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Published on 06 August 2026
Mortlake Library Officer Olivia shares five of her recommended reads, from moving historical fiction and imaginative literary novels to stories of friendship, family and the connections that shape our lives.
Relationships fiction
Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter.
When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear.
Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.
Science fiction
From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside.
She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.
In Klara and The Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
Young adult fiction
Lenny, small and sharp, has a younger brother Davey who won't stop growing - and at seven is as tall as a man.
Raised by their mother, they have food and a roof over their heads, but not much else.
The bright spot every week is the arrival of the latest issue of the Burrell's Build-It-at-Home Encyclopedia.
Through the encyclopedia, Lenny and Davey experience the wonders of the world - beetles, birds, quasars, quartz - and dream about a life of freedom and adventure.
But as Davey's health deteriorates, Lenny realises that some wonders can't be named.
Belonging fiction
This is the story of Sam and Sadie. It's not a romance, but it is about love.
When Sam catches sight of Sadie at a crowded train station one winter morning he is catapulted back to the brief time they spent playing together as children. Their unique spark is instantly reignited.
What comes next is a story of friendship and rivalry, fame and creativity, betrayal and tragedy, perfect worlds and imperfect ones. And, ultimately, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
Psychological fiction
The Barnes family is in trouble.
Dickie's once-lucrative car dealership is going under, and while his wife is frantically selling off her jewellery on eBay, he's busy building an apocalypse-proof bunker in the woods.
Meanwhile their teenage daughter is veering off the rails, in thrall to a toxic friendship, and her little brother is falling into the black hole of the internet...
Where did it all go wrong? The present is in crisis but the causes lie deep in the past.
How long can this unhappy family wait before they have to face the truth?
And if the story has already been written, is there still time to find a happy ending?