Highlights of the Season
at Highclere, one of Britain’s “most iconic stately homes”.
Kate Bryan, David Shrigley (illus) How to Art Hutchinson Heinemann, 18 September, hb, £16.99, 9781529154528
“What is art… and once I’m in front of it, what am I supposed to think about it?” Bryan is an art historian broadcaster and curator, including for Soho House’s art collection. Featuring original artworks by Shrigley, this “funny, inviting” full-colour guide hopes to entice those who feel they don’t know about art, or who don’t think it is for them.
Music
Michaela Vieser, Isaac Yuen The Sound Atlas Reaktion Books, 1 September, hb, £14.99, 9781836391104
Blending history, science and personal reflection, these 36 essays explore the profound cultural significance of sounds; from outer space to the crackle of Arctic sea ice and the singing pillars of Hampi.
Keith Cameron 168 Songs of Hatred and Failure White Rabbit, 11 September, hb, £30, 9781399607407
“The story of Manic Street Preachers is unique in pop.” Drawing on hours of new interviews and delving into the genesis of 168 songs, a new, “definitive” history of the Manics, written with the band’s full co-operation.
Mark Ronson Night People Century, 16 September, hb, £25, 9781529901573
“This is sex, drugs, down and dirty DJing.” Published just ahead of the release of Ronson’s new album, also called Night People, this is billed as a “raucous” memoir from the influential pop producer, conjuring 1990s New York City, his bohemian childhood, stories about Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson, and more.
Annie Zaleski Beyoncé: The Stories Behind the Songs Welbeck, 18 September, hb, £25, 9781035426584
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Covering hundreds of songs, an invitation to take a deep dive into the inspiration and story behind every single track Beyoncé has ever released.
Noel Gallagher, Jill Furmanovsky Oasis: Trying to Find a Way Out of Nowhere Thames & Hudson, 23 September, hb, £50, 9780500030646
Released to coincide with Oasis’ reunion tour, this contains more than 500 photos by Furmanovsky that document the dramatic career of Oasis on stage, backstage and in the studio. The images are accompanied by a commentary from Gallagher.
Paul Gorman Granny Takes a Trip White Rabbit, 25 September, hb, £40, 9781399623612
The story of the legendary World’s End 1960s boutique, Granny Takes a Trip, and the lives and stories of the eccentric characters who visited the shop.
Poetry
Rowan McCabe Door to Door Poet Eye Books, 18 September, hb, £14.99, 9781785634345
Seeking a new sense of focus, Tyneside-born poet McCabe created a new role for himself and become the world’s first door-to-door poet. Shining a light on the concerns of different communities across the UK today, this entertaining account of his poetry mission is published to coincide with a tie-in BBC Radio 4 programme.
Simon Armitage New Cemetery Faber & Faber, 25 September, hb, £14.99, 9780571357338
Covering themes including mortality, environmentalism, Covid and lockdowns, the creative process, nostalgia, memory and the loss of the poet’s father, the poet laureate “makes peace with the dead” in this new collection.
Charly Cox Nobody Asked for This HQ Non-Fiction, 25 September, pb, £10.99, 9780008639839
This brings together the collected works of bestselling poet Cox for the first time with new and exclusive material.
The Bookseller Buyer’s Guide Non-Fiction
Conservation & Environment
culturally rich but complex country, published to coincide with a new Channel 5 documentary.
Travel Writing
Peter Ross Upon a White Horse: Journeys in Ancient Britain and Ireland Headline Book Publishing, 11 September, hb, £25, 9781035414062
Bill McKibben Here Comes the Sun WW Norton & Co, 16 September, hb, £23, 9781324106234
The acclaimed environmentalist issues a call to harness solar power and rewrite our scientific, economic and political future.
Tristan Gooley The Hidden Seasons Hodder & Stoughton, 18 September, hb, £22, 9781399733540
The author of How to Read a Tree and The Walker’s Guide shows us how to read the clues that the sun, moon, stars, plants, fungi, animals, water and weather give us – but that we “continually miss, because we don’t know how and where to look”.
Nicola Chester Ghosts of the Farm Chelsea Green Publishing, 30 September, hb, £22, 9781915294678
This dual rural narrative moves between the story of Miss White, a woman who lived in the author’s village 80 years ago and realised her ambition to become a farmer during the Second World War; and the author’s own dream to be a farmer.
Travel Guides
DK Travel Walking the Camino de Santiago DK Travel, 4 September, hb, £25, 9780241760291
Comprehensive guide delves into the eight most popular Camino routes, highlighting the sights and history along each one, along with information on places to eat, drink and stay en route.
