Picture it now: you’re sunbathing on the lush grass of Costa del Clapham.
One sweaty, suncream-covered hand clutches the latest Booker prize nominee, staining it with oily fingerprints, while the other reaches for a frosted glass of rosé with a hefty serving of ice. Sunglasses are firmly on your head, your parasol is providing the perfect amount of shade, and there’s a light breeze wafting through warm air. Life is good.
Whether you’re a Kindle user or lover of physical books, the price of literature across the board is being slashed this Amazon Prime Day, just in time to bulk up your high summer reading list. Whether you’re in the mood for a sultry, piping hot Romantasy series or a historical novel to sink your teeth into, there’s something for everyone.
I’m something of a bookworm myself, so I’ve cut through the noise to help you get the best possible deals on the most popular books to hit virtual shelves in recent years.
What exactly does Prime Day mean on Amazon?
Fret not, analogue-lover, for Prime Day is just the name for Amazon’s annual summer sales event, during which Prime Members can save big on everything from literature to electronics, mobile phones, Lego, Alexa devices, and so much more.
How much is Amazon Prime membership?
For just £8.99 a month or £95 a year, you’ll not only gain access to smashing bargains for Amazon Prime Day which, incidentally, is taking place over four days from July 8-11, but you’ll also be able to access a myriad of other brilliant benefits. These include streaming, gaming, reading, audio and entertainment through the various arms of the Amazon universe.
Not in a place to make a long-term commitment? Make use of Amazon’s 30-day free trial instead.
What’s new for Prime Day this year?
There’s a special offer on right now. Prime members can enjoy three months of Audible absolutely free until July 31. This includes one bestseller or new release each month and thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts and Originals. Trying Audible for the first time? Why not invest in a heavily discounted Echo Dot, powered by Amazon’s Alexa?
Keep scrolling for the best bargains on literature this Prime Day.
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Care and Feeding by Laurie Woolever
A woman who spent almost a decade working with the late, great Anthony Bourdain knows how to indulge.
Writer, editor and former cook Laurie Woolever’s new memoir, Care and Feeding, is a gastronomical yarn which traces the author’s life and work through food, romantic and professional relationships, mistakes, triumphs and more with the knowledge, sincerity and brutal honesty that only a longtime industry insider could provide.
Was: £22
Buy now £14.55, Amazon
Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
Set in a small conservative village in Ireland in the early 1990s, Howarth’s tender coming-of-age novel follows Lucy during her last long, hot summer before school ends for good.
Despite having always felt out of place and unaligned in Crossmore, Lucy’s outer and inner worlds collide when sparks fly with her school friend Suzannah.
Suddenly, Lucy’s previously hazy future forks, and she’s left with an impossible choice.
Was: £10.99
Buy now £9.18, Amazon
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A ferociously passionate fantasy tale which follows an enemies-to-lovers trope taking place within the mythical lands of Prythian, where faeries and humans live in violent opposition.
Whether you’ve come across A Court of Thorns and Roses via social media platforms such as TikTok, or are simply in the market for a new erotic fantasy series to devour, you’re in the right place. The first of Sarah J Maas’ five-book series, A Court of Thorns and Roses follows the plight of a huntress named Feyre who kills a wolf in an act of survival to feed her family. However, the wolf that Feyre killed was not what it appeared, and her violent act had untold consequences for the young huntress and her people.
For her actions, Feyre is kidnapped and taken away from her family. While held captive by the masked Tamlin, Feyre’s feelings become complex – turning from hatred to lust, as the two lovers attempt to navigate the bloody consequences of their relationship and fight to break an ancient curse.
Kindle edition: £2.29
Audiobook: £0.99
Was: £9.99
Buy now £5.00, Amazon
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Filled to the brim with heart-racing twists and turns, the first in McFadden’s Housemaid trilogy is a thrilling yarn about a recently paroled maid named Millie who is employed by the wealthy Winchesters. She soon learns that her strange employers have countless skeletons in the closet, and that the lady of the house Nina Winchester is seemingly out to get her.
