Holiday reads: the best books for you to escape with this summer

In search of a great summer read? We’ve picked out some of our favourite books for you, taking in fiction and non-fiction. Most of the titles have been published within the past year and all of them are available from your local bookshop or online. Fiction reviews are by Andrea Cleary, John Walshe, Nadine O’Regan and Niamh Donnelly, while our non-fiction recommendations have been compiled by Andrew Lynch. Happy reading.

In search of a great summer read? We’ve done the hard work for you and picked out some of our favourite books so far this year

FICTION

Lessons in Chemistry: a world that you will sink into easily and never want to leave

Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Cooking is chemistry, and chemistry is change. This is the fact that Elizabeth Zott, scientific genius and the host of her own cooking show, believes will spur the women of 1960s America towards revolution. But with supervisors stealing her research and passing it off as their own and television executives insisting that she plays the part of the perfect wife, Elizabeth encounters resistance every step of the way. Thankfully, she gains a wonderful cast of characters to support her, including her fellow genius daughter and their brilliant dog. This is a world that you will sink into easily and never want to leave. AC