WSS Bookclub: Our Top 10 Reads for January 26
I don’t know about you, but when I’m on a break or holiday, I tend to do the most reading. There’s nothing more relaxing than escaping reality in a good book. Whether you are into romance, biographies, crime, self-help or need a good laugh, we’ve found some of the hottest books around to keep you interested for the rest of summer. Here are our top 10 January reads for 2026:
A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage
The witty and gripping new thriller introducing your new favourite murderous heroine: Lalla Rook. Lalla, is a person who you hate to love. She is quite open to the fact she is a sociopath and is hell bent on making her dreams and goals a reality, even if it does include a few misadventures like murder. However, she has an endearing side that makes you want to support her agendas and the crazy things she gets up to. Brilliantly sharp, dark and funny, you will love this novel as much as I did.
” There’s a dead body in my living room.
I’ve not called the police because it was I who stabbed him. Seven times in all. The truth is, it’s surprisingly difficult to dispatch someone with a vegetable knife.
In case you’re wondering, the dead man is not my husband. I do resent our pitiful sex life and his woeful lack of ambition, but I wouldn’t murder him for it. Not yet, anyway.
Right now, I have far more pressing concerns: scheming to get my daughter into the perfect school; buying my dream home in Hampstead; and disposing of a corpse.
A woman’s work is never done. I’ve created the perfect life – and I’ll kill to keep it.”
A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage is written by M.K. Oliver and published by HarperCollins Australia.
The Correspondent
This very cleverly written book of letters will make you think about your life, what you have accomplished, your mistakes and your relationships with others.
“In her letters to family and friends we come to know the life of Sybil Van Antwerp- stubborn, cantankerous, opinionated, always steadfast in her belief in the power of the written word.
But as the clock begins to tick for Sybil, the need for a few post-scripts to the life she’s led becomes apparent. Fixing her difficult relationship with her children. Taking a final chance at romance. Atoning for an old legal case which has come back to haunt her. And finally, reckoning with a devastating loss that she has spent the last thirty years holding close to her chest. ”
The Correspondent is written by Virginia Evans and published by Penguin UK.
How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates
A hilarious, swoony and downright terrifying horror romance in which a cinephile gets caught in the middle of a murder spree at a speed-dating event and must use her encyclopedic knowledge of the rom-com and horror genres to make it as a real-life Final Girl.
When cinephile Jamie Prescott attends a speed-dating event, she expects to meet some mediocre men and have a laugh – she doesn’t expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at her table during a blackout. When the lights come back on, there are more bodies on the floor and the doors are locked.
Armed with makeshift weapons and her extensive knowledge of what not to do in a slasher, Jamie must figure out how to make it out of the building alive. But as the night progresses, she begins to suspect the killer is committing the slayings to woo one of the daters. Whatever happened to roses and perfume?
And why can’t Jamie stay focused on the important thing here, which is obviously not getting murdered, instead of being distracted by a few hot guys? And what if one of those hot guys happens to be the bad guy?
How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates is written by Shailee Thompson and published by Atria Australia.
Dear Debbie
From #1 New York Times and global bestselling author Freida McFadden comes a twisted, subversive thriller about a columnist who finally decides to start following her own advice to make men pay for their sins…
A brand new twisted thriller that will have you cheering good for her! from the #1 New York Times bestselling and global sensation Freida McFadden, author of The Housemaid!
Sometimes, enough is enough…
Debbie Mullen is losing it. For years, she has compiled all of her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighbourly advice. Through her work, Debbie has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or even abused by their husbands. And Debbie does her best to guide them in the right direction.
Dear Debbie is be Freida McFadden and published by Sourcebooks.
The Heir Apparent
An absolutely delicious, compulsively readable, stylish novel about a young aristocratic woman, who has to choose between duty and her heart. This truly is one of those “I need to read all of this book in one go” reads.
“They would always choose the Crown over their family. It was the pact they made for the honour of wearing it.
