Brought to you by Penguin.

Fourth Wing meets The Hunger Games in this spicy, page-turning romantasy where humans and direwolves forge unbreakable bonds and fight for survival at all costs.

Narrated in duet style by Romantasy Royalty, Avery Caris and Gabriel Michael.

Only the worthy survive the Bonding Trials. She’ll risk her life - and her heart - to be one of them.

Meryn Cooper has always hated the Bonded, elite warriors who form mental links with the massive, vicious direwolves they ride. While they live in luxury, Meryn struggles to keep her family out of poverty. When her little sister, Saela, is kidnapped - stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting - Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army and is thrown into the deadly Bonding Trials, where any mistake will cost her life.

Now Meryn must survive four months of training at the castle. She is bound to a feral direwolf who refuses to communicate. The other trainees would love to spill her common blood. And her cold and beautiful instructor, Stark Therion, is eager to punish any weakness.

Everything is a competition, and everyone is out to get her - everyone except the dangerously handsome crown prince, whose attention adds another target to her back. In the castle, every smile hides a knife … and the halls hide dark secrets.

It’s bond or bleed. Duel or die. Failure is ruin.

*This audiobook includes a brand-new bonus chapter from Stark Therion’s perspective.*

'A God Tier Fantasy book!!! I just finished and still trying to mentally and emotionally recover to what just happened to me. You need to read it IMMEDIATELY.'

'What an incredible read!! … I am blown away … The romance, the anguish, the BANTER! I love a book with good banter and this was FULL OF IT!'

'I. Am. OBSESSED. … Left me spiraling in the best way possible. The morally grey anti-hero? Perfection. The slow-burn tension? Electric … I was completely immersed.'

TROPES:
Slow burn romance
Found family
Morally grey characters
One bed
Touch her and die
Who did this to you
Secret royals
Enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Hidden powers
Fated mates
Vampires vs. wolves!

© Sable Sorensen 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Dire Bound written by Sable Sorenson and read by Avery Caris and Gabriel Michael

Brought to you by Penguin.

What’s the most useful thing you could know about your own life?

In this era-defining book, developed from her groundbreaking Radio 4 essay series, Naomi Alderman turns her boundless curiosity and incisive thinking to a question that affects us all: how do we understand, and navigate, the epoch we’re living through? She calls this epoch the Information Crisis.

The internet has flooded us with more knowledge, opinions, ideas, opportunities, as well as verbal attacks and misinformation, than ever before. It lets us learn more quickly and also spread falsehood more quickly, it brings us together and also divides us in new ways, it is now the lens through which we perceive and understand the world. There is no going back. But we have been here before. In fact, this is humanity’s third information crisis.

The first, the invention of writing 5,000 years ago, and the second, the invention of the printing press 600 years ago, drastically reshaped our perceptions, interactions and mental landscapes in ways that feel acutely familiar. Overwhelmed by information, people become afraid and angry, unsettled and distressed, as well as more knowledgeable, educated and curious. By looking at those previous information crises, both the turmoil and the advances, Alderman asks what we can learn from the past to better understand our present, and prepare for our future.

Drawing on the work of philosophers and historians, Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today explores how new technology opens up new ways of being and helps us chart a way forward (once again), through the turbulent seas of information overload.

An electrifying, thought-provoking exploration of how the digital era is reshaping our world, by bestselling, Women's Prize-winning writer Naomi Alderman

'Alderman is one of our most surprising and delightful public intellectuals, and this book grapples wonderfully with our current schisms and their historical precedents' JON RONSON

'Alderman helps us see the digital information crisis with fresh eyes, sharing profound wisdom and showing us how to avoid sacrificing our humanity for the sake of being right on the internet' OLIVER BURKEMAN

© Naomi Alderman 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Don't Burn Anyone At The Stake Today written and read by Naomi Alderman

Brought to you by Penguin.

