Olive, Again follows the blunt, contradictory yet deeply loveable Olive Kitteridge as she grows older, navigating the second half of her life as she comes to terms with the changes - sometimes welcome, sometimes not - in her own existence and in those around her.

Olive adjusts to her new life with her second husband, challenges her estranged son and his family to accept him, experiences loss and loneliness, witnesses the triumphs and heartbreaks of her friends and neighbours in the small coastal town of Crosby, Maine - and, finally, opens herself to new lessons about life. 

Olive, Again is the weighted blanket you didn't know you needed. Stories of intimate domesticity are interwoven with bigger themes of loss, love and lust to create a beautiful story arc that pulls you into the life of Olive Kitteridge. 

It's reassuringly gentle and with dark tones that whip you out of your comfort zone with pin prick precision. This isn't a pacy novel, but in a time where people's attention drifts so quickly, a slow burn is sometimes just what's needed.  It's sophisticated in its simplicity, Elizabeth Strout is unafraid of leaving spaces in her novels for her words to breathe, which in turn allows you, the reader to really immerse yourself in the curated world of Olive. Out this October, this is the perfect novel to stay in and get cosy with.

In the dazzling summer of 1926, Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley travel from their home in Paris to a villa in the south of France. They swim, play bridge and drink gin. But wherever they go they are accompanied by the glamorous and irrepressible Fife. Fife is Hadley’s best friend. She is also Ernest’s lover.

If you put The Crucible and Lord of the Flies in a blender, you would get a tantalizing potion that resembles The Grace Year.

In another life, girls are sent into the wilderness for their Grace Year - the year that they must embrace their toxic magic and use up every wicked drop before returning home to become either a docile housewife or laborer. It's every girl for herself, and only the cunning and brave will survive.

Sixteen year old Tierney has seen her two older sisters return from the Grace Year. Now it's her turn to be exiled to the wilderness. During The Veiling Day ceremony, a boy claims her as his wife, but only if she returns. That's if her female peers don't kill her or the terrifying poachers don't rip her limbs apart for her valuable magic, to be sold on the black market.

If she escapes or her body is unaccounted for, her two younger sisters will be the ones to bear her punishment. The grace year is anything but graceful.

A bewitching thriller that will mesmerize and capture the imaginations of feminists the world over. I urge everyone to read this book. The Grace Year might have an other-worldly setting, but it's magic is oh so real.

Blood Orange is the debut novel from Harriet Tyce. It's a gripping thriller set around the scandalous legal scene of Lincoln Inn's Fields. Alison is a successful barrister who has landed her first murder trial, defending a woman accused of killing her husband. The case seems to be straight forward but as Alison's own life begins to unravel, so do the details of the case.

Alison's own husband Carl, plays the role of the stay at home doting father to their six year old daughter Matilda. Just a few short chapters in, the sharp edges of his character begin to appear and their marriage is revealed to be one of barbed words and silent crevasses. While Alison can't find the attention and affection she desperately seeks at home, she begins an affair with a colleague which has disastrous consequences.

This book is every bit as juicy as you would expect from a crime thriller. Alison's character arc swings on a pendulum from utterly repelling to defiant victor and I loved seeing her grow from strength to strength. There are some truly gruesome parts of this which keeps the pace going at fever pitch throughout. There are real shocker moments that I didn't see coming and that's exactly what I was looking for.  I would highly recommend you get this book on your reading list this summer! 

Blood Orange is published by Wildfire and is out now. 

Sylvia Penton has been hibernating for years, it's no wonder she's a little prickly...

Sylvia lives alone, dedicating herself to her job at the local university. On weekends, she helps out at a local hedgehog sanctuary because it gives her something to talk about on Mondays - and it makes people think she's nicer than she is.

Only Sylvia has a secret: she's been in love with her boss, Professor Lomax, for over a decade now, and she's sure he's just waiting for the right time to leave his wife. Meanwhile she stores every crumb of his affection and covertly makes trouble for anyone she feels gets in his way.

Needlemouse is an eccentrically heartwarming tale of stepping out of your comfort zone. In the same vein as The Cactus, protagonist Sylvia begins her story as an unconventional antagonist. It took me ages to warm to her but by the end of the novel I was gripped to the pages and rooting for her to get the happy ending she so deserves. Needlemouse is a triumph and much like a hedgehog, Jane O'Connor has such a created a beautifully soft, warm message at the heart of her story.

Needlemouse is out June 2019, from Ebury Press.