New Books 27th October 2025

27 October 2025

Our favourite new books released this week.

There are some huge new releases this week including the brand new Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the long awaited conclusion to Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust series.

 

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

A gorgeous 20th anniversary re-issue of one of Atwood’s best works.  Penelope, immortalised in legend and Greek myth as the devoted wife of the glorious Odysseus, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again as she waits for her husband’s return from the Trojan war. This is one of Ollie’s favourite Greek retellings and is a must-read for lovers of Pat Barker and Madeline Miller.

 

 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Partypooper by Jeff Kinney

Greg Heffley is planning the ultimate party – for himself. But when the guest list grows, the decorations flop, and the surprises backfire, this birthday bash turns into a total blowout—just not the kind Greg had in mind. Book 20 in the best-selling series.

 

 

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman

The long-awaited and highly anticipated conclusion to Philip Pullman’s bestselling The Book of Dust series.  In The Rose Field, quests converge in the most dangerous, breathtaking and world-changing ways. Our characters must take help from spies and thieves, gryphons and witches, old friends and new, learning all the while the depth and surprising truths of the alethiometer.

 

Nelson: Hero of the Seas by Dominic Sandbrook

The world is at war, and oceans have become battlefields. Napoleon Bonaparte, tyrant of France, has crushed one country after another. Now his cruel eyes are fixed on Britain. Only one man can stop him – Horatio Nelson. As Britain’s survival hangs by a thread, what price will he pay to save his country? We are huge fans of Dominic Sandbrook’s brilliant series of history books for children. For fans of Horrible Histories.

Back

Staff Profile – Harriet L

22 October 2025

Get to know Harriet L, our assistant manager

Harriet L is our assistant manager and has worked at the shop now for 3 years. She is a huge lover of classics, spy thrillers and anything Irish. Her three picks for desert island reads are; A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

 

 

The first of my desert island picks is the ever wonderful A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. I don’t think I can fully explain quite how much I love this novel. It’s a beautiful, funny comedy of manners and Forster’s writing is gorgeous, emotive, and no matter how many times I read it, I find something new and brilliant every single time. The scene of Lucy’s ‘Good Man’ in the violets is a strong contestant for my favourite scene in any book. It’s just perfection and I could read it over and over again.

 

 

My second desert island pick is another old favourite. Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle is a brilliant coming of age novel and I fell in love with Cassandra and her madcap family when I first read the novel at fourteen and have loved this book ever since. Told through Cassandra’s diaries, I Capture the Castle is a story of first love and the confusion and chaos of growing up. It also features one of my favourite opening lines of any book: ‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.’

 

 

For my final desert island pick I realised that, if I were to be marooned on a desert island, I would have to have something by Dickens. The question of which Dickens I would bring has proved very difficult, but I have settled on A Christmas Carol. Dickens’ classic Christmas story of Scrooge and the Ghosts is a favourite in my family and is a key part of our Christmas tradition: every year the long journey down to visit my Grandparents always includes listening to the audiobook and to this day I can quote large chunks of the text from heart. Again, this is a book with a truly brilliant opening sentence (‘Marley   was dead: to begin with.’) and the brilliance only goes on from there. I     cannot count how many times I have read or listened to it and yet I never get                bored of it – every time it is new and wonderful.

Back

Vampire books for Halloween

17 October 2025

Sink your teeth into these.

We love Halloween here at Village Books. It’s the perfect time of year to curl up on the sofa with a warm drink and read something scary. Here is a list of some of our favourites from all genres and ages. Sink your teeth into some of these blood sucking thrillers.

 

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

In an isolated castle deep in the Austrian forest, Laura leads a solitary life with only her ailing father for company. Until one moonlit night, a horse-drawn carriage crashes into view, carrying an unexpected guest – the beautiful Carmilla. So begins a feverish friendship between Laura and her mysterious, entrancing companion. – The Sapphic story that inspired Dracula.

 

 

The Vampyre by John Polidori

John Polidori’s classic tale of the vampyre was a product of the same ghost-story competition that produced Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Set in Italy, Greece, and London, Polidori’s tales is a reaction to the dominating presence of his employer Lord Byron, and transformed the figure of the vampire from the bestial ghoul of earlier mythologies into the glamorous aristocrat whose violence and sexual allure make him literally a ‘lady-killer’. Polidori’s tale introduced the vampire into English fiction, and launched a vampire craze that has never subsided.

 

 

Woman Eating by Claire Khoda

Lydia is hungry. She’s always wanted to try sashimi and ramen, onigiri and udon – the food her Japanese father liked to eat – but the only thing she can digest is blood. Yet Lydia can’t bring herself to prey on humans, and sourcing fresh pigs’ blood in London – where she is living away from her Malaysian-British mother for the first time and trying to build a career as an artist – is much more difficult than she’d anticipated.

 

 

Interview with the Vampire

In a darkened room a young man sits telling the macabre and eerie story of his life – the story of a vampire, gifted with eternal life, cursed with an exquisite craving for human blood. The start to one of the best selling vampire series of all time, Interview with a Vampire is a true modern classic of the genre.

 

 

 

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Of course there are tales of strange happenings – but no more than in any other such town. Ben Mears has returned to the Lot to write a novel and exorcise the terrors that have haunted him since childhood – since the event he witnessed at the Marsten House. He finds the house has been rented by a newcomer, a man who causes Ben some unease.     And then things start to happen: a child disappears, a dog is brutally killed – nothing unusual, except the list keeps growing…

 

 

 

Dracula by Bram Stoker

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on a London home, he makes a horrifying discovery. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman’s neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the arrival of his ‘Master’, while a determined group of adversaries prepares to face the terrifying Count. A list of Vampire novels is truly not complete without Dracula, a novel that defines a genre.

 

Back

New Books 13th October 2025

15 October 2025

Our favourite new books released this week!

As usual we had tonnes of new books in last week, here are some of our favourites. We would also like to take a minute to celebrate the life of one of our favourite authors Jilly Cooper. She filled our shelves with laughter and love for decades and we were so sad to learn of her passing earlier this week. Hazel, our owner, has loved Jilly’s books for decades and Harriet has always been one of her favourites.

 

Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business
by Jamie Smart

A brand new story from Jamie Smart’s best selling series. Bunny and Monkey are back! There’s a new mischief-maker in The Woods – Little Monkey! A smaller,  cuter, and even stranger Monkey than our beloved chaos-causer. But as Bunny and friends try to work out his motives, they are led far from the woods . . . into outer space.

 

 

 

The Long Shoe
by Bob Mortimer 

Matt is at a crossroads. He has lost his job, he is about to be made homeless and his girlfriend has left him. He wants his luck to change and he wants things to go back to how they were. But, as events unfold, it starts to dawn on him that perhaps she didn’t leave of her own accord after all? Ollie is a big fan of Bob Mortimer’s books, and cannot wait to dig into this new story.

 

 

 

Diaries of Note
by Shaun Usher

Across human history, people have kept these repositories of their most unvarnished truths, poignant hopes, hidden desires and deepest fears. In Diaries of Note, Shaun Usher collects 366 captivating diary entries, each with a different author. The diary welcomes all to its pages. From the ultra-famous to the every-day, dive into all walks of human life in this beautiful collection of diary entries.

Back

100 Years of Books Childrens

2 October 2025

We celebrated our 100th anniversary this year, and to celebrate we picked our favourite book published each year that we've been open.

Village Books originally opened as the Gallery Bookshop and Lending Library in 1925. While it’s name has changed over the years it has remained a bookshop for the past century. To celebrate this milestone, we have selected one book published for every year that we’ve been open. Below is the full list of children’s titles that we selected. You can have a look here for the full adult list.

 

1926 – Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

1927 – Now we are Six by A.A. Milne

1928 – Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley

1929 – Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner

1930 – Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

1931 – The Story of Babar by Jean De Brunhoff

1932 – Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

1933 – The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm by Norman Hunter

