Next Chapter: Our shelves. Written words that deserve your time.

On July 19, 2026

Next chapter: Your Rough Trade guide to what to read, own and love.

Our fortnightly guide features handpicked titles worth your time, helping you to discover what lies between the lines, exploring music through books, zines, photography and culture.

Read on for this week’s top picks, including Jimmy Cauty and Jem Finer as The Standing Stones, a new reimagining of Hamnet, and a Rough Trade Exclusive from Big Joanie’s Stephanie Phillips.

Some are exclusive, some are signed, and some are in our Summer Sale.

Rough Trade Exclusives

The Standing Stones package including book, poster and 12"

The Standing Stones
The Hurdy Stone Zine: Documenting the Standing of a Stone

Rough Trade Exclusive limited edition hardback, signed by authors. Plus signed A2 poster-pamphlet and LUNATRONIK (WTF) 12″.

Since releasing their first single as The Standing Stones, the Hurdy-Gurdy Song back in 2023, both Jimmy Cauty (KLF) and Jem Finer (The Pogues) are only just getting started on their journey through folklore. Raising their first monolith which now stands permanently in Lovebrook Farm, Sussex, the pair are back, with another. The twelve foot Welsh slate Hurdy Stone (weighing in at 2.5 tonnes) was erected as part of the NeoAncients Festival on 1st May 2026.

This is the second of three stones that are due to triangulate with the Green Comet when it passes early in almost 50,000 years. To mark the occasion, we have a limited edition of The Hurdy Stone Zine, which comes with an A2 LUNATRONIX signed poster-pamphlet and a LUNATRONIK (WTF) 12” single featuring TowerBlock1, housed within a labelled, stamped and numbered card envelope.

PRE-ORDER NOW

Stephanie Phillips
We Were Here: A History of Black People and Alternative Music

Rough Trade Exclusive signed hardback with postcard.

Stephanie Phillips is all punk. As front person of Big Joanie, co-organiser of Decolonise Fest (highlighting punks of colour from all over the world), and music journalist, Phillips’ investigation into A History of Black People and Alternative Music draws on all areas of her expertise.

Exploring and redefining a history that largely sidelined black artists and their contributions to forming genres, Phillips traces vital figures from Sister Rosetta Tharpe, to Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix to Tina Turner to Poly Styrene and beyond. Looking back at those that paved the way, also leads Phillips to consider the future and the black Gen-Z artists it rests on to push forward.

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You are what you read.
Exclusives, signed editions and more.

Chloé Zhao, Jessie Buckley and Agata Grzybowska

Even as a Shadow, Even as a Dream

Zhao, Buckley and Grzybowskacome together to intertwine cinematic prowess, mesmerizing writing and haunting photography to reimagine the story of Hamnet.

While the debut is not a replacement nor a document of the making of, it acts as a quiet companion existing alongside the film.

Shared exclusive hardback with limited signed postcard by Chloé Zhao.

PRE-ORDER

Ken Vaillat and Steve Stiefel
Making Rumours: The Inside Story of how Fleetwood Mac Made a Masterpiece

Over eighty exclusive photographs and further insight into how a band was able to overcome the heartbreak, divorce, addiction and betrayal recording songs that would become a cornerstone in your record collection.

Signed hardback.

PRE-ORDER

Glen E. Friedman

We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now: The Dead Kennedys Photographs

Topping charts on the tailwind of the punk explosion of 1977 UK scene, Friedman photographed the band in LA, in colour.

Where punk publications favoured black and white images, these colour shots taken while working at SkateBoarder magazine, have remained largely unseen since. Includes writing from Shepard Fairey, Zack de la Rocha and Jello Biafra.

Signed hardback.

PRE-ORDER

Irvine Welsh
Can Nothing Save Us

Stepping outside of the Trainspotting universe, Welsh travels across the pond with an LA thriller a million miles away from the Scottish streets. A tale of revenge, jealousy, and wealth set against a backdrop of long LA evenings.

Signed hardback.

PRE-ORDER

Michael Cragg
Can’t Get You Out of My Head: In Search of Kylie

Pop aficionado writing for the Guardian, Observer, contributions to i-D, Fader and Q turns his attentions to Kylie. From charming soapstar to global pop icon with a forty year career under her belt.

Signed hardback edition.

PRE-ORDER

Sofia Coppola, Andrew Durham
Making Marie Antoinette

Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinetteremains a cult landmark: all powdered excess, pastel rebellion and one of the most iconic soundtracks of the 2000s.

Signed hardback by Coppola and Durham, plus poster.

PRE-ORDER

Book cover: Somewhere Between Screaming and Crying

Jamie Fischer

Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith

The enduring legacy of the songwriter is explored through original interviews with friends, collaborators and, for the first time, his family.

Signed bookplate plus postcard.

PRE-ORDER

Book cover: Take Me For A Walk In The Morning Dew

Rick Wakeman
The Wizard of Prog: The Truth and Something Like The Truth

An unmissable memoir and delightfully absurd story from the musical genius. From piano-playing prodigy, through to lavish world tours, to sleeping rough and the comeback of the century.

Signed hardback.

PRE-ORDER

Shop indie.
Publisher Focus: Café Royal Books.

Over the weekend, we launched our next publisher focus, spending time delving into the zine collection of Café Royal Books. Spanning the raves that raised us and the subcultures carved around them, we dive into the zines that take the tales of the underground and bring them to light.

SHOP THE CAFE ROYAL COLLECTION

Summer reads in the summer sale. Enjoy more for less, with new titles added.

Rough Trade

Former magazine editor of Dissident, Get Rhythm, and Bullit magazines. Former Music PR and Radio Plugger. Now running WithGuitars ezine.

By Steve Janes

Rick Wakeman The Wizard of Prog: The Truth and Something Like The Truth

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Rick Wakeman
The Wizard of Prog: The Truth and Something Like The Truth