John Robins is a critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, Taskmaster champion, and an award-winning broadcaster. He is also an alcoholic.
But what does that mean? What is an alcoholic?

In Thirst, John tells the story of his life through the lens of alcohol, the drinks that made him, and those that broke him. From his earliest drinking experiences – pretending to be drunk after a sip of champagne aged five, spraying aftershave into his mouth at the school play afterparty, and university nights spent downing red wine alone in his room – to his last drink in 2022 and the journey into sobriety that followed, John explores our relationship with alcohol through reflections on decades of his own drinking.

From hazy memory to sudden clarity he sheds light on subjects from mental health to friendship, from creativity to the lies we tell ourselves, and answers questions such as: are alcoholics born or made? How can we make sense of youthful missteps? And can Buddhism provide relief when dealing with haemorrhoids?

Filled with insights and epiphanies from the world of addiction and recovery, Thirst blends John’s trademark raw honesty and hilarious digressions with the collective wisdom of alcoholics and those around them to offer a compelling, powerful and morbidly funny narrative for anyone who has ever asked 'why do we drink?', 'why do I drink?' or 'do I drink too much?'.

Millie Mackintosh took the decision to give alcohol-free life a try after observing the impact drinking alcohol was having on her health and wellbeing. Now, more than three years into her sober curious journey, Millie shares her full experience with honesty and warmth, from the events that led to her decision to stop drinking, through to the positive effects of the alcohol-free lifestyle she enjoys today. Writing with NHS GP Dr Ellie Cannon, Bad Drunk combines practical, scientific advice with Millie’s personal experience: what has worked for her, what she has struggled with – and tips and advice on how to navigate the road ahead.

Whether you’re simply looking to cut back your alcohol consumption, you’re ready to quit drinking altogether or you want to understand how to help a loved one, Bad Drunk will be an essential guide that will help you make decisions for your future health and happiness.

The revolutionary book that will change how you think about drinking forever – whether you’re tackling Dry January or looking for a permanent shift.

We drink to celebrate, to de-stress and to fit in. We barely question it – until we wake up with that vague sense of dread and ask, ‘Why me?’ If you are a perfectly rational person in all other areas of your life, but find that one glass of wine consistently turns into two bottles, it isn’t a moral failing or a lack of character. It’s biology.

In Why We Drink Too Much, leading surgeon and clinical researcher Dr Charles Knowles combines jaw-dropping science with his own harrowing journey as a recovering alcoholic to reveal what is really happening in our brains. With sharp wit and professional rigour, he unpacks:

• The Reward System: Why alcohol hijacks our survival instincts and overrides our ability to choose.
• The ‘Drinking Champion’ Phenotype: Why some of us are genetically primed to feel more reward from every sip.
• A 12-Principle Blueprint: A science-backed guide to reclaiming your choice and moving toward long-term neutrality or sobriety.

Whether you are ‘sober curious,’ a ‘grey area’ drinker, or someone who has visited the edge and didn’t like the view, Dr Knowles offers a smart, accessible guide to reclaiming your choice.

‘Illuminating, fascinating and beautifully written. If you’ve ever had an issue with drink and asked yourself ‘why me?’ then this book is for you’ – Clare Pooley, bestselling author of The Sober Diaries

Whether you’re simply looking to cut back your alcohol consumption, you’re ready to quit drinking altogether or you want to understand how to help a loved one, Bad Drunk will be an essential guide that will help you make decisions for your future health and happiness.

‘A terrific read’ Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun

‘Remarkable?As a stark insight into the disease, In the Blood makes a mark?’ The Sunday Times Culture

?’Alcohol flows across families like water over a landscape. Sometimes it moves in torrents, sometimes in floods, sometimes in trickles. It always shapes the ground it covers in unmistakable ways.’

In the Blood is a memoir in two voices, those of a mother and daughter both in the grip of the disease that has ravaged generations of women in their family. Julia, aged sixty-five, and Arabella, thirty-eight, ended up in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous just nine months apart.