Michael Palin Michael Palin in Venezuela Hutchinson Heinemann, 25 September, hb, £20, 9781529154726
In February 2025, Palin travelled to Venezuela. This is a richly illustrated account of his trip to that
Mariana Enriquez Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave Granta Books, 25 September, hb, £20, 9781803511290
Award-winning Argentinian novelist and journalist Enriquez takes an “extraordinary, unsettling, gothic” journey through cemeteries across the world, from Montparnasse and Highgate to the Jewish cemetery in Prague and the hidden Aboriginal cemetery on Rottnest Island in Western Australia.
Business & Economics
Carl Benedikt Frey How Progress Ends Princeton University Press, 16 September, hb, £30, 9780691233079
Author of the wonderful A Tomb with a View and Steeple Chasing returns to explore the ancient and mysterious sites of Britain and Ireland, from the Uffington White Horse to Stonehenge, Hadrian’s Wall and beyond.
Jamie Lafferty An Inconvenience of Penguins: Epic Voyages in Pursuit of the World’s Most Beloved Bird Wildfire, 25 September, hb, £25, 9781035413126
From kings to rockhoppers and from Francis Drake to Ernest Shackleton, award-winning travel writer Lafferty journeys to see all 18 species of penguin in this “warm and charming” biography of this much-loved species; from their disappearing habitats to the relationship with humans.
In this “ambitious historical analysis” billed as “Guns, Germs and Steel meets The Innovators, the Oxford economic historian author challenges the conventional belief that economic and technological progress is inevitable, showing that for most of human history, stagnation has been the norm.
Tim Higgins iWar Torva, 18 September, hb, £22, 9781911709640
How a loose rebel alliance of tech entrepreneurs – including Elon Musk and the owners of Spotify - has formed to lay siege to Apple, aiming to knock the world’s biggest company off its pedestal.
Corinne Low Femonomics Hodder & Stoughton, 25 September, hb, £22, 9781399737609
What if you had the power to prioritise things you actually value, rather than the things that others do? A myth-busting, data-rich guide to the economics of women in the workplace by a US economics professor who has herself encountered many of the dilemmas she enjoyably scrutinises.
Language Learning & Linguistics
Joshua Blackburn The Language- Lover’s Lexipedia Bloomsbury, 25 September, hb, £14.99, 9781526689344
By the creator of the League of the Lexicon board game, a “delightful” tour of the world of words, from the origin of Abracadabra to Zyzzyva and the end of the dictionary.
Literature & Criticism
Lee Child Reacher: The Stories Behind The Stories Bantam Books, 9 September, hb, £16.99, 9780857508744
From scribbling his debut Killing Floor in pencil (the stub of which he still owns) to taking a step back with Blue Moon, this first autobiographical collection from the Jack Reacher creator contains 24 personal reflections on his life and work.
Katie da Cunha Lewin The Writer’s Room Elliott & Thompson, 11 September, hb, £16.99, 9781783969098
October
Biography & Memoirs
Mary Portas I Shop, Therefore I Am Canongate Books, 2 October, hb, £20, 9781837264414
Portas presents a no-holds-barred and
What is it that so fascinates us about the places where writers work and live? From Virginia Woolf’s garden room at Monk’s House to Sigmund Freud’s study and its famous couch and Maya Angelou’s hotel rooms, an alluring exploration of the creative spaces that have shaped the notable works of notable writers.
Jamaica Kincaid Putting Myself Together Picador, 11 September, hb, £20, 9781035036103
This “blazing” collection of essays and articles by the Antigua-born writer spans the breadth of her five-decade career, and takes in subjects including Muhammad Ali, Diana Ross, gardening, motherhood, colonialism and the act of writing.
Specialist, Technical & Medical
Peter Fretwell, Lisa Fretwell The Penguin Book of Penguins
Viking, 18 September, hb, £14.99, 9780241732069
Written by a leading scientist at the British Antarctic Survey and illustrated by his life, this “joyful and informative” book introduces us to the main species of penguin, their history, evolution, behaviours and habitats, alongside penguin trivia, penguin jokes, famous penguins… and, of course, a history of Penguin Books.
Joan E Strassmann The Social Lives of Birds Headline Press, 23 September, hb, £22, 9781035417131
From nest hijacking and thievery to seduction, dancing and secret relationships, a “charming, accessible” and global journey into the myriad ways birds live in groups and socialise.
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