Must Reads 15th April 2019
I'm actually sitting in bed feeling pretty rubbish but I thought I'd try and cheer myself up a bit by picking ten more books to add to my wish list..so here they are:
The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees
(Teen & YA)
The waking forest has secrets. To Rhea, it appears like a mirage, dark and dense, at the very edge of her backyard. But when she reaches out to touch it, the forest vanishes. She's desperate to know more - until she finds a peculiar boy who offers to reveal its secrets. If she plays a game.
To the Witch, the forest is her home, where she sits on her throne of carved bone, waiting for dreaming children to beg her to grant their wishes. One night, a mysterious visitor arrives and asks her what she wishes for, but the Witch sends him away. And then the uninvited guest returns.
The strangers are just the beginning. Something is stirring in the forest, and when Rhea's and the Witch's paths collide, a truth more treacherous and deadly than either could ever imagine surfaces. But how much are they willing to risk to survive?
To the Witch, the forest is her home, where she sits on her throne of carved bone, waiting for dreaming children to beg her to grant their wishes. One night, a mysterious visitor arrives and asks her what she wishes for, but the Witch sends him away. And then the uninvited guest returns.
The strangers are just the beginning. Something is stirring in the forest, and when Rhea's and the Witch's paths collide, a truth more treacherous and deadly than either could ever imagine surfaces. But how much are they willing to risk to survive?
(Mystery & Thriller)
‘I can help you save your sister. But I need something from you …’
Sisters Bree and Alissa Walker share a special bond. Neglected by their parents, they have always looked out for one another. But one day, sixteen-year-old Alissa goes missing. When Bree discovers her green backpack with all her belongings, abandoned on the steps of their run-down trailer, she knows that something bad has happened …
Then she receives a chilling text message. Someone has Alissa. But Bree will have to give up something very precious in exchange.
Desperate to save Alissa, Bree looks at everyone close to their family. She’s sure that Alissa’s best friend is keeping something back about her little sister and a boy at school, and why has their estranged uncle, who they’ve not seen in years, been hanging around again?
It soon becomes clear that the person behind the message knows a lot about the dark truths within the Walker family and will go to any lengths to get revenge. And as the search for Alissa continues, Bree discovers something about her brother Tyler that she wishes she hadn’t, a dangerous secret, which is also the key to bringing her little sister back home …
A gripping and addictive thriller about family secrets and lies and the lengths people will go to protect them. Perfect for fans of Teresa Driscoll and Louise Jensen.
Sisters Bree and Alissa Walker share a special bond. Neglected by their parents, they have always looked out for one another. But one day, sixteen-year-old Alissa goes missing. When Bree discovers her green backpack with all her belongings, abandoned on the steps of their run-down trailer, she knows that something bad has happened …
Then she receives a chilling text message. Someone has Alissa. But Bree will have to give up something very precious in exchange.
Desperate to save Alissa, Bree looks at everyone close to their family. She’s sure that Alissa’s best friend is keeping something back about her little sister and a boy at school, and why has their estranged uncle, who they’ve not seen in years, been hanging around again?
It soon becomes clear that the person behind the message knows a lot about the dark truths within the Walker family and will go to any lengths to get revenge. And as the search for Alissa continues, Bree discovers something about her brother Tyler that she wishes she hadn’t, a dangerous secret, which is also the key to bringing her little sister back home …
A gripping and addictive thriller about family secrets and lies and the lengths people will go to protect them. Perfect for fans of Teresa Driscoll and Louise Jensen.
(General Fiction)
It’s 1994 and Lenore Littlefield is a junior at Briarwood School for Girls. She plays basketball. She hates her roommate. History is her favourite subject. She has told no one that she’s pregnant. Everything, in other words, is under control.
Meanwhile, Disney has announced plans to build a new theme park just up the road, a “Technicolor simulacrum of American History” right in the middle of one of the most history-rich regions of the country. If successful, the development will forever alter the character of Prince William County, VA, and have unforeseeable consequences for the school.
When the threat of the theme park begins to intrude on the lives of the faculty and students at Briarwood, secrets will be revealed and unexpected alliances will form. Lenore must decide whom she can trust - will it be a middle-aged history teacher struggling to find purpose in his humdrum life? A lonely basketball coach tasked with directing the school play? A reclusive playwright still grappling with her own Briarwood legacy? Or a teenage ghost equally adept at communicating with the living via telephone or Ouija board?
Following a cast of memorable characters as they reckon with questions about fate, history, and the possibility of happiness,At Briarwood School for Girls is a stunning and inventive new work from a master storyteller.
Meanwhile, Disney has announced plans to build a new theme park just up the road, a “Technicolor simulacrum of American History” right in the middle of one of the most history-rich regions of the country. If successful, the development will forever alter the character of Prince William County, VA, and have unforeseeable consequences for the school.
