Following the success of The Monogram Murders and Closed Casket, Sophie Hannah once more takes on the mantle of Agatha Christie in The Mystery of Three Quarters; a diabolically challenging new puzzle for Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Published on 23 August 2018 and available to pre-order now signed by the author, read an enticing extract from the heart of the mystery.

Jacob Polley’s dark, visceral collection of poetry Jackself was awarded the T. S. Eliot Prize on Monday. Semi-autobiographical, the collection tells the story of a young boy, Jack, coming of age in a thorny and surreal Cumbrian landscape reminiscent of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast. Judges of the award described the collection as ‘a firework of a book’, and referencing the Carlisle-born poet’s two previous nominations for the award said, ‘[his] mastery of phrase and rhythm and the control of line, combined with the hurts of childhood and his glee in inventive language, have taken his writing to a new level.” Polley was joined on the shortlist by British poets Alice Oswald, Ian Duhig,and Rachel Boast.

Alexandra Heminsley won a legion of fans with her effervescent Running Like a Girl, her manifesto-cum-memoir  for anyone who has looked on with sadness at their running shoes lying discarded in the hall. Now Heminsley weaves the same magic in Leap In, her spellbinding account of challenging our basic fears of the water and rediscovering an almost spiritual new realm. Basic questions around swimming however abound, and in the following extract from the book, the author assembles her top tips toward diving into a new life of fitness and meaningful pleasure.

The winners of two of the most prestigious children's fiction prizes, Brian Conaghan (winner of the 2016 Costa Children's Book Award) and Sarah Crossan (winner of the 2016 CILIP Carnegie Medal), have joined forces to create an ambitious and heartbreaking young adult novel, We Come Apart. The book is a modern tale of star-crossed lovers, Nicu and Jess, two teens with troubled homes and hidden secrets. If they are to succeed as a couple, they must navigate complex issues of cultural difference, parental expectation and their own frayed self-image. 

Conaghan won the 2016 Costa Children's Book Award for his dark, powerful story of survival, The Bombs That Brought Us Together,and Crossan was awarded last year's CILIP Carnegie Medal for her astonishing YA novel entirely in verse, One. The following extract is exclusive to Waterstones.

A powerful, sweeping meditation on the very nature and purpose of friendship, Swing Time has all the hallmarks of Zadie Smith at her finest. Sample the first chapter here and prepare to be swept into the dance.

Stephenie Meyer’s hotly anticipated first adult novel The Chemist has arrived; and without a single vampire in sight. From the same imagination that brought us Twilight’s star-crossed lovers and the 2008 New York Times number one bestseller The Host, comes a taut, fast-moving adult thriller. When an agent from a black-budget government agency is declared a lethal liability, to survive she is forced to deploy the very skills that have made her such a danger. As a taste of Meyer's exciting new change in narrative direction, we present an exclusive extract from The Chemist.

Comprising letters, diary entries and photographs, Eowyn Ivey's elegant new novel The Bright Edge of the World, weaves the story of Captain Allen Forrester's nineteenth century expedition into the uncharted wilds of Alaska with the story of his wife's domestic battles alone at home. Ivey is the author of Pulitzer-nominated The Snow Child.

Simon Garfield is an author and journalist who has been publishing works of non-fiction for thirty years. His bestselling On The Map allowed armchair explorers to travel through the paradoxically illuminating and illusory world of map-making. He was awarded the Somerset Maugham Prize for his 1994 work The End Of Innocence: Britain in the Time of Aids.

Jean Lucey Pratt kept a meticulous journal in secret for sixty years from 1925- 1985. Her candid and lyrical observations shed light on mid-twentieth century life and a time of great social turmoil. Garfield has edited her numerous notebooks down to one fascinating volume titled A Notable Woman. Here he shares twelve highlights.

Geoffrey Nicholson’s The Great Bike Race is the classic work which hooked so many British imaginations toward the glamour and drama of the world’s greatest cycling race. Lovingly and sensitively reissued by Velodrome Publishing some forty years after its first release, even today Nicholson’s text carries the raw power of all truly great sporting writing. From the reissue’s introduction, the Guardian's cycling correspodent William Fotheringham examines the book’s extensive legacy.

With the television series of Stephen King's 11.22.63, starring James Franco, due to air this Sunday, now is the ideal time to start reading the book. .

Maggie O'Farrell's new novel This Must Be The Place is a sweeping, sophisticated love story

The Sandman: Overture is now available in deluxe hardback. Have a look inside at six full pages of art and text.