Kindle edition: £0.00 (free with Prime)
Audiobook: £0.99
Was: £9.99
Buy now £3.00, Amazon
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger
The first of J.D Salinger’s books to be published, The Catcher in the Rye takes place over just two days in the life of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield following his expulsion from prep school. An essential teenage read – whether you are currently a teenager, or you’ve found yourself caring for one – we follow Caulfield’s aggravated and convoluted stream of consciousness as he rails against the falsity of adult life.
Kindle edition: £5.99
Was: £14.99
Buy now £12.49, Amazon
The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K Fisher
M.F.K Fisher left America for France in 1929. The author tried true French cuisine for the first time in her life, a turning-point which marked the beginning of a venerable career as a food and travel writer.
In this glorious memoir, Fisher tells the story of her life through the meals she’s cooked and consumed. A treatise on loss, survival, love and the importance of dining alone, it’s a book that will make you fall head over heels for gastronomical writing like never before.
Was: £9.99
Buy now £8.37, Amazon
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History isn’t your average murder mystery – for we know who is killed, and who the killers are, within the first few pages of this dark tale. The narrator of this inverted piece of crime fiction, Richard Papen, transfers to an elite liberal arts college in Vermont to escape his disinterested and abusive family in California.
Papen finds himself enamoured by a small group of seemingly perfect, erudite Greek students who are taught in secretive tutorials by an eccentric professor. Desperate to enter into the folds of the seemingly impenetrable group, Papen manages to convince the faculty to switch majors – a decision which would turn out to be both deadly and damning.
Kindle edition: £6.99
Audiobook: £0.99
Was: £9.99
Buy now £7.99, Amazon
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
In Cold Blood is widely considered the greatest true crime novel of all time, despite being an inexplicable literary detour at the time of its release from the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the famed Truman Capote.
Blending a high literary writing style imbued with emotional poeticism with the clinical documentation of evidence and transcriptions of Capote’s own meetings with the killers in question utterly transformed the way in which true crime was written for years to come.
Detailing the horrific murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959, Capote’s non-fiction book is written like a fictional novel. In the first half, the author describes their idyllic small-town life before moving into the nature of the crime itself, the intricate psyches of the killers, and the concept of justice within the American system.
Kindle edition: £4.99
Audiobook: £0.99
Was: £9.99
Buy now £9.17, Amazon
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
A classic from the moment it was published in 2020, Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club is about a group of four septuagenarians who meet up every week to discuss murderous cold cases. Proving you don’t have to be young to get into the thick of mystifying investigations, Osman’s brilliant novel puts the unorthodox gang of retirees at the centre of a crime which takes place on their very doorstep. Grab your copy of the first in the series ahead of the Netflix series starring Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan, set to be released in August.
Was: £9.99
Buy now £4.98, Amazon
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Nothing is more suited to Valentine’s Day than a best-selling Romantasy yarn. Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing is the unexpected, highly addictive and fiery (quite literally, there are dragons involved) novel which follows Violet Sorrengail, a new cadet in Navarre’s brutal Basgiath War College.
Initially slated for the rather tame Scribe quadrant, where cadets are tasked with bookkeeping and writing historical records, Violet is thrust into the Rider’s Quadrant – Basgiath’s most brutal yet revered army sector which demands survival yet does everything possible to prevent it. Violet doesn’t know what’s worse – fighting for her life on a daily basis, or her undeniable attraction to the enemy.
Was: £22
Buy now £14.73, Amazon
One Dark Window by Rachel Gellig
Elspeth Spindle is plagued by an ancient, mercurial spirit which torments her from its cage within her head. She calls him the Nightmare, and he’s the only thing that keeps her safe in the shadow-filled, misty kingdom of Blunder.
One evening, our protagonist meets a mysterious highwayman on a forest road, who enlists her in a dangerous quest to cure Blunder of the dark magic which infects it - which infects her. The highwayman just so happens to be the King’s nephew, who is guilty of high treason and in charge of some of the most dangerous men in the kingdom.
Was: £10.99
Buy now £10.11, Amazon