A beautiful book combining poetry, topics of self-reflection and journalling prompts to help readers find joy all around them.

I always pay attention
When a small joy grabs me
Some say easily pleased
I say, frequently happy!


Life can often be stressful. Each day might seem like a struggle to get through. You may find yourself desperate to get to the weekend, or wishing time would pass more quickly.
David Larbi is here to show you how to see beauty in the everyday and build pockets of joy, inspiration and calm into your life. Combining poetry with weekly reflections, this book is designed to help you explore your emotions, seize opportunities to grow, and find happiness all year round.

With journalling and activity prompts for every season, Frequently Happy creates space for deep self-reflection and brings motivation and gratitude to the forefront.

'Filled with such personality and contagious optimism . . . I love this book' Matt Haig
'A vital handbook for navigating the seasons of life' Candice Carty-Williams
'This book is a ray of sunshine' Fearne Cotton

© David Larbi 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Frequently Happy written and read by David Larbi

Brought to you by Penguin.

The unfiltered truth about being a rugby player - from the horsey's mouth.

This book is not just about how I got back on my horse and went clippity-clop all the way to the World Cup final in Japan.

It's the story of how a fat kid who had to live up to the nickname Psycho grew up to play (and party) for over a decade with rugby's greatest pros.

From just about surviving the equivalent of 30 car crashes a game and crooning Adele for team spirit, to extensive field notes on the smell of the Scrum and the fine art of on-pitch relief. Then there's rugby's secret naked wrestling scene and how it was exposed.

In my world, you never know how the ball will bounce...

© Joe Marler 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Loose Head written and read by Joe Marler

Brought to you by Penguin.

“I’m not sure anyone knows who I really am. So here it is.”

The real highs.
The real lows.
The Real Girl.

Mutya Buena was only thirteen when she became one third of the original line-up of the iconic girl band Sugababes.

As she launched into fame, her life became unrecognizable overnight. Suddenly, she was going straight from school to the studio, rubbing shoulders with music royalty and hearing fans scream her name.

But with the dazzle of stardom came the darker side: those who would take advantage of her naivety and her kindness, the constant taunting by the press and the lingering regret of missing out on being a real teenager.

Unflinchingly honest, Real Girl takes us through the highs of a spectacular career and the lows that came with a life in the limelight. For the first time, Mutya opens up about the struggles she kept hidden from the public eye when her life began to spiral out of control.

This is the story of the girl the tabloids never saw.

© Mutya Buena 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Real Girl written and read by Mutya Buena

Brought to you by Penguin.

The festive season is fast approaching.

Jane Austen fears that without her siblings at home, there won’t be much Christmas cheer in the Austen household this year.

But when she uncovers a skeleton in the cellar of Deane Rectory, Jane soon forgets her woes. Who needs merriment, when there’s a mystery to solve?

Her investigation leads her to the legend of a young bride who’s long been thought to haunt the woods nearby. After fleeing her wedding breakfast, the bride was never seen again.

Has Jane found her at last? Or is there more to this mystery than meets the eye?

Tis the season for Jane to embark upon festive delights, making merry, and solving murders…

© Jessica Bull 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

The Austen Christmas Murders written by Jessica Bull and read by Eleanor Yates

Brought to you by Penguin.

Secrets, murder and mayhem collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo - an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogerian - hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world.

Cornwall, 1910. On a remote tidal island, the Viscount of Tithe Hall is absorbed in feverish preparations for the apocalypse that he believes will accompany the passing of Halley's Comet. The Hall must be sealed from top to bottom - every window, chimney and keyhole closed off before night falls. But what the pompous, dishonest Viscount has failed to take into account is the danger that lies within... By morning, he will be dead in his sealed study, murdered by his own ancestral crossbow.

All eyes turn to Steven Pike, Tithe Hall's newest under-butler. Fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn't commit, he is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. His unlikely ally? Miss Decima Stockingham, the foul-mouthed, sharp as a tack, 80-year-old family matriarch. Fearless and unconventional, she relishes chaos and puzzles alike, and a murder is just the thrill she's been waiting for.

