5 new books to read this week

The top book of the week goes to Booker Prize-winning author Alan Hollinghurst…

Fiction

1. Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst is published in hardback by Picador, priced £22 (ebook £11.99). Available October 3

Dave Win is an outsider. Gifted, intelligent, a talented actor, he should have the world at his feet. But this is a world where those who do not fit into conventional boxes are treated with suspicion and contempt. From the earliest of his schooldays through his teenage years and into adulthood, Dave’s interactions are underscored by the reminder that he is different and unwanted. No one is keener to remind Dave of this fact than Giles, the spiteful and violent son of Dave’s scholarship sponsor. As the two boys grow older and their paths intertwine once more, Dave’s life on the road as an actor carries him through the changing years of acceptance and into modern times – whilst Giles continues on an unstoppable and dangerous journey to power. Deftly written, sharply observed and laced with dark humour, Our Evenings is a story of how it feels to search for security in a society which rejects you, to discover and lose love in all its forms – and to have the faith to find it once again.

9/10

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(Review by Hannah Colby)

2. The Unfinished Harauld Hughes by Richard Ayoade is published in hardback by Faber & Faber, priced £16.99 (ebook £7.99). Available October 3

Long fascinated by his uncanny doppelganger – mid-century auteur, poet and playwright, Harauld Hughes – Richard Ayoade embarks on a fictional quest to rescue his forgotten hero from the annals of obscurity and reinstate his reputation. Abruptly disappearing from the literary world after a turbulent career of serious drama and exploitation movies culminated in his final film, O Bedlam! O Bedlam!; this fictional ‘story-of-the-story’ follows Ayoade and his production crew as they craft a documentary attempting to unravel this mystery, and secure a succession of eye-boggling interviews with a cavalcade of idiosyncratic former collaborators, friends and lovers. Pithy and playful, the unfolding of Hughes’ life and artistic career provides a perfect framework for Ayoade’s own cavernous cinematic knowledge. Despite his titular presence, Hughes remains shadowy to the end but his fellow cast, including critic and biographer, Augustus Pink and childhood friend and actor, Mick Barrett are undoubtedly comedy’s gain.

7/10

(Review by Amanda Willard)

3. The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, is published in paperback by Fitzcarraldo Editions, priced £12.99 (ebook £7.99). Available now

Olga Tokarczuk’s back catalogue has appeared in English at pace since the Polish author’s Nobel win in 2018. Decade-old works such as Flights and Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead are now joined by her first novel written since becoming a laureate, The Empusium. It follows Mieczyslaw Wojnicz, a young Pole dispatched to a remote sanatorium in 1913. Various mysteries are hinted at in this therapeutic idyll, but not pursued with urgency. Most locals, doctors and patients pass time sipping the local tipple and pontificating on scientific progress and gender politics. The tension raises to a climax that offers a folkloric and feminist challenge to what has come before, and justifies the book’s ‘horror story’ subtitle, but which feels abrupt. While there is much to enjoy in the historical detail, descriptions of the natural world and reflections on identity, the narrative sputters a little too much to thrill.

7/10

(Review by Joshua Pugh Ginn)

Non-fiction

4. Over The Influence by Joanna ‘JoJo’ Levesque is published in hardback by Pan Macmillan, priced £22 (ebook £11.99). Available now

You have to commend singer Joanna ‘Jojo’ Levesque for just how candid she is in her new memoir – not shying away from the uglier sides of being in the music business, or indeed some of the worst decisions she’s made in her personal life. At times, it’s an uncomfortable look at what it’s like to be a child star – tracking Jojo’s beginnings, her upbringing in Massachusetts by two parents who were addicts, performing from an early age and releasing her debut album with catchy pop hit Leave (Get Out) at just 13. From there, things aren’t quite smooth sailing – she struggles with her relationship with her parents, body image issues from being in the public eye from so young and she’s plagued with label troubles. Jojo might not quite be the household name she was in the Noughties, but now 33 – having spent the last two decades in show business, and having grappled with some of her biggest demons – her memoir provides a unique perspective that makes for an interesting read.

8/10

(Review by Lily Rose)

Children’s book of the week

5. Flora & Fern: Wonder In The Woods by Sarah, Duchess of York, illustrated by Denise Hughes, is published in hardback by New Frontier Publishing, priced £12.99 (no ebook). Available October 10

Sarah Ferguson presents her latest children’s picture book, Flora & Fern: Wonder In The Woods, a seasonal tale following the pair as they set about hosting a festive party. Readers follow the title characters as they travel through Holly Wood meeting woodland creatures and friends on the way, collecting treats and decorations for their event. But as disaster strikes the pair, will their community rally round and save the day? With bold illustrations by Denise Hughes reminiscent of Beatrix Potter and a Fergie-approved biscuit recipe at the back, Flora & Fern is a gentle tale for readers aged three and up, but is far from exciting or groundbreaking in its content. Sweet, mild and uneventful, this is a passable bedtime story but unlikely to become anyone’s next favourite.

6/10

(Review by Holly Cowell)

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 28

HARDBACK (FICTION)

1. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

2. Odyssey by Stephen Fry

3. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

4. Friends Of Dorothy by Sandi Toksvig

5. The Bell Witches by Lindsey Kelk

6. Graveyard Shift by M. L. Rio

7. Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy

8. Frankie by Graham Norton

9. Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson

10. Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)

1. Simply Jamie by Jamie Oliver

2. Want: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous, compiled by Gillian Anderson

3. Joe Lycett’s Art Hole by Joe Lycett

4. A Thousand Feasts by Nigel Slater

5. Guinness World Records 2025

6. Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari

7. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

8. There And Back: Diaries 1999-2009 by Michael Palin

9. The Siege by Ben Macintyre

10. Rick Stein’s Food Stories by Rick Stein

(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)

1. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

2. Odyssey by Stephen Fry

3. The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer

4. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

5. The Woman On The Ledge by Ruth Mancini

6. Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari

7. Precipice by Robert Harris

8. Atomic Habits by James Clear

9. The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer

10. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

(Compiled by Audible)