Must Read Releases - 30th January 2018
It's a MASSIVE day for brand new releases today - 21 that I want to read so far! (If anyone has any tips for how to squeeze in more reading time I would be most grateful!) So, take a deep breath, here we go...
(Historical/Women's Fiction)
A new edition of this award-winning modern classic, with a new introduction by Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), an excerpt from the never before seen follow-up, and discussion guide. Pakersfield, Georgia, 1958: Thirteen-year-old Tangy Mae Quinn is the sixth of ten fatherless siblings. She is the darkest-skinned among them and therefore the ugliest in her mother, Rozelle’s, estimation, but she’s also the brightest. Rozelle—beautiful, charismatic, and light-skinned—exercises a violent hold over her children. Fearing abandonment, she pulls them from school at the age of twelve and sends them to earn their keep for the household, whether in domestic service, in the fields, or at “the farmhouse” on the edge of town, where Rozelle beds local men for money.
But Tangy Mae has been selected to be part of the first integrated class at a nearby white high school. She has a chance to change her life, but can she break from Rozelle’s grasp without ruinous—even fatal—consequences?
But Tangy Mae has been selected to be part of the first integrated class at a nearby white high school. She has a chance to change her life, but can she break from Rozelle’s grasp without ruinous—even fatal—consequences?
Winner of the Black Caucus of the ALA Award
Nominee for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
Nominee for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
The Soul Sleep Cycle Book 1
(General Fiction, Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
First he lost his
daughter. His mind may be next.
After years of being
haunted by the day his little girl drowned, Vincent faces a new nightmare — one
that reaches into the real world and beyond the grave.
If Souls Can Sleep
introduces a hidden world where gifted individuals possess the power to invade
the dreams of others. Two rival factions have transformed the dreamscape into a
war zone where all reality is relative and even the dead can’t rest in peace.
The Cabots, Book 2
(General Fiction, Romance)
For Hunter and Sara, getting married was easy. It’s staying together that’s the true test of love…
Hunter Cabot deeply loves two things: the international tea company he’s helped his father build, and his wife, Sara. From the moment he first saw her wide smile on their college campus years ago, Hunter fell hard. Yet now, with other family members pushing to sell the thriving business and Sara grieving their failure to start a family, he’s suddenly facing the crushing loss of both.
The relentless ambition that Sara once admired in Hunter is now driving them apart. Each missed doctor’s appointment, neglected dinner date, and family squabble accentuates their differing priorities. Still, Sara struggles to create the home life they’d envisioned, until unsettling developments—both personal and professional—push them to the breaking point.
When love is put to the ultimate test, can Hunter and Sara stop fighting each other long enough to fight for their marriage?
(Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Teen/YA)
When a 200-year-old witch attacks her, sixteen-year-old bookworm Lainey Styles is determined to find a logical explanation. Even with the impossible staring her in the face, Lainey refuses to believe it—until she finds a photograph linking the witch to her dead mother.
After consulting a psychic, Lainey discovers that she, like her mother, is a Keeper: a witch with the exclusive ability to unlock and wield the Grimoire, a dangerous but powerful spell book. But there’s a problem. The Grimoire has been stolen by a malevolent warlock who is desperate for a spell locked inside it—a spell that would allow him to siphon away the world’s magic.
With the help of her comic-book-loving best friend and an enigmatic but admittedly handsome street fighter, Lainey must leave her life of college prep and studying behind to prepare for the biggest test of all: stealing back the book.
(Literary / Women's Fiction)
Nora Brown teaches high school English and lives a quiet life in Seattle with her husband and six-year-old daughter. But one November day, moments after dismissing her class, a girl’s face appears above the students’ desks—“a wild numinous face with startling blue eyes, a face floating on top of shapeless drapes of purples and blues where arms and legs should have been. Terror rushes through Nora’s body—the kind of raw terror you feel when there’s no way out, when every cell in your body, your entire body, is on fire—when you think you might die.”
Twenty-four hours later, while on Thanksgiving vacation, the face appears again. Shaken and unsteady, Nora meets with neurologists and eventually, a psychiatrist. As the story progresses, a terrible secret is discovered—a secret that pushes Nora toward an even deeper psychological breakdown.
This breathtaking debut novel examines the impact of traumatic childhood experiences and the fragile line between past and present. Exquisitely nuanced and profoundly intimate, The Night Child is a story of resilience, hope, and the capacity of the mind, body, and spirit to save itself despite all odds.
