Ones to Watch
Discover all our best breakthrough books. These are titles we think you should know about, whether they're by debut authors or more-established writers; whether fiction or non-fiction. These are the ones to watch!
When I was twenty-one, I met a woman who introduced me to five magic words that changed my life: Happy, Thank You. More, Please.'
Kyla Cobbler's path to self-love hasn't run smoothly. From questionable dating decisions, to using booze to quell her constant Irish state of mortification, to getting wrongly arrested for drug smuggling - sometimes it's been hard to believe that the universe has her back.
But when Kyla began opening herself up to gratitude - for the tiny victories, not just the big firework moments - and learned to trust her instincts, she began to realise that she had the power to create her own happiness.
With raw honesty and wit, Happy, thank you. More, please., chronicles Kyla's journey from performing as the person she thought she should be, to discovering the chaotic, complicated, unapologetically imperfect woman she actually is. This is a book about falling in love with your real self - not because you've fixed everything, but because you've finally stopped trying to.
Ideal for readers who:
- Follow memoirs that turn mortification, messy choices and self-discovery into sharp comedy.
- Lean towards gratitude stories that feel honest, imperfect and lived-in rather than polished.
- Warm to Irish voices that can be funny and vulnerable in the same breath.
- Favour a candid reminder that happiness can begin before everything is fixed.
A black-bereted, gun-slinging avatar of one of the most turbulent eras in global politics, Carlos the Jackal burst onto the world stage in 1975 as the first true celebrity terrorist. In a bloody career that would ultimately span three decades, Carlos innovated a new kind of spectacular terrorism, one that embraced hijackings, hostage crises, airport bombings and international assassinations. And he personally masterminded one of the most shocking operations of the era: the kidnapping of an entire conference of world oil ministers for ransom in Vienna. The polar opposite of today's most infamous terrorists, Carlos was a hard-drinking libertine and self-styled romantic who entranced dozens of beautiful women and murdered his victims with callous disregard, often with his own hand.
But Carlos was not all that he seemed to be.
Through newly declassified archives, secret witness accounts and a rare interview with the Jackal himself, acclaimed journalist Joby Warrick reveals a previously hidden side of the man born Ilich Ramirez Sanchez - an ideologically driven figure whose myth was as carefully constructed as his attacks were deadly.
As he did in his Pulitzer Prize-winning Black Flags, Warrick delivers a powerful and highly cinematic tale that explains and illuminates the root causes, and founding personalities, behind one of the great conflicts of our time.
From the roar of packed stadiums to the silence of a prison cell, White Lines is the blazing true story of Ryan Caldwell - former Ulster, Ireland and Premiership rugby player - whose fall from grace nearly cost him everything.
Once hailed as a towering enforcer on the pitch, Ryan's life spiralled after injury ended his career. Addiction, rage and despair took hold, culminating in a moment of devastating reckoning. But from the brink of death, he chose to fight - not for glory, but for survival.
What follows is a raw, unforgettable journey: through the depths of trauma, into the heart of the Amazon jungle, and across the rugged terrain of healing. With the help of shamanic wisdom, plant medicine and radical self-reflection, Ryan confronts the pain he buried beneath his rugby persona and begins to rebuild.
Co-written with journalist Peter Lockhart, White Lines is more than a sports memoir - it's a lit tale of redemption, resilience and the courage to rewrite your story. Gritty, honest, fiercely human, this is a book for anyone who's ever stood at the edge and wondered if there was a way back.
Ideal for readers who:
- Choose sports memoirs that confront the cost of life after elite competition.
- Care about a raw account of injury, addiction, prison and recovery.
- Return to redemption stories that move from public collapse to hard-won survival.
- Prefer Irish rugby stories told with honesty rather than polish.
'A masterclass in how the internet actually works, written by someone who built it up, watched it break, and refuses to give up on it. Essential reading for anyone who lives online. Which is to say, everyone.'
Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Senior Correspondent
Do you remember when the internet felt like a shared playground? When strangers around the world connected over something as simple as the colour of a dress?
In The Last Good Day on the Internet, journalist, entrepreneur and digital pioneer Mark Little takes us back to a web built on curiosity, community and possibility.
And shows us what happened next.
Drawing on his unique experience as the founder of two internet start-ups, Storyful and Kinzen, and working with Twitter and Spotify, Little charts the rise of the attention economy and the relentless pursuit of scale that fuelled the toxic algorithms, hate, misinformation and division of today's online world.
As AI reshapes our future, Little then asks the question that matters most: What if we could take the internet back?
Ideal for readers who:
- Miss the early days when the internet felt much more open, curious and community-focused.
- Look for an authoritative insider’s view of Silicon Valley, social media platforms and the attention economy.
- Follow critical contemporary debates surrounding misinformation, toxic algorithms, AI and online trust.
- Are looking for hopeful, practical thinking on how to reclaim individual agency and control over digital life.