupid. And then when I read the book again when I was in my early 30s, because I was trying to break down people who I considered to be good storytellers to see how they work, I was very impressed. I could see the humour in it and I could see why it was important to have the kind of central character that she had. The third time I read it, I was in my 50s and had a son. I saw it from the perspective of the parent, where your child is going out into the world and you’re anxious about them but you also realise the absurdity of your behaviour in many respects. Every time I read it, it’s like reading it for the first time.” Amy Heckerling - Writer of the movie Clueless, which updated Emma to modern LA “When I was in college at NYU, I took a class on British literature. We read Dickens and Sir Walter Scott and we read Emma, as a representation of Jane Austen. I just loved the book, I went crazy for it. It was so wonderful to read about such a strong, confident character. To pick up a book from another world and another time, and to find it so right on the money about what it’s like to be a young person — you can jump through time like that, and reach us.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
The Witcher's Joey Batey reveals how his new novel embraces his Northern identity and being "forgotten" by those in power
Joey Batey's ambitious new novel shows life in the North - and the creativity that stems from there.
If anyone sings the ditty "Toss a coin to your Witcher", you'd immediately hear the voice and see the face of Joey Batey. The 36-year-old was propelled to fame after his appearance in the hit Netflix series where he performed the catchy tune. But acting is purely one string to Batey's impressive bow; he's one half of indie folk band The Amazing Devil and he's also an author, with his remarkable debut novel the topic of conversation with RadioTimes.com when we caught up. It's Not A Cult is an ambitious folk horror novel, centred around a rebellious band in the North East of England. Callum, Melusine and Al have no band name, but they take their sound across pubs in the locality which tell stories of the 'Solkats', fictional gods of small things. While no one really knows what they're singing about, the band is happiest when they're playing music together - until an act of violence at a pub catches the eye of an influencer and the band suddenly go from having a cult following to having that cult following them. Callum insists the Solkats just want to have an effect on the world, but as their music grows far and wide, and their gigs become more tumultuous, they soon discover that the fictional mischief they've been singing about might just be real after all - and in demand of a sacrifice. It's ambitious and expensive, potentially owing to the fact it had been sitting with Batey for a long time. "When I was about 19, I had met these characters," Batey explained. "I knew the outline of what I wanted to write, but for some reason I was hesitant to put it to paper. I ended up writing a number of other novels throughout my 20s and 30s, just to cut my teeth. I got to a couple of years ago and thought, 'This story's been banging on the door for so long that I think now's the time'. In those years, with the introduction of social media, the story suddenly felt like it was relevant. "I felt like I got all the ingredients for it but I just hadn't put the oven on. When I started cooking on this book, it was a really quick process." Batey laughs when asked if he was glad he waited, adding: "If I'd written it at the age of 19/20, I think it would have been almost unbelievable, whereas the book now incorporates huge themes that are now very palpable and could happen - but would have been slightly alien to an audience of 15/20 years ago." The novel is set in the North East of England, particularly Northumberland, where the scenery is beautiful but wild and mischievous - the perfect setting for the Solkats. Batey explained: "I wanted to return to the North East because it become quite representative of this mythology. Playful but malevolent, quite ethereal in some ways. In this story, [the Solkats] have a sense of joy and threat at the same time - and that's how I feel about my personal relationship with the North East." There's a wealth of books being adapted into TV shows at the moment, and something so inventive as It's Not a Cult would be hard to ignore. But Batey's very humble about his chances - though has some pre-requisites if he were to see it translated for the small screen. "I've no sort of aspiration of grandeur when it comes to the book, but it obviously has a framework that I built into it from day one; there are only maybe three or four scenes in the entire book that don't take place down a camera lens. It might read like I was gunning for it to get made into a film, but that certainly wasn't my intention!" Batey explains. He adds: "If it did get made, I would be first of all overjoyed, but I would hope to have as much creative control as I could, and to ensure that the North East was represented properly by people who were from the North East, who understood what it's like to grow up there, to live there, to be slightly forgotten by the rest of the country and certainly by previous governments. "There's a wealth of togetherness in the North East and in the North in general that comes from being forgotten by people in power. So I would want as many people from the North as possible involved in the project." For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club sponsored by Dr. Oetker Ristorante. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
23 best sci-fi books to help you escape reality: From Dune to The Martian
From epic space operas to mind‑bending thrillers, these are the sci‑fi stories that will transport you to other worlds.
