These standout titles have been taking over my Instagram feed.
“There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.” – Bertrand Russell.
A wonderfully tender debut, Life Hacks for a Little Alien (Alice Franklin, Quercus, approx €16.99) follows Little Alien, a neurodivergent girl trying to make sense of a world that often makes her feel like she’s from another planet. Funny and moving, this #bookstagram favourite has been compared to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
Set against a rugged coastal backdrop, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife (June O’Sullivan, Poolbeg Press, approx €15.99) follows a woman’s search for answers after a tragic loss. Dark secrets, an unbreakable bond between land and sea, and the pull of the past make this a must-read for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing.
Reality blurs in Strange Pictures (Uketsu, Puskin Press, approx €14.99), a strange mystery that demands its readers turn detective. A struggling journalist is tasked with decoding the meaning behind a series of unsettling images – each containing something far more sinister beneath the surface. Drawings by a young woman before her death. A child’s disturbing picture of his home. A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments. But where does it lead? Haunting and laced with unease, that’s for you, dear reader, to find out.
One call, then silence. In Beautiful Ugly (Alice Feeney, Macmillan, approx €16.99), Grady Green hears his wife Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car… then nothing. When he finds her abandoned vehicle at a cliff’s edge, she’s vanished without a trace. A year later, still drowning in grief, he retreats to a remote Scottish island only to see a woman who looks exactly like Abby. Twisty, gripping and made for your monthly book club.
In the page-turning Yin Yang Love Song (Lauren Kung Jessen, Forever, approx €14.99), love, fate, and family curses collide in the most unexpected way. Chinese herbalist Chryssy Hua Williams doesn’t believe in the legendary Hua family curse – until Break-Up number nine has her rethinking everything. Enter Vin Chao, a rebellious celebrity cellist with a plan: they fake date, he “breaks” her heart, and they both get what they want. Simple… Right? A slow-burn rom-com packed with charm.
The Coast Road (Alan Murrin, Bloomsbury, approx €15.99) has quickly become a #Bookstagramer favourite, drawing comparisons to Small Things Like These for its quietly devastating, deeply moving story of small-town Irish life. Set in Donegal in the early nineties, it follows three women navigating the claustrophobia and cruelties marriage can bring – and all the life-limiting choices that come with it.
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of IMAGE.
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