Explore Overlooked Books Worth Your Time selected by food writer, Claire Thomson, aka @5oclockapron

March 17, 2025February 24, 2025 / Claire Fuller / 1 Comment

Read This: Books under the Radar is a weekly post written by a guest author – often a friend of mine, someone I’ve met on my writerly travels, or an author I admire – who recommends three books they think deserve more recognition. If you’re interested in buying any of the books, please click on the covers and give these hidden gems some love. You can see the full list of books which have been selected, as well as the author’s latest book on Bookshop.org, where you can have a browse and buy any that take your fancy. Happy reading!

Read This: Claire Thomson

You might not know this, but as well as novels, I LOVE cookbooks. I have a pretty big collection and love sitting down on my kitchen floor besides the shelves where I keep them all and browsing through. I can’t remember when I first started following Claire Thomson on Instagram with her vegetable-led recipes, but I have loved her easy to follow but interesting style of cooking. I urge you to follow her too: @5oclockapron. Her 10th cookbook, One Pan Beans is out this week and I also urge you to buy it, because it’s brilliant and I’ve already cooked several delicious recipes from it. Here’s what she has to say about herself:

Claire Thomson is a chef, food writer and a constant source of family-cooking inspiration to her 180,000 Instagram followers. Claire has written for the Guardian, Telegraph, BBC Good Food Magazine and Delicious and is a Guild of Food Writers award winner. She has appeared on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch and BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. On her podcast The 5 O’Clock Apron, she chats and chops with people from other professions about what they cook for dinner. Her previous books include Art of the Larder, Home Cookery Year, One Pan Chicken and Veggie Family Cookbook. @5oclockapron

Podcast https://shows.acast.com/the-5-o-clock-apron-podcast

Instagram @5oclockapron
And here are the books Claire has chosen:

Continue reading →

Discover Hidden Gem Books You Must Read, selected by author Sophie Haydock

March 10, 2025March 10, 2025 / Claire Fuller / 1 Comment

Read This: Sophie Haydock

I’ve been aware of Sophie’s debut novel, The Flames for a while, and then I ‘met’ her – virtually at least – when we both judged the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award short story competition for three years running. And now I have her next novel Madame Matisse in my sights. Here’s what she has to say about herself:

Sophie Haydock is an award-winning author, journalist and curator, living by the sea in Folkestone. She has a passion for uncovering hidden stories – whether in the archives, on the foreshore of the Thames as a licensed mudlark or in the pages of history. Her debut novel, The Flames, tells the story of the four women who posed for the scandalous Viennese artist Egon Schiele. Her second novel, Madame Matisse, explores the lives of the women who propelled Henri Matisse to immortality. Sophie is the curator of the Folkestone Book Festival, where she champions forgotten voices and shines a light on the stories that deserve to be told.

Find out more: www.sophie-haydock.com; Instagram @egonschieleswomen and _SophieHaydock_

Continue reading →

Books Under the Radar selected by Huma Qureshi: Worth Your Time and Attention

March 3, 2025March 25, 2025 / Claire Fuller / 5 Comments

Read This: Huma Qureshi

I met Huma when she was the guest author on an Editing Fiction and Non-fiction course I taught for Arvon. Huma came on Wednesday evening and read from her books and told the students about her writing and how she edits. She seemed such a warm and friendly person and was incredibly generous with her time and in answering the students’ questions. Here’s what she has to say about herself:

Huma Qureshi is an award-winning writer and author of four books. Her memoir, How We Met: A Memoir of Love and Other Misadventures, was published in 2021 (Elliott & Thompson), and shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards. Her debut short-story collection, Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love, also published in 2021 (Sceptre), was longlisted for both The Jhalak Prize Book of The Year and The Edge Hill Prize for excellence in a single authored short story collection. In 2020, she won the coveted Harper’s Bazaar short story literary prize. Her first book, In Spite of Oceans, was published in 2014 (The History Press) and received the John C. Laurence award from The Authors ’Foundation. Her debut novel, Playing Games, a poignant story of art and sisterhood, family, marriage and betrayal, was published to critical acclaim in 2023 (Sceptre). Huma writes the popular newsletter Dear Huma and teaches a range of creative writing courses via her website, http://www.humaqureshi.co.uk.