Whether you’re craving distant galaxies, futuristic tech or alternate realities, sci‑fi offers the perfect escape from the everyday. From the sprawling deserts of Dune to the high‑stakes survival of The Martian, these 23 unmissable books will take you on journeys that stretch the imagination, challenge perception and remind us why we fell in love with the genre in the first place. There’s something for everyone on this list of the best sci-fi books, so buckle up and prepare to enter the stratosphere with us. 23 best sci-fi books Dune by Frank Herbert The Martian by Andy Weir Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell Brave New World by Aldous Huxley The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin Hyperion by Dan Simmons The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman Kindred by Octavia E. Butler Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Ready Player One by Ernest Cline The Road by Cormac McCarthy The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone Jade City by Fonda Lee Red Rising by Pierce Brown The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine 1. Dune by Frank Herbert Before it became a blockbuster film starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, Dune was Frank Herbert’s bestselling sci-fi epic, followed by five sequels that many fans still consider the pinnacle of the genre. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, it follows Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling a hostile world where the most precious resource is the “spice” melange, a substance that extends life and heightens awareness. When House Atreides is betrayed, Paul is thrust into a perilous journey; one that will shape not only his destiny, but the fate of an entire universe. 2. The Martian by Andy Weir Some readers shy away from sci-fi set in our own universe, while others love it for that shred of possibility. And Andy Weir’s The Martian feels all too possible. It follows astronaut Mark Watney, one of the first people to walk on Mars, and soon to be the first to be left for dead there. After a violent dust storm nearly kills him, his crew evacuates, believing he didn’t survive. Stranded, alone and unable to contact Earth, Mark has limited supplies that won’t last until a rescue mission. Even worse, starvation may not be the most pressing threat: failing machinery, the brutal Martian environment or a simple mistake could end his life far sooner. But Mark refuses to give up. With ingenuity, dark humour and sheer determination, he tackles one obstacle at a time. The result is a tense, exhilarating survival story that feels terrifyingly real. 3. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell Chances are you first encountered this book at school, although you might not have fully appreciated it at the time. Published in 1949, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four imagined a future that felt chillingly prescient by the time 1984 arrived, and in many ways feels even more relevant today, especially in an age of mass surveillance and advancing AI. It’s a novel that still feels less like fiction and more like a warning. Set in Oceania, a totalitarian state ruled by the ever-watchful Party and its figurehead, Big Brother, the story follows Winston Smith, a man who quietly longs for truth, intimacy and freedom. Such “thought crimes” are punishable by imprisonment or death. When Winston begins an illicit affair, he’s drawn into the dangerous world of resistance and the brutal reality of what it means to challenge absolute power. 4. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Another classic sci-fi novel you may have first encountered in the classroom, Brave New World is well worth revisiting with a little more age and perspective. The best science fiction books endure because they reflect timeless fears and questions, and Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel, written in the shadow of rising fascism, feels unsettlingly relevant today. Huxley imagines a future where society is engineered for control: humans are genetically bred, socially conditioned, and chemically numbed to ensure passive obedience to an authoritarian order. It’s a world of dazzling technological advancement, but at the expense of freedom, individuality and perhaps even the soul. 5. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin Don’t limit yourself to the best sci‑fi novels written in English, as Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem is a revolutionary leap for the genre. Its blend of grand, universal themes – humanity’s place in the cosmos, the nature of civilisation, and the ethics of survival – alongside a gripping narrative of mystery and suspense, has secured its place in the sci‑fi hall of fame. Set during China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space, hoping to make contact with alien life. The message is received by a civilisation on the brink of extinction, which then plans to invade Earth. Back on our planet, factions form: some are intent on welcoming the newcomers and aiding their conquest of what they see as a corrupt world, while others are determined to resist at all costs. 6. Hyperion by Dan Simmons Sci‑fi doesn’t just explore different worlds and societies; it can also reinvent the very structure of storytelling. Dan Simmons's Hyperion is a perfect example, framing its narrative like The Canterbury Tales within a sprawling science‑fiction epic. The result is a mysterious, emotionally rich journey filled with unique characters and profound questions about life, artificial intelligence and humanity’s future. Celebrated for its masterful space‑opera world‑building, Hyperion weaves the interconnected stories of seven pilgrims, exploring deep philosophical themes alongside the enigma of the Shrike. On the world of Hyperion, beyond the reach of the Hegemony of Man, waits the creature known as the Shrike. Some worship it. Some fear it. Some have sworn to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs – monolithic structures moving backwards through time – the Shrike waits. On the eve of Armageddon, with the galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion. Each carries a desperate hope, a terrible secret and perhaps the fate of humanity itself. 7. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley One of the newest additions to the canon of great science fiction books, The Ministry of Time is a genre‑bending tale of time travel, politics, espionage and the transformative power of love. It asks questions that feel uncomfortably close to reality. A recently established government ministry is recruiting “expats” from across history to explore whether time travel is possible, not just for the body, but for the fabric of space‑time itself. Our unnamed protagonist is promoted to the role of “bridge” and tasked with living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known only as “1847”, Commander Graham Gore. What begins as a mission she expects to be nothing more than a painfully awkward arrangement evolves into something far more profound. By the time the true scope of the Ministry’s project is revealed, the bridge has fallen headlong and irrevocably in love, with consequences she could never have foreseen. Facing choices that will shape the future, she must decide what she truly believes and what she is willing to risk to change it. This might just be one of the best time travel tales of the decade, raising questions we never thought to ask and couldn't possibly begin to answer. 8. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Sometimes we just need a good laugh with a side of sci‑fi. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy may be one of the most absurd novels ever written, yet it’s also strangely comforting and deeply thought‑provoking. It won’t make sense... until it does. Seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is rescued by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, who has spent the last 15 years posing as an out‑of‑work actor. Together, they embark on a chaotic journey through space, guided by the Guide itself (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”) and joined by a galaxy‑full of unforgettable characters: Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two‑headed, three‑armed, ex‑hippie president of the galaxy; Trillian, Arthur’s one‑time cocktail party crush; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student obsessed with the mysterious disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he has ever owned. An unlikely crew that will have you giggling into the pages and scratching your head in bewonderment. 9. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson We return to Mars once again with Kim Stanley Robinson’s captivating trilogy about the colonisation of the red planet. More than 30 years old, it still feels eerily plausible in today’s climate, especially with renewed focus on Mars. John Boone, Maya Toitavna, Frank Chalmers and Arkady Bogdanov lead a bold terraforming mission. For some, Mars becomes a passion that drives acts of courage and madness. For others, it is an opportunity to strip the planet of its riches. For the genetic alchemists, it offers the chance to create a biomedical miracle, reshaping everything we know about life and death. Colonists orbit giant satellite mirrors to channel light to the surface. Black dust on the polar caps captures warmth. Massive tunnels, kilometres deep, are drilled into the mantle to unleash stupendous vents of hot gases. Against this backdrop of grand upheaval, rivalries will ignite, alliances will fracture and loves will form and fall apart. For there are those willing to fight to the death to keep Mars unchanged. 10. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Looking for a shorter science‑fiction novel? Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a masterwork of twentieth‑century literature, set in a chilling dystopian future where burning books becomes the ultimate tool of control. Bradbury’s warning still feels disturbingly relevant: strip away knowledge, and you strip away freedom. In this world, television dominates and literature teeters on the brink of extinction. Guy Montag is a fireman tasked with destroying the most forbidden of commodities: printed books. He follows orders without question, returning each day to a dull life with his wife, Mildred, who is absorbed by her television “family”. But when Montag meets his curious neighbour Clarisse – who reveals a past without fear and a present shaped by ideas – he begins to question everything. After Mildred’s suicide attempt and Clarisse’s sudden disappearance, Montag starts hiding books in his home. When his secret is discovered, he must flee for his life. 11. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman This might be the strangest entry on this list of the best sci‑fi books, but stick with it, and you won’t be disappointed. I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post‑apocalyptic novel about female friendship, intimacy and the lengths people will go to preserve their humanity in the face of devastation. Fair warning: it will make you cry. Deep underground, 40 women are imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, they have no memory of how they arrived, no sense of time and only fragments of their lives before captivity. As years pass in the burn of electric light that erases day and night, one young woman – the 40th prisoner – remains isolated and silent in a corner. But she will prove to be the key to the others’ escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. 12. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler One of the strengths of science fiction is its ability to explore real‑world themes more deeply, free from the constraints of conventional fiction. Kindred is a powerful example, blending historical fiction with sci‑fi to examine the enduring impacts of racism, sexism and white supremacy. Dana, a present-day Black woman, is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband when she is abruptly pulled from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Time and again, Dana is drawn back to the slave quarters, each visit growing longer, more arduous and more dangerous, until it becomes uncertain whether her life will end before it truly begins. 13. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut At its core, Slaughterhouse‑Five is about the absurdity of existence and the ways we try to make sense of it. Celebrated for its blend of humour, tragedy and experimental storytelling, it explores war, trauma, and fatalism, cementing its place as a profoundly human and enduring anti‑war classic. The novel follows Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes “unstuck in time” after surviving the firebombing of Dresden as a prisoner of war during World War II. His story leaps between childhood, wartime horrors, life as a post‑war optometrist and an otherworldly abduction by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. This is one of those novels you simply must read at least once in a lifetime. 14. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Let’s put a pin in other planets and space travel and turn to the medical side of sci‑fi, something that feels eerily close to reality. Never Let Me Go is a dystopian novel wrapped in romance, friendship and bittersweet coming‑of‑age hopefulness. Spoiler: you’re going to cry, a lot, even more than you think. Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth grow up at Hailsham, a secluded private school in the English countryside, where children are sheltered from the outside world. Raised to believe they are special and that their well‑being matters not just to themselves but to society, they are blissfully unaware of the truth. Now adults, they must confront the dark secret behind Hailsham’s protective façade, and the shocking reality of their own existence. It captures the way that memories can deceive you, and new evidence can bring a sinister light to the past. Never Let Me Go also raises questions about bodily autonomy that have never been more relevant than in today's political climate. 15. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Alright, let’s give your tear ducts a break and head into the wild west of gaming sci‑fi. With gaming and virtual reality now dominating popular culture, immersive worlds have never been more tantalising. Fans describe this book as a geek fantasy, a nerd utopia. It’s 2044 and the world is in a worse state than it is now – if that’s even possible. The only time teenager Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade has devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines; puzzles based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past, promising massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill for the ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win and confront the real world he’s always been desperate to escape. You might want to unplug your PlayStation after this one. 16. The Road by Cormac McCarthy A searing, post‑apocalyptic novel that lingers in your mind long after the final page. Many argue that this is Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece, though it faces stiff competition. The Road is a profoundly moving story of a journey, one that imagines a future where hope has all but vanished, yet love endures. A father and his son walk alone through a burned America. Nothing stirs in the ravaged landscape except ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stone, and when snow falls, it is grey. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, though they have no certainty of what awaits them there. They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes on their backs, a cart of scavenged food and each other. It's a tale of how far a father will go for his son and the loss of humanity that occurs when societal rules are shed. It's not for the faint of heart, we'll tell you that much. 17. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson Multiverse stories are all the rage in film and television, but few capture their complexity and politics as deftly as Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds. Multiverse travel is possible, but with a catch: no one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Cara, however, has a rare track record as her parallel selves are exceptionally good at dying, whether from disease, turf wars or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. She’s already perished on 372 worlds. On this Earth, though, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and deemed the perfect candidate for multiverse travel, she is plucked from the wastelands and given a new life in the lower levels of the wealthy, walled‑off Wiley City. Citizenship and security are hers, as long as she keeps her head down and avoids trouble. Trouble, however, has other plans; when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, Cara is drawn into a world where survival comes at the cost of unearthing a dangerous secret. 18. