Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

Rates of stress and anxiety are rising. A fast, nervous planet is creating fast and nervous lives. We are more connected, yet feel more alone. And we are encouraged to worry about everything from world politics to our BMI. After experiencing years of anxiety, Matt Haig began to look for the link between what he felt and the world around him.

Matt Haig is a wonderful writer and I’ve loved everything he’s written so far, both fiction and non-fiction. His latest book is a follow-up to his fantastic book Reasons to Stay Alive, and promises to offer hope in a world gone mad.

Release date: 5th July

The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola

1857. Audrey Hart travels to the Isle of Skye to collect the folk and fairy tales of the communities there. But the crofters are suspicious and hostile to a stranger, claiming they no longer know their fireside stories. Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach and the crofters reveal that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the restless dead, spirits who take the form of birds.

Mazzola returns with her second novel after the success of her debut, The Unseeing, in 2016. I’m always interested in books that explore folk and fairy tales, so this sounds right up my street.

Release date: 26th July

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Miryem is the daughter of a moneylender, but her father is too kind-hearted to collect his debts. They face poverty, until Miryem hardens her heart and takes up his work in their village. Her success creates rumours she can turn silver into gold, which attracts the fairy king of winter himself. He sets her an impossible challenge – and if she fails, she’ll die.

Novik is a hugely popular fantasy author and in this, her latest novel, she puts a dark spin on the tale of Rumpelstiltskin.

Release date: 12th July

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations. Magic marked Miles Singer from the day he was born. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man. When Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark is exposed, he must put his freedom at risk to investigate a murder.

This is one of the most highly anticipated debut fantasy books of 2018, and is said to combine intrigue, magic, betrayal and romance.

Release date: 1st July

The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen

Inside the Dead Letters Depot in East London, William Woolf is one of 30 letter detectives who spend their days solving mysteries: missing postcodes, illegible handwriting, lost address labels, torn packages – they are all the culprits of missed birthdays, broken hearts and unheard confessions. When William discovers letters addressed simply to ‘My Great Love’, his work takes on new meaning.

This book promises to continue the trend of ‘up-lit’ (optimistic and uplifting books) that have gained such popularity recently.

Release date: 12th July

Eagle & Crane by Suzanne Rindell

Louis Thorn and Haruto ‘Harry’ Yamada – the Eagle and the Crane – are the star attractions of a daredevil aerial stunt team that traverses Depression-era California. The young men have a complicated relationship, thanks to the Thorn family’s belief that the Yamadas – Japanese immigrants – stole land from them. When one of the stunt planes crashes with two charred bodies inside, the ensuing investigation struggles when the details don’t add up.

A few years ago I read Rindell’s brilliant 1920s novel The Other Typist. Her newest book returns to the same setting but with a very different story. Hopefully this book will have the same pin-sharp characterisation.

Release date: 3rd July

All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth

Charlie Calloway has a life most people would kill for. A tight knit family. A loyal set of friends. A fast-track to whichever college she chooses. But Charlie isn’t interested in what most people want. She’s a Calloway. She’s special. And she’s been taught to want more. So when she’s invited to join an exclusive secret society, her determination to get in is matched only be her conviction that she belongs there. But behind the mysterious façade is a history of lies which unravels everything Charlie thought she knew, including the story behind her mother’s disappearance 10 years ago.

This new novel has been described by Entertainment Weekly as ‘what you would get if you combined The Secret History with Cruel Intentions’, and sounds like it would be a perfect beach read.

Release date: 12th July

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook. First there was the car accident – two girls dead after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Two girls killed by the man next door. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they’d lost. That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But some people in the town know more than they’re saying.

Bestselling author Kara Thomas’s new book has been called ‘sharp, brilliantly plotted and totally engrossing’, and promises to be an edge-of-your-seat thriller.

Release date: 31st July

Contagion by Erin Bowman

After receiving a distress call from a drill team on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is sent into deep space to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission. When they arrive, they find the planet littered with the remains of the project – including its members’ dead bodies. As they try to piece together what happened, they discover that some things are best left buried.

This new novel from critically acclaimed author Erin Bowman has been called ‘pulse-pounding, hair-raising, utterly terrifying’, and is the first in a duology.

Release date: 24th July

Testament by Kim Sherwood

Eva was always closest to her grandfather out of all her family. So when he dies, she’s hit by the loss of the questions he never answered, and the past he never shared. It’s then she finds a letter from the Jewish Museum in Berlin. They have uncovered the testimony he gave after his forced labour service in Hungary, which took him to the death camps. But there is a deeper story that Eva will unravel – of how her grandfather learnt to live afterwards.

Sherwood is the winner of the Bath Novel Award and her debut has been called ‘compelling, moving and ultimately uplifting’ by author Heather Morris.

Release date: 12th July