Twas The Night Shift Before Christmas – Adam Kay

Kay’s stories from his time as a junior doctor are as funny as they are heartbreaking. His witty style is undercut by an unflinching look at the difficulties of a job that deals daily with life, death, and everything in between.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong

This is a tragic, poetic novel, written as a letter from a son to his mother who cannot read. Looking back over the families history in the Vietnam war, and their current lives as immigrants in America, Vuong subtly finds the beauty and worth of life in even the bleakest of circumstances.

Queenie – Candice Carty Williams

This insightful, political book critically discusses race, class and gender, all through the eyes of hilarious Queenie; a twenty something woman trying to find her way in this ever hostile modern world. (Our Editor’s favourite!)

The Testaments – Margaret Atwood

Joint winner of the Booker Prize this year, Atwood’s highly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale looks further at the dystopian world of Gilead, and draws just as many chilling parallels to our own society today as the original did in 1985.

Once More We Saw Stars – Jayson Greene

A painful but honest exploration of loss, grief, and the impossibility of living when the unbearable happens.

Honorable Mentions:

Three Women – Lisa Taddeo / Fleishman is in Trouble – Taffy Brodesser Akner / Girl, Women, Other – Bernardine Evaristo

Photo Credit: The Evening Standard