(Teen/YA)
For Clementine Haas, finding herself is more than a nice idea. Ever since she woke up in an Irish hospital with complete amnesia, self-discovery has become her mission.
They tell her she’s the lone survivor of a plane crash. They tell her she’s lucky to be alive. But she doesn’t feel lucky. She feels…lost.
With the relentless Irish press bearing down on her, and a father she may not even recognize on his way from America to take her home, Clementine assumes a new identity and enlists a blue-eyed Irish stranger, Kieran O’Connell, to help her escape her forgotten life…and start a new one.
Hiding out in the sleepy town of Waterville, Ireland, Clementine discovers there’s an upside to a life that’s fallen apart. But as her lies grow, so does her affection for Kieran, and the truth about her identity becomes harder and harder to reveal, forcing Clementine to decide: Can she leave her past behind for a new love she’ll never forget?
(General / Literary Fiction)
The sudden death of a childhood friend forces a woman to rethink her own life—and make an impossible decision.
Alison Eastlake has come a long way from the wild days of her youth in England. Now, instead of streaking her hair purple, dreaming of becoming an artist, and sneaking cigarettes in her friend Sophie’s basement, she has a career in advertising in Los Angeles and attends black-tie dinners with her executive husband. She fears that she is fast becoming the type of person she once despised.
When Alison receives news that Sophie has died of a drug overdose, leaving behind a slew of unanswered questions, she must go back home. Once there, she unearths reminders of her unruly past, including feelings for Sophie’s brother, Matt—and finds that she is still powerfully attracted to him.
Careening dangerously close to a full-blown affair, Alison must now make an impossible decision. But when a long-buried secret about Sophie resurfaces, it shatters everything Alison had always believed about the past—and forces her to rethink her own life, her marriage, and her future.
Recipes, Techniques, Obsession
(Non-fiction, Cookery, Food)
Every day, noodle shops around the globe ladle out quick meals that fuel our go-go lives. But Ken Albala has a mission: to get YOU in the kitchen making noodle soup. This primer offers the recipes and techniques for mastering quick-slurper staples and luxurious from-scratch feasts. Albala made a different noodle soup every day for two years. His obsession yielded all you need to know about making stock bases, using dried or fresh noodles, and choosing from a huge variety of garnishes, flavourings, and accompaniments. He lays out innovative techniques for mixing and matching bases and noodles with grains, vegetables, and other ingredients drawn from an international array of cuisines. In addition to recipes both cutting edge and classic, Alabala describes new soup discoveries he created along the way. There's advice on utensils, cooking tools, and the oft-overlooked necessity of matching a soup to the proper bowl. Finally, he sprinkles in charming historical details that cover everything from ancient Chinese millet noodles to that off-brand Malaysian ramen at the back of the ethnic grocery store. Filled with more than seventy colour photos and one hundred recipes, A World of Noodle Soup is an indispensable guide for cooking, eating, and loving a universal favourite.
A Tough-Love Letter to the Employee in All of Us
(Business/Investing, Self Help)
For many of us, the thought
of work brings to mind a daily nine-to-five grind, reporting to disinterested
supervisors, and “working for the weekend.” You probably enter the office
feeling disenchanted, counting down the minutes until 5 p.m. Whether
this approach to work is due to feeling unrecognized for your work, being a cog
in a corporate machine, or the influence of apathetic co-workers, there is
something you likely forgot along the way—you are the one in the
driver’s seat of your career.
Making the switch from a
passive observer to being the driver isn’t easy and there are no one-size-fits
all means of achieving this. Low Man on the Totem Pole offers
various ground-breaking strategies to get more out of your work—including
viewing yourself as a business owner and your place of work as the client.
Whether you are a front-line
employee or a manager, Low Man on the Totem Pole offers
something for anyone and everyone trying to find some meaning in their work.
Using real world examples, practical advice, and unapologetic straight talk,
author and business consultant H.V. MacArthur lays out a clear and simple
approach to personal success.
(Poetry)
The Last Time I’ll Write About You is popular Filipino YA and romance writer Dawn Lanuza’s debut collection of poetry. Featuring beautiful, relatable poems about first love, this book is the perfect companion for anyone who has loved, lost, and emerged anew.
How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More
(Business/Investing)
From the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Great by Choice comes an authoritative, practical guide to individual performance—based on analysis from an exhaustive, groundbreaking study.
