No images? Click here
Each season, we round up some of the most exciting new books coming out from writers in our region, alongside giveaways, interviews, and other bookish content.
There's so many exciting new releases this summer. This season is a YA special as we've featured two fantastic debut YA novels – one a touching novel-in-verse, and one a fierce feminist fantasy – including interviews with both authors and a double giveaway.
Discover our favourite Northern book-to-screen adaptations and the novels and poetry collections we're bringing on our summer holidays, and get an insight into the process of audiobook narration from our Sounds Good Audiobook Studio. Plus find out about authors coming to libraries near you this summer!
Happy reading,
New Writing North and Durham Book Festival
We Wait for the Stars by Bridget Hamilton
After losing her dad, Celeste's life feels like it's splintering. Then she makes a new friend in Katie, who shares her love of the beach, and meets Reuben, a fellow photographer. Maybe a new friendship group is just what she needs - as long as she keeps her growing attraction to Reuben out of the equation. But Celeste soon finds that emotions can't be bottled up...
A stunning Young Adult novel in verse, perfect for fans of Sarah Crossan, Elizabeth Acevedo, Dean Atta and Tia Fisher.
We Wait for the Stars will be published on 2 July 2026 with Little Tiger.
"I was surprised by how much grief can affect everything in your life... and wanted to write a story for teenagers that portrayed that in a realistic way."
Blood of Gods and Girls by K.L. Kaine
At five years old, Nisha was selected to be the Mortal Goddess – a vessel for the great Goddess Shantavi. But on her twelfth birthday, Nisha escaped the
temple before she could be sacrificed at the hands of the Immortal King.
Now the Kingdom searches for its new Mortal Goddess and their eye has fallen on Ratna, the only family Nisha has left.
Helped by a Golden Eagle Warrior and the only boy she has ever loved, Nisha must learn to embrace her power in order to liberate her people.
Blood of Gods and Girls will be published on 2 July 2026 with Penguin.
"I would love for girls to start pulling back the veil, and finding out more about how they can be fulfilled and claim their fair share of society."
Both Bridget and KL won a Northern Writers' Award back in 2023, and are now publishing their debut YA novels on the same day – the literary stars have aligned and formed an exciting summer for YA fans! We asked them both about their journeys to publication, the themes of their books, and their reading habits from young adulthood to today.
Underdogs by Louise PowellCounty Durham, 1998. Reg's son George knows that the letters with scary red type coming through the door can't be good news. So when charismatic ex-miner Bertie offers Reg and George the chance to race a beautiful fawn greyhound, they jump at the opportunity. Join us for the book launch in Newcastle on Thursday 9 July! |
Hard Place by Gab TorrWhen Billy breaks up with her long-term girlfriend, she has to take up an unappealing SpareRoom ad. Her new flatmates are unapologetically political and loudly queer, and Billy becomes enmeshed in their radical world. But as boundaries crumble, each must reckon with what they truly stand for – and what they’ll sacrifice to hold onto it. |
Love and Rent by Jo CheethamHannah is struggling to make ends meet when she accidentally stumbles into a relationship with her best friend's affluent colleague. Hannah has always hated romantic comedies where a man holds the key to a woman's happy ending. But when you're barely surviving from paycheck to paycheck, how are you meant to afford your own? |
Harbour of Hungry Ghosts by Eliza ChanThe Au family serve the people of Hong Kong by dealing with dangerous monster incursions. When the British disrupt the Hungry Ghosts festival and her grandmother is seized by a strange new monster, Kiamling must step up. As British fables mix with Chinese monsters, can Kiamling prove herself, when the old rules no longer seem to apply? |
Oaths and Offerings ed. by Carnyx PressTravel from cherished orchards to mist-bound moorlands, from deep mines to the icy grip of a frozen lake. These strange, dark and playful stories from Northern writers imagine new folktales for our age, examining themes of community, prejudice, climate change and belonging, in this first anthology from Carnyx Press. |
Heroes or Zeroes? by Lizzy TiffinMyths and legends would be nothing without their shining star of a hero at the forefront… right? From the stories of 'famous' Heroes, Rowdy Royals, Underdogs and more, uncover the unsung heroes and wrongly forgotten sidekicks, and ask the question, what is it to be a ‘hero’? And should the so-called ‘zeros’ really be labelled as such? |
The Carrier by Ruth NewtonA revolutionary company can free you from your unwanted emotions. Jealousy, grief, despair. If you can afford to, you need never feel them again. In your place is a Carrier – a woman paid to process your pain. But the true cost of your freedom is her life. How much is your suffering worth? Would you let her pay the price? |
Liar Liar by Luca VesteOnce hailed as Liverpool’s finest detective, Mark Fletcher’s legacy is shattered when he's accused of working with a notorious crime family. Hunted by the force he once served, Fletcher must uncover the truth – not just to clear his name, but because someone wants him silenced, and they’ll stop at nothing… |
