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Browse The Reading Agency booklists on bookshop.org to find a range of recommended titles for adults and children. Sales will support The Reading Agency’s work and independent bookshops.

Read on for our recommended reads. You can also search for any book you have read and leave a review, or search for a book to see what other readers thought.

The Big Sporting Read

The Big Sporting Read is a collaboration between The Reading Agency and BBC Arts, aiming to use the power of sport to inspire readers across the UK – highlighting the links between sporting excellence, reading, health and wellbeing. Find out more.

Chinaman

Shehan Karunatilaka

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami

The Boys In The Boat: An Epic Journey to the Heart of Hitler's Berlin

Daniel James Brown

Fever Pitch

Nick Hornby

Gold

Chris Cleave

The Damned Utd

David Peace

Jessica Ennis: Unbelievable - From My Childhood Dreams To Winning Olympic Gold: The life story of Team GB's Olympic Golden Girl

Jessica Ennis

Proud: My Autobiography

Gareth Thomas

Our Life on Ice: The Autobiography

Jayne Torvill, and, Christopher Dean

Don't Tell Me You're Afraid

Giuseppe Catozzella, and, Anne Milano Appel

The Lido

Libby Page

Eat, Drink, Run

Bryony Gordon

Coming Up for Air: What I Learned from Sport, Fame and Fatherhood

Tom Daley

A Woman's Game: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Women's Football

Suzanne Wrack

How (Not) To Be Strong

Alex Scott

Unseen Academicals: (Discworld Novel 37)

Terry Pratchett

The Hard Parts: A Story of Courage and Triumph

Oksana Masters

Western Lane: Shortlisted For The Booker Prize 2023

Chetna Maroo

Carrie Soto Is Back

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Beryl: In Search of Britain's Greatest Athlete, Beryl Burton

Jeremy Wilson

Coffee First, Then the World: One Woman's Record-Breaking Pedal Around the Planet

Jenny Graham

Mary Peters: My Story

Lady Mary Peters

The Extra Mile

Kevin Sinfield

Fearless: Adventures with Extraordinary Women

Louise Minchin

A Fan for All Seasons: A Journey Through Life and Sport

Jon Harvey

The Booker Prize 2024 Longlist

The Booker Prize – the world’s most influential prize for a single work of fiction – has announced a longlist celebrating a collection of timely and timeless fiction. Find out more about the books.

Orbital: ‘Awe-inspiring’ Max Porter

Samantha Harvey

Held

Anne Michaels

My Friends

Hisham Matar

James: The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller

Percival Everett

Wild Houses: One of the Observer's Debut Novels of 2024

Colin Barrett

This Strange Eventful History

Claire Messud

Headshot

Rita Bullwinkel

Enlightenment

Sarah Perry

Stone Yard Devotional

Charlotte Wood

Wandering Stars

Tommy Orange

The Safekeep

Yael van der Wouden

Playground

Richard Powers

Creation Lake: From the Booker Prize-shortlisted author

Rachel Kushner

The Wolfson History Prize 2024 Shortlist

The Wolfson History Prize is the UK’s most prestigious history writing prize. Find out more about the 2024 shortlist.

Winnie & Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage

Jonny Steinberg

Shadows At Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century

Joya Chatterji

Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire

Nandini Das

Our NHS: A History of Britain's Best Loved Institution

Andrew Seaton

Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Nicholas Radburn

Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942-2022

Frank Trentmann

Spine-tinglers & Nail-biters

As we enter the cold and dark months, we have created a booklist filled with our favourite spine-tinglers and nail-biters to captivate readers who enjoy suspense, mystery, and supernatural adventures.":https://readingagency.org.uk/resources/10169

The Inheritance Games: TikTok Made Me Buy It

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Promise Boys

Nick Brooks

How To Die Famous

Benjamin Dean, Nerissa Bradley, Chase Brown, Troy Glasgow, and, Julie Rogers

GHOSTS: The Button House Archives: The instant Sunday Times bestseller companion book to the BBC’s much loved television series

Mat Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and, Ben Willbond

The Reappearance of Rachel Price

Holly Jackson

William

Mason Coile

The Book of Witching

C.J. Cooke

The Book of Forgotten Witches: Dark & Twisted Folklore & Stories from Around the World

Lilla Boelecz, and, Balazs Tatrai

Themed booklists

We’ve collected together some of our previous booklists on a variety of themes and topics. Take a look to find your next read.

Debuts
Escape with a Book
Nature and Conservation
Wonder Women
LGBT History Month
New Year, New Adventures
Books of the Year 2023
Debuts of 2023
Poetry for National Poetry Day
STEM for National Coding Week
Escape with a Book
Turning the Page
Sports and Games
Community and Celebration
A Race Against Time
Wonders of the World
Translated books
Books to Make You Laugh
Big Jubilee Read
Big Eurovision Read