In some ways it’s a predictable story; two addicts drank and destroyed and ransacked until they could drink no more. In others, it is entirely unlike any account of motherhood or addiction that has ever been told. This is not a recovery memoir, but rather an unflinching family drama spanning generations, whilst looking pain and shame directly in the eye.

Confronting the difficulty of writing faithfully about those we love and the ways in which memory blurs the boundaries of fact, this is the story of women who grew up in shadows, and have navigated their way out of darkness.

Brutally honest, darkly funny and bursting with hope, In The Blood is the sound of the howling cry of illness and betrayal across generations, and what you do with that sound when you hear it.

‘Tender, lush and electric; a wild, heartbreaking, exhilarating ride’
Daisy Buchanan

‘Exquisite, stunning, executed brilliantly’
Poorna Bell
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Do we become who we are because of our parents, or in spite of them?

Fern’s mother is a social climber and a former ballet dancer who lives a plush life in a London townhouse.

Fern’s father only climbs if there’s a bottle at the top, has an IQ of 133 and lives hand-to-mouth in Californian motels.

Aged fourteen, Fern has spent equal time with each of her parents. That is, until an unexpected visitor triggers a life-changing dilemma: whether she should get on a plane to London to be with her mother, or stay in California with her father. Here, Fern’s narrative splices in two.

Two possible lives, one person. Each Fern will grow in wildly different, but eerily similar directions. Both must determine who they want to be – and how they deal with a thorny problem which threatens to undo them all: a murder.

Warm and brilliantly wise, this is the irresistible fiction debut from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober.

Psychedelics have made a comeback, but the truth is they remain a mystery. In this daring, profound and wildly entertaining investigation, clinical neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell tests the claims being made for these substances by taking ten different psychedelics in ten different settings.

Journeying from a neuroimaging lab in London to the Colombian Amazon via Silicon Valley and his friend’s basement kitchen, his encounters with scientists and gangsters, venture capitalists and con men, psychonauts and shamans, and above all with the drugs themselves, take us beyond the hype and reveal the reality of psychedelics in all their strangeness, darkness and wonder.

‘Canny and somewhat sceptical . . . rigorous and penetrating . . . This is a wonderful book, a journey into the nature and potential of consciousness itself’ Literary Review

‘An incisive, deeply personal and beautifully written account of the power, the uses and the modern misuses of psychedelics. Highly recommended’ Anil Seth, author of Being You

‘Utterly compelling. Some books are in a category of their own and this is one them. Reading it is like having an out of body experience’ Mark Miodownik, author of Stuff Matters

‘Superb . . . brilliant’ TLS

After spending her twenties in London, Amy Liptrot returns to her home in Orkney where she comes to terms with the addiction that has consumed the past decade of her life. On the remote island, Amy spends her mornings swimming in the cold sea, her days observing wildlife, and her nights searching the sky for any signs of the Northern Lights. She soon discovers how the natural world can restore life, heal old wounds and renew hope.

‘An amazingly intimate, compassionate, gripping portrait of addiction, courage and love.’ – The judges of the Booker Prize

‘Shuggie Bain means so much to me. It is such a powerfully written story . . . I love a heartbreak book but there is so much love within this one, particularly between Shuggie and his mother Agnes.’ – Dua Lipa

It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more from life, dreaming of greater things. But Agnes is abandoned by her philandering husband, and as she descends deeper into drink, her children try their best to save her, yet one by one they must abandon her to save themselves.

It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest. Shuggie is different, he is clearly no’ right. But Shuggie believes that if he tries his hardest, he can be normal like the other boys and help his mother escape this hopeless place.

Shuggie Bain lays bare the ruthlessness of poverty, the limits of love, and the hollowness of pride. For readers of A Little Life and Angela’s Ashes, it is a heartbreaking novel by a brilliant writer with a powerful and important story to tell.

‘Tender and unsentimental . . . The Billy Elliot-ish character of Shuggie . . . leaps off the page.’ – Daily Mail