With spring officially here, there is no greater time to dive into an excellent new read. March brings with it some notable paperback releases, including last year’s Booker Prize winner and several acclaimed debuts, reports BritPanorama.
The Names by Florence Knapp
What’s in a name? Quite a lot, if this striking debut novel is anything to go by. Opening in 1987 with a mother deciding what to call her newborn son, it follows three alternate lives shaped by the name she chooses, deftly examining identity, destiny and the butterfly effect of a single decision.
Phoenix, £9.99
Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
Macfarlane’s meditation on rivers as living beings became one of the most thought-provoking books of the past year. Blending travel, environmental writing, politics and personal reflection, it challenges how we think about the natural world with an urgency that is difficult to ignore.
Penguin, £11.99
Flesh by David Szalay
Last year’s Booker Prize winner was a superb choice. Charting István’s journey from small-town Hungary to the rarefied world of London wealth, Szalay achieves an extraordinary amount with very little on the page, distilling sex, class and moral compromise into spare, precise prose.
Vintage, £9.99
Exit Strategy by Lee and Andrew Child
Jack Reacher can never seem to catch a break. In the 30th instalment of the Childs’ series, what begins as a routine coffee stop soon spirals into danger when a mysterious note in his pocket pulls him into a chain of violence and unexpected reckoning.
Penguin, £9.99
Idle Grounds by Krystelle Bamford
Set in 1989, this atmospheric debut follows a group of children investigating the disappearance of their cousin Abi from their family’s sprawling New England estate. In the process, they uncover long-buried secrets — including unsettling truths about their grandmother’s mysterious death.
Penguin, £9.99
Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata
In a near-future where children are conceived through artificial insemination and sex has become taboo, Amane — whose parents conceived her the old-fashioned way — searches for meaning in an unusual new community. Another quirky and unsettling novel from the author of Convenience Store Woman.
Granta, £9.99
Why I Care by Ed Davey
When the Liberal Democrat leader shared a video during the last election campaign about caring for his severely disabled son, it was viewed more than six million times on X alone. Here, he reflects on that experience while telling the deeply personal story behind it.
HarperNorth, £10.99
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
This story of a love affair is so gripping it could easily sit alongside the thrillers — which may explain why Reese Witherspoon’s production company is set to adapt. At its centre is Beth, a happily married woman whose life is thrown into turmoil when her first love returns to her small village.
John Murray, £9.99
Confessions by Catherine Airey
When 9/11 leaves teenage Cora orphaned, she is sent to live with estranged relatives in rural Ireland, setting off a dramatic chain of events. As the story unfolds, three generations of buried family secrets begin to surface in this impressive debut.
Penguin, £9.99
We Do Not Part by Han Kang
The latest from the widely acclaimed author — winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and the International Booker Prize for The Vegetarian — is a spare, haunting novel about friendship, memory and the long shadow cast by one of the most painful chapters in South Korea’s past.
Penguin, £9.99
Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal
Johal’s dazzling debut follows Satnam, who arrives in a Punjabi village for his grandmother’s funeral and is astonished to find water in a well that has been dry for centuries. As the revived river that feeds it sets off global ripple effects, Johal reveals himself as a major new storytelling voice.
Serpent’s Tail, £9.99
Anywhere But Here by Nicola Kelly
Tens of thousands risk their lives crossing the Channel in small boats each year. In this searing investigation, former Home Office insider Nicola Kelly exposes the realities of the asylum system, combining behind-the-scenes reporting with the stories of those whose futures depend on it.
Elliot & Thompson, £10.99
My Family and Other Spies by Alistair Wood
As a child, Alistair Wood grew up inside the walls of an MI6 training camp, surrounded by some of the most colourful figures in British intelligence. In this gripping memoir, he pieces together the shadowy histories of his spy parents, and the secrets that shaped his family.
Penguin, £10.99
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch
In 1982, a young wife and mother trapped by village life begins a relationship that will transform — and complicate — everything. Decades later, her daughter Maggie is forced to confront long-buried truths about the past in this moving story of love, secrecy and family.
Vintage, £9.99
