My Top Picks for the Month

Pick 01 · Science fiction · Political epic

Dune

by Frank Herbert

About the book

On the desert planet Arrakis, young Paul Atreides is swept into a struggle over power, prophecy, and the planet’s precious spice. Herbert’s sweeping science-fiction novel follows the people and ecologies caught in the politics of empire.

Reading suggestion

Take your time with the unfamiliar names and world-building. A few pages of glossary or a quick pause between chapters can help the political and ecological threads settle in.

Questions to carry with you

• How does Arrakis shape the customs and choices of the people who live there?
• Where do you see power being built through stories, belief, or control of resources?
• How does Paul’s changing role affect the way you read his decisions?

Pick 02 · Myth retelling · Historical fiction

The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller

About the book

Madeline Miller retells the story of Achilles and the Trojan War through the eyes of Patroclus, the companion whose bond with Achilles shapes their lives. The novel brings intimacy and tenderness to a myth shadowed by fate and conflict.

Reading suggestion

Let the relationship and emotional shifts lead you through the familiar myth. If you know the Iliad, notice what Miller brings close; if you don’t, the story stands on its own.

Questions to carry with you

• How does Patroclus’s point of view change the way Achilles appears?
• What does the novel suggest about love, loyalty, and the stories people leave behind?
• How does knowing the myth’s destination shape the reading experience?

Pick 03 · Literary fiction · Dark comedy

Black Bag

by Luke Kennard

About the book

A penniless actor takes a strange job with a university professor running a psychological experiment, becoming an unexpected presence in the professor’s class. Kennard’s novel mixes campus satire, an inquiry into masculinity, and an offbeat love story. Shortlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize.

See Black Bag on the Booker Prize site ↗

Reading suggestion

Follow the shifts in tone: the comic situations sit alongside sharper questions about performance, confidence, and how people behave when they think they are being watched.

Questions to carry with you

• What does the experiment reveal about the way people perform for one another?
• How does the novel use comedy to examine masculinity and status?
• At what moments did the story’s tone surprise you or change your sympathies?