On Instagram: @humaqureshiwriter

Continue reading →

Celebrating 10 Years of Our Endless Numbered Days

February 26, 2025February 25, 2025 / Claire Fuller / 8 Comments

It’s been ten years since my first novel, Our Endless Numbered Days was published on 26th February 2015 in the UK, quickly followed by the US and Canada, and then around the world – currently sixteen territories. It’s hard to comprehend how much my working life has changed in those years: I gave up the ‘day job’ to write full time, and have written another five novels, and lots of short stories. Writing has introduced me to many new people (publishing people, booksellers and writers are very lovely people) some of whom have become close friends, and it has taken me to many places in the UK and the rest of the world. It hasn’t all been perfect but mostly it’s been an amazing ten years. Scroll down to see some pictures.

Win a signed copy of Our Endless Numbered Days

To win a signed copy of Our Endless Numbered Days – posted anywhere in the world – visit my Instagram account and follow the instructions on my most recent post. You can also enter simply by signing up to my newsletter here.

Buy a copy of Our Endless Numbered Days

This link will take you to purchase options for the UK and the US. And by the way, it makes a great book club book with lots to discuss. If you do decide to read it, get in touch and I’ll send you some book club questions.

Reading Recommendations from Adam Weymouth: Hidden Gems

February 24, 2025February 12, 2025 / Claire Fuller / Leave a comment

Read This: Adam Weymouth

I read Adam’s first non-fiction book, Kings of the Yukon just before we taught together on an Editing Fiction and Non-fiction course for Arvon, and I loved it. I’m lucky enough to have been send a proof of his next, Lone Wolf, which argh! I still haven’t managed to read. Too many books, too little time. But I am certain I’ll love it. Here’s what he has to say about himself:

I am a freelance writer and journalist, living on the south coast of England. I work for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian, The BBC, The Atlantic and Granta. My first book, Kings of the Yukon, tells the story of a four month canoe trip across Alaska, examining the decline of the king salmon and exploring how that decline is impacting on the many communities, and the ecosystems, which depend on it. The book won both the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and the Lonely Planet/ Stanfords Adventure Travel Book of the Year. My new book, Lone Wolf, will be published by Penguin on 29th May 2025.

Bluesky – adamweymouth.bsky.social

Continue reading →

Explore Intriguing Books You’ve Probably Missed

February 17, 2025February 25, 2025 / Claire Fuller / Leave a comment

Read This: Books under the Radar is a weekly post written by a guest author or bookstagrammer – often a friend of mine, someone I’ve met on my writerly travels, or an author I admire – who recommends three books they think deserve more recognition. If you’re interested in buying any of the books, please click on the covers and give these hidden gems some love. You can see the full list of books which have been selected, as well as the author’s latest book on Bookshop.org, where you can have a browse and buy any that take your fancy. Happy reading!

Read This: Patrick O’Donoghue

Patrick O’Donoghue, aka @podsticles on Instagram is a bookstagrammer whose taste in books I admire hugely, and who I have followed since about 2019. We done one or two Read-Alongs together on Instagram, and Patrick’s love of Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove was my inspiration to suggest it as the year’s read for my book club. Here’s what he has to say about himself:

I’m a primary school teacher who has been raving (and sometimes ranting) about books on Instagram since 2017. I’m a big fan of contemporary Irish fiction, and this year, @whatjohanneread and I created the hashtag #IrishAuthors2025 to encourage bookworms to read and share more Irish literature, including the novels that we all have languishing on our shelves.

I’m also a fan of novels set in America, and I’m forever harping on about Westerns as a much-maligned genre that deserves more attention! There are some incredible Westerns out there, including one of the books I’m sharing today.
You can find Patrick on Instagram as @podsticles

Continue reading →

Hunger and Thirst: My New Novel Coming in February 2026

February 14, 2025February 17, 2025 / Claire Fuller / 10 Comments

Delighted, excited and terrified… My sixth novel, Hunger and Thirst will be published by Fig Tree (Penguin) in February 2026 in the UK and Commonwealth, Tin House in the US, and Bond Street Books (Doubleday) in Canada.