Why do some people perform better at work than others? This deceptively simple question continues to confound professionals in all sectors of the workforce. Now, after a unique, five-year study of more than 5,000 managers and employees, Morten Hansen reveals the answers in his “Seven Work Smarter Practices” that can be applied by anyone looking to maximize their time and performance.
Each of Hansen’s seven practices is highlighted by inspiring stories from individuals in his comprehensive study. You’ll meet a high school principal who engineered a dramatic turnaround of his failing high school; a rural Indian farmer determined to establish a better way of life for women in his village; and a sushi chef, whose simple preparation has led to his restaurant (tucked away under a Tokyo subway station underpass) being awarded the maximum of three Michelin stars. Hansen also explains how the way Alfred Hitchcock filmed Psycho and the 1911 race to become the first explorer to reach the South Pole both illustrate the use of his seven practices (even before they were identified).
Each chapter contains questions and key insights to allow you to assess your own performance and figure out your work strengths, as well as your weaknesses. Once you understand your individual style, there are mini-quizzes, questionnaires, and clear tips to assist you focus on a strategy to become a more productive worker. Extensive, accessible, and friendly, Great at Work will help you achieve more by working less, backed by unprecedented statistical analysis.
Why do some people perform better at work than others? This deceptively simple question continues to confound professionals in all sectors of the workforce. Now, after a unique, five-year study of more than 5,000 managers and employees, Morten Hansen reveals the answers in his “Seven Work Smarter Practices” that can be applied by anyone looking to maximize their time and performance.
Each of Hansen’s seven practices is highlighted by inspiring stories from individuals in his comprehensive study. You’ll meet a high school principal who engineered a dramatic turnaround of his failing high school; a rural Indian farmer determined to establish a better way of life for women in his village; and a sushi chef, whose simple preparation has led to his restaurant (tucked away under a Tokyo subway station underpass) being awarded the maximum of three Michelin stars. Hansen also explains how the way Alfred Hitchcock filmed Psycho and the 1911 race to become the first explorer to reach the South Pole both illustrate the use of his seven practices (even before they were identified).
Each chapter contains questions and key insights to allow you to assess your own performance and figure out your work strengths, as well as your weaknesses. Once you understand your individual style, there are mini-quizzes, questionnaires, and clear tips to assist you focus on a strategy to become a more productive worker. Extensive, accessible, and friendly, Great at Work will help you achieve more by working less, backed by unprecedented statistical analysis.
An Ivy Meadows Mystery
(General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller)
Creepy munchkins. A mysterious phantom. And a real Wicked Witch. Are you ready for it?
Actress and part-time PI Ivy Meadows has been hired to uncover the cause of the creepy accidents that plague the roadshow The Wizard: A Space OZpera and find out who dropped a chandelier on the Wicked Witch of the East.
Was it the ghost who haunts the Grand Phoenician Theatre? A “wicked witch” in the cast? Or is it someone—or something—more sinister?
It’s Ivy’s most personal case so far.
Her best friend Candy, who’s touring with the show, is caught in a downward spiral of self-destruction, and is in more danger than she knows.
To save her friend and the show, Ivy must answer even tougher questions: Do spirits really exist? What is real beauty? What does friendship mean?
Ivy needs to learn the answers, and fast—before Candy reaches the point of no return.
My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free
(Christian)
What if you knew all the moments of my past that I am not proud of? What if you really knew me, the messy parts that I’ve hoped to forget and worked hard to conceal? For so long, my greatest fear was what you might think of me if you only knew the whole story.
It’s exhausting, this guarding of our stories and struggles. Fear of being found out had caused me to hide—but I wasn’t just covering my flaws, I was unintentionally blocking the beauty of God’s grace. My journey to real freedom began when I quit running from my mess and started trusting Jesus to make something beautiful of it.
This book is that story. It’s stepping out of shame and insecurity into gospel freedom. It’s letting God turn our failures and frailties into testimonies of His faithfulness. I’ve discovered that when we quit hiding, God gets the glory and we are able to fully embrace not only our relationship with Him, but also with one another.
Transparency brings freedom, and in every moment, we'll find that God can absolutely be trusted.
It’s exhausting, this guarding of our stories and struggles. Fear of being found out had caused me to hide—but I wasn’t just covering my flaws, I was unintentionally blocking the beauty of God’s grace. My journey to real freedom began when I quit running from my mess and started trusting Jesus to make something beautiful of it.
