Why the literary middle is disappearing, and what it means for readers

There is a particular kind of book I worry about more and more. It is not the huge publishing event novel with a six-figure campaign and a table display in every bookshop.

 It is not the aggressively marketable thriller, nor the prestige title already carrying prize buzz before most readers have turned page one. It is the intelligent, well-written, emotionally exact novel that sits somewhere in between.

The literary middle: Loving books that don't go viral

In the age of algorithmic discovery, it often feels like the same ten books are everywhere. You open Instagram, you see Fourth Wing. You open TikTok, it's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Twitter/x? Something about Babel or The Secret History. 

There’s nothing wrong with loving a popular book. The best ones resonate for a reason. But in all the noise, it can be hard to hear the quieter voices. The books that didn’t land on a major award shortlist or trend on BookTok, but still left something behind in you.

Four debuts that disturb and dazzle: New voices to read now

There is nothing better when it comes to books than discovering a favourite new writer, and this summer has seen the arrival of several striking debut novels that push boundaries, both thematically and stylistically. These are books that disturb, provoke and linger in the mind. They are just the kind of books that will stick with you.

What links them isn’t genre or setting but a willingness to confront discomfort: whether in the body, the family or society itself. These books ask readers to sit with pain and ambiguity, not to solve or resolve it, but to acknowledge it.

The Booker Prize 2025: Subtle power and global resonance

This year's Booker Prize longlist pulses with quiet intensity. From the return of Kiran Desai after a 19-year silence to Maria Reva's striking debut, the list trades fireworks for finesse. That's right up my street.

These are novels of displacement, longing and radical introspection, stories that ask readers to listen closely.