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In Motherhood by Sheila Heti (Arrow) — a woman in her late thirties confronts the ultimate existential dilemma of whether or not to have a child. Heti delivers a brilliantly unconventional novel that interrogates the societal, biological, and personal forces shaping female destiny. It is a vital, deeply philosophical inquiry into freedom, legacy, and what we owe to ourselves and others.

The Travelling Cat Chronicles and the Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa (Doubleday Books) — this beautiful double-volume hardback brings together two of modern Japanese fiction’s most beloved stories. Through the observant eyes of feline companions, Arikawa explores the quiet depths of human relationships, grief, and the simple joy of companionship. It is a heartwarming, bittersweet celebration of the profound bonds we share with our pets.

Penguin Books UK by Virginia Evans (Penguin) — This engaging volume explores the legendary history of the publishing house that transformed how the world reads. Sparked by a simple moment of frustration at a train station in 1934, the idea of affordable, high-quality paperbacks changed the literary landscape forever. Evans traces this remarkable journey, celebrating the revolution that brought great literature to everyone.

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout — is a luminous, deeply felt novel that explores the quiet spaces between people and the unspoken truths that shape our closest relationships. With her signature warmth and razor-sharp observation, Strout guides us through the delicate landscape of human connection. It is a masterful, compact story about the secrets we keep to protect ourselves.

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy (Hamish Hamilton) — is a sparkling, intellectual novel that follows a narrator navigating contemporary Paris while reflecting on the legacy of modernism’s queer matriarch. Through late-night debates, art, and intense friendships with two captivating women, she explores what it means to live freely. It is a witty and stylish meditation on desire, self-creation, and the enduring power of avant-garde thought.

In We Do Not Part by Han Kang (Penguin) — the 2024 Nobel laureate delivers a breathtaking novel of memory and survival. When Kyungha travels to snowbound Jeju Island to save her hospitalized friend’s pet bird, she is caught in a fierce blizzard. Within her friend’s home, she uncovers a painful family archive detailing a historic massacre from seventy years ago. It is an unforgettable, haunting tribute to friendship and remembrance.

Departure(s) by Julian Barnes (Penguin) — a deeply moving, reflective final novel that explores the enduring nature of love across a lifetime. Following Stephen and Jean, who find each other in youth and again in old age, this elegant narrative examines how memories soften into anecdotes and how we confront our own mortality. Written with Barnes’s signature wit and emotional precision, it is a brilliant meditation on finding happiness and knowing when to let go.

A History of the World in 10 1-2 Chapters by Julian Barnes (Vintage) — This brilliant, genre-bending novel reimagines human history through a series of interconnected, witty, and thought-provoking stories. Starting with an alternative account of Noah’s Ark narrated by a woodworm, Barnes weaves together tales of survival, love, and art across centuries. It is a masterful, playful, and deeply philosophical exploration of the truths we tell ourselves.

Better Than Revenge by Bea Fitzgerald (Penguin Random House NZ) — A sharp, incredibly addictive young adult novel that explores the complexities of female friendship, betrayal, and the sweet taste of retribution. Fitzgerald delivers a fast-paced, witty narrative filled with clever twists and genuine emotional depth. It is a brilliant, modern exploration of what happens when girls refuse to play by the rules.

Nino Haratischvili’s latest translated novel — a decades-spanning friendship between two women against a backdrop of political upheaval and displacement. From the Georgian author of The Eighth Life: epic sweep, emotional intensity, and characters who live in memory long after the final page.

Han Kang’s formally unique meditation on whiteness, grief, and consolation — lyric fragments centred on white objects that become vessels for personal and historical sorrow. Between poetry, essay, and novel: a profoundly moving work unlike anything else in contemporary literature.

Margaret Atwood’s prophetic 1985 dystopia — the Republic of Gilead, enforced reproductive servitude, and Offred’s act of witness and resistance. One of the most important novels of its century, never out of print and never less than urgently relevant. Essential literary and feminist fiction.

Hiromi Kawakami’s celebrated novel about an unexpected friendship between a woman and her former teacher that gradually becomes something more. Quiet, tender, and deeply affecting — a love story told through sake, food, and walks in parks, with prose of extraordinary sensory attention.

Hiromi Kawakami’s lyrical linked stories about new beings on Earth after humanity’s end — carrying fragments of human memory and desire without understanding them. Closer to prose poetry than science fiction, and shortlisted for the International Booker Prize: quietly extraordinary.