August’s book – London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

Books with a city or place name in the title

In 2019, a London teenager, Zac Brettler, fell to his death from a luxury apartment building on the banks of the Thames. On a desperate quest to understand how their son had died, his grieving parents made a terrible discovery: Zac had been leading a fantasy life, posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.

Patrick Radden Keefe follows Zac’s parents on a dark journey to find out what brought him to the balcony that night – and how a teenager’s life of make-believe drew him into the city’s terrifying underworld.

Also on the list this month:

• Dream of Ding Village by Yann Lianke
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• Malibu Rising by Talyor Jenkins Reid
• A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
• Mink River by Brian Doyle
• The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano da Empoli

Summer reads 2026

Missing book club?

Here are some books to read over the summer. A range of tastes, types, but all easy (ish) on the brain)

• Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (seriously, you won’t be able to get away from this one)
• A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst
• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
• The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
• Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune
• My Friends by Fredrik Backman
• The Wedding People by Alison Espach
• The Calamity Club by Kathrybn Stockett
• Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
• Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
• Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
• Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon
• My Man Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue