We’re a team of book lovers here at Piglet in Bed – always swapping recommendations, chatting about our latest reads, and sharing our thoughts in our monthly Books in Bed reviews. So, with Christmas just around the corner, we’ve put together a list of the books we’re hoping to find under the tree this year.
From gripping novels to inspiring nonfiction, our wish list is full of titles we’d love to unwrap – and we think you’ll find some great gift ideas along the way, too. So, without further ado, here’s what’s topping the Piglet team’s wish lists this holiday season…
1. What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama
Through five interconnected stories, What You Are Looking For Is in the Library explores the magic of libraries, friendship and community. It’s a heartwarming novel that’s perfect for anyone who has ever found themselves at an impasse in their life and in need of a little inspiration.
2. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Described as a ‘tragicomic triumph’, The Bee Sting follows the struggling Barnes family as they grapple with mounting debts, fractured relationships, and personal crises. Through shifting perspectives, the book reveals how a single moment of bad luck can alter everything, offering readers a poignant, bittersweet journey through life’s messiness.
3. Flamingo Estate: The Guide to Becoming Alive by Richard Christiansen
This one’s from our founder, Jess, and it’s a real book of beauty! From the renowned lifestyle brand Flamingo Estate, The Guide to Becoming Alive offers a visually rich manual for embracing radical pleasure. With wisdom on wellness, food, décor and nature, it combines hundreds of sumptuous images and luxurious rituals with stories from Christiansen’s own journey of awakening.
4. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Following the success of The Thursday Murder Club series, Richard Osman returned this year with a gripping new mystery and fresh characters. In We Solve Murders, retired investigator Steve Wheeler joins forces with his daughter-in-law, Amy, as they race to outsmart a deadly enemy on a remote private island. Sounds like a wild ride!
5. Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Inspired by a true story, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter follows journalist Rika Machida as she investigates the case of a convicted serial killer and gourmet chef. Exploring themes of friendship, misogyny, body image and of course, food, this cult Japanese bestseller was on a few of our team’s wish lists.
6. Brooklyn Crime Novel by Jonathan Lethem
Through a series of interrelated vignettes, Brooklyn Crime Novel chronicles the tales of a Brooklyn neighborhood over fifty years of dramatic social and economic change. A powerful exploration of community, crime and gentrification, this genre-defying novel offers a poignant and vivid portrayal of the recent past.
7. Turkuaz Kitchen by Betül Tunç
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a new cookbook, and Betül Tunç’s debut is a real treasure trove of recipes. The social media star and baker shows us how to transform simple doughs into nourishing and beautiful snacks, meals and desserts, taking inspiration from the traditional Turkish recipes that sparked her love of baking as a child.
8. Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo
Recently adapted into a tv series, Bernardine Evaristo’s Mr Loverman follows 74-year-old Barrington Jedidah Walker – a flamboyant, closeted family man from Antigua living in Hackney. A groundbreaking exploration of sexuality and Britain’s older Caribbean community, the novel explodes cultural myths and shows the extent of what can happen when people fear the consequences of being true to themselves.
9. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Another book that’s made its way onto several of our wish lists this year is the million-copy bestseller Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. A heartwarming story of human connection, creativity and collaboration, it’s definitely time we read this one!
10. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Set in 1980s Chicago, The Great Believers is a powerful novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss. With two intertwining stories, it takes us through the heartbreak of the AIDS epidemic, as the two main characters, Yale and Fiona, struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.
