12 June 2023
Sun’s out, books out!
The sun is finally out, which means it’s time to start counting down the days until summer vacation. From beloved stories with a fresh paperback look, to sizzling new titles and thought-provoking memoirs, we at Serpent’s Tail have cooked up a summer reading guide that is truly… out of this world.
Which books will you be diving into this summer? Let us know by tweeting us @SerpentsTail.
FOUR FRESH PAPERBACKS
Is This Love? by C.E. Riley
A searing literary debut with the compulsive qualities of a thriller… J’s wife has left, and J is trying to understand why. Narrated by J in the days, weeks and months after the marriage collapses, Is This Love? is an addictive, deeply unsettling, and provocative novel of deception and betrayal, and passion turned to pain.
We Move by Gurnaik Johal
Mapping an area of West London, these stories chart a wider narrative about the movement of multiple generations of immigrants. In acts of startling imagination, Gurnaik Johal’s debut brings together the past and the present, the local and the global, to show the surprising ways we come together.
The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker
First they get married, then they get buried. The Cherry Robbers is a wonderfully atmospheric, propulsive novel about sisterhood, mortality and forging one’s own path.
Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors by Aravind Jayan
A scandalous video.
A humiliated family.
And a brother stuck in the middle.
Full of bittersweet comedy, and insight into contemporary Indian society and an online generation, this is a story about now with the feel of a classic.
THREE HOT NEW TITLES
The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter by Soraya Palmer
Life at home has become unbearable for Zora and Sasha. But they can’t hide forever. The Anansi Stories that captivated them as children begin to creep into the present, revealing truths about the Porter family’s past they must all face up to…
This is an extraordinary debut novel that asks – what happens when our stories are erased? Do we disappear? Or do we come back haunting?
The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3 by Kira Yarmysh
*WINNER OF THE ENGLISH PEN AWARD*
When Anya is arrested at a Moscow anti-corruption rally, she is given a sentence at a detention centre. But her cellmates are not thieves, crooks and murderers…
A brilliant exploration of what it means to be marginalized in an increasingly intolerant Russia in particular, this explosive debut introduces one of the most urgent and gripping new voices in international literature.
HARUKO/Love Poems by June Jordan
Searingly beautiful poems about compassion, resistance and desire by an iconic Black American activist and writer. June Jordan’s spectacular poetry remains profoundly politically potent, lyrically inventive and breathtakingly romantic. First published in 1994, it is a vitally important modern classic.
TWO INCREDIBLE MEMOIRS
Wish I Was Here by M. John Harrison
‘Wish I Was Here is a masterpiece’ Helen Macdonald
‘It will surprise you, sometimes astound you, and leave you profoundly changed’ Jonathan Coe
One of our greatest and most original living writers sets out the perils of the writing life with joyful provocation. This is his first memoir, an ‘anti-memoir’, written with aphoristic daring and trademark originality and style.
Prostitute Laundry by Charlotte Shane
Prostitute Laundry is a taboo-breaking and radically honest account of love, friendship and sex work. This serial memoir follows Charlotte over the course of several years as she falls in and out of love, muses on the nature of sex work and the value of beauty, discovers hidden emotional complexities and contemplates leaving her profession.
ONE GREAT SUMMER TO LOOK FORWARD TO
Bliss & Blunder by Victoria Gosling
An inventive, magisterial reworking of the King Arthur legend for the 21st century and a heartrending novel of power, friendship and betrayal.
Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis
A satirically funny, poignant and dark novel for fans of cool contemporary fiction. Follow weed-growing couple Kevin and Amber as Amber is selected for a reality TV to win a one-way ticket to Mars.
Cheri by Jo Ann Beard
A masterpiece of fiction and memory, Cheri is a heart-breaking but glorious celebration of all the moments of beauty and pain that make an individual life, right up until its very last moments.