Charlotte Griffiths picks the perfect motivational and reflective reads for a new year
Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura
If you were given the chance to talk with someone who had passed away, who would you choose? Would you think differently if you knew they’d only get one chance to speak with someone from the world of the living? Should you be taking that opportunity – or is there another person who needs to speak with them?
Lost Souls Meet
Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura
It’s these questions that the characters wrestle with throughout this million-copy-selling puzzle box novel, the first in the Lost Soul series. Writer Mizuki Tsujimura and translator Yuki Tejima have created beautifully drawn, domestic stories of loss, love, heartache and grief, presented in soothingly formulaic chapters, following the people seeking the help of the mysterious Go Between.
We meet an eldest son who wants to speak with his recently deceased mother, a teenage girl who has lost her best friend in an accident and a young woman who wishes to spend a night with her celebrity idol. At first, the reasons behind these requests appear straightforward, but what’s always surprising and satisfying about Mizuki’s award-winning novels are the twists, turns and unexpected complexities. There’s also Ayumi, the handsome young Go Between himself, currently learning his trade as the youngest in an unbroken line of family members with this life-altering magical responsibility.
It’s a wistful novel about being kind, taking chances and confronting missed opportunities, as there’s no better time than right now to say what’s on your mind – because you never know when, or even if, you might get another opportunity.
Educated by Tara Westover
If one of the joys of reading is to ‘try on’ a different life to your own, then it makes sense to seek out books which contain truly singular lived experiences, and Tara Westover’s story is absolutely one of those.
Educated by Tara Westover
Educated is Tara’s own account of growing up in an extremist Mormon family living in Idaho, deliberately isolated from society, modern medicine and traditional education. Against all odds she finds a path to access books and the knowledge she craves, making it to college, then Brigham Young University in Utah and eventually a study abroad programme. This leads her to Cambridge, where she wins The Gates Scholarship to pursue a PhD in our city.
Though she has successfully put oceans (both literal and emotional) between herself and her family, the ties that bind continually pull her back home as she tries to help her siblings and find some sort of meaning in her parents’ choices. Along with the book being superbly written, that narrative would be enough as it is – but the true beauty of this story lies in the moments, the seconds-long yet world-expanding interactions and decisions that, piece-by-piece, continually move Tara on towards her uncertain goal.
Educated is an extraordinary tale of one young woman’s determination and perseverance, which should serve as a reminder to all of us that very little in life is truly impossible. If you’re dreaming of a particular future for yourself, it is almost certainly within your grasp.
A Complicated Woman by Rebecca Lucy Taylor
Published towards the end of last year, this book of essays, notes, lyrics and fragments of thoughts from the artist more commonly known as Self Esteem is funny, uplifting, reassuring and motivating all in the same moment.
A Complicated Woman by Rebecca Lucy Taylor
This self-described ‘anti-bible for modern womanhood’ is based on Taylor’s many, many iPhone notes, numbering in the
tens of thousands, which she jots down whenever inspiration strikes and either shares on social media or files away for future reference. These are used to create new songs, pull together plays or – in this case – inspire her very first book. Just as Taylor does in her music, this book tackles the impossible weight of modern expectations pressing down on women, and the confusing whirl of living multiple realities at once: or, as she more succinctly says in one of her lyrics, “I’m still 15 years old, surely.”
During interviews, she’s said that the process of bringing the chapters together revealed that certain topics and questions kept coming up in her notes, year after year, with seemingly no answer or resolution. Though this was said with her trademark acerbic and slightly self-deprecating wit, it didn’t and doesn’t feel like a hopeless situation: identifying the reappearing themes at the core of our lives can be so beneficial when trying to take a step forward. You might not know how to answer those questions, but you can learn how to live alongside them.
If you’re hoping to make a big change this year, grab yourself a copy of this book, get Self Esteem’s music in your ears and stride forward with confidence.
New releases
Add these titles to your reading pile while they’re hot off the press
Wreck by Catherine Newman
A new Catherine Newman book is an immediate purchase. Here we re-meet Rocky from Newman’s last novel Sandwich, who is experiencing another ‘quiet tornado’ – now a signature of the author’s work. Rocky’s widowed father has moved in, her adult son has moved out and she’s waiting for her own diagnosis. Moving and laugh-out-loud funny.
The Money-Saving Gardener: Containers by Anya Lautenbach
A brilliant gift for a keen gardener or someone just starting out: all you need is a windowsill to get involved with container gardening, and this new book from the brilliant Lautenbach is the perfect guide. Her simple instructions are sure to have you growing more for less in 2026 – what could be better?
The Opposite of Murder by Sophie Hannah
This new mystery from one of our greatest living crime writers (and Cambridge resident) revolves around an impossible murder confession. Jemma can’t have killed Marianne because, at the time of death, she was at the police station… explaining how she would commit the murder. Hypothetically, of course. Irresistible: treat yourself and curl up with a copy.
Wreck by Catherine Newman
The Money-Saving Gardener: Containers by Anya Lautenbach
The Opposite of Murder by Sophie Hannah
Check out December 2025’s Book Club and the coffee table reads