Together, this mismatched duo must navigate secret passages, buried grudges and rising terror to unmask the killer before it's too late...

© Ross Montgomery 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

The Murder at The Worlds End written by Ross Montgomery and read by Derek Jacobi and Joe Jameson

Brought to you by Penguin.

A ritual killing. An ancient curse. What's myth... and what's murder?

After a bruising encounter with a terrorist group, Detective Kamil Rahman has decided to hand in his resignation to the Met and set up a detective agency with his friend Anjoli. But when his boss asks him to go to India to investigate the murder of a British engineer who was found with eighteen arrows stuck in his body, Kamil agrees to take the case, as long as Anjoli can accompany him.

When they arrive in Mumbai, they find someone is on a gruesome killing spree, striking down those connected to the engineer in increasingly macabre ways. Meanwhile, an old friend of Kamil’s gets in touch to beg for his help: he believes his family are cursed, and that he is going to die on his 47th birthday, just like his father and grandfather before him.

As the body count rises, Kamil is torn between solving a very real murder case and protecting his friend from a grisly – if far-fetched – fate. Can he catch a killer and prevent an ancient curse before more people lose their lives?

Praise for the Detective Kamil Rahman novels:

'Outstanding' SUNDAY TIMES

'Hugely entertaining' ANN CLEEVES

'A rip-roaring mystery that's engrossing from start to finish' ABIR MUKHERJEE

© Ajay Chowdhury 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

The Shadow written by Ajay Chowdhury and read by Mikhail Sen and Layla Chowdhury

What makes a thriller truly unputdownable? Which novels have a sense of place that feels like its own character? What are your favourite darker reads for winter nights. We answer these questions and more on our latest episode of Ask Penguin. 

We’re joined by best-selling author, Paula Hawkins, who discusses art, love and remote islands in her latest thriller, The Blue Hour, as well as answering your latest questions with plenty of book recommendations to help you find your next read.

Paula Hawkins worked as a journalist for fifteen years before writing her first novel. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, she moved to London in 1989. Her first thriller The Girl on the Train became a global phenomenon, selling over 23 million copies. Published in over fifty languages, it was a No.1 bestseller around the world and a box-office-hit film starring Emily Blunt.

Paula's subsequent thrillers have all been instant Sunday Times bestsellers. In 2021 A Slow Fire Burning was nominated for Thriller of the Year at the British Book Awards, and in 2025 The Blue Hour was voted the Good Housekeeping Good Books winner.

What makes a setting feel so vivid it becomes a character? With Paula Hawkins

What were our favourite books of the year and what are we most excited to read in 2026? Join the team behind the Ask Penguin podcast to look back at standout titles, memorable podcast moments, and the reading intentions we’re taking into the New Year.



What were the best books of 2025?

What's uhhhhh going on with "filler words"?

Dr. Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein: http://jenabl.wordpress.com
Dr. Alex D'Arcy: http://web.uvic.ca/~adarcy/

Christopher Mele's NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/us/verbal-ticks-like-um.html

Music by Podington Bear:
www.podingtonbear.com/

Produced by the Texas A&M University Writing Center.
writingcenter.tamu.edu

Producer: Davis Land
Editors: Nancy Vazquez, Flo Davies, Nick Cenegy

Do You, Um, Like, Hate Filler Words?

Write Right is a podcast about becoming great at writing and communication.

Write Right is a production of the Texas A&M University Writing Center, a service of the Department of Undergraduate Studies.

The UWC is dedicated to helping students become better communicators through whichever medium they are working in. Open to all Texas A&M students, the writing center offers both face-to-face and online consultations. Make an appointment at http://writingcenter.tamu.edu.

Do You, Um, Like, Hate Filler Words?

Texas A&M University Writing Center

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