When the threat of the theme park begins to intrude on the lives of the faculty and students at Briarwood, secrets will be revealed and unexpected alliances will form. Lenore must decide whom she can trust - will it be a middle-aged history teacher struggling to find purpose in his humdrum life? A lonely basketball coach tasked with directing the school play? A reclusive playwright still grappling with her own Briarwood legacy? Or a teenage ghost equally adept at communicating with the living via telephone or Ouija board?
Following a cast of memorable characters as they reckon with questions about fate, history, and the possibility of happiness,At Briarwood School for Girls is a stunning and inventive new work from a master storyteller.
(Literary Fiction)
As the First World War shatters families, destroys friendships and kills lovers, a young Palestinian dreamer sets out to find himself.
Midhat Kamal navigates his way across a fractured world, from the shifting politics of the Middle East to the dinner tables of Montpellier and a newly tumultuous Paris. He discovers that everything is fragile: love turns to loss, friends become enemies and everyone is looking for a place to belong.
Isabella Hammad delicately untangles the politics and personal tragedies of a turbulent era – the Palestinian struggle for independence, the strife of the early twentieth century and the looming shadow of the Second World War. An intensely human story amidst a global conflict, The Parisian is historical fiction with a remarkable contemporary voice.
*AN OBSERVER HOTLY TIPPED DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2019*
Midhat Kamal navigates his way across a fractured world, from the shifting politics of the Middle East to the dinner tables of Montpellier and a newly tumultuous Paris. He discovers that everything is fragile: love turns to loss, friends become enemies and everyone is looking for a place to belong.
Isabella Hammad delicately untangles the politics and personal tragedies of a turbulent era – the Palestinian struggle for independence, the strife of the early twentieth century and the looming shadow of the Second World War. An intensely human story amidst a global conflict, The Parisian is historical fiction with a remarkable contemporary voice.
*AN OBSERVER HOTLY TIPPED DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2019*
(General Fiction / Sci-Fi & Fantasy)
When four patients unexpectedly wake after being declared dead, their families are ecstatic and the word “miracle” begins to be whispered throughout the hospital. But the jubilation is short lived when the patients don’t respond to their names and insist they are different people. It is suggested all four are suffering from fugue states until one of the doctors recognises a name and verifies that he not only knew the girl but was there when she died in 1992. It soon becomes obvious that the bodies of the four patients are now inhabited by the souls of people long dead.
(Historical Fiction / Literary Fiction)
India, 1926: English Margaret arrives with her new husband Suraj at his family home, set amidst beautiful rolling hills, the air filled with the soft scent of spices and hibiscus flowers. Margaret is unwelcome, homesick and lonely, but her maid Archana, a young woman from an impoverished family, reminds her of her long-lost sister, a tiny glimpse of home in a faraway place.
As Margaret and Archana spend more time together, an unexpected friendship blooms. But in British India the divide between rich and poor, English and Indian, is wide, and the clash between Margaret’s modern views and the weight of tradition on Archana will lead to devastating results…
England, 2000: Emma is at a crossroads. She has discovered the lie at the heart of her relationship, and she worries over the right choice to make for herself and her beloved daughter. When her grandmother gives her a mysterious painting, and asks her to take a message of forgiveness to an old friend in India, Emma is relieved to have some time and space to make a decision about her future. But as she fulfils her grandmother’s wish, a secret kept for over seventy years is finally revealed – the story of a day spent painting by a stream full of water lilies, where a betrayal tore three lives apart forever…
Will the weight of her grandmother’s regrets push Emma towards a mistake that will stay with her forever, or give her the courage she needs to make the right choice?
Discover the secret of the girl in the painting today. Perfect for fans of Kathryn Hughes, Lucinda Riley and The Storyteller’s Secret, Renita D’Silva’s exquisite novel explores the strength it takes to do what is right, no matter the cost.
As Margaret and Archana spend more time together, an unexpected friendship blooms. But in British India the divide between rich and poor, English and Indian, is wide, and the clash between Margaret’s modern views and the weight of tradition on Archana will lead to devastating results…
England, 2000: Emma is at a crossroads. She has discovered the lie at the heart of her relationship, and she worries over the right choice to make for herself and her beloved daughter. When her grandmother gives her a mysterious painting, and asks her to take a message of forgiveness to an old friend in India, Emma is relieved to have some time and space to make a decision about her future. But as she fulfils her grandmother’s wish, a secret kept for over seventy years is finally revealed – the story of a day spent painting by a stream full of water lilies, where a betrayal tore three lives apart forever…
Will the weight of her grandmother’s regrets push Emma towards a mistake that will stay with her forever, or give her the courage she needs to make the right choice?
Discover the secret of the girl in the painting today. Perfect for fans of Kathryn Hughes, Lucinda Riley and The Storyteller’s Secret, Renita D’Silva’s exquisite novel explores the strength it takes to do what is right, no matter the cost.
(Women's Fiction)
NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2019 BY WOMAN’S DAY, NEWSDAY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, BUSTLE, AND BOOK RIOT!
Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Americanah in this disarmingly honest, boldly political, and truly inclusive novel that will speak to anyone who has gone looking for love and found something very different in its place.
Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places…including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth.
As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?” - all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.