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone There is something uniquely affecting about love painted against the backdrop of the boundlessness of space and time. This Is How You Lose the Time War is a novel of war, betrayal, longing and the paradox of time – or rather, its absence. Amid the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant discovers a letter marked: burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents, each determined to secure the best possible future for their warring factions. What starts as a taunt – a battlefield boast – becomes something far greater: something epic, something romantic, something that could alter the past and the future. But the discovery of their bond would mean certain death. After all, the war still rages, and someone must win. 19. Jade City by Fonda Lee The first book in The Green Bone Saga and Fonda Lee’s adult fantasy debut does not disappoint. Praised for its masterful world-building and morally complex characters, Jade City creates a vibrant setting reminiscent of 1970s Asia, delivering a story of loyalty, power and ambition. Think The Godfather, but as gritty, lush sci-fi fantasy. The Kaul family leads one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon, the only place in the world where rare magical jade is found. This jade grants those with the right training and heritage extraordinary abilities. Once guardians of Kekon against foreign invasion, the Green Bone clans now exist in a bustling post-war metropolis full of fast cars, foreign money and political intrigue. Their influence is in commerce, construction and controlling the districts they protect. But when tensions between the Kauls and their greatest rivals erupt into open violence, the fate of all Green Bones – and the future of Kekon itself – hangs in the balance. Keep your entire weekend free, as you'll struggle to put this one down. 20. Red Rising by Pierce Brown Welcome back to Mars! Again! Red Rising by Pierce Brown launches you into a brutal, fast-paced saga of dystopia, space opera and revenge. Expect epic battles, political intrigue worthy of Game of Thrones, and a hero driven to extremes. Darrow is a Red, the lowest caste in a colour-coded future society, toiling under the belief that he is making Mars habitable for future generations. But Darrow discovers humanity conquered Mars long ago, and Reds like him are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Fuelled by justice and the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute – a proving ground for the ruling Gold caste. There, he must fight for survival and the fate of civilisation, even if winning means becoming the very thing he despises. 21. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula K. Le Guin has earned her place among the greatest sci-fi writers of all time. In this groundbreaking novel, a lone human emissary, Genly Ai, is sent to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend much of their lives without gender, to negotiate its inclusion in an intergalactic civilisation. To succeed, Ai must navigate a society shaped by unfamiliar customs and political intrigue. Ai forms an uneasy alliance with Estravan, a high-ranking Winter politician who risks everything to help him. Together, they embark on a perilous journey across Winter’s frozen wilderness, confronting harsh elements, betrayal and the fragility of trust. Celebrated for its exploration of gender, identity and humanity, The Left Hand of Darkness blends political intrigue, survival and philosophical depth into a profound meditation on connection and empathy. 22. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky Anyone who delegates spider-killing duty to their spouse should probably steer clear of this novel; though that would be a shame, because Children of Time is a thrilling ride from start to finish. Revered for its breathtaking scope, the novel blends an epic generational ship story with the fascinating evolution of a non-human species – spiders – from simple creatures to a technologically advanced civilisation. It explores profound themes of identity, human failings, and the ethics of scientific progress. The last remnants of humanity flee a dying Earth, searching for a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover a world terraformed and prepared for human life – a new Eden. But centuries of abandonment have turned it into something far darker. New masters have claimed the planet, transforming it into mankind’s worst nightmare. Now two civilisations hurtle toward inevitable conflict, each testing the limits of survival. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, the question remains: who are the true heirs of this new Earth? 23. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine What sets A Memory Called Empire apart is its richly imagined culture – a dazzling blend of Byzantium and Aztec influences – woven with poetry and linguistic depth that make reading it a truly immersive experience. Layered atop this is a sprawling interstellar empire and a web of political intrigue that feels like Succession in space. Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives at the heart of the Teixcalaanli Empire to find her predecessor dead. No one admits his death wasn’t an accident, or that Mahit might be next, as political instability threatens the highest echelons of the imperial court. To survive, Mahit must uncover who is behind the murder, protect herself and safeguard her small but fiercely independent mining Station from the empire’s expansion. All while navigating a seductive alien culture, engaging in dangerous intrigue of her own and guarding a technological secret that could either annihilate her Station... or save it. No biggie, right? For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club sponsored by Dr. Oetker Ristorante. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!
23 best romance books to make you believe in love again: From Emily Henry to Jilly Cooper
Will it be love at first page? Crack open one of these swoon-worthy romances and find out.
