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The best books for book lovers

The best books for book lovers

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Best books for book lovers

So, you like books. Possibly many different kinds: crime, romance, classics in translation or non-fiction. We know for a fact that the very best books are the ones that celebrate the art of reading and literature itself. In fact, books about books are where the real bookworms go to party. We’ve selected a handful of the very best right here.

What You are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama (2023)

Sensing what it is her customers need, Sayuri Komachi helps them through in the only way she knows how: through book recommendations. In this hopeful and uplifting story we meet five of Sayuri's customers each facing their own problems. Whether it's the conscientious accountant who wants to open an antiques store or a mother faced with a demotion at work after having a baby, it is the books that they are handed that help them the most. It reads like a balm for modern times, a reminder to never underestimate the power of a good book recommendation.

Reading Lessons by Carol Atherton (2024)

Drawing on her three decades of experience as an English teacher, Carol Atherton invites you to re-examine the classics on the school syllabus and their relevance to the world we live in today. What can My Last Duchess teach us about misogyny? Can Jane Eyre encourage us to speak up? And why is it so vital to have these conversations in the classroom and beyond? This thought-provoking collection of essays reads like a love letter to literature.

The Secret Lives of Booksellers & Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann (2024)

There’s no feeling quite like walking into a local bookstore or library and being handed a book that’s exactly what you were looking for. Booksellers and librarians weave a kind of magic through their everyday work, and James Patterson’s latest book celebrates these understated heroes. This collection of untold stories from booksellers and librarians alike is an ode to careers in books and the power of reading.

The Bookseller's Tale by Martin Latham (2021)

Ah, bookshops. Rows of stories, shelves of possibility. From the bestsellers to the bargain bin, that comforting smell of paper and ideas has lured us all in at one time or another. Imagine, though, what it is to be a bookseller. Author Martin Latham knows all too well: he’s Waterstone’s longest-serving manager and has, under his stewardship, turned a number of rookie booksellers into authors. The first chapter is on comfort reading: need we say more?

The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams (2020)

Books about books don’t have to be serious, as demonstrated by Eley Williams riotous and playful jaunt around the digitisation of an obscure dictionary. Lovelorn characters and a quiet, but persistent, undertone of sexual politics make The Liar's Dictionary a worthwhile read for several reasons. But if you’re here for the words, it will delight. Swansby’s New Encyclopaedic Dictionary, first published in 1899, included mountweazels, invented words to protect against forgery. So there’s plenty of those, as well as pertinent quips such as, “Onomatoepia is onomatopoeia for mashing your hands unthinkingly but hopefully on a keyboard.”

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005)

If you’re already familiar with this international, multi-lingual bestseller (or, indeed, the film it inspired), then consider this a reminder to re-read it. Set in Nazi Germany in the midst of the Second World War, The Book Thief shows the power of reading in the most trying of circumstances as heroine Liesel learns to read, and then steals books to protect them from Fascist clutches. This is a book not only about books but the life-changing capabilities of them.

The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie (2023)

What do three murderers, Karl Marx's daughter and a vegetarian vicar have in common?
They all helped create the Oxford English Dictionary – a mammoth task that ended up relying on help from not just experts but, well, everyone. From archaeologists and astronomers to murderers and suffragists, this is a fascinating and witty deep-dive into the eccentric lives of the thousands of people who played a part in creating one of the most famous books in the world.

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins (2021)

As the author of nine books, Paula Hawkins is no stranger to the publishing industry. No wonder, then, that her latest thriller delves so deliciously into the world of books. Storytelling – and the power that those who tell stories have – fuels this gripping murder mystery, with mid-career novelist Theo and batty bookseller Miriam at loggerheads over a story both claim to be their own. Hawkins is also an avid reader, and you can tell that from the dozens of reading recommendations that are cleverly folded into the text.

White Girls by Hilton Als (2018)

Hilton Als’ essay collection covers a lot of ground – from Michael Jackson to porn, via Brooklyn and the Aids crisis – but offers a particularly novel take on certain writers, among them Truman Capote, Eudora Welty and Carson McCullers. The New Yorker writer examines these authors, and their books, through a prism of race, gender and sexuality that will leave you wanting to read these titans of American literature in a whole new light.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (2022)

We can't write a list of this nature without including the one and only Emily Henry - author of not one but two books where authors and books play a central role (see Beach Read for further reading). Cut-throat literary agent Nora and grumpy book editor Charlie are sworn work enemies – that is, until they both find themselves taking a much-needed break from work in the same small town. Deliciously witty repartee, unforgettable characters and a literary romance to die for, this is the ultimate book for book lovers (sorry).

Possession by A. S. Byatt (1990)

This Booker Prize-winning wonder splits its time between the Victorian era, from where fictional poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte hail, and the late 20^th century, where two (also fictional) scholars attempt to unravel the paper trail around their poetic subjects. A love story told through letters, poetry and journal entries, across two centuries, this is the kind of romance that English Literature students (current, alumnus or aspiring) think about.

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (2020)

Esme has spent her childhood at her father's feet, as he and his team compile the words that will make up the English Dictionary. It is on this shop floor that she one day discovers a scrap of paper containing a word – one that will now not be included. Esme makes it her duty to collect these lost words but, as the First World War looms, she must venture into darker territory than ever. A moving and tender novel with themes of feminism, friendship and the importance of words at its core.

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