Emily Fish, Editorial Assistant

I’m recommending:

The Details by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson (Headline), a short but striking novel that was shortlisted for the International Booker. It’s constructed of four character portraits, each one built from the memory of a woman in the throes of a fever, reflecting on the four people who have shaped her life most significantly. It’s my favourite kind of writing, in that it celebrates how some of the most miraculous, profound parts of being alive exist in the smallest of details. Its musings on connection and vulnerability feel both timeless and especially pertinent today.

I’m looking forward to reading:

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan (Penguin). His Booker Prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North was a defining book for me as a young reader, and a trusted friend has insisted I rush to read this, too. While reviews heralded it as a unique blend of memoir, history and autofiction, it is also simply a book about stories: those we are told and the ones we invent about ourselves. Flanagan’s writing is full of energy, deeply researched and absolutely devastating; I’m sure this is no exception.

Viki Cheung, International Sales Manager – Middle East and Asia

I’m recommending:

On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle (Faber), translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland, is basically the Groundhog Day of literary fiction! It’s a perfect 192 pages and I haven’t stopped talking about it since reading it on holiday in July. Tara has woken up on the eighteenth of November for 365 days in a row and can’t seem to figure out a way to escape, no matter how she tries to change the course of the day. I think it’s truly a work of magic that I was never bored whilst reading this, and I’ll be reading Book II the next time I have a spare afternoon!

I’m currently reading I Saw Ramallah by the late Mourid Barghouti, first published in 1997, translated from Arabic by Ahdaf Soueif and recently republished by Daunt this August. It’s an autobiographical account of Barghouti’s 30-year struggle to return to his hometown of Ramallah, after being barred entry to Palestine when returning from his time studying in Egypt. The writing is beautiful (Barghouti was a poet and it shows) and extremely precise, and the eloquence with which he remarks on exile and occupation is powerful. I’m truly grateful to have been introduced to his work and will be searching out more of it, wherever it can be found in English.

I’m looking forward to reading:

Part of the joy of my job is selling exceptional books published by the Independent Alliance publishers, so when Granta announced they would be publishing a new novel by Sayaka Murata, translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori, I knew it was going to be an excellent season! I love how she tackles societal taboos in her novels/short stories; it’s always masterfully done and allows you to consider the wilder, weirder possibilities of life. I can’t wait to dive into the society she’s created in Vanishing World, where children are solely conceived by artificial insemination, and sex (even between married couples) is considered completely taboo.

Hassan Ali, Head of Faber Factory

I’m recommending:

Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury). For me, autumn is the starkest seasonal change. Maybe it’s a hangover from the academic year structure, or maybe it’s because it marks the end of summer and the beginning of darkening days. Whereabouts follows its narrator through time and space in her city. Its staccato pace drops you in and out of moments of her life, each observing something with such depth that it makes you pause and reflect. Transition is difficult, seasonal or otherwise. This book helps.

I’m looking forward to reading:

Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (HarperCollins). After reading my Intermezzo proof (flex), I realised I was hungry for more stories about how rejection affects us. Where Intermezzo, in my mind, focuses on the interactive aspect of rejection and how we save (and destroy) one another, this book sounds more introspective, about how we perceive ourselves in the wake of it. I’m sure there are uncomfortable insights lurking there – I’m treating it as part of the fun.

Joey Connolly, Director of Faber Academy

I’m recommending:

Tremor by Teju Cole (Faber). Both a continuation of the literary project Cole began with his first two novels and also something new, Tremor employs an amazing range of narrative devices, stories and perspectives to unsettle our certainties about art, relationships and perspective itself. When we were rudely sidelined by our tablemates at a wedding recently I was able to bore my partner about this book for a full hour without exhausting the things I have to say about it.

I’m looking forward to reading:

The Edge of the Alphabet by Janet Frame (Fitzcarraldo Editions). My partner more than got her own back, though, in talking about this book. For a week she’s been repeatedly walking into whichever room of the flat I’ve been in to read me a new sentence from it she’d just been stunned by. They were long, looping, strange-bordering-on-wild sentences, though, at least, and I’m convinced this is going to be a masterpiece.

Rachel Darling, Trade Marketing and Product Manager

I’m recommending:

Goodlord by Ella Frears (Rough Trade). If reading a long, deranged email to a landlord doesn’t sound like your idea of a good time then you’re missing out on one of the most brilliant novels of the year. A brutally hilarious riot of a book that takes in the housing crisis, concepts of home, art, work and so much more.

I’m looking forward to reading:

The Fate of Mary Rose by Caroline Blackwood. As a long-standing Blackwood admirer I’m made up that Virago are republishing this dark, provocative 1980s novel featuring a narcissistic husband – the spectacularly heinous unreliable narrator – and a wife who is a pressure cooker of female rage and maternal anxiety . . .

