By Anais Aguilera, Emily Mawson, Ava Barnaby and Olivia Paris
This issue covers everything from historical thrillers to cosy romances as we guide you through the current bestsellers, even adding a sprinkling of festive fiction to usher in December. Read on to dive into the current charts of Amazon, WHSmith, Waterstones and social media, as well as this issue’s noteworthy author.
Amazon
The Women Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle tells the life of Paula Spencer, a sixty-six-year-old woman who holds many epithets – mother, grandmother and widow. She refuses to let her normal life be dragged backwards by the ghosts of the past, until her eldest daughter, Nicola arrives on her doorstep, desperate to leave her perfect life behind. With Nicola in a crisis, the two women unpack the past filled with memories, jokes and secrets to discover what the past means to each other.
John Grisham’s new thriller The Boys from Biloxi is also in Amazon’s bestseller charts. The book is set in Biloxi, a supposedly sunny beach retreat with a seedy underbelly saturated with murder, drugs and gambling. Two childhood friends, Keith and Hugh, meet as men on opposing sides of the Biloxi tracks. Keith is the son of a prosecutor dedicated to bringing justice to Biloxi, which includes tracking down members of the local mafia. Members such as Hugh’s father – the boss of Biloxi’s criminal underground. They meet again in a courtroom for a final showdown where life hangs in the balance.
WHSmith
Notable in the WHSmith bestsellers list is Precipice by Robert Harris. Known for his detailed and intriguing historical fiction, Harris returned with his new novel in September, exploring an affair between former Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith and aristocrat, Venetia Stanley. A novel fuelled by love, power and politics, Precipice interestingly takes its shape around hundreds of published love letters from Asquith to Stanley and sheds light on the British political climate on the brink of World War I. Both meticulous and thrilling, the novel provides the perfect drama-filled escapism for a cosy winter night.
Next, taking a sharp U-turn into rom-com territory, we return to Dream Harbour for the third instalment of Laurie Gilmore’s sugary-sweet series in The Christmas Tree Farm. Packed with all the classic romance tropes, we meet our moody protagonist Kira as she becomes owner of Dream Harbour’s Christmas tree farm. It is there that she stumbles upon Bennett Ellis, the golden retriever to her black cat who is taking a break in Dream Harbour after a series of unfortunate dating experiences. This cosy Christmas novel is every bit addictive as it is fun, with a mysterious sub-plot that keeps readers hooked. All in all, The Christmas Tree Farm is the perfect small-town romance to keep you warm this winter.
Waterstones
Kicking off this issue’s Waterstone’s pick is the much-anticipated sequel, Return to the DallerGut Dream Department Store. After the success of Miye Lee’s first work, DallerGut Dream Department Store, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee, it is no surprise that the sequel is already hitting the charts. The first novel set up a dream-like world, in the most literal sense. In this world, dreams are a commodity and new employee, Penny is ready to learn all she can about the industry that deals in them. The sequel follows Penny and the quirky cast of characters deeper into the minds of those behind the industry and their
customers, revealing the bittersweet side to doling out people’s
innermost wishes.
Now that December has begun, many readers are itching for a story to put them in the winter mood. Tessa Hadley’s The Party does just that in a bite-sized novella waiting to be devoured by the fire on a cold, dark night. Despite its brevity, The Party inspires intense emotion and introspection. As a pair of sisters living in post-war Bristol find themselves at a mansion owned by two elusive men, they spend the night uncovering things about the other that change their perspectives for good.
Social Media
An unabated hit on social media is Funny Story by Emily Henry, the BookTok darling who has perfected the art of bestselling romance by weaving popular tropes into her rom-coms. It all began with Beach Read, the enemies-to-lovers novel which received an unprompted “huge spike” in sales in 2021, due to BookTok. Henry’s fans adore her use of banter, relatable characters and (of course!) romance. Her latest cocktail of opposites attract, roommates-to-lovers and fake dating centres on Daphne, who is dumped by her fiancé after he realises his love for his childhood best friend, Petra. Naturally, Daphne moves into a flat with Petra’s ex and her period of post-breakup recovery transforms into love.
Circulating on cosy Christmas read lists is The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan, known for her Scottish Bookshop series set in the fictional village of Kirrinfief. Colgan is another author who has experienced a boost from BookTok, charming readers with her warm and heartfelt escapist fiction. In The Christmas Bookshop – the first in the Christmas Bookshop series – Carmen begins a job at an old bookshop in Edinburgh. Readers can expect festive themes of reparation and renewal, as Carmen must revamp the shop to attract customers, navigate her love life and amend the strained relationship with her sister, all in time for Christmas.
Noteworthy Author
Though Halloween is over and fall soon coming to a close, this author’s penchant for emotional, gripping storytelling outlasts any seasonal boundaries. C.G. Drews has several books to their name, including The Boy Who Steals Houses, a bittersweet tale of a boy looking for a place and people to call home, finding it in the most unexpected of places. But this past October, Drews made an even bigger buzz with the release of their debut YA horror, Don’t Let The Forest In. The novel follows two young boys who find themselves caught up in love and nightmares as they battle monsters deep in a forest at night. The book is a New York Times bestseller and C.G. Drew's works have been translated into five languages.