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7 best new books this week: From Booker Prize winner to Dua Lipa's pick for 2026
Your TBR just expanded.
- Helen Daly
Published: Sunday, 24 May 2026 at 7:00 am
There's a wealth of new books being released this week that you'll want to dive into and enjoy.
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In this weekly list, we've done the hard work so you don't have to and have gone through the new releases to see what you'll want to dive into (or add to that never-ending TBR pile).
Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart is back with another novel set to soar up the sales charts, John of John, and Sufiyaan Salam's exciting debut novel, Wimmy Road Boyz, has caught the attention of Dua Lipa and others.
For some harrowing escapism, try Break Room, a thriller about a made-up game show, or dive into a fascinating non-fiction book about the changing Arctic landscape.
Without further ado, read on for the best books released this week.
1. Frostlines – Neil Shea (Book of the Week, Radio 4)
National Geographic writer Neil Shea explores the Arctic and how it’s being rapidly transformed by climate change in this expansive and immersive book. Once an unchangeable and harsh landscape, the Arctic is entering a new era. Shea looks at the impact of change on those living throughout it, from the hidden lives of wolves on Canada’s Ellesmere Island, travels with Indigenous hunters in Alaska and tracks dwindling caribou herds across North American before visiting the front of the new Cold War between Russia and Europe. Fascinating but frightening, Shea showcases what’s changing and how the new world of the Arctic will look in the future.
Frostlines, Pan Macmillan, out now
2. John of John – Douglas Stuart (Fiction Reading, Radio 4)
Douglas Stuart, who won the Booker Prize in 2020 for Shuggie Bain, is back with a new novel that’s already making a buzz in the literary scene. John-Calum Macleod is broke and has nothing to show for his art school education. He heads home on the ferry to the island of Harris to find that he’s really the only thing that’s changed. It isn’t long before he gets caught up in-between the two pillars of his life: his dad, John, a farmer and his Glaswegian grandmother Ella. In this remarkable novel, Stuart explores the weight of expectation and how it hangs heavy on the bonds of family life.
John of John, Pan Macmillan, out now
3. Break Room - Miye Lee
Eight people get an invitation to take part in a reality show called "Break Room" - but it's not exactly a show you'd want to take part in. The contestants were picked by their co-workers as the people who they would least like to share a break with. As details of the game emerge and friendships are formed, surviving the game isn't the real problem - it's acknowledging who they are as people.
Break Room, Wildfire, out now
4. I Want You To Be Happy – Jem Calder
Chuck and Joey meet in a bar and while Joey lives pay check to pay check, Chuck’s circumstances couldn’t be more different. It isn’t long before Joey’s imagining what life could be like together while Chuck’s desperate to move on from a mistake in his past – being together makes them realise how meeting someone can make them feel so new. Calder’s funny and truthful writing makes I Want You to be Happy one of the most anticipated novels of 2026 as it details a modern view of connection.
I Want You To Be Happy, Faber & Faber, out now
5. Wimmy Road Boyz - Sufiyaan Salam
Salam's exploration of masculinity and violence in his debut novel has already got a lot of critics and book fans excited - and for good reason to. In Wimmy Road Boyz, Immy, Khan and Haris are unlikely pals getting up to no good one evening. With something to prove and nothing to lose, what trouble will they get into? Set over one night, Salam's surreal and blistering narrative is going to be talked about - don't miss it.
Wimmy Road Boyz, Merky Books, out Thursday
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6. The Repentants - Kate Foster
In Scotland, 1790, two women are forced to repent in church - one for adultery and one for breaching the sabbath. Florrie and Eliza form a tight bond over their shared humiliation. Florrie ends up asking Eliza to accompany her and her husband on a trip to Iceland. While the women grow closer, Florrie's husband unveils his sinister motive for the trip - he plans to leave her for the shame she caused him. Can she rely on her new friend? Or is something else at play? Foster tells a gripping story of exile, betrayal and the need to survive in this gripping narrative.
The Repentants, Mantle, out Thursday
7. Soviet Land - Pierre-Henry Gomont
It's the 1990s and the USSR is over. Two scavengers decide to explore the wastelands to find any valuable trinkets to make a bit of money from. Slava had to abandon his dream of being an artist (as well as his morals) to hunt with his friend from school, conman Lavrin. While the pair try to make some money in a disorienting world, they work hard to live, love and maybe one day create art again. Gomont's comedy/thriller graphic novel is as funny as it is serious and documents an important time of history and change for Russia.
Soviet Land, Abrams ComicArts, out Saturday
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For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club.
Authors
Helen DalyDeputy Digital Editor
Helen Daly is the deputy digital editor for Radio Times, overseeing new initiatives and commercial projects for the brand. She was previously Deputy TV Editor at a national publication. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Media & Journalism from Newcastle University.
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