Fiona Smith, Events Manager

I’m recommending:

A Voyage Around the Queen by Craig Brown (HarperCollins) is the latest of his unorthodox biographies (Princess Margaret and the Beatles being his previous subjects). His reinterpretation of what a biography can be means that you get all the juiciest bits and none of the boring stuff. It’s a mixture of social history, arcane knowledge, waspish comments and offbeat reflections amassed from an enormous number of sources – he’s read all of the books so you don’t have to. The chapter on the extraordinarily complicated family tree of corgis and dorgis (a Dachshund/Corgi mix) owned by the queen over her long life is a hoot. I’m trying to savour it and not read it too quickly.

I’m looking forward to reading:

So many treats this autumn – including the new Elizabeth Strout and Alan Hollinghurst – but a new Ali Smith is always a cause for excitement. You know you’re going to be taken on a playful, wide-ranging ride, fizzing with energy and ideas. Gliff (Hamish Hamilton) is the first of two interconnected novels – its companion, Glyph, is following next year. Can’t wait.

Hannah Knowles, Publishing Director

I’m recommending:

Mina’s Matchbox by Yōko Ogawa (Harvill Secker). Few writers’ prose has me as enraptured as Ogawa’s. There’s something hypnotic about her turn of phrase – it’s writing stripped of pretension and utterly entrancing in its quiet authority and musicality. This new book is steeped in the wonder of childhood experiences and underpinned by the tensions created by the secrets that families keep. Oh, and a pygmy hippopotamus, naturally.

I’m looking forward to reading:

It’s got to be Cher’s memoir (HarperCollins). With that razor-sharp wit and incredible multifaceted career, it will surely be as iconic as the woman herself.

Stephen Page, Chair

I’m recommending:

The book I am recommending is Wild Thing by Sue Prideaux (Faber), a vivid and brilliantly researched account of the life of the revolutionary artist, reclaiming him from myth to tell the truth of his life, his art and the times he lived in. Completely absorbing and addictively readable scholarship.

I’m looking forward to reading:

The book I am looking forward to reading is Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (Picador). A new book from Hollinghurst is to be celebrated and relished. His work is singular, and always fascinating with writing of the highest level.

Bonnie Jones, Commercial Director

I’m recommending:

I am recommending The Feast by Margaret Kennedy (Faber). It is set in a crumbling hotel by the seaside in the south-west of England and it is full of people behaving badly and being horrible – and is hilarious. If you are a fan of The Go-Between or Cold Comfort Farm, or any Jane Austen, and you haven’t yet read The Feast then you are an extremely lucky person: what a treat you have in store for a cold autumnal evening!

I’m looking forward to reading:

I am looking forward to reading Robin Jarvis’s The Dark Portal (Pushkin), book one in the Deptford Mice trilogy, to my children. I read it when I was twelve and was utterly terrified – even though it’s about mice I remember it being older and darker than anything I’d read before. It also left me with a lifelong fondness for Deptford. I can’t wait to pick it up again and bring my children with me this time . . . Spooky autumn reading.

Ruth O’Loughlin, Publishing Manager

I’m recommending:

I’m recommending Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit (Granta). I always think of autumn as a time to get outdoors on some long walks, and this book is a great inspiration for that. Solnit explores how walking can be an act of pleasure as well as a means of transport, but can also have political or social meaning depending on the time, place and circumstances of the walker. It’s a revelatory read.

I’m looking forward to reading:

I’m very much looking forward to reading The Party by Tessa Hadley (Jonathan Cape). Hadley is a fantastic writer, focusing on the small losses and dramas of ordinary lives but with extraordinary grace and precision, much like Elizabeth Taylor or Elizabeth Jane Howard. But don’t just take my word for it; her fans include Zadie Smith, Hilary Mantel and Colm Tóibín.

Giulia Lenti, Sales Operations Assistant

I’m recommending:

She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clark (Faber). Author of Penance (easily one of the best books I’ve read in recent years) and Boy Parts (one of the most unique and darkly funny books I’ve read), Eliza Clark has become one of those authors that I can just trust, and She’s Always Hungry confirmed that. This incredible collection of short stories brilliantly showcases her ability to adapt to different genres and her talent as a storyteller. Weird, dark and hilarious in her typical Clark-esque way, She’s Always Hungry is the perfect read for the season.

I’m looking forward to reading:

The Secret Life of Insects by Bernardo Esquinca, translated by James D. Jenkins (Dead Ink Books). Described as the perfect read for fans of horror, weird fiction and international literature, this book ticks all the boxes for me. With Halloween approaching I can’t wait to dive into the horrors created by Bernardo Esquinca’s mind and illustrated by Luis Pérez Ochando.

Jenn Shelton, Contracts Assistant

I’m recommending:

I’d highly recommend T. Kingfisher’s new book, A Sorceress Comes to Call (Titan Books). It’s a dark feminist retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s Goose Girl. It’s full of magic, murder and secrets. Whilst touching on some darker and more upsetting topics and themes, Kingfisher has a unique ability to somehow still make you laugh and love the characters.