With fresh and honest prose, Queenie is a remarkably relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning in today’s world.
Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Americanah in this disarmingly honest, boldly political, and truly inclusive novel that will speak to anyone who has gone looking for love and found something very different in its place.
Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places…including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth.
As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?” - all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.
With fresh and honest prose, Queenie is a remarkably relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning in today’s world.
A Guide to Pursuing Your Authentic Life's Work
(Business & Investing)
How to build a meaningful career with a moral centre and a purpose in the world.
Some of the world's most successful companies — Google, Disney, Starbucks — are not simply profit-driven, but purpose-driven. They identify the purpose behind why they do what they do, and let their "why" drive what they do every day. Nicholas Pearce argues that we all should do the same: discover our "why" and commit to the journey of aligning our daily work with our life's work. The Purpose Path is for people in any field who long to have more than just a job or a career, but a true vocation that allows them to connect their soul with their role. The Purpose Path is organised around five key questions:
What is success?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Am I running the right race?
Am I running the race well?
Nicholas Pearce sits at the unconventional intersection of academia, business, and faith. With examples and advice, he shows how he and other people in a variety of fields and at different life stages have asked and answered these five questions in order to start, shape, or even radically change their careers. Inspiring, thought-provoking, and practical, The Purpose Path is an essential book for anyone who seeks the clarity and courage to advance their authentic life's work every day.
Some of the world's most successful companies — Google, Disney, Starbucks — are not simply profit-driven, but purpose-driven. They identify the purpose behind why they do what they do, and let their "why" drive what they do every day. Nicholas Pearce argues that we all should do the same: discover our "why" and commit to the journey of aligning our daily work with our life's work. The Purpose Path is for people in any field who long to have more than just a job or a career, but a true vocation that allows them to connect their soul with their role. The Purpose Path is organised around five key questions:
What is success?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Am I running the right race?
Am I running the race well?
Nicholas Pearce sits at the unconventional intersection of academia, business, and faith. With examples and advice, he shows how he and other people in a variety of fields and at different life stages have asked and answered these five questions in order to start, shape, or even radically change their careers. Inspiring, thought-provoking, and practical, The Purpose Path is an essential book for anyone who seeks the clarity and courage to advance their authentic life's work every day.
The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
(History)
Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London - the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper.
Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden, and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers.
What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women.
For more than a century, newspapers have been keen to tell us that "the Ripper" preyed on prostitutes. Not only is this untrue, as historian Hallie Rubenhold has discovered, it has prevented the real stories of these fascinating women from being told. Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, revealing a world not just of Dickens and Queen Victoria, but of poverty, homelessness and rampant misogyny. They died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time - but their greatest misfortune was to be born a woman.
Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden, and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers.
What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women.
For more than a century, newspapers have been keen to tell us that "the Ripper" preyed on prostitutes. Not only is this untrue, as historian Hallie Rubenhold has discovered, it has prevented the real stories of these fascinating women from being told. Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, revealing a world not just of Dickens and Queen Victoria, but of poverty, homelessness and rampant misogyny. They died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time - but their greatest misfortune was to be born a woman.
Unleash your Power and your Highest Potential
(Self-Help)
A perfect gift for graduates!
No matter where you are in life, you are not yet all you will be . . .
At some point, virtually everyone finds themselves struggling to find their way in life.
Perhaps you’re just starting out and haven’t yet found your personal or professional path. Maybe you’ve been plugging away for years, trying to live someone else’s dream. Maybe you’re outwardly successful but plagued by a nagging, soul-level sense of dissatisfaction.
Carly Fiorina, who started as a secretary and later became the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, can help. Drawing on her own remarkable journey, and empirical evidence accumulated over four decades in the workplace, Carly will show you how to choose a path over a plan, use problems to propel yourself and your organisation forward, overcome fear and procrastination, make smart decisions, and reclaim your power and use it for good. Carly Fiorina believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that your potential can be unleashed. In Find Your Way, she shows you the path to getting there.
No matter where you are in life, you are not yet all you will be . . .
At some point, virtually everyone finds themselves struggling to find their way in life.
Perhaps you’re just starting out and haven’t yet found your personal or professional path. Maybe you’ve been plugging away for years, trying to live someone else’s dream. Maybe you’re outwardly successful but plagued by a nagging, soul-level sense of dissatisfaction.
Carly Fiorina, who started as a secretary and later became the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, can help. Drawing on her own remarkable journey, and empirical evidence accumulated over four decades in the workplace, Carly will show you how to choose a path over a plan, use problems to propel yourself and your organisation forward, overcome fear and procrastination, make smart decisions, and reclaim your power and use it for good. Carly Fiorina believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that your potential can be unleashed. In Find Your Way, she shows you the path to getting there.
I can't wait to read these books so watch this space for reviews!
If you liked this post have a look at my complete list of Reading Lists or my complete list of What I Learned full review posts.
Happy Reading!
If you liked this post have a look at my complete list of Reading Lists or my complete list of What I Learned full review posts.
Happy Reading!
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