BLF’s ones to watch 2024

Hidden Fires is a powerful story of grief and loss, the power of family ties, and the long arm of history. Bradford-born author, Sairish Hussain, is the Costa Prize-shortlisted author of The Family Tree and a Women’s Prize x Good Housekeeping Futures Finalist.

Hussain’s latest novel will be arriving on our bookshelves soon as it’s already available to buy! 

Reid’s debut novel, Such A Fun Age, was a bestselling sensation and we can’t wait to read Come and Get It, which is released on 30 January 2024. 

Sharp, intimate and provocative, Come and Get It takes a lens to our money-obsessed society in a tension-filled story about desire, consumption and bad behaviour. 

RuPaul: international drag superstar and pop culture icon. His latest memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, is released on 5 March 2024 and promises to be a profound introspection of his life, relationships, and identity. 

If we’re all born naked and the rest is drag, then this is RuPaul totally out of drag. This is RuPaul stripped bare. 

Their names still echo down the ages: the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Colossus at Rhodes. The Lighthouse of Alexandria. The statue of Zeus at Olympia. The temple of Artemis. The mausoleum of Halicarnassus. 

Historian Bettany Hughes takes us on a journey through the incredible ancient wonders of the world and the fascinating stories they hold. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is released on 18 January 2024. 

In his ground-breaking new book, award-winning author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera traces the legacies of British empire around the world. Sanghera explores the legacies of the British empire, “from the creation of tea plantations across the globe, to environmental destruction, conservation, and the imperial connotations of Royal tours.” 

There’s not long to wait to read Empireworld, as it’s published on 25 January 2024! And if you like this, you should also check out Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera, too. 

The Reverend Kate Bottley shares a wonderful collection of life lessons on love, death, confidence, conflict, loneliness, with lots of laughs along the way. Grab a cuppa and dive in to Have a Little Faith, available from 28 March 2024.  

My belief has guided me through life’s ups and downs, and I hope that sharing what I’ve learned will help you face your own challenges armed with hope, and plenty of lasagne. 

Brilliant Bradford-born author, Saima Mir, returns this year with Vengeance: The Khan 2, the sequel to her bestselling novel The Khan! Vengeance is available to buy from 6 June 2024. 

Two years into running her organised crime syndicate in the north of England, Jia Khan stumbles on a notebook her father – the previous Khan – kept on arrival from Pakistan in the 1970s. And what Jia finds in the journal sends her deep into the family’s past. 

Amuk is the third poetry collection from writer, poet and artist Khairani Barokka. This collection “sheds light on the devastating and ongoing effects of a single word’s mistranslation, and emphasises what exists in opposition to such hostile histories and presents: hope, resistance, and joy.” Amuk will be published on 28 March 2024. 

Guests gather for the opening of The Manor hotel, the new jewel on the Dorset coastline … But under the cloak of celebration, something dark is stirring. The Manor has a secret history; built in the shadows of an ancient wood. 

Sunday Times bestselling author Lucy Foley returns with her latest thrilling murder mystery – we will be on the edge of our seats with this one! The Midnight Feast is available from 6 June 2024. 

Based on interviews with men and women from Islamic communities, Rahman asks the question “What is it really like to be a Muslim in today’s Britain?”.

Untangling issues such as Muslim feminism, representation, toxic masculinity, marriage and sexuality, Rahman takes on “a courageous exploration of Islamophobia, patriarchy and identity”. Pick up Muslim Women and Misogyny: Myths and Misunderstandings from 27 June 2024. 

A woman walks into a tattoo parlour. But this is no ordinary woman, and this is Hackney in 2233. 

We’re excited to read Taylor’s debut novel, The Night Alphabet, which tells the story of Jones, a woman whose tattoos each tell a unique story. As each tale is told we journey closer to Jones’ truth. Pick up Taylor’s debut from 16 February 2024. 

In 1967, Sir David Khalili finished his military service in Iran and travelled to study in the United States with $750 – his remaining royalties from a book he wrote when he was just 14. Over the course of the next five decades he single-handedly, piece by piece, assembled eight of the finest art collections in their field. Join Sir David as he recounts his adventures, motivations and business ethics throughout those five decades. 

Published late 2023, we think The Art of Peace will only rise in popularity this year and is definitely one to add to your 2024 reading list! 

From Hisham Matar, the Booker-shortlisted, Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Return, comes a new novel about three friends living in political exile and the emotional homeland that deep friendships can provide. My Friends is available to buy now!

Khaled and Mustafa meet at university in Edinburgh: two Libyan eighteen-year-olds expecting to return home after their studies. In a moment of recklessness and courage, they travel to London to join a demonstration in front of the Libyan embassy. When government officials open fire on protestors in broad daylight, both friends are wounded, and their lives forever changed. 

Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Now they are stirring, whispering of war. Godkiller Kissen sacrificed herself to vanquish the fire god Hseth and save her friends, but gods cannot be destroyed so easily – and neither can godkillers. 

Hannah Kaner returns with Sunbringer, an amazing sequel to her Sunday Times bestseller Godkiller. Find out what happens next in The Fallen Gods series from 15 February 2024. 

In her fascinating new book, Zeinab Badawi guides us through “a gripping new account of Africa: an epic, sweeping history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves”.  

“For too long, Africa’s history has been dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism, or simply ignored.” Badawi sets the record straight through interviews with historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers across thirty African countries. An African History of Africa is available from 18 April 2024. 

Holly Jackson, author of the multimillion bestselling A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series and Five Survive, brings us a new thrilling mystery about a girl determined to uncover the shocking truth about her missing mother while filming a documentary on the unsolved case.

Sit down with The Reappearance of Rachel Price from 2 April 2024. 

A mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.