I’m looking forward to reading:

I’m really looking forward to The Teller of Small Fortunes (Hodder & Stoughton). It’s a debut novel by Julie Leong. Cosy fantasy is really ‘in’ right now, and with the colder months ahead I’m looking forward to curling up on the couch with something cosy and warm-hearted to read.

Kate Ward, Editorial Design Manager

I’m recommending:

I’ll be recommending All Fours by Miranda July (Canongate). I was new to Miranda July when I read this last month but I’m already halfway through The First Bad Man and can’t get enough of her writing. It’s a deep delve into the darkest corners of one woman’s slightly unhinged mind. Hilarious, eye-watering honesty at its best. Reminded me of Jen Beagin’s Big Swiss and Sara Pascoe’s Weirdo (both of which I also love, and recommend).

I’m looking forward to reading:

I’ll be reading Thunderclap by Laura Cumming (Vintage). The kind of book I like to work on – the interweaving of the lives of the author and their subject, a portrait in miniature, and some fresh thinking on good old-fashioned art history.

Angus Cargill, Publishing Director – Crime/Fiction

I’m recommending:

‘Bollocks to the rules!’ Aimée de Jongh’s stunning adaptation of Lord of the Flies (Faber) – perfect reading for existing fans of Golding’s classic, those coming to it for the first time and graphic novel lovers and sceptics alike, it’s a work of art.

I’m looking forward to reading:

I can’t wait for Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton to meet in Elizabeth Strout’s Tell Me Everything. I think she’s a genius – her writing somehow gentle and spiky, wry and generous.

Jo Stimfield, Project Editor

I’m recommending:

The most engrossingly haunting thing I’ve come across lately is Joyce Carol Oates’s Black Water (Penguin), a slow-dripping and ruminative novel in which a senator’s carelessness and a young woman’s compliance lead to gut-wrenching consequences. The audiobook is brilliantly performed – I couldn’t turn it off.

I’m looking forward to reading:

Slugs: A Manifesto by Abi Palmer (Makina Books) won me over instantly in a bookshop with its title and cover art, and I’m looking forward to digging into its slimy strangeness. I’m also hoping that Blair Braverman’s Small Game (Ecco) will deliver creepy thrills with its tale of a survivalist game show going wrong in the wilderness.

Valerie O’Regan, Head of Finance 

I’m recommending:

Absolutely loved and can’t stop thinking about Songlight (Faber) – it seems to cover all the key sensitive topics, from war, to minority groups and the treatment of people, as well as make you question politics – but in a gripping story and gives a good visual of what is going on without being too gruesome or cringey, such as the violence/torture and the romance/sex parts. It was a fantasy book that somehow helped me switch off from life and be absorbed into it – yet question so much about the war in Russia/Israel/ what we think we know/what the government are telling us – or what they’re not and how minority groups feel! (I had to move the book, because every time I walked past it, I forgot what I was supposed to be doing as I was back thinking about the book!)

Just read Geneva by Richard Armitage (Faber) a completely different book that was also gripping, and I kept wanting to read on. I kept second guessing and thinking What would I do? in the situation. A really clever story!

I’m looking forward to reading:

Just started reading The Revenge of Rita Marsh by Nilesha Chauvet (Faber). Again, I think this book will make me question what I would do in Rita’s situation, and although my son is very young, I’m already worrying about the ‘tech’ world and how to protect my child from people!

Hannah Styles, Rights Manager

I’m recommending:

Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel by William Golding, adapted and illustrated by Aimée de Jongh (Faber) – this is the most strikingly beautiful graphic novel that I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying my hands on. Aimée is so talented, and her adaptation of the book made the pages sing out to me once again – as they did they first time I read the original novel.

I’m looking forward to reading:

Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson (Penguin). I grew up in the perfect era for Jacqueline Wilson: her books dominated my childhood reading, and I always loved how real her stories were. The Girls series was one of my favourites, and I am excited and full of nostalgia at the prospect of revisiting these characters as adults and finding out where Ellie, Nadine and Magda are now. I also can’t wait to read May All Your Skies Be Blue by Fíona Scarlett. Her debut novel, Boys Don’t Cry, was one of my favourite reads of 2021, and from the moment I read the blurb of this new novel I knew it would be a gorgeous romance story for me to fall in love with.

Jude Gates, Operations Director

I’m recommending:

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury). This will warm you up! Steamy sequel in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Our heroine, on a journey of growth, discovers yoga, mindfulness, exercise, a cosy house, a library, true love and friends to get you through anything – all that’s missing are the cats.

I’m looking forward to reading:

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett (Corvus). A bit late to the party but recommended by a colleague. I am looking forward to some autumn nights of sci-fi, politics, myth and culture in the epic Star Trek and Dune traditions – sounds perfect.