Lexi Villiers is a 29-year-old Englishwoman doing her medical residency in Hobart, working too hard, worried about her bank balance, and living with friends. It’s an ordinary, happy kind of life, and getting even better, because as the dawn is breaking on New Year’s Day, Lexi is about to kiss the man she loves for the very first time.
But by midnight, everything will change. Because Lexi is in fact not an ordinary young woman. She is Princess Alexandrina, third in line to the British throne – albeit estranged from the rest of her family and living in voluntary exile on the other side of the world. But following a terrible accident which has claimed the life of her father and her twin brother, Lexi – the black sheep of her family and, until this moment, always destined to be the spare – is now the heir apparent, first in line to the throne once her grandmother, the elderly Queen, dies. Called back to do her duty, she arrives in London to a Palace riven with power plays and media leaks, all the while guarding painful secrets of her own, not knowing who she can trust.
Palace waters are treacherous, rumours are rife, and selling each other’s secrets is a family tradition. And with the Crown just within her grasp, Lexi must choose what bonds she will keep … and what she is willing to leave behind.”
The Heir Apparent is written by Rebecca Armitage and is published through HarperCollins Publishers.
Driven
Susie Wolff is the epitome of a “boss lady”. Strong, driven and outstanding in a male dominated industry and sport, while also juggling the role of wife to Mercedes CEO and team boss, Toto Wolff and as a mother. Susie should be an inspiration for all women, no matter their background.
In Driven, Susie lifts the bonnet for the first time on her extraordinary life. From the driver’s seat of the racing car to the heart of the F1 paddock, she offers a rare, first-hand view into the inner workings of motorsport at its highest level. With exceptional candour, she shares the story of her enduring relationship with her husband Toto and how she has navigated the balance between ambition and motherhood.”
Mad Mabel
‘In 1954, at just fourteen years of age, Mabel Waller became the youngest Australian in history to be convicted of murder.’
In 2025, on a quiet Melbourne lane, an elderly man is found dead by his neighbour, 81-year-old Elsie Fitzpatrick. No one suspects any foul play.
Until they discover Elsie’s past. In the 1950s, her name was not Elsie. It was Mabel.
Gone Before Goodbye
Maggie McCabe is on the brink. A highly skilled and renowned army combat surgeon, she has always lived life at the edge.
But now, after a devastating series of personal tragedies, Maggie is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand the best care money can buy – as well as absolute discretion.
Halfway across the globe, one of the world’s most mysterious men requires unconventional medical assistance. Desperate, and one of the few surgeons in the world skilled enough to take this job, Maggie enters his realm of unspeakable opulence and fulfils her end of the agreement.
But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself – or she will be the next one who is . . . Gone Before Goodbye.
In Gone Before Goodbye, the unique storytelling talents of Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben combine in one masterpiece of suspense fiction.
People We Meet On Vacation
TWO FRIENDS. TEN SUMMER TRIPS. THEIR LAST CHANCE TO FALL IN LOVE.
12 SUMMERS AGO: Poppy and Alex meet. They hate each other, and are pretty confident they’ll never speak again.
11 SUMMERS AGO: They’re forced to share a ride home from college and by the end of it a friendship is formed. And a pact: every year, one vacation together.
10 SUMMERS AGO: Alex discovers his fear of flying on the way to Vancouver. Poppy holds his hand the whole way.
7 SUMMERS AGO: They get far too drunk and narrowly avoid getting matching tattoos in New Orleans.
2 SUMMERS AGO: It all goes wrong.
THIS SUMMER: Poppy asks Alex to join her on one last trip. A trip that will determine the rest of their lives.
People We Meet On Vacation is written by Emily Henry and published by Penguin UK.
Wuthering Heights (1847) is Emily Brontë’s only novel, a classic of English literature and Gothic fiction known for its intense, obsessive love story between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw on the Yorkshire moors. It explores themes of revenge, passion, and class conflict, focusing on the tumultuous relationship between the Earnshaw and Linton families.
A new film adaptation directed by Emerald Fennell, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, is scheduled for release, in Australia, on the 12 February 2026. Why not read it before seeing the movie?
Wuthering Heights is a classic novel by Emily Bronte and published by Penguin UK.
