Highlights of the Season
The philosopher of art author takes the reader on a journey through some of the most volatile and contentious works ever produced – from prehistoric sculpture to extreme metal music, Renaissance paintings to video games.
Music Dr Sam Akbar
The Odyssey Mindset Bluebird, 11 June, hb, £14.99, 9781035090549
Who are you? How can you be who you want to be? How do you treat those around you? What really matters? The answers lie in these seven lessons from The Odyssey; a “timeless story of strength against adversity, resilience and never losing sight of your goals”.
Sports & Gaming
Christian Hewgill Formula 1 101 Welbeck, 25 June, hb, £25, 9781035434909
Written by broadcaster and host of the The Fast and the Curious podcast and the official F1 Explains podcast, this illustrated guide answers 50 burning questions across seven key topics (rules, teams, drivers, circuits, cars, races and tech), and offers expert insights.
Art & Antiques
Suzanne Barbezat Frida Kahlo at Home Frances Lincoln, 4 June, hb, £20, 9781805702603
Exploring the influence of Mexican culture and tradition, the Blue House and other places Kahlo travelled to and called home, on her life and work. Published ahead of the major new Kahlo exhibition at Tate Modern from June 2026.
Ruth Bernard Yeazell Vermeer’s Afterlives Princeton University Press, 9 June, hb, £35, 9780691277820
Marking the 350th anniversary of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s death, this richly illustrated book explores the variety of ways in which his art has been interpreted through the centuries and how his paintings have inspired generations of artists, writers and film-makers.
Daisy Dixon Depraved Faber & Faber, 18 June, hb, £20, 9780571383221
Spring/Summer 2026
Steve Brusatte The Story of Birds Picador, 4 June, hb, £25, 9781035032518
Paul Sexton Rock Goes to College Mudlark, 4 June, hb, £25, 9780008722418
The “hectic, hugely entertaining and definitive” story of the entirely amateurish British university gig scene that launched the career of some of the world’s most famous bands, including Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd.
Conservation & Environment
Simon Warrack Monumental William Collins, 18 June, hb, £22, 9780008658823
World-leading stonemason Warrack takes us through the stories behind some of the great buildings and monuments that he has helped to conserve for generations to come, including the Trevi Fountain, Angkor Wat and Canterbury Cathedral.
Geography
Hannah Lucinda Smith Hinterlands Profile Books, 4 June, hb, £22, 9781805225416
Why have Russian resorts sprung up in seaside towns in Northern Cyprus? What can Sarajevo’s local politics tell us about Trump, Putin and Erdogan? This reveals the hidden conflicts that underpin contemporary geopolitics and the new Cold War.
Natural History & Pets
In “delightfully energetic prose”, palaeontologist Brusatte takes us through the 150-million-year history of birds, from their origins among small carnivorous dinosaurs to the 10,000-plus species that thrive today.
Wyl Menmuir The Spirit of Stone Aurum, 11 June, hb, £16.99, 9780711289307
Blending travelogue, history and memoir, this book reveals how the stone that shapes the landscapes of Britain and Ireland grounds us, challenges us and inspires us.
Travel Guides
Tharik Hussain Muslim Britain & Ireland Bradt Travel Guides, 18 June, pb, £19.99, 9781804693032
This new guide contains travel information about historic and contemporary Muslim heritage and culture in Britain, including advice for Muslims on travelling safely and mosque etiquette for non-Muslims.
Business & Economics
Joanna Stern I Am Not a Robot Harper, 18 June, hb, £25, 9780063446618
What happens when artificial intelligence moves into your home, drives your car and starts making your decisions? Wall Street Journal tech columnist Stern surrendered her life to artificial intelligence for a year with “hilarious and alarming” results.
Chris Smalls When the Revolution Comes
Viking, 25 June, hb, £20, 9780241803486
The “riveting” inside story of how a young Black man from Hackensack, New Jersey, with little- to-no resources, led a scrappy band of Staten Island warehouse workers in an improbable fight against Amazon – and won.
