After a long week, there’s nothing like relaxing with a great book all weekend long. Luckily, there’s no shortage of great weekend reads, with stellar books of every genre hitting the stands (both physical and digital) every single day.
However, that same breadth of choice can make it rather difficult to zero in on the really enjoyable reads that suit your personal taste. Which is why we’ve done the work for you, digging through the bestseller lists and critical reviews to put together a handpicked collection of excellent weekend reads. So, without further ado, here are three great books that we think you should read this weekend.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke book cover.Image via Penguin Random House
Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel, Yesteryear is a psychological thriller centered on tradwife influencer Natalie Heller Mills. The book follows two timelines, one in the present day, with Natalie playing up her supposedly “traditional” life for the cameras while secretly employing a whole team to sustain the illusion, and the other set in what appears to be the 19th century. In the process, it satirizes the tradwife trend, influencer culture, and the performance of femininity while also presenting an engrossing character study.
Yesteryear isn’t really the book its marketing sells it to be: it’s not a fish-out-of-water comedy or a straightforward satire, and its underlying themes and characterizations are a lot more biting than you might expect. The book has had a generally warm reception from readers since its publication in April this year, and it’s sure to end up on the reading lists of many book clubs. A film adaptation starring and produced by Anne Hathaway is currently in the works as well.
Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz Which Lord of the Rings Character Are You? One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed
The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide.
💍Frodo
🌿Samwise
👑Aragorn
🔥Gandalf
🏹Legolas
⚒️Gimli
👁️Sauron
🪨Gollum
01
You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders.
02
Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis.
03
Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it.
04
What does “home” mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are.
05
When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not.
06
Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers — it’s knowing which questions to ask.
07
How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind.
08
Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen.
09
You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character.
10
When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories.
The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earth
The scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people.
💍 Frodo
🌿 Samwise
👑 Aragorn
🔥 Gandalf
🏹 Legolas
⚒️ Gimli
👁️ Sauron
🪨 Gollum
You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don’t have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is.
You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated — but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait; it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you’d do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one.
You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you.
You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late.
Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them.
You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don’t do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything.
You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you’re not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct.
You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time.
2
‘The Wedding People’ (2024)
The Wedding People by Alison EspachImage via Henry Holt and Co.
Written by Alison Espach, The Wedding People follows a Midwestern English professor whose plans to kill herself take a turn when she crashes a wedding party. Phoebe Stone is an adjunct English professor who travels to a luxury hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, in the aftermath of personal tragedies to enjoy one last splurge before she commits suicide. While she’s there, she runs into Lila, who’s about to get married at the hotel, sparking a complicated relationship.
The Wedding People is both funny and heartbreaking in equal measure, centered on the unlikely and even toxic friendship between two very different women. The book became a New York Times bestseller on its release in 2024, earning critical acclaim for its nuanced and satisfying narrative. The book was also acquired for a film adaptation before its publication, with Will Speck and Josh Gordon set to direct and Nicole Holofcener writing the screenplay.
3
‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ (2020)
the front cover of “Dungeon Crawler Carl’ by Matt DinnimanImage via Ace Books
The first book of the smash-hit science-fantasy LitRPG series, Dungeon Crawler Carl was written by Matt Dinniman and originated on the online publisher Royal Road. The book follows Carl, a Coast Guard veteran, and Princess Donut, his ex-girlfriend’s cat, as they enter a dungeon crawl/intergalactic reality show created by an alien corporation that has destroyed Earth. The book was followed by seven sequels, the latest released in May 2026, with two more books planned in the series.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is a self-publishing success story that built a massive following before being acquired by Penguin Random House. As of this year, the series has sold over 14 million copies across formats. The first book, like the rest of the series, presents a well-balanced blend of action, humor, and intelligence. It’s an entertaining and engaging read, and the book earned a nomination for the 2026 Arthur C. Clarke Award. A TV adaptation has been greenlit by Peacock, and there are plans to further expand the franchise as games, graphic novels, and more.