This book is that story. It’s stepping out of shame and insecurity into gospel freedom. It’s letting God turn our failures and frailties into testimonies of His faithfulness. I’ve discovered that when we quit hiding, God gets the glory and we are able to fully embrace not only our relationship with Him, but also with one another.
Transparency brings freedom, and in every moment, we'll find that God can absolutely be trusted.
A Comforting & Surprising Look at Death & Dying
(Christian)
(Christian)
More and more people who are terminally ill are choosing assisted suicide. When is it Right to Die? offers a different path with alternatives of hope, compassion, and death with real dignity. Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to wrestle with this issue and to wish for a painless solution. For the last 50 years she has been confined to a wheelchair and struggled against her own paralysis. And she sat by the bedside of her dying father, thinking, So much suffering, why not end it all quickly, painlessly?
The terminally ill, the elderly, the disabled, the depressed and suicidal, can all be swept up into this movement of self-deliverance. Skip the suffering. Put a quick end to merciless pain and mental anguish. These are tempting enticements to the hurting. Joni doesn’t give pat answers. Instead, she gives warm comfort from God and practical help to meet the realities for those facing death.
When Is It Right to Die tells the stories of families who have wrestled with end-of-life questions and found that death with dignity does not necessarily mean three grams of Phenobarbital in the veins. Behind every right-to-die situation is a family. A family like yours. In her warm, personal way, Joni takes the reader into the lives of families and lets them speak about assisted suicide. What they say is surprising.
Whether you have a dying family member, facing moral and medical choices, or struggling with a chronic condition that feels overwhelming, this book will help you find practical encouragement and biblical advice to help you make difficult decisions.
This book is revised and updated to examine the current events, trending issues, and the rising acceptance of assisted suicide in this country.
(Romance)
Visit Siren Cove, Oregon, for gorgeous beaches, miles of hiking, delightful small-town shops—and a dark side none of its residents could have possibly imagined . . .
Leah Grayson has lived in Siren Cove all her life. It’s where she buried a time capsule with her fifth-grade class. Where she spent an unforgettable night on the beach with her first love. Where she married then divorced her rotten ex.
But there’s something ugly going on in her pretty little town. When Leah organizes a reunion for her fifth-grade classmates to open their time capsule, they discover a roll of film no one remembers saving. Afterward, strange incidents begin happening. Warnings. Accidents. Random acts of vandalism.
Luckily, her first love is back in town, too. Ryan Alexander has made it big with a wildly popular social media start-up, but he’s still the same sweet, cynical man she fell for all those years ago. And the chemistry they felt as teenagers is as strong as ever.
A nostalgic fling turns deadly when someone is convinced Leah has the key to secrets long buried. With no way to know whom they can trust, Leah and Ryan will have to seek out the answers themselves . . .
Leah Grayson has lived in Siren Cove all her life. It’s where she buried a time capsule with her fifth-grade class. Where she spent an unforgettable night on the beach with her first love. Where she married then divorced her rotten ex.
But there’s something ugly going on in her pretty little town. When Leah organizes a reunion for her fifth-grade classmates to open their time capsule, they discover a roll of film no one remembers saving. Afterward, strange incidents begin happening. Warnings. Accidents. Random acts of vandalism.
Luckily, her first love is back in town, too. Ryan Alexander has made it big with a wildly popular social media start-up, but he’s still the same sweet, cynical man she fell for all those years ago. And the chemistry they felt as teenagers is as strong as ever.
A nostalgic fling turns deadly when someone is convinced Leah has the key to secrets long buried. With no way to know whom they can trust, Leah and Ryan will have to seek out the answers themselves . . .
A Man Enough Romance
(Romance)
(Romance)
Childhood neighbors get a chance at love in Should’ve Been You, an achingly romantic novella in Nicole McLaughlin’s Man Enough series!
National Guardsman Jase Beckford wants to live a quiet life raising cattle and taking care of his mother. His childhood friend and neighbor Hannah is still his best friend, but when he walks into the Walters house one morning and sees her twin sister Becca for the first time in five years, he wonders if he missed out on something special.
