We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
Amazon
1
Queen James by Gareth Russell
Queen James is ostensibly about James I of England’s lovers – often beautiful male members of the aristocracy – though Russell doesn’t sell the history short with salacious stories about the sex lives of the Scottish royal (that would have been just fine, too!). Instead, Russell carefully plots a detailed biography of James Stuart’s tumultuous life, from his dysfunctional parents to his even more dysfunctional court. It is an invigorating, playful read.
2
Murderland by Caroline Fraser
It is not exactly hard to find books about serial killers, though it is a little more difficult to locate well-written ones. Well, here is former New Yorker staffer Caroline Fraser’s Murderland: an invigorating, thought-provoking examination of killers in the Pacific Northwest and the often-poisonous environments that formed them.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
3
Kitchen Confidential by Anythony Bourdain (25th Anniversary Edition)
Not new, obviously, but 2025 marks 25th anniversary of chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. So it’s a good time to (re)read the provocative entry into the food-writing canon, in which the late chef recounts his experiences of intense, often-dangerous restaurant kitchens. The new edition features an introduction from Irvine Welsh, which makes a lot of sense.
4
Empire of AI by Karen Hao
I realise that your trip to Italy is probably not when you want to be thinking about AI. But if you find yourself increasingly worried about what this technology and its impact on you and your career, it is good to know who you’re dealing with. Journalist Karent Hao goes deep on Sam Altman’s groundbreaking company OpenAI – which is responsible for the seemingly universe-changing ChatGPT – and reveals some uncomfortable truths.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
5
Gwyneth: The Biography by Amy Odell
It makes a lot of sense that after charting the life of Anna Wintour, Amy Odell would turn to Gwyneth Paltrow. Both women loom large in popular culture; both are a little unknowable. Odell whizzes through Paltrow’s eras, from Hollywood childhood to Oscar winner to Goop empress.
6
Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
Macfarlane’s writing is so beautiful that he could convince us of pretty much anything, but in this instance he has a very important task: to argue that we should reframe how we think about rivers – from Ecuador to India to Canada – imagining them as living beings in their own right, rather than functional natural phenomena to serve human needs.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
7
38 Londres Street by Philippe Sands
International lawyer Philippe Sands’ new book is as extraordinarily wide-reaching as it is specific: the story of a single address in Santiago, Chile, that connects the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to a Nazi SS officer, Walter Rauff, who fled to Chile after World War II. Sands’ involvement is both professional and personal: in 1998, when Pinochet was arrested in London, Sands was called upon to advise him. He chose, instead, a markedly different path.
8
Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick
In 2007 while working as a journalist in Beijing, Barbara Demick uncovered the extraordinary story of twin Chinese girls who were born, undetected, in a bamboo grove. The threat of China’s one-child policy and an international demand for adoption mean that the girls were separated, with one staying China and the other being brought up in the US. With her usual forensic care, Demick charts their lives, and plots their reunion.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
9
Bless Me Father by Kevin Rowland
If there’s a musical icon with a tale or two to tell, it’s surely the Dexy’s Midnight Runners frontman, Kevin Rowland. He made the full transition from childhood tearaway to 80s New Romantic legend to cocaine addict to destitute bedsit-dweller, but true to form with Rowland there was always going to be another act. He details it all with candour and panache.
10
The Bells of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai
Takashi Nagai was working as a doctor in the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, when it was obliterated by an American atomic bomb. Forty thousand people died, but Nagai miraculously survived, though seriously wounded, and wrote a chilling eyewitness account from his hospital bed. It has been published in the UK to mark the 80th anniversary of the bombing, and, in our increasingly apocalyptic age, should be considered essential cautionary reading.
Watch Next
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below