When dating apps leave you frustrated or your other half is working late again, it’s time to escape into a great romance novel. From Emily Henry’s sun-soaked, self-discovery-filled summers to Jilly Cooper’s glamorous, high-stakes romantic sagas, these 23 books prove that the best romances can make you fall in love with every page. Covering everything from first crushes and second chances to enemies-to-lovers and heart-racing chemistry, they capture love in all its messy, magical glory and will have you believing in it all over again. 23 best romance books As a Last Resort by Kristin Wollett Rivals by Jilly Cooper Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt Funny Story by Emily Henry We Met Like This by Kasie West Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston It Happened on a Sunday by Tracy Wolff First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter Dukes and Dekes by Torie Jean The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks The High Dive by Chelsea Fagan Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey The Hating Game by Sally Thorne The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn August Lane by Regina Black 1. As a Last Resort by Kristin Wollett Sam left her small-town Florida roots behind years ago and never looked back. But when her work nemesis falls ill, she’s forced to take his place on a resort development project – right in the hometown she swore she’d escaped. Suddenly, Sam is face-to-face with everything she ran from: her addicted mother, her estranged best friend and the high school bullies now settled down with families of their own. The one bright spot? Austin Marcs, the town golden boy and her childhood crush, who seems determined to swoop in whenever she needs saving. Their chemistry is undeniable, but how can Sam imagine a future with someone so tied to the very place she can’t stand? Tender, heartfelt and layered with grief, this romance doesn’t just make you root for the love story; you’ll find yourself falling for Sam herself. 2. Rivals by Jilly Cooper If you love your romance messy, glamorous and sprawling, Jilly Cooper’s Rivals is the ultimate guilty pleasure. Set in the cut-throat world of 1980s British television, it follows rival producers Rupert Campbell-Black (charismatic, arrogant and dangerously irresistible) and Declan O’Hara (idealistic, passionate and just as infuriating). Between on-set feuds, scandalous affairs and enough drama to fill a soap opera, Rivals delivers both sizzling romance and biting satire. Think Succession meets Love Actually, with even more bed-hopping and backstabbing. Top it off by watching the Disney+ series just in time for the second season! 3. Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt Divorce is a reality for many of us, which makes it especially heartwarming to see it explored in novels – even when it’s two exes trying to make things work. Wren and Ellis fell in love as teenagers, had their son Sam, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were perfect for each other... until they weren’t. Now in their late 30s and sending their son off to college, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back to Spunes to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. Everything feels right in the present, but can they truly overcome the past to build a future together? With sweeping coastal scenery, tender romance and the emotional weight of second chances, this story perfectly captures love, regret and hope. 4. Funny Story by Emily Henry Emily Henry is basically the Taylor Swift of romance novels: beloved by millions, endlessly quotable and a loud-and-proud Swiftie herself (with plenty of references tucked into her books). Funny Story might just be her best yet, thanks to a one-of-a-kind love interest: Miles, a tattooed, weed-smoking golden retriever of a man. The story follows Daphne, a small-town librarian whose fiancé dumps her for his childhood best friend (aka the woman he claims is “like a sister”). Left stranded in Michigan, she moves in with Miles, the ex left behind on the other side of the break-up. When the two team up for a fake-dating scheme to make their exes jealous, Miles sets out to help Daphne fall for Michigan... but she just might fall for something, or someone, else entirely. 5. We Met Like This by Kasie West Too many of us can see ourselves in Margot Hart: a hopeless romantic determined to meet her soulmate the old-fashioned way. The snag? Her most consistent “relationship” is with Oliver, a guy she can’t stop rematching with on dating apps. They’re obviously not compatible... except, well, maybe physically. But when Margot loses her dream job as a literary agent and Oliver suddenly stumbles back into her orbit, she starts to wonder if he’s not the wrong fit after all. Maybe the real issue isn’t him... It’s her. This book might just convince you to download dating apps again! 6. Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage Town’s bad boy? Her brother’s best friend? Stuck back in the hometown she worked so hard to escape? Sign us up! Lyla Sage delivers a cowboy romance with all the sparks, heat, and small-town drama you could want. After an accident leaves Emmy unable to ride, she’s forced to return to the hometown she’s always tried to leave behind. Luke, Meadowlark’s most notorious bad boy, bar owner, and perpetual bachelor, used to tease her relentlessly, but now he can’t take his eyes off her. As Emmy rediscovers her spark, and Luke wrestles with feelings he can’t ignore, both must decide whether this fiery connection will heal them or leave them burned. 7. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston If you’re looking for the ultimate rivals-to-lovers romance, Red, White & Royal Blue is globally revered for a reason. Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the United States, does not get along with Prince Henry of Wales. But when a very public international scandal forces them into a fake friendship, sparks start flying in ways neither expected. Between secret emails, stolen kisses, and the weight of the crown versus the White House, this book balances political drama with swoony romance. It’s cheeky, heartfelt and pure fanfic come to life. It’s the kind of love story that makes history feel sexy. 8. It Happened on a Sunday by Tracy Wolff If you’ve been swooning over Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, you’ll love this (completely unrelated) romance between a pop star and a football player. Sloane Walker has been chewed up and spat out by the press before, and she’s learned to protect herself with sharp eyeliner and an even sharper attitude. To her, Mateo – the golden-boy athlete and media darling – is nothing more than a convenient photo op. But when he starts to look past the armour and really see her, Sloane realises there’s more to Mateo than headlines and highlight reels. The cameras may be watching, but the only sparks that matter are the ones flying between them. 9. First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison If Sleepless in Seattle is your favourite Meg Ryan movie, you’ll fall head over heels for this charming love story. Aiden Valentine hosts a romance hotline, but he’s lost his own faith in love. Lucie Stone, a single mum juggling everything, doesn’t realise that her daughter secretly called the show for dating advice on her behalf. As Baltimore becomes captivated by their story and everyone roots for Lucie to find her happy ending, sparks start flying behind the scenes. Suddenly, the romance isn’t just on-air, it might just be real. Cosy, heartfelt, and full of swoon, this novel is perfect for fans of unexpected love and tender second chances. 10. Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings Fans of Chicken Shop Date will love this seemingly inspired romcom, where Eva Kitt hosts Sausage Talk: a quirky show interviewing B-list celebrities over lukewarm hot dogs. But when her off-the-cuff rant about her college ex goes viral, Eva suddenly finds herself in the spotlight. The catch? Said ex is Rylie Cooper, a social media golden boy who’s built a career preaching about dismantling toxic masculinity and teaching men how to be better partners. Forced to confront him live on her show, Eva reluctantly agrees to let Rylie take her on a series of “make-up” dates to atone for his past mistakes. Only, somewhere between the staged gestures and genuine connection, the line between performance and reality starts to blur. Could the boy who once broke her heart actually be the man who heals it? 11. Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter Romance novels often give us the perfect dose of escapism, but the best ones also weave in the messy realities of life. Friends with Benefits does exactly that: best friends Theo and Evie strike up a marriage of convenience for the most unromantic reasons: health insurance and a rent-controlled apartment. On paper, it’s a logical, practical solution. The only hiccup? Evie never really wanted to be married, and Theo has quietly been in love with her for years. Nothing has to change... until, inevitably, it does. 12. Dukes and Dekes by Torie Jean If Pride and Prejudice is your not-so-guilty pleasure and you have a soft spot for a reformed rake, you’ll adore this friends-to-lovers romance. Aulie Desfleurs is cast as the impulsive Lydia Bennet in this year’s Jane Austen Regency Fair, while Jack Parker – the bad boy of the American professional hockey league – lands the role of the infamous George Wickham after a suspension sends him fleeing to the fair. Thrown together in close quarters, old crushes and unspoken feelings heat up fast. Can Jack prove himself trustworthy while supporting Aulie through her chronic illness? And can Aulie finally let herself trust that Jack might stay for good? Full of tension, tender moments, and swoon-worthy romance, this novel is perfect for fans of love stories that burn slowly but leave a lasting mark. 13. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks Is it even possible to make a list of the best romance books without The Notebook? This is the blueprint for second-chance summer love stories. Noah and Allie meet as teenagers during one unforgettable summer in North Carolina. They’re from different worlds, but their connection is undeniable. Life tears them apart, but years later, fate brings them back together, testing whether first love can really last a lifetime. Keep a box of tissues close, as you’ll find yourself bawling harder than when you watched the film. 14. The High Dive by Chelsea Fagan Perfect for fans of The White Lotus and steamy academic rivalries, this romance follows Alex as she faces a blast from her past in the most glamorous – and high-stakes – setting imaginable: a yacht. It’s been ten years since that unforgettable night with Danial, and now she has to navigate him again while attending the wedding of two mutual college friends. Thrown into a world of ultra-wealthy guests as the lone middle-class outcast, Alex struggles to stick to her principles... even as her heart keeps pulling her toward him. With tension, longing and a touch of sun-soaked opulence, this novel perfectly captures the push-and-pull of romance that’s both irresistible and complicated. 15. Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood Nothing beats a book that’s so aware of its own clichés that it gleefully plays with them, and Ali Hazelwood manages just that in Problematic Summer Romance. Maya Killgore is 23, still figuring out life, and utterly distracted by Conor Harkness, her brother’s 38-year-old best friend. Fate lands them together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. Can they resist the undeniable pull between them? Or will they lean into every cliché of summer romance? Perfect for fans of messy, irresistible love stories, this novel is as self-aware as it is swoon-worthy. 16. Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez This list of the best romance books wouldn’t be complete without something by Abby Jimenez, and for that, we’re recommending Part of Your World. After a wild bet, Alexis Montgomery’s world is completely turned upside down by Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger and as casual as they come – the total opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet, their chemistry is undeniable. While her ultra-wealthy parents expect her to continue the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis is perfectly content as a “mere” ER doctor. Every minute she spends with Daniel and his close-knit hometown reveals what truly matters in life. With so many differences between them, Alexis must decide: can she find a way to bridge two worlds, or will love force her to choose? Tender, steamy and full of heart, this romance is perfect for anyone craving a story about opposites attracting in the most irresistible way. 17. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren If you’re hunting for the ultimate enemies-to-lovers romance, look no further than this fan-favourite. When the entire wedding party comes down with food poisoning, the only ones left standing are Olive, the bride’s sister, and Ethan, the insufferable best man. The solution? Take the unclaimed honeymoon trip to Maui and pretend to be newlyweds. They can’t stand each other, but a free tropical vacation is worth faking it for – at least at first. Between beachside adventures, stolen moments and undeniable chemistry, Olive and Ethan quickly realise that what started as pretend might just be the real deal. 18. It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey If Schitt’s Creek is your comfort show and Alexis Rose your spirit animal, then you’ll be obsessed with It Happened One Summer. Piper Bellinger is a glamorous LA wild child who suddenly finds herself cut off and banished to a tiny fishing town in Washington. Her mission: prove she can survive without Wi-Fi and five-star dining. Enter Brendan, the grumpy, flannel-wearing sea captain who wants nothing to do with her glitter. They clash, they banter, and then they struggle to resist the pull between them. With sizzling chemistry, laugh-out-loud moments, and a whole lot of heart, this is one of the best small-town, opposites-attract romance novels out there. 19. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne There’s something about workplace tensions that gets our hearts thumping, and nowhere captures this dynamic better than The Hating Game. Lucy and Joshua are coworkers locked in an epic office rivalry, complete with constant eye rolls, snarky comments, and passive-aggressive games. But when a promotion raises the stakes, their “hate” starts to feel a little too close to something else entirely. Witty, flirty and full of sizzling tension, this enemies-to-lovers romance proves that sometimes the line between love and hate is just a heartbeat away. 20. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan Cosy up with this heartwarming read and a good cup of tea. Nina Redmond is a small-town librarian whose world is turned upside down when she unexpectedly loses her job. But instead of despairing, she buys a van and turns it into a travelling bookshop. Along the way, she brings literature, joy and a little bit of romance to the people she meets. This novel is perfect for anyone craving a feel-good, page-turning summer escape. 21. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld Sally Milz is a writer for The Night Owls, a fictional late-night sketch show akin to Saturday Night Live. She's cynical about love, until pop star Noah Brewster guest-hosts and sparks fly. As their chemistry deepens, Sally grapples with insecurities about their differences in fame and status. Set against the backdrop of a pandemic, this novel explores love, identity and the complexities of modern relationships with humour and heart. It manages to question important topics about attraction and fame with a lighthearted touch. 22. A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn When it comes to a romance novel, it’s all about the meet-cute, and you can’t beat this one. Lottie Gardner, freshly fired and desperate to make her ex-boss jealous, prowls Beverly Hills in search of a rich husband. Enter Huxley Cane, a billionaire real estate mogul who’s lied to a client about being engaged and expecting. When their paths cross, they hatch a plan: pretend to be a couple to salvage Huxley’s deal. What starts as a fake engagement soon blurs into something real. It offers the perfect twist on the Pretty Woman trope, providing a modern and fun romcom. 23. August Lane by Regina Black This novel has been taking the romance world by storm, and you’ll quickly understand why. Former country heartthrob Luke Randall hates singing his only hit, Another Love Song, at dingy motel lounges, but it’s the only steady money left in his fading career. When he gets the chance to open for his childhood idol, JoJo Lane, the catch is returning to Arcadia, Arkansas, and facing August Lane, aka the woman who wrote the lyrics he’s long claimed as his own. August hates the song, and she hates Luke even more. But when she forces him into a co-writing partnership to save her songwriting dreams, old sparks reignite. As the concert nears, both must confront their shared past and decide whether to let a second chance love song finally be written. For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club sponsored by Dr. Oetker Ristorante. Looking for more reading recommendations? Join the Radio Times Book Club here - we offer 3-month or 6-month memberships as well as monthly or quarterly subscriptions where you'll receive a new hardback chosen by the RT team delivered directly to your door!