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Ollie, Guardian reader
I just finished reading Wimmy Road Boyz by Sufiyaan Salam. I absolutely adored this book, a fantastic combination of violence and vulnerability set on Manchester’s Curry Mile. I became completely attached to the three main boys, and I loved all of the perspective shifts to different characters throughout the book. I fully weeped at the end – it was an unexpected but completely understandable ending. 10/10, everyone should read this.
Candice Carty-Williams, writer
Written by a criminologist and ethnographer who grew up on an estate in London, Trapped Life by Ebony Reid is one of those works of nonfiction that feels every bit as consuming as fiction as it details the challenges faced by those living in an inner city environment. Next, All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now by Ruby Tandoh – I will devour anything that Tandoh writes. There is a specific brand of accessibility she employs when writing about food that makes everything click, especially when it comes to the social, economic and technological factors that shape how we eat today. Finally, it’s rare that I tap into the Victorian gothic, but my most trusted reader friend told me that I’d enjoy Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito, so I found myself trailing the dark corridors of Ensor House, equally terrified and thrilled at 2am because I could not put it down.
Sarah, Guardian reader
With all the talk of AI and data centres in the news, I chose Annie Bot by Sierra Greer. Annie Bot was created to be the perfect robot girlfriend for her owner – sorry, partner – he doesn’t like people knowing his girlfriend has a control panel in her neck, and she’s keen to please and meet his every whim. She’s great at noticing when he’s disappointed in her, which is usually when she falls short on the housework. Doug likes the place spotless, and he feels she needs a bit of guidance, so he brings home another bot, to show Annie how it’s done. The dilemma for Annie is that the more humanly she learns to be, the more human traits she acquires. I really liked the way the writer made me root for Annie Bot - even though I dread the rise of AI, I wanted her to find true agency, and fulfil her wish to live life on her own terms.
Patrick Freyne, writer
I’ve been binge-reading Tessa Hadley. Her most recent novella, The Party, is a beautifully old-fashioned coming-of-age novel about class and youthful aspiration. I also read Prestige Drama, the debut novel by Séamas O’Reilly. It’s a brilliantly angry, funny and cacophonous book about a fancy TV show being made about the Troubles in O’Reilly’s home county of Derry.
Both of these books are very short. I also enjoyed rereading Ulysses by James Joyce for a Bloomsday event. The trick is to 1) remember it’s very funny, and 2) don’t check the page count. I suspect it might be up to 300 pages long.
Fabiana, Guardian reader
My son’s love for reading has inspired me to read some children’s and YA fiction. I Am Rebel by Ross Montgomery is a lovely summer read. Six Weeks by Matt Goodfellow is a poignant story about a boy grieving, and The Explorer by Katherine Rundell took me on a journey to the wildness of Amazon jungles. I read them with or alongside my son – we share the joys of reading together. The books are so well-written – they take my imagination away from the daily routine.
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