About Time You Read: 10 of the Best Book Releases July 2019By Francesca Brooking
The summer is upon us and what better way to spend a sunny afternoon than curled up with a good book? From memoirs to fantasy and stories of pain, justice and healing, here are just some of the top new book releases to grace our shelves this month:
1. The To-Do-List and Other Debacles by Amy Jones
Author: Amy Jones
What: Rated as one of the Independent’s top ten millennial memoirs of 2019, Amy Jones’ wonderfully witty and riotous book is a frank and honest account of mental health. Documenting her misadventures as she journeys through friendship, marriage and mental health disasters, The To-Do-List and Other Debacles is the perfect book for any woman who has struggled with their own demons. Both moving and funny, Amy Jones’ memoir is the friend everyone needs and the book to read this summer.
2. Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls
Author: David Nicholls
What: David Nicholls returns with a brilliantly funny new coming of age novel. A poignant tragicomedy, Sweet Sorrow tells the story of a boy whose life is turned upside down one summer. Unremarkable at school and looking after his father at home, Charlie Lewis is plunged into the rocky path of first love when Fran Fisher bursts into his life. But if he wants to be with her he faces a challenge that could lose him the respect of his friends and family and require him to become a different person. He must join the Company. And if it sounds like a cult, the truth is far more appalling…Funny and affectionate, Sweet Sorrow is an exploration of friendship, family and first love.
3. Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
Author: Lisa Taddeo
What: Pushing the boundaries of non-fiction, Lisa Taddeo’s hotly anticipated book follows three women’s unmet needs, unspoken thoughts, disappointments, hopes and unrelenting obsessions. A culmination of eight years of research and six journeys across the US, journalist, Lisa Taddeo captures the real life desires of ordinary women from different regions and backgrounds. She tells the stories of Lina, a woman caught in a marriage with two children and a husband who won’t touch her; Maggie, in a relationship with her teacher and then later in court and a social pariah and Sloane, a sexual object for men, including her husband who likes to watch her have sex with other men and women. An exploration of female sexuality, Three Women is an honest portrayal of women’s needs and unmet desires.
4. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories by Kavita Puri
Author: Kavita Puri
What: India’s partition is one of the most tumultuous events in the twentieth century and it’s also shrouded in silence. Kavita Puri’s father was twelve when he became swept up in the devastating aftermath of a hastily drawn border that affected millions of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. After he kept silent about his ordeal for seventy years until now, Kavita was compelled to collect the stories of South Asians who were once the subjects of the British Raj and now British citizens. Partition Voices is a record of first-hand testimonies of those who lived through Partition as well as how its legacy affected the lives of their children and grandchildren. Breathtaking and devastating, Partition Voices is a rich tapestry of friendships and families torn apart, daring rescue missions and compassion. It confronts the difficult truths at the heart of Britain’s shared history with South Asia and for that reason, it makes for an essential piece of reading.
5. Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun
Author: Guillermo del Toro
What: An exquisitely dark novel inspired by Del Toro’s 2006 film, Pan’s Labyrinth explores the terrors and miracles of the human heart. Its enthralling narrative tells the story of Ofelia, a young woman with a head full of stories and a knowledge of fairy tales. She knows what the Captain is, in his immaculate uniform, boots, gloves, smiling: a wolf. But nothing can prepare her for what lies in store in his eerie house in the midst of a dark forest which conceals strange, half-remembered things, lost babies, resistance fighters hiding from the army, beasts and fairies. There is no one to save her as the labyrinth beckons her in and she comes face-to-face with the inextricable tangle of monsters and humanity. A blend of gothic horror, psychological thriller and historical drama, Pan’s Labyrinth is a story that will stick with you forever.
6. Supper Club by Lara Williams
Author: Lara Williams
What: Outrageously visceral and satisfying, Lara Williams’ Supper Club is a tale of rage, joy, hunger and friendship. Twenty-nine-year-old Roberta is always hungry until she invents the Supper Club, a secret society where hungry women come together. Women who are sick of bad men, bad sex and societal expectations about how to behave. Gathering after dark, they feast, drink, dance and roar until they’re sick. At the heart of it all is Roberta -cynical, precocious and lost she seeks the answer to the simple question: If you feed a starving woman what will she become? Supper Club is about hunger and the people who shape you and ultimately save you. Stuffed with food and unapologetic women being themselves, it’s a rebelliously joyful read from cover to cover.
7. Let Her Fly by Ziauddin Yousafzai
Author: Ziauddin Yousafzai and Louise Carpenter
What: In this powerful and intimate memoir, Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Malala records his story of fatherhood and lifelong fight for equality for his daughter and girls across the world living in patriarchal societies. Taught as a young boy in school that he was better than his sisters, Ziauddin rebelled against inequality at a young age and then later founded a school that would allow Malala to get an education. When in 2012, Malala was shot for standing up to the Taliban, he nearly lost the very person for whom his fight for equality began. His deeply moving memoir Let Her Fly recounts Ziauddin’s childhood growing up as a stammering boy high up in the mountains of Pakistan to becoming an activist fighting for equality and the father to one of the most influential people on earth. It’s a truly inspirational memoir that captures what it means to love and fight for what is inherently right no matter what.
8. Walks in the Wild by Peter Wohlleben
Author: Peter Wohlleben
What: Bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben’s new book Walks in the Wild takes you on a journey of discovery through nature. In this book, he invites you to learn the difference between a deciduous and coniferous tree, which trees are best to shelter under during a storm and to find your way around the woods without a compass or GPS. This essential woodland guide will help you spot which berries and mushrooms are good to eat, how to read animal tracks and gives you an informative insight into what it’s like to spend a night alone in the forest. Walks in the Wild is the perfect accompaniment to the outdoors whether it is spring, summer, autumn or winter.
9. The Babes in the Woods Murders by Paul Cheston
Author: Paul Cheston
What: Written with the approval and cooperation of the Fellows family, Paul Cheston’s compassionate and heartbreaking true story follows two families’ thirty-year fight for justice for their murdered daughters on 9th October 1986. On that fateful day, Russell Bishop sexually assaulted and strangled nine-year-old Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway in woods near Brighton. He was charged after his suspiciously close involvement with the murder inquiry. A last-minute testimony from his then-girlfriend allowed him to go free and he did not answer for his crimes for another thirty years. In the meantime, the Babes in the Wood murders became one of Britain’s infamous cold cases. In this first book on the case, veteran crime reporter Paul Cheston captures the thirty-year saga of murder, betrayal and injustice the parents of the murdered girls suffered before three decades of hurt led at last to justice, healing and hope. The Babes in the Wood reveals the awful truth behind what happened on 9 October 1986 and how the courtroom dramas that unfolded over a generation brought down one of Britain’s depraved killers.
10. Daido Moriyama: How I Take Photographs
Author: Daido Moriyama
What: This book is a fascinating insight into legendary Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama’s groundbreaking approach to street photography. The publication is a culmination of over half a century’s work capturing a distinct vision of Japan and its people. Fans and budding street photographers will get a unique opportunity to learn how he explores his radical yet casual approach to street photography as well as his technical methods, the cameras and lenses he uses and the journeys he takes with his camera. Hailed as Japan’s greatest living photographer and indeed one of the world’s, Daido Moriyama’s book is a must-have for anyone captivated by the art of photography.