Becca Walters has nursed a secret crush on Jase since childhood, but he always preferred Hannah, so she buried her feelings assuming her sister and Jase would one day turn their flirtation into a real relationship. And this Christmas, she is anticipating a proposal of her own, so Jase’s reappearance in her life doesn’t mean anything. Much. Okay, maybe more than Becca would like to admit.
However, when Becca’s sister gets engaged to someone who’s not Jase, Becca and Jase find themselves spending more together. And when secrets are revealed, suddenly those dormant feelings come back to life; but is the possibility of something between them worth risking the happiness of everyone they love?
When the Stars Come Out by Laura Trentham
A Cottonbloom Novel
(Romance)
A Cottonbloom Novel
(Romance)
Cottonbloom. A beautiful, faraway place where a woman can escape her past—and find reason to stay forever. . .
Willa Brown never planned to stay in Cottonbloom. She was on the way to somewhere else when she landed there and found work at the Abbot brothers’ garage. . .and a sense of comfort and safety that she had never known. The same holds true for Jackson Abbott himself. With one glance in her direction, he can make Willa’s heart melt. But what begins as an unrequited crush turns into something far more powerful than Willa could have ever imagined. . .
Jackson’s most meaningful relationship has always been with his car—and he’s not afraid to admit it. Still, he can’t help but become emotionally entangled with his new star mechanic Willa, who is definitely hiding some dark secrets of her own beneath the hood. Jackson desperately wants Willa to trust him, and to seek protection in his arms. But even as the two slowly surrender to their shared attraction, the danger lurking in Willa’s past remains a stubborn obstacle. Can she open up enough to give them both a chance at having real and lasting love?
(Historical Fiction)
Perched high in the Bavarian Alps, the Berghof seems worlds away from the realities of battle. Though terrified at first, Magda gradually becomes used to her dangerous occupation—though she knows better than to voice her misgivings about the war. But her love for a conspirator within the SS, and her growing awareness of the Reich’s atrocities, draw Magda into a plot that will test her wits and loyalty in a quest for safety, freedom, and ultimately, vengeance.
Vividly written and ambitious in scope, The Taster examines the harrowing moral dilemmas of war in an emotional story filled with acts of extraordinary courage.
(General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller)
“Let her go. I’ll stay.”
There are some decisions you can never unmake. You can only atone for them—or try to. During her senior year of college, Clare Michaels takes a spring break trip to Florida with three other girls, including her best friend, Lee. She’s hoping for adventure and a few stories to share back at school. Instead, a string of bad choices leads to a horrific encounter, and Lee offers herself up so that Clare can escape.
In the weeks and months that follow that fateful incident, Lee, once so dynamic and ambitious, flounders and withdraws. Clare was the only person to whom she’d ever confided about her troubled past. For Clare, that role felt like an honour—until it became a burden. Now she’s trying to make amends for her momentary selfishness by taking care of Lee—just as she’s been taking care of her high-strung mother, whose bestselling novel has been both windfall and curse. Years pass, circumstances change, and contact between Clare and Lee ebbs and flows, but the events of that night in Florida are impossible to escape. They keep dragging Clare back—forcing her to confront what really happened, and her part in it, in hopes of untangling guilt from loyalty and earning forgiveness at last . .
Refuge Cove by Janet Dailey
(Women's Fiction, Romance)
(Women's Fiction, Romance)
She came to Alaska on the promise of marriage, only to find herself on the run from her would-be husband. Lost and alone in the wilderness, Emma Hunter nearly weeps with relief at the sight of a small plane in the distance—until the rugged bush pilot makes his way through the brush to help her. Can she trust this stranger any more than the menacing predator on her trail? But there’s something in John Wolf’s dark eyes that wills her to believe in him, something about his gentle nature that allows her to accept his offer of protection . . .
He’d let her into his life because he knew she was in trouble. The last thing John Wolf expects is to feel so much so quickly for the vulnerable woman in his care. For sharing his lonely wilderness home with Emma means allowing her to see his sorrow—the son he longs to reconnect with, the loss of the family he once dreamed possible. Sharing his heart with Emma means being willing to risk everything to keep her safe . . .
(General / Women's Fiction)
Thanks so much for checking out this EPIC list today!
I can't wait to read and review these books so watch this space!
Have a look at my complete list of Reading Lists.
Happy Reading!
San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape.
As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behaviour threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.
Thanks so much for checking out this EPIC list today!
I can't wait to read and review these books so watch this space!
Have a look at my complete list of Reading Lists.
Happy Reading!
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