“Ursula, a renowned, reclusive sculptor find the past she has been running from catching up with her when a documentary-maker begins to dig into the unsolved disappearance of someone Ursula knew back in the 1980s. Set in and around a local art school and steeped in the atmosphere of the horror films Ursula watches, it’s a compelling and chilling story of loneliness and possession, of the dangerous line between wanting and needing and of how far a person will go to belong.”

It’s been great fun rewatching all my favourite horror films from the 1970s and 80s, and drawing on my memories from that time, when I was an art student studying sculpture and living in what was essentially a squat. Ghost stories and horror novels were the first books I read as a teenager, and it’s been interesting (and difficult) to see whether I can write something a little bit scary.

Hidden Gem Book Recommendations for Avid Readers

February 10, 2025February 3, 2025 / Claire Fuller / 1 Comment

Read This: Tamsin Hope Thomson

Read This: Books Under the Radar will be coming to an end in a couple of months, and I had every Monday scheduled with a different author apart from one slot, so I asked my newsletter subscribers whether any of them would like to be a guest and I would pick a name out of a hat, and Tamsin Hope Thomson won. (Sign up here, if you’re interested.) And weirdly two of her choices would absolutely be contenders for my own list, which means we must have very similar tastes and I must read her third recommendation. Here’s what she has to say about herself:

Tamsin Hope Thomson is a gardening writer and editor and has written on all kinds of topics from Snowdrop societies to Mary Berry’s veg patch. She grew up in Scotland and now lives in Sussex with her husband and two children. Tamsin is currently editing her first novel, very slowly, and has started a substack for book recommendations.

You can find her on: https://tamsinht.substack.com/

Continue reading →

Essential Reads: 3 Must-Read Underrated Books selected by Chloe Lane

February 3, 2025January 20, 2025 / Claire Fuller / 5 Comments

Read This: Chloe Lane

I read Chloe’s debut novel The Swimmers back in 2022, and it made my and my husband’s top books of the year. I also loved her second novel, Arms and Legs, and I’m really looking forward to what she writes next. Here’s what she has to say about herself:

Chloe Lane earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Florida. She is also a graduate of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington and the founding editor of Hue+Cry Press. Her first novel, The Swimmers, was longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the NZ Book Awards. Her second novel, Arms & Legs, is out now. She lives and teaches in Gainesville, Florida.

You can find her on:
Instagram @cv_lane

Continue reading →

Top 3 Overlooked Novels to Discover Today

January 27, 2025January 10, 2025 / Claire Fuller / 1 Comment

Read This: Books under the Radar is a weekly post, usually written by a guest author – often a friend of mine, someone I’ve met on my writerly travels, or an author I admire – who recommends three books they think deserve more recognition. But for a second time I’m inviting on a favourite book blogger of mine – someone whose taste in books I appreciate and follow: Sally Hughes, aka @salboreads on Instagram. If you’re interested in buying any of the books featured, please click on the covers and give these hidden gems some love. You can see the full list of books which have been selected on Bookshop.org, where you can have a browse and buy any that take your fancy. Happy reading!

Read This: Sally Hughes

Sally and I have never met in real life but we’ve followed each other for a while on Instagram and I always love her recommendations. Perhaps one day we’ll get to exchange book recommendations over a coffee. Here’s what she has to say about herself:

I am a librarian and teacher, currently volunteering at my local public library. I run the Children’s Classics Club on Instagram which is a virtual group celebrating the joy of children’s fiction. I have been book blogging as Salboreads for about 4 years. I read many genres from classics to thrillers. I have introduced two hashtags to bookstagram – Mindful Monday and Children’s Book Sunday. I have a beautiful, but crazy flat-coated retriever called Pippin who is well known by my followers and takes up the time when I am not reading! I have selected three books which I have absolutely loved and which also reflect something of the nature of my reading.

www.instagram.com/salboreads

Read on to find out which three books Sally recommends.

Continue reading →