Marie Claire’s edit: July’s must-read books

Warning: you'll want the lot

This is a Marie Claire Advertorial. No summer holiday is complete without a brilliant book, but how do you go about choosing your next read from the tantalising selection of new ones hitting the shelves every week? From Fredrik Backman's latest novel about a fastidious outsider who finds acceptance, friendship and love, to the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year, Louise O'Neill's page-turner on the blurred lines around sexual consent, here's our edit of the books you need to read...

Best-selling author Fredrik Backman humanises those perceived by the outside world as abnormal in his latest novel Britt-Marie Was Here. Heartwarming, funny, this will stay with you like a name carved into wood. Buy it now

Louise O'Neill is fast becoming one of our favourite feminist authors for tackling taboos – and her latest book, Asking for It, examines the earth-shattering repercussions of rape in a small town. Buy it now

Emma Hannigan's novel The Perfect Gift is a story of three women, all of whom have darkness in their pasts and find hope in the form of a young runaway. This is a tale you won't be able to put it down, trust us. Buy it now

In Love Notes for Freddie, Eva Rice explores first love, last love and all the complicated stuff in between that can't be explained by any mathematical equation. Sigh… Buy it now

How would you like to win all four books in our edit of summer reads? We've teamed up with women's fiction community Bookends to give away 50 bundles of these four novels to make sure you're never without a good read. For your chance to win, enter here. For exclusive author Q&As, reading group guides and insights into bestselling women's fiction, go to Bookends and join the conversation on its Facebook page and Twitter.

In association with Bookends, Marie Claire has selected its favourite books to read this summer. Find more good reads here.