1934 – Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

1935 – Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

1936 – Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield

1937 – The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

1938 – Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater

1939 – Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

1940 – Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt

1941 – Twins at St Clare’s by Enid Blyton

1942 – Five on Treasure Island by Enid Blyton

1943 – The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

1944 – Five Run Away Together by Enid Blyton

1945 – Moomins and the Great Flood by Tove Jannson

1946 – First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton

1947 – Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

1948 – I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

1949 – Secret Seven by Enid Blyton

1950 – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

1951 – Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

1952 – Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

1953 – Explorers on the Moon by Herge

1954 – Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

1955 – The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

1956 – 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith

1957 – Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

1958 – A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

1959 – Tintin in Tibet by Herge

1960 – Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

1961 – James and the Giant Peach

1962 – Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

1963 – Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

1964 – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

1965 – Asterix and Cleopatra by Rene Goscinny

1966 – Curious George Goes to Hospital by H.A. Rey

1967 – Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

1968 – Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

1969 – The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

1970 – Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

1971 – When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

1972 – Watership Down by Richard Adams

1973 – Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs

1974 – The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy

1975 – Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

1976 – Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

1977 – Dogger by Shirley Hughes

1978 – Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

1979 – The Twits by Roald Dahl

1980 – Mr. Magnolia by Quentin Blake

1981 – Peepo by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

1982 – War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

1983 – Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird

1984 – Hairy Maclary’s Bone by Lynley Dodd

1985 – Giraffe the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl

1986 – The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

1987 – Where’s Wally by Martin Handford

1988 – Matilda by Roald Dahl

1989 – We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

1990 – Oh the places you’ll go by Dr. Seuss

1991 – The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson

1992 – Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

1993 – Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas

1994 – Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

1995 – Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

1996 – Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo

1997 – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

1998 – Holes by Louis Sachar

1999 – The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

2000 – Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

2001 – Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

2002 – Thieves of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence

2003 – How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

2004 – The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

2005 – Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

2006 – Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

2007 – Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

2008 – Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009 – Maze Runner by James Dashner

2010 – Theodore Boone by John Grisham

2011 – 13 Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

2012 – Wonder by R.J. Palacio

2013 – Demon Dentist by David Walliams

2014 – Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

2015 – There’s a Bear on My Chair by Ross Collins

2016 – Dog Man by Dave Pilkey

2017 – One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

2018 – Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

2019 – A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

2020 – Highland Falcon Thief by M.G. Leonard

2021 – Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby

2022 – Mouse’s Wood by Alice Melvin

2023 – Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

2024 – The Camel Who Had the Hump by Rachel Bright

2025 – Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Back

100 Years of Books Adults

1 October 2025

We celebrated our 100th anniversary this year, and to celebrate we picked our favourite book published each year that we've been open.

Village Books originally opened as the Gallery Bookshop and Lending Library in 1925. While it’s name has changed over the years it has remained a bookshop for the past century. To celebrate this milestone, we have selected one book published for every year that we’ve been open. Below is the full list of adult titles that we selected. You can have a look here for the full children’s list.

 

1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

1926 – Fiesta by Ernest Hemingway

1927 – To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

1928 – Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence

1929 – A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

1930 – Very Good Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

1931 – The Waves by Virginia Woolf

1932 – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

1933 – Heavy Weather by P.G. Wodehouse

1934 – Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

1935 – It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

1936 – Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

1937 – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

1938 – Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

1939 – Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

1940 – For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

1941 – Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier

1942 – The Outsider by Albert Camus

1943 – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

1944 – Absent in the Spring by Agatha Christie

1945 – Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

1946 – Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

1947 – Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse

1948 – Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki

1949 – 1984 by George Orwell

1950 – A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

1951 – Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

1952 – Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

1953 – Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

1954 – Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien

1955 – Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

1956 – Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

1957 – On the Road by Jack Kerouac

1958 – Breakfast at Tiffany’s Truman Capote

1959 – Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

1961 – Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

1962 – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

1963 – The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre

1964 – Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin

1965 – Dune by Frank Herbert

1966 – Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney

1967 – 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

1968 – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick

1969 – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

1970 – 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff

1971 – Maurice by E.M. Forster

1972 – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Tompson

1973 – The Princess Bride by William Goldman

1974 – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre

1975 – The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

1976 – Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

1977 – The Shining by Stephen King

1978 – Tales of the City by Andre Maupin

1979 – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

1980 – The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

1981 – Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

1982 – The Color Purple by Alice Walker

1983 – Heartburn by Nora Ephron

1984 – Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

1985 – The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

1986 – It by Stephen King

1987 – Beloved by Toni Morrison

1988 – A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

1989 – Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

1990 – Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

1991 – Wild Swans by Jung Chang

1992 – Secret History by Donna Tartt

1993 – A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

1994 – Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

1995 – Imperium by Robert Harris

1996 – Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

1997 – American Pastoral by Philip Roth

1998 – The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

1999 – The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

2000 – White Teeth by Zadie Smith

2001 – Life of Pi by Yann Martel

2002 – Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

2003 – Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

2004 – Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

2005 – Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

2006 – Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2007 – Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman

2008 – American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

2009 – Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

2010 – The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal

2011 – My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

2012 – Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

2013 – The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

2014 – All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

2015 – Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

2016 – My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

2017 – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

2018 – Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

2019 – Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

2020 – Small Things Likes These by Clare Keegan

2021 – Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

2022 – Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

2023 – Orbital by Samantha Harvey

2024 – James by Percival Everett

2025 – Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Back