Computers & The Internet
Katherine Dunn Little Blue Dot Mudlark, 18 June, hb, £20, 9780008666965
Denise Riley A Chorus of Ears Picador, 25 June, hb, £12.99, 9781035095964
Originally delivered as a series of lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge, Riley meditates on how focusing on the persona of the poet relegates their actual poetry to a second- order importance. In allowing the poem to speak instead, what might we hear?
Sociology
Jack Parlett Flamboyance Granta Books, 4 June, hb, £18.99, 9781803511931
Taking in an eclectic array of examples, from the orange flowers of Dungeness to a Parisian gay bar, and populated by figures such as Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, Elton John, Amy Winehouse and Chappell Roan, this is a book about flamboyant art and the art of flamboyance.
The story of the Global Positioning System, the network of US government satellites that have transformed the way we understand space and time, making us critically dependent on vulnerable technology we often forget is even there.
Literature & Criticism
Layla McCay
The Queer Bookshelf Scribe, 4 June, hb, £14.99, 9781917189071
From Ancient Mesopotamia through to the Victorians and the present day, this is billed as the “ultimate” guide to the rich history of queer writing, and “the perfect companion for anyone beginning or continuing their queer reading journey”.
July
Biography & Memoirs
John Sweeney Staying Alive Headline Press, 2 July, hb, £22, 9781035428007
This autobiography by fearless reporter Sweeney tells the story of someone who is a free spirit, not afraid to confront real monsters; and someone who has seen the darkest things people can do to each other but also knows that love and friendship can keep people going through the worst of times.
David Sedaris The Land and Its People Abacus, 2 July, hb, £16.99, 9781408714126
A new collection of stories from the beloved and bestselling Sedaris. Hurrah!
Duncan Hamilton The Man Who Walked Out of the Sun
Abacus, 2 July, hb, £25, 9780349148656
William Hill Prize-winning author Hamilton aims to capture the sense of wonder West Indian cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers inspired, the emotion he stirred, and the abundant beauty in almost everything he did, in this biography to be released the same month Sobers turns 90.
Zahra Joya The Vanishing Girl of Kabul
Robinson, 2 July, hb, £25, 9781408783641
A poignant memoir about growing up female in Afghanistan, being betrayed by a world that promised to protect women’s rights and how these rights are under threat across the world.
Olivia Deborah Bowen Lost Until Love Blink Publishing, 2 July, hb, £20, 9781788709682
This “honest and insightful” memoir from Love Island star Bowen is billed as a love letter to her younger self.
Irenosen Okojie Quixotic Fissures Dialogue Books, 9 July, hb, £22, 9781408773147
Taking as its starting point the idea of carrying trauma in the body as a legacy of Blackness, a hybrid collection of essays, stories and other writing from Okojie that foreground moments of transformation, reconfiguration and regeneration of the body and the mind.
Alasdair Gill Knives and Spoons Macmillan, 9 July, hb, £22, 9781037401435
By the London chef and son of the late food critic AA Gill, an insider account about the “burn of the kitchen and the bite of addiction”.
Carol Atherton So Many Ways to Belong: A Personal History of Adoption
Fig Tree, 9 July, hb, £18.99, 9780241767290
By the English teacher author of Reading Lessons, who is also an adoptive mother, this is billed as a powerful and beautifully written examination of adoption and its wider historical, social and cultural context.
Rachel Aviv You Won’t Get Free of It Fern Press, 9 July, hb, £18.99, 9781911717645
From one mother searching for her vanished daughter, to another who sacrifices herself for her daughters by working as a nanny for other people’s children, a collection of reported stories that explore the relationship between mothers and daughters.
Harold Bloom, Heather Cass White (ed) The Man Who Read Everything Yale University Press, 14 July, hb, £25, 9780300283839
Bringing together a collection of Harold Bloom’s letters to and from eight of his favourite contemporary writers, including John Ashbery and Ursula K LeGuin, White provides a portrait of the renowned US literary critic.
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