Other books that might interest you

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  The Disappearance of Ophelia...

  Vanessa Gordon

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  Archaeologist Martin Day had an affair with Ophelia Blue twenty years ago, and suddenly she is on her way to Naxos because she needs his help. He is excited to see her again, but also wary as his life now revolves around Helen. Ophelia, however, behaves perfectly - until she disappears after their first evening together without revealing why she had come. The police refuse to regard Ophelia as a missing person, nor is the difficult new Chief of Police, Inspector Kyriakos Tsountas, the kind of man to accept that her disappearance is connected to a strange local legend. The legend speaks of a lost ancient artefact known as the Kallos of Naxos. Only one man ever tried to find the Kallos, and he's dead. If Day is to find Ophelia he will need all his ingenuity and imagination, and quite possibly his courage.
  
  This is the fourth in the Naxos Mysteries series, in which many things come to a head for Martin Day in his search for the missing Ophelia.

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  Queen Bee - An addictive...

  Anonymous

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  A gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of The Bridesmaid and The Daughter in Law.  
  In the quiet village of Helesbury, Miranda Wallace prides herself on being the most popular member of her small social circle; the perfect friend, the best mum – the queen bee. 
  Until one day, Verity arrives. Cool and indifferent, Verity is everything Miranda isn’t, but she threatens to shatter Miranda’s picture-perfect life. 
  Suddenly plagued with insecurities, Miranda is certain Verity is hiding something. And Miranda knows all about secrets and the damage they can cause, because she’s hiding some of her own. 
  So when Verity threatens to reveal the truth about Miranda and destroy the perfect life she’s built, Miranda knows she has to act to protect the people she loves – even if the results are deadly. 
  Praise for Nina Manning: 
  'Addictive... and beautifully written...I loved it.' Number One Bestselling author Valerie Keogh 
  'Heart-stopping, pacy and tension filled. Highly recommended.' Claire Allan 
  'Compelling and claustrophobic, Nina is an exciting new voice and definitely one to watch' Phoebe Morgan 
  'An addictive and compelling summer read. Manning keeps you hooked throughout and guessing until the end. The perfect book to take on holiday.' Natasha Boydell 
  'Chilling and creepy. An atmospheric and addictive debut.' Diane Jeffrey 
  'Totally addictive. I couldn't put it down!' Darren O'Sullivan 
  'A claustrophobic, nail-biting thriller that draws you in and doesn't let go.' Naomi Joy 
  ‘Clever, emotionally draining and totally gripping. I absolutely loved this book!’ D E White

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  Bad Habit - A Novel

  Alana S. Portero

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  Dua Lipa's September Book Club Pick! 
  Included in The Guardian's Best Translated Fiction of 2024 
  ""[Bad Habit] shows us that a 'trans novel' can actually be anything it wants to be."" –New York Times 
  ""A novel that could very well serve as a surrogate mother for future children who grow up lonely and trans."" –Washington Post 
  Combining the raw realism and vulnerability of Shuggie Bain and Detransition, Baby with the poignant sensibility of Pedro Almodóvar, a staggering coming-of-age novel deeply rooted in the struggles of a trans woman growing up in Madrid. 
  Anchored by the voice of its sweet and defiant narrator, Bad Habit casts a trans woman’s trying youth as a heartfelt odyssey. Raised in an animated yet impoverished blue-collar neighborhood, Alana S. Portero’s protagonist struggles to find her place. As the city around her changes–the heroin epidemic that ravages Madrid through the '80s and '90s, rallying calls of worker solidarity and the pulsing beat of the city's night scene– she becomes increasingly detached from the world and, most crucially, herself. 
  Yet through her eyes, the streets and people of Madrid are illuminated by a poetry absent from everyday life. And by this guiding light she begins to plot her own course, from Margarita, the local trans woman whose unspoken kinship both captivates and frightens her, to Jay, her first love and source of an inevitable heartbreak, to the irrepressible diva Caramel. As she forges ahead, she sets her compass to a personal north star: endeavoring to find herself. But with each step forward, she is confronted by a violence she doesn’t yet know how to counter; in this exciting, often terrifying, world each choice is truly a matter of life and death.    
  With her first novel, Alana S. Portero strikingly underscores the ties between gender and class, the search for identity, and the power of sisterhood and community. Gentle but blistering, Bad Habit is a mesmerizing story of self-realization that speaks to the outsider in all of us.   
  Translated from the Spanish by Mara Faye Lethem

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  The Short Stories of Herman...

