I would have liked more background on Nanako as she seemed a bit mysterious. She loved bookshops, she liked alternative culture and going to restaurants in Tokyo, but that was about all I knew. There is a list of the books she recommended, but sadly it’s not much use if you don’t read Japanese, as the majority of them aren’t available in English. The events in the book happened several years ago and the social media references already seem outdated, such is the pace of technology. However, I’d recommend it; books about books are always interesting to book lovers!

First published in 2018. English translation by Cat Anderson published by Brazen (part of Octopus, Hachette), 2024.

The Atom Between Us by Natasha Wingfield

I woke up with nothing. No name. No past. No memories. Just a body full of scars and a single, burning instinct: finish the mission I don’t remember starting.

The world outside is a wasteland. A place called The Zone, where radiation still clings to the air and the people are ruled by something called The Authority. I’m told I’m dangerous. I’m treated like a threat. But no one will tell me why.

Not even him.

Captain Lance Kang. Cold. Controlled. Feared. He watches me with restrained violence and impossible familiarity—like he knows something about me I don’t.

I shouldn’t trust him. He’s the enemy. He belongs to the regime that wants me wiped out, forgotten. But when his voice cuts through the static in my mind… something responds. Something buried, instinctive, and dangerously real.

The more fragments of my past I claw back—labs, fire, blood—the clearer a single truth becomes:

I’m not just a prisoner in this broken world.
I’m the key to changing it.
Or ending it.

I just have to remember before it’s too late.

The Girl in the Tower by Harrison Murphy

When the past lies buried beneath the waves, and the present hides behind a veneer, what power do we have over the future?

As high-flying energy magnate, Parsley Ringland, prepares for maternity leave, tragedy strikes. She passes out after a health complication and wakes up elsewhere. In the tower that sustained the life she had once known.

As she fights to protect herself and her unborn child, Parsley begins to fear for humanity itself. She is faced with an impossible dilemma. Does she keep the world in comforting darkness? Or expose a cruel truth that might destroy it? Is it better to endure a terrible truth than to lounge inside a lie?

Just My Merry Luck by Jamie Lee Fry

TIS THE SEASON
. . . FOR LOSING YOUR JOB.
. . . FOR GETTING SCAMMED.
. . . FOR FALLING IN LOVE?

Self-proclaimed workaholic, Jemma Jones finds herself jobless twenty-five days before Christmas. With a push from her overly optimistic best friend and a pinch of fate, she does what every rational person would do. She impulsively books a last-minute, insanely overpriced flight to Paris, of course.

The next thing she knows, she’s at an airport, dodging a man dressed as an elf when she runs into a very handsome but frustrating Frenchman named Luca.

From that moment on, Luca seems to be everywhere, even when she finds herself without a place to stay.
When Luca offers his place, it’s perfect—he’s perfect. . . except for one tiny little detail: he might have a gorgeous girlfriend named Colette.

Will this holiday of mishaps turn into the most unexpectedly magical Christmas of all, or will her impulsiveness turn out to be a recipe for disaster?

Hate by Proxy (Northglenn Book 1) by V Clarke

She was everything he was looking for without knowing.

Sophie: Love was the last thing on Sophie’s mind, until it wasn’t.
After the death of her parents, all she wanted to focus on was bringing her university grades back up. That would have been easy, if she wasn’t assigned the person she couldn’t stand the most as her mentor: Leo Russell. An irritating thorn in her side ever since they met at the age of fourteen, but to her surprise there was no hateful mocking this time. Sophie saw a different side to Leo, an understanding one, and couldn’t help questioning everything she thought she knew about him.

Leo: Leo only wanted to return the favour after Sophie Grayson inadvertently helped him heal from his own grief when they first met. Though, the distraction from his parents’ divorce was a welcome bonus. There was nothing else to it, no matter what their mutual friends believed. A small part of him hoped she would see him differently, because he wanted to help, but could she let him?

An unexpected kiss is all it takes for both of them to spiral into hesitation and uncertainty, leaving them to wonder if new love would ironically bloom out of a dying marriage, or if death would be too much of a shadow to overcome.

Tiny Terrible Tales by Sarah Jules

A series of standalone, one-sitting horror shorts from indie horror author Sarah Jules. Current titles in the series: CREEPY LITTLE BASTARDS, THE THING IN THE WOODS and SHE WAITS.

The Cursed Obsidian by E L Simons

A young witch named Covie Raiyne has just started at a new magical college. She’s hoping to discover new and exciting things about herself that she could never have dreamed were possible. All Covie has known about her mother since she was young was the betrayal she made a long time ago. But did she believe that was the real reason her mother died? Covie is on her own personal journey of magic and growth, and hopes to discover what really happened to her mother along the way. Her journey leads her to meet a handsome young wizard, make some badass friends, and experience things many first years wouldn’t!

Wyrd Water by Jack Callaghan

Andry is a city girl, so a dilapidated house in the Lake District isn’t her idea of the perfect holiday home, especially when the locals are dead set against anyone moving into it. Her attitude and odd taste in clothes won’t go down well here, but this is only the start of her troubles. Something is waiting for her, and it’s been waiting a very long time. Andry finds herself flung into a world of Rune magic, peculiar customs and whispers of ‘Those from the other side’, an ancient mystery, both honoured and feared.

