Our pick of torrid rom coms, plucky memoirs, sensitive-but-self-help adjacent manuals and more.
Summer is prime reading season. Voracious and casual readers alike flock to bookshops (and the internet) for inspiration for their beach holidays, long journeys or lazy afternoons in the park.
Whether your idea of a summer read is a romance, satire or tell-all memoir, these are the books that will be enrapturing the L360 team this summer.
Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke
Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel wastes no time in making its intentions clear. Yesteryear’s protagonist, Natalie Heller Mills, has curated her life – or the appearance of it to trad-perfection. So carefully in fact that she makes a living off flaunting it on social media. Behind the screen, however, the cracks are glaringly clear. When one morning, Natalie wakes up an inverse nightmare version of her life, she finds herself forced to confront what’s real and what’s constructed, what’s right and what’s wrong – and she’s desperate to escape. Part dark comedy, part satire, it’s a valiant exploration of identity and performance in the modern age. Rumour has it Anne Hathaway bought the film rights the very day the book was released.
Buy from Waterstones for £14.99
Land, Maggie O’Farrell
To call a Maggie O’Farrell novel a “beach book” would be perfunctory. But witnessing the slow unfurling of convolute relationship dynamics under a hot sun does make for a fervid read. Land, her newest novel – or epic, at 448 pages long – threads together historical detail with the story of Tomas and his ten-year-old son Liam as they map the whole of Ireland for the Ordnance Survey project of 1865. Partly inspired by real events, it’s set shortly after the Great Hunger, and Tomas and Liam are dealing with loss, renewal and survival. Their already delicate motivation is tested by an unexpected turn of events, plunging the story deeper into grief. But it’s well worth the read – no one does family quite like Maggie O’Farrell.
Buy from Waterstones for £19.99
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Odyssey, Stephen Fry
The glittering sun and swathing seas of Greek mythology have long made these tales a summer favourite for those seeking stories to completely lose themselves in. Oddysey relates the familiar story of Oddyseus, King of Ithaca, on his journey home to his wife Penelope after the fall of Troy that concluded the Trojan War. Anyone familiar with the poem knows that the voyage back to Ithaca is no smooth sail – stippled with cyclops, sirens, monsters and other dangerous divine obstacles. Back home, Penelope faces her own challenges, making Oddyseus’ return all the more urgent. Fry’s signature erudition and storytelling prowess make for a highly entertaining and insightful retelling, arriving just in time for a taster before Christopher Nolan’s epic Odyssey film.
Buy from Waterstones for £7.99
UNMASKED: The Ultimate Guide to ADHD, Autism and Neurodivergence, Ellie Middleton Ellie Middleton
For anyone who’s realised they’re neurodivergent later in life and found the adjustment challenging, UNMASKED: The Ultimate Guide to ADHD, Autism and Neurodivergence genuinely does what it says on the tin. Activist and author Ellie Middleton charts her experience going from confused and feeling “broken”’ to the lightbulb moment where she realised she has ADHD and autism – and the subsequent journey of growth and self-compassion. This practical, empathetic guide addresses mental health, ableism, masking, diagnosis and, crucially, how to navigate work and everyday life as a neurodivergent person. For this updated paperback edition, she’s added a brand-new chapter outlining the ten biggest lessons she learned along the way – lessons that that feel hopeful, sensitive and timely in an era when neurodivergent voices are more impactful than ever.
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Famesick, Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham has never shied away from saying – or writing – the most outrageous thing in the room. Her candour and occasionally caustic wit have permeated every aspect of her career, including her first memoir Not That Kind of Girl, which shocked many with its raw honesty and shocking stories. After years of public scrutiny, personal and health struggles, she returns with Famesick, an even more honest reflection on fame, illness, addiction and relationships. Her ability to be so reflective and funny on some of her most difficult struggles – from childhood to the spiralling spotlight of the Girls era – imbues this thunderous memoir with life.
Buy from Waterstones for £15.99
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How to Stop Snapping at the People You Love (As Well As the Ones You Don’t), Anna Mathur
Self-help books have earned a bit of a shifty reputation over the last decade, but in an era where people often feel lost and turn to online advice, a detailed, compassionately written guide is welcome. In How to Stop Snapping at the People You Love (As Well As the Ones You Don’t), psychotherapist Anna Mathur really holds your hand when she tells you that you don’t have to continue reacting to things the way you may be – with rage, dysregulation and an unhealed brain. Rage is not wrong, she assures, but sometimes our emotions are unprocessed and misdirected. Gentle, practical guidance helps readers navigate everyday interactions in this sensitive handbook that’s helpful and insightful rather than prescriptive or didactic.
Pre-order from Bookshop.org for £18.04
Go Gentle, Maria Semple
For those who take the rom com route for their summer reads, Maria Semple’s Go Gentle is one of those glorious novels that reminds you everything you think you know about life and yourself can change in an instant. The novel follows divorcee Adora Hazzard as she moves from contented, easy New York life, happy with friends and still excited for the future, to having the rug pulled out from under her when a surprise encounter with a man uproots her beliefs and awakens desires she’d long denied. From the author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, this is a must-read for anyone after a cleverly written wild ride.
Buy from Waterstones for £16.99
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Wimmy Road Boyz, Sufiyaan Salam
Winner of the 2023/24 #Merky Books new writers’ prize and Brick Magazine’s most anticipated book of 2026, Sufiyaan Salam’s debut has marked him as a writer to watch. Wimmy Road Boyz follows three young boys growing up on Manchester’s curry mile, each navigating masculinity, mischief, peer pressure and the struggle to grow up while still holding on to youth. Salam’s dialogue is sharp and loaded, precisely capturing the tension of one long night tinged with violence and vulnerability. It’s a vivid and emotional read from start to finish.
Buy from Waterstones for £13.99
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Take What You Can, Naima Coster
People magazine’s most anticipated book of 2026, Take What You Can promises a tangled exploration of friendship, family, legacy and love. The book follows best friends Val and Milly from the moment they first met on a school trip to France, to now single mothers in their 30s, raising their daughters. Years later, they’re very different people – one a successful influencer, the other an accomplished journalist – and as they reflect on their first meeting, the drama that followed and their present lives, old rifts resurface and unravel. Flitting from city scenes to dazzling French beaches, it’s a nuanced but realistic view of what it means to sustain lifelong friendship. It’s not out until August, so you’ll have to save this one for later in the summer.
Pre-order now from Amazon for £20
Feature image: Amazo/Canva
