Paula Hawkins launches R&J summer book club

Paula Hawkins' bestseller The Girl on the Train (Doubleday) will launch this year's Richard and Judy summer book club, with W H Smith also unveiling the club's "fresh" new look.

To mark the start of the summer club, Hawkins will embark on a country-wide tour, alongside two other authors whose books are included in the eight chosen titles: Lisa Jewell (with novel The Girls, Century), and Cathy Rentzenbrink (with memoir The Last Act of Love, Picador). The tour will start in St Pancras, London, with further stops in Leicester, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds and York.

Also included in the book club are Dawn French’s comedy According to Yes (Penguin); Those We Left Behind, a “deeply chilling” novel from Stuart Neville (Harvill Secker); Sweet Caress, a sweeping tale of the 20th century by William Boyd (Bloomsbury); Jackie Copleton's debut novel A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding (Hutchinson), about loss, hope and forgiveness; and Rogue Lawyer, a “gritty” legal thriller by John Grisham (Hodder).

To celebrate this summer’s list, W H Smith is also revealing a new look to the Book Club, both in store and on its website. The new look will feature "brighter colours for summer" and "fresh" photography.

W H Smith’s books director Lucy Menendez said: “As you would expect from Richard and Judy, this latest Book Club selection showcases the very best of titles this summer. From stunning debut fiction to the bestselling The Girl on the Train, we’re confident this list will appeal to all our customers and book clubs nationwide.”

Podcasts and website reviews will give readers extra content to share and engage with while readers will also be able to access extra content in the back of books bought from W H Smith, in the form of questions for discussion, author Q&As and other suggested reads.

Madeley said: “This is a really exciting list – every title is compelling in a different way. Interviewing the authors for our podcast episodes is always engaging and reveals elements that we didn’t know about the authors, their inspirations and influences.”