  Herman Melville

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  Herman Melville was born in New York City on 1st August 1819.   
   
  At the age of 7 Melville contracted scarlet fever which permanently diminished his eyesight. Add this to a contemporary description of being "very backwards in speech and somewhat slow in comprehension" and his opportunities for success seemed limited. 
   
  His father died when he was 12 leaving the family in very straitened times. 2 years later Melville took a job in a bank and followed up with a failed stint as a surveyor. He went to sea and travelled across to Liverpool and then to the Pacific on adventures which included a mutiny, being jailed and falling in love with a South Pacific beauty. He was also a figure of opposition to the coercion of native Hawaiians to the Christian religion.  These experiences helped provide the novels ‘Typee’, ‘Omoo’, and ‘White-Jacket’. 
   
  By 1851 his ambitious masterpiece, ‘Moby Dick’, was ready to be published.  It never sold out its initial print run of 3,000 and Melville’s earnings on his masterpiece was a mere $556.37. 
   
  In succeeding years his reputation waned, life was increasingly difficult.  His family was growing and a stable income was essential. Melville took the advice of friends to try public lecturing, as others had, to increase his revenues. He embarked on three successful lecture tours, speaking on Roman statuary and sightseeing in Rome.  
   
  In 1876 he was at last able to publish privately his 16,000 line epic poem ‘Clarel’. It was to no avail.  The book had an initial printing of 350 copies, but sales failed miserably. 
   
  It was only in late 1885 that Melville was at last able to retire after his wife inherited several legacies, enough to provide them with a reasonable income. 
   
  Herman Melville, novelist, poet, short story writer and essayist, died at his home on 28th September 1891 from cardiovascular disease. 
  01 - Herman Melville - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction 
  02 - Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville 
  03 - The Lightning Rod Man by Herman Melville 
  04 - The Fiddler by Herman Melville

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  Dracula – Chapter 2: Jonathan...

  Bram Stoker

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  Still trapped in the remote wilderness of Transylvania, Jonathan Harker continues his journey into the heart of darkness. Welcomed by Count Dracula at his ancient castle, Harker begins to sense that his host’s politeness hides something deeply unnatural. As night falls, the young solicitor’s curiosity turns to unease — and unease to fear. 
  This is Chapter 2 of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, narrated by Amazon bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne — part of a full chapter-by-chapter audiobook series that brings the classic Gothic nightmare to life with chilling clarity. 
  Experience the dread, mystery, and slow-building terror that made Dracula one of the most enduring horror stories ever told. 
  📖 Public domain text. Original publication: 1897.

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  To the Forest

  Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette

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  CBC BOOKS WORKS OF CANADIAN FICTION TO READ IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2023 
  49th SHELF EDITORS' PICK FOR JUNE 2023 
  When a family is forced to return to the mother’s childhood home, she seeks meaning in her ancestral roots and the violent beauty of the natural world. 
  Fleeing the city at the beginning of the pandemic, two families are cramped together in a small century-old country house. Winter seeps through the walls, the wallpaper is peeling, and mice make their nest in the piano. Without phones or internet, they turn to the outdoors, where a new language unfolds, a language of fireflies and clover. The five children explore nature and its treasures, while our narrator, Anaïs, turns to the eccentric neighbours and her own family history to find peace and meaning in the middle of her life. 
  To the Forest is a field guide to a quieter life, a call to return to the places where we can reweave the threads of memory, where existence waltzes with death, where we can recapture what it means to be alive.

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