16 June 2023
Summer has well and truly arrived, and we’re busy planning the books we’ll be packing for our holidays. Whether you’ll be lying on a picnic blanket in the middle of your local park or relaxing on a sun lounger by the side of a pool, we’ve got a brilliant selection of reads to keep you occupied over the coming months. From remarkable and bestselling histories to a charming guide to the British countryside and a short story collection to keep crime fiction lovers entertained, take a look at our seasonal recommendations below!
What are you planning to read this summer? Join us on Twitter @profilebooks and Instagram @profile.books for daily bookish chat.
REMARKABLE HISTORIES
All That She Carried by Tiya Miles (Publishing July)
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE
A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft a deeply layered and insightful testament to people who are left out of the archives.
Love in a Time of Hate by Florian Illies (Out now)
From the bestselling author of 1913 comes a telling of some of the greatest love stories of the 1930s – from Jean-Paul Sartre to Marlene Dietrich – with the darkening backdrop of fascism in Europe, in an irresistible journey into the past that brings history and its actors to vivid life.
Footsloggers by Peter Hart (Out now)
The latest volume in Peter Hart’s ‘British Band of Brothers’ series, combining gripping history with vivid eyewitness testimony, Footsloggers tells the story of the 16th Durham Light Infantry. This is a human look at the inhuman nature of war from the author of At Close Range and Burning Steel.
ENTERTAINING ESCAPISM
Led by the Nose by Jenny Joseph (Publishing August)
The unusual, remarkable memoir of a treasured British poet: Jenny Joseph, author of Warning: When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, presents a year in her garden – twelve months of musings, wisdom and scents.
Country Matters by Meg Clothier and Jonny Clothier (Out now)
In this delightful and eye-opening book, Meg Clothier and her father, Jonny, combine decades of practical know-how with a passion for literature and lore to produce a charming guide to the countryside, full of fascinating facts, folk tales and useful advice.
Murder in a Heatwave (Out now)
As the days get longer, escape your troubles and take a trip to the desperately hot towns where nightfall lingers and a sun-drenched picnic can end in panic. No matter how murderously high the temperatures rise, these stories from Dorothy L Sayers, Arthur Conan Doyle and more will chill you to the bone…
EYE-OPENING NON-FICTION
Is Maths Real? by Eugenia Cheng (Out now)
From imaginary numbers to the perplexing order of operations we all had drilled into us, Eugenia Cheng – mathematician, writer and woman on a mission to rid the world of maths phobia – brings us maths as we’ve never seen it before, revealing how profound insights can emerge from seemingly unlikely sources.
Free For All by Dr Gavin Francis (Publishing August)
Britain’s health service is dying. Gavin Francis shows us why we should fight for it.
For those who believe in the future of the NHS and its founding principles, this is essential reading from the bestselling author of Recovery and Intensive Care.
How to be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (Publishing August)
‘Lively and intriguing … You’ll never look at Renaissance portraits in the same way’ – Maggie O’Farrell
Plunge into the intimate history of cosmetics, and discover how, for centuries, women have turned to makeup as a rich source of creativity, community and resistance.