In Deep Water by Elle BlairDI Rachel Harlow, off duty and stuck aboard a cruise ship with her twin teenagers and uptight parents, embarks on a flirtatious game with a stranger on board… until she finds him dead the next day. With no eyewitnesses and no official investigation, Rachel digs into the murder alone. A murder at sea. One detective. No backup. |
Goodbye Chinatown by Kit FanAfter the failure of her father’s traditional restaurant and her family’s return to Hong Kong, Amber opens the first Chinese fusion joint in London's Chinatown. This multisensorial novel reveals an enterprising emigre who, faced with divided loyalties, invents her own language for home through the culinary arts. |
Hobthrush by Tom Walker and Sue CullimoreOn a storm-scoured Northumbrian beach in 1987, Arnold Prestwick wakes with a pounding head, a gun in his pocket, and the horrifying certainty that he has witnessed a murder he cannot explain. Chased by police and enemies alike, he heads for Holy Island, where revenge, belief, and survival collide in a stark political thriller. |
Voice in the Flames by Mike EdwardsJack wishes life could be how it used to be when his dad was around, working at the old steelworks. Then he stumbles upon Sal, a spirit of the old closed-down steelworks, who needs Jack’s help to bring it back to its former glory. Jack is drawn to the man’s promises and the hope it holds for his whole family. But at what price? |
Little Spark by Jess KiddBodkin Bell, orphan and pickpocket, knows she's different. Gaslights flare as she walks past. Cutlery spins. Shocks fly from her fingertips. When she gets to assist a family of inventors in the creation of automata machines, she unearths secrets that have been buried for years – and a truth that was never meant to be found. |
Pale Mistress by Naomi KelseyIn 16th century Cyprus, murder, lies and vengeance have left lovers dead, and only one woman survives, Bianca. The slain? History knows their names: Emilia, Desdemona, Othello. But why do we not know Bianca? Uncover a Shakespearean tragedy recast as a psychological thriller of jealousy, gaslighting, ambition and envy. |
Literally by Ella WillisIllustrator and content creator Ella Willis was 22 when they were formally diagnosed with autism. Social blunders, overstimulation, special interests: now these experiences made more sense. Ella is here to destigmatise neurodivergence and offer practical and hopeful advice on navigating all parts of being autistic. |
All Bookshop links above are affiliate links.
What we're reading this summer 🏝️There's no time like the summer to treat yourself to an anticipated book from your TBR. Hear about the books our team has been enjoying in the sunshine so far, and the ones that will be accompanying our summer holidays. |
New poetry from the North 🌱We've got four special poetry collections to recommend this summer from returning Northern poets. Explore childhood and parenthood, intergenerational trauma, creative solitude and crumbling stately homes. |
Our favourite Northern book-to-screen adaptations 🎬We joined up with North East Screen to gather some of our favourite Northern stories that have made it to the big screen – from classic films to modern TV adaptations, all with a Northern setting, theme or writer, and all worthy of a place on your summer watchlist! |
Interview with an audiobook narrator 🎙️Audiobooks are a brilliant way to fall in love with books afresh and incorporate reading into different areas of our lives. We chatted to actor and audiobook narrator Charlotte Ryder about why she loves audiobooks, how they helped her learn to read as a child, and her process in the Sounds Good Audiobook Studio. |
Indie Bookshop Week ⭐
This last week has been full of love for all our indies in the North. To celebrate Independent Bookshop Week, we visited five of our faves in the North East and chatted to the booksellers all about their bookshops, as well as their book recommendations and top tips for reading more. Head over to our Instagram to see!
Meet authors with Northern Bookshelf Live 📚
Northern Bookshelf Live connects some of our region's best writers with libraries and readers. This year, authors Brian Groom, Marcia Hutchinson, Sheena Kalayil, Sarah Mellor, Sally O’Reilly, Caroline Roberts, Robert Rutherford and Daniel Tawse are heading to libraries across the North to share stories of migration, queer coming of age, a history of the British Isles and thrilling crime fiction.
Over the summer our authors are heading to Hexham, Saltburn, Middlesbrough, Marsden, Bishop Auckland, Newcastle, Bolton and Sunderland, with more events to be announced.
Northern Bookshelf is published by New Writing North and Durham Book Festival. If you have news about books by Northern authors or you would like to recommend books as a bookseller, librarian, book group or reader, please contact carys@newwritingnorth.com. The next issue will be published in September 2026 and will cover September 2026 - November 2026. The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 14 August 2026.
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this newsletter is correct at the time of going to press, things do change, frequently at the last minute and very often without our knowledge.
