Our favourite quarantine reads

The need to do something productive while we’re stuck at home ranks high on the pressure list. If scrolling Instagram is getting old and your Netflix options are running low, but DIY and home baking just aren’t for you, we feel your pain… and we might just have the answer.

 

Diving into a good book is a brilliant compromise. Relaxing, yet enriching! An ideal way to help get you out of your own brain for a while, and there’s something to suit every mood. So, depending on what you’re after, scan our recommendations below and pick your perfect paperback. 

 

When Adam reappears after vanishing ten years earlier, his fractured family reluctantly rally back at the family home. A quick-moving thriller with a twist to make your draw drop, this is the completely addictive book you’ve been looking for. Dive in and don’t bother to come up for air until you’re done.

 

This feel good rom com is guaranteed to make you smile. Leon and Tiffy share a one bed flat in London. But there’s one odd thing about their set up… they’ve never met. While Tiffy has a 9-5 and Leon’s works nights, practical notes lead to something more, but this isn’t as fluffy as it seems. You’ll miss these complex, loveable characters once you’ve turned the last page.

 

A meandering collection of essays about the capital’s favourite wild swimming spot. Take a lazy dip as you breaststroke through the silky waters, drinking in everything from first visits on balmy summer days to hardcore year-round swimmers who brave the cold when no one else dares. A cool and calming read from 14 diverse writers you probably won’t have heard of.

This long awaited follow up to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bringing Up the Bodies comes hotly anticipated and offers up (some) closure for one of modern lit’s most talked about serials. The final instalment follows the life of Thomas Cromwell as he continues to mastermind Henry VIII’s court, this time promoted to the rank of Baron following Anne Boleyn’s execution. Set to be historical fiction’s stone-cold banger of the year!

You’re looking for something… Thought-provoking 
My Dark Vanessa – Kate Elizabeth Russell

In 2017, amidst a flurry of #MeToo cases, with a new allegation plastered across the global news each day, Vanessa Wye looks back on the days she spent at prep school, aged 15. Reflecting on an affair she had with her English teacher Jacob Strane, a man nearly three times her age, Vanessa wrestles with memories she thought were romantic, set against a new context of consent and agency. Pretty creepy and at times hard to read, My Dark Vanessa is a super compelling read that’ll leave you reeling.