Book Club Day UK: Stories you love, people to meet, a day for book clubs.
What is Book Club Day UK?
Book Club Day UK is a time to share the joy of being part of a book club, to encourage new clubs to form and to help support existing book clubs with their next meeting so that even more people will discover how book clubs build stronger, more connected communities.
Head of Zeus opened for business on 3 January 2012, won Digital Business of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2015, Independent Publisher of the Year in 2017, and joined the Bloomsbury family in 2021. Across our six imprints, we’re digital pioneers, beautiful book makers and lovers of great storytelling.
Look at Head of Zeus’ selected picks (including a non-fiction and YA pick) and find out more about their list!
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper – 9781035923946
Shortlisted for Pageturner of the Year at the British Book Awards
A Waterstones Book of the Month
Winner of the 2022 Glass Bell Award
‘Vivid, wise and unflinching, this is a triumph’ The Times
‘I loved it’ Jennifer Saint
‘I couldn’t put it down’ Claire Douglas
‘Utterly spellbinding’ Woman & Home
‘Deeply moving’ William Ryan
‘Gripping’ Independent
‘One of a kind’ Red
Sold by her mother. Enslaved in Pompeii’s brothel. Determined to survive. Her name is Amara. Welcome to the Wolf Den…
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee – 9781838930509
The million-copy bestseller
National Book Award finalist
An instant New York Times Bestseller and one of their 10 Best Books of 2017
Selected for Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf book club
‘This is a captivating book… Min Jin Lee’s novel takes us through four generations and each character’s search for identity and success. It’s a powerful story about resilience and compassion’ Barack Obama
Through eight decades and four generations, Pachinko is an epic tale of family, identity, love, death and survival.
Bunny by Mona Awad – 9781788545440
THE TIKTOK SENSATION.
Meet Bunny: the darkly funny, spellbinding trip of a novel that EVERYONE is talking about.
‘No punches pulled, no hilarities dodged, no meme unmangled. O, Bunny, you are sooo genius!’ Margaret Atwood
We call them Bunnies because that is what they call each other. Seriously. Bunny.
Blending sharp satire with fairytale horror, Bunny provides a hilarious look at the dark side of female friendship from one of fiction’s most original voices.
Cello by Kate Kennedy – 9781803287041 – Non-Fiction
Strikingly original’ The Times
‘Absorbing’ Wall Street Journal
‘Just as a cello’s voice is divided across four strings, each with its own colour and character, this is a journey in four parts, in search of four players and their instruments…’
Cello is a group biography that weaves together four narratives of cellists who suffered various forms of persecution, injury, and misfortune. The stories are those of the forgotten Jewish cellist Pal Hermann, who is likely to have been murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust; Lise Cristiani, another forgotten performer, considered to be the first female professional cello soloist; Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who played in the orchestra at Auschwitz; and Amedeo Baldovino of the Trieste piano trio, whose ‘Mara’ Stradivarius was lost in a shipwreck in the River Plate between Buenos Aires and Uruguay but later recovered from the water and repaired.
Interwoven with their remarkable and often moving stories are a series of ‘detours’ that offer a foil to the group biographies. Examining the themes explored in the narratives from different perspectives, drawing together essay-like musings, historical research, personal experience and the author’s many interviews with contemporary cellists.
A Beautiful Way to Die by Eleni Kyriacou – 9781837930395
‘Deeply atmospheric… From movie star glamour to the rotten core of fame, I couldn’t put this down’ Louise Hare
‘Evocative, tense, seductive’ Tammy Cohen
PLAY THEIR GAME
Hollywood, 1953. Young actress Ginny Watkins is turning heads. Even the legendary – and married – actor Max Whitman can’t resist the allure of the hottest new starlet. He promises Ginny the world, in return for the right favour.
DO WHAT THEY SAY
London, 1954. Stella Hope, once the most famous actress in Hollywood, has been ousted to Ealing Studios after her divorce from the powerful Max. Just as she accepts her fate, she receives a letter, blackmailing her for a mistake she made many years ago.
OR THEY’LL BURY YOU
Two women on either side of stardom find themselves in the orbit of the same beguiling man. And one night, in the shadows of a glamorous Oscars afterparty, their lives are changed forever…
A Beautiful Way to Die delves into the decadence and depravity of the early film industry from Hollywood to London. Perfect for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and films like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Babylon.
Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman – 9781035900381
‘This compulsive thriller reads like true crime and had me guessing until the very end’ Reese Witherspoon
Three friends went on holiday.
Only two came back.
Ten years ago, after a sun-soaked summer in Greece, best friends Bess and Joni were cleared of any involvement in their friend Evangeline’s death. Although they were found innocent, the case made them infamous and they’ve not seen each other since.
Except now Joni wants a favour, and when she turns up at her old friend’s doorstep in need of an alibi, Bess has no choice but to say yes. After all, she still owes her.
But can you ever leave the past behind, when the whole world believes you’re guilty?
The Bookshop Ladies by Faith Hogan – 9781803282596
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARD FOR BEST POPULAR FICTION NOVEL OF THE YEAR.
‘A captivating read, written with warmth and elegance, The Bookshop Ladies is the perfect escape!’ Evie Woods, author of The Lost Bookshop
From bestselling Irish writer, Faith Hogan, comes another gripping saga of friendship, betrayal and secrets in this story of a widow in search of answers to a shocking confession by her dying husband.
Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman – 9781035900381
‘This compulsive thriller reads like true crime and had me guessing until the very end’ Reese Witherspoon
Three friends went on holiday.
Only two came back.
Ten years ago, after a sun-soaked summer in Greece, best friends Bess and Joni were cleared of any involvement in their friend Evangeline’s death. Although they were found innocent, the case made them infamous and they’ve not seen each other since.
Except now Joni wants a favour, and when she turns up at her old friend’s doorstep in need of an alibi, Bess has no choice but to say yes. After all, she still owes her.
But can you ever leave the past behind, when the whole world believes you’re guilty?
Mrs Spy by M J Robotham – 9781035914234
‘Dark, twisty, and thoroughly entertaining, Mrs Spy is a Thursday Murder Club for spies. You won’t be able to put it down’ – Ava Glass
Maggie Flynn isn’t your typical 1960s mum.
She’s a spy, a covert operative for MI5, stalking London’s streets in myriad disguises.
Widowed and balancing her clandestine career with raising a very angsty teenage daughter, Maggie finds comfort and purpose in her profession – providing a connection to her late husband, whose own covert past only surfaced after his death.
But Maggie’s world spins out of control when a chance encounter with a mysterious Russian agent triggers a chilling revelation: he knew her husband. And what’s worse, the agent suspects someone on home soil betrayed him.
As Maggie searches for answers, she’ll question everyone – and everything – she thought she could trust. In the dangerous world of espionage, can she outsmart those determined to keep her silenced?
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