What secrets are hiding on the shores of the Wyrd Water?

The Hanging Tree by Jessica Huntley

For a hundred years, the residents of a rural Welsh village have been hiding the truth. Now, a newcomer has started digging around, uncovering more than just buried secrets.
Retired detective, Graham Williams, has moved to Bethgelert for a fresh start, determined to put the horrors of last year behind him. He has seen his fair share of disturbing scenes, but nothing prepares him for what he sees hanging in the gnarly old tree outside his front window.

Only one man can help him uncover the truth …

Stephen Mallow has come a long way since he helped solve the mystery of Cherry Hollow. When his old nemesis calls and asks for help, he jumps in the car, ignoring the pain in his head and the hole in his heart. He’s ready to take on another weird and creepy small town mystery.

These two unlikely allies, whose main form of communication is bickering, start to work together to dig up the disturbing secrets of ‘The Hanging Tree’, but they soon realise there’s more to the story than they first thought.

A teenage girl is missing. The town butcher isn’t telling them everything. The tree seems to be speaking to Stephen …

And someone is watching their every move …

Being Chosen (The Baker, The Genius and The Rockstar Book 2) by Jennifer Cleveland

Life can be surreal.

One minute you’re running a successful business and dating a great guy, the next minute you’ve been dumped and you’re on tour with an ex.

Did I mention my ex is the lead singer of a super famous rock band?

No?

Well, I’m sure that won’t complicate things too much.

Locks & Keys: A Fantasy Anthology

Will a persecuted witch give the kingdom’s heir what he deserves? Does the squad of plucky rebels find a way out of an infiltration gone wrong? How can a street urchin survive in the shadow of an infamous gang? Can a thief brave the belly of the beast in search of a treasure that will never be hers? How sinister can a bond be between an orphan and her mother?

Pirates raid a fishing island in the sky. A sickly girl pushes past the threshold for Demonsnight. An apprentice gloomsinger comes face to face with what he fears most. With her life on the line, a cook prepares one last dish. A demon girl flies to the city of humans, begging them to change.

Ten unique fantasy stories by ten different authors. Dragons, sky pirates, and even samurai inhabit these pages. Locks, keys, and secrets loom over all.

If you would like to submit a title to be considered for my next indie books feature, please use this form.

Previous issues: Summer 25, Autumn 25.

John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie

The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Reflections of Lilje Damselfly by Natalie Kelda

The Cabaret of Plants by Richard Mabey

The Nomads by Brianna North

What Have I Done? by Ben Elton

Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Weird Sisters edited by Mike Ashley

Check out my favourite reads from previous years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.

In this book, Ben travels by boat to Tristan da Cunha, St Helena, British Indian Ocean Territories, Pitcairn, the Falklands and Ascension Island. He presents an honest perspective of these islands; their isolation, history, governance and inhabitants. It was very interesting and informative, although sometimes the travel was given more space than the actual island. Unfortunately, after travelling for a month to Pitcairn, Ben was denied permission to stay, but he still managed to make a chapter out of it.

The book did not persuade me to visit any of these islands, but it was an ideal ‘armchair traveller’ read. As far as amusing and insightful travel narratives go, it wasn’t the greatest, but it was certainly a good read. I wonder how much has changed on the islands, since the book’s publication by Penguin, 2003.

In summary, this felt like more of the same, but not as bewitching. If there are any more sequels, I won’t be reading them.

Published by Zaffre, 2025.

This book is set in the far future, when siblings Scout, Kieran and cat Pumpkin are on an archaeological quest to find data caches of vanished civilisations. The hope is that the information will help combat whatever is causing whole planets to be wiped out. They are pitted against a corporation with superior technology which will keep the information behind a paywall, but when things get dangerous, they may have to cooperate.

The book is narrated mainly by Scout, who is non-binary, interspersed with the recording of Blyreena, from the disappeared people, who tells her story. Although they are different species, they seem very similar and are both grieving. There are a lot of emotions packed into the book, plus some action adventure and a little humour. It did seem more like YA, as there wasn’t a lot of depth to the story, considering the themes. I knew I’d seen the book somewhere before but with a different cover; it was previously self-published in 2022. There are lots of people from the indie author community in the acknowledgments. It’s now published by Penguin, 2025.

I like this book, despite the careless editing, but the genre is almost different, more magical realism than sci-fi. The setting is mostly Earth, which for some reason that was either explained and I don’t understand, or it wasn’t explained at all, is reinstated after it was demolished. After being away in space for several months, Arthur Dent returns to his dusty house and tries to get back into his old life. There are other strands to the story which at first seem separate, but they all link up. Ford Prefect is hopping around the universe causing chaos. There is a scientist with an inside-out house who knows what happened to the dolphins. A girl who realised what the meaning of life is, before the Earth’s demise, keeps on meeting Arthur by random coincidences. And a truck driver is rained on everywhere he goes.

There are references to the time in which the book was written, such as nowhere accepting American Express, the music of Dire Straits and the difficulty of setting up answering machines. Arthur’s memories of being in space are also likened to a film recorded from the TV on to cassette and being shoved to the back of a cupboard!

In summary, an unnecessary sequel which focuses on Arthur’s happiness and the oddities of being British, with some confusing things which don’t make sense.

First published in 1984.