Reclining on a sun lounger, basking in the heat of the midday sun with your nose in a book is one of life’s great pleasures. Your phone is on do not disturb, your out of office is on and you can give yourself over to a story. So, if you have an upcoming trip or need a new novel to get lost in, the SPHERE team has you covered. Here are our recommendations for your next summer read.
SPHERE’s Summer Reads Recommendations
Words by
Sphere Editors
6th August 2026
SPHERE's essential summer reads – everything from Greek mythology to life’s small joys.
Say Nothing – Patrick Radden Keefe
Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe. ©William Collins.
The New Yorker journalist and author Patrick Radden Keefe’s name has been on everyone’s lips this summer. The release of his latest work of narrative nonfiction, London Falling, sent shockwaves through the city as it brought to light the dark underbelly of our capital and the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler. If you haven’t already devoured London Falling, you must. If you have and are craving more from Patrick Radden Keefe, then Dylan O’Connor, Sales Manager at Illustrated London News (SPHERE’s publisher), recommends one of PRK’s earlier works, Say Nothing. Dylan says: “It touches on The Troubles sensitively but doesn't shy away from the brutal reality of one of the most tumultuous periods in Irish history.” Through vivid character portrayal and sharp insights into the border disputes, hunger strikes and domestic terrorism that defined the period, Say Nothing is an “essential read for a deeper understanding of the history between the UK and Ireland and the impact of the conflict on everyday people.”
Look What You Made Me Do – John Lanchester
“I devoured John Lanchester’s novel ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ greedily, in two sessions, and like a Netflix binge, I was impatient to get back to it,” SPHERE Digital Editor and ILN CEO, Lisa Barnard, notes. Set in North London behind closed doors in the houses and dinner parties of bourgeois 50-somethings, married for 30 years, with flashbacks to Oxford student days (Lanchester’s stamping ground), Lisa elaborates that “it is hardly surprising this reader felt on uncannily familiar territory.” In a clever construct with two female narrators, the tale unfolds as a black comedy, where grieving widow Kate notices a spooky similarity between the private language of her marriage and this year’s leading television series Cheating, written by the book’s millennial central character, Phoebe. What becomes clear is that some form of betrayal has taken place, inviting the reader to decipher: who has stolen whose story – and why?
Circe – Madeline Miller
Circe by Madeline Miller. ©Bloomsbury.
The Odyssey has this summer taken the big screen by storm, igniting in its wake a million online discussions over Christopher Nolan’s IMAX release. For those craving more Greek mythology, Madeline Miller’s Circe is the essential companion read. “One of the criticisms levied against Nolan’s adaptation was that it flattened the female characters. Circe is the absolute antithesis of that,” Clara Taylor, SPHERE Senior Content Executive, maintains. Miller takes a minor character in Homer’s epic, Circe – witch and daughter of the sun god Apollo – and puts her centre stage. Tracing her immortal life over 1,000 years, the novel covers Circe’s run-ins with iconic mythological creatures and characters – Scylla, the Minotaur, Odysseus himself. “I read it on a beach in Milos and can’t recommend it enough. Miller’s a beautiful writer, whose lyrical prose pulls you straight into Circe’s exile on the island, Aiaia.”
The Joy of Small Things – Hannah Jane Parkinson
In the permacrisis we find ourselves living in, finding joy in the small things has never been so important. Hannah Jane Parkinson’s The Joy of Small Things does exactly what it says on the tin and celebrates the bite-sized pleasures of life. “From petrichor (the earthy and addictive smell of rain) to fresh bedsheets and simplicities like going to the cinema alone, Hannah Jane Parkinson's witty and concise takes on the world have long been a comforting pick-me-up on any dull days where you want your problems to feel small," remarks SPHERE Senior Content Executive, Pippa Lowe. The collection of short essays counts the likes of JoJo Moyes and David Nicholls as fans, so it's certainly one you can return to time and time again.
The Names – Florence Knapp
The Names, Florence Knapp. ©Orion Publishing.
“I refused to read this for so long because I tend to avoid sad books, but this is a must-read,” declares Clara. The Names, Florence Knapp’s debut novel, deals with the sliding-doors moment of choosing a baby’s name and follows Cora and her family in three separate narratives, where life unfurls over 35 years in different circumstances based on the name she chooses for her newborn son. Knapp delicately explores the nuance of domestic violence, the impact it has on the individual, their family, and the circumstances that led to it – the small, almost imperceptible moments of control and cruelty that cascade, over time, into something much larger. Ultimately, the whole thing reads as an allegory for the inevitability of life. How tragedy, resilience and joy are all part of human existence.
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