Are you looking for your next great read? Why not try out the books from across the pond? Despite from what governments say, books are essential and are needed now, more than ever. So if you are need of a variety and want to read diverse stories, then I suggest you try out some British and Irish titles!

We may have left 2020 behind, but the pain and struggles of last year are still being faced, especially independent bookstores. Continue to support indie bookstores by shopping on Bookshop.org and Hive.co.uk.

You can buy these titles from BookDepository.com, a subsidiary of Amazon. They provide free international delivery, although this is being affected right now due to the pandemic. You can also try with the British bookstore, Blackwell’s, also with Wordery.com. Now on with the recommendations!

Featured Book of the Month:

The Khan by Saima Mir

Be twice as good as men and four times as good as white men.

Jia Khan has always lived like this.

A successful lawyer, her London life is a long way from the grubby Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father headed up the Pakistani community and ran the local organised crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule – the old way – was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind.

But now her father, Akbar Khan, has been murdered and Jia must return to take his place. In the past, the police relied on him to maintain the fragile order of the streets. But a power struggle has broken out amongst the various communities and now, nobody is safe.

Justice needs to be restored, and Jia is about to discover that justice always comes at a price. (Credit: Oneworld Publications)

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What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition by Emma Dabiri

Stop the denial
Abandon guilt
Interrogate capitalism

When it comes to racial justice, how do we transform demonstrations of support into real and meaningful change? With intellectual rigour and razor-sharp wit, Emma Dabiri cuts through the haze of online discourse to offer clear advice. (Credit: Penguin Books)

You can also get this book in the US on June 22. (US Edition)

Future Perfect by Felicia Yap

A bomb has exploded during a fashion show, killing a beautiful model on the catwalk. The murderer is still at large… and he may strike again. Yet this is the least of Police Commissioner Christian Verger’s worries. His fiancée Viola has left him. He has to keep his tumultuous past a secret. To make things worse, his voice assistant Alexa is 99.74% sure he will die tomorrow.

Moving from snowy 1980s Montana to chic 1990s Manhattan to a drone-filled 2030s Britain, Future Perfect is an electrifying race to solve a murder before it’s too late. Yet it is also a love story, a riveting portrait of a couple torn apart by secrets, grief and guilt. A twisted tale of how the past can haunt a person’s future and be used to predict if he will die… or kill.

The Last Resort by Jan Carson

Frankie is haunted by his daughter’s death. Vidas, homeless and far from Lithuania, seeks sanctuary in an abandoned caravan. Anna struggles to shake off the ghost of her overbearing mother. Kathleen struggles to accept her daughter for who she is. Malcolm, a failed illusionist, makes one final attempt to reinvent himself. Agatha Christie-obsessed Alma faces her toughest case yet as she tries to help them all find what they’ve lost.

With trademark wit and playfulness, in this stunning linked short-story collection Jan Carson explores complex family dynamics, ageing, immigration, gender politics, the decline of the Church and the legacy of the Troubles. The Last Resort firmly places Carson as one of the most inventive and daring writers of her generation.

Who Took Eden Mulligan? by Sharon Dempsey

‘They’re dead. They’re all dead. It’s my fault. I killed them.’ Those are the words of Iona Gardener, who stands bloodied and staring as she confesses to the murder of four people in a run-down cottage outside of Belfast. Outside the cottage, five old dolls are hanging from a tree. Inside the cottage, the words “WHO TOOK EDEN MULLIGAN?” are graffitied on the wall, connecting the murder scene with the famous cold case of Eden Mulligan, a mother-of-five who went missing during The Troubles. But this case is different. Right from the start. Because no one in the community is willing to tell the truth, and the only thing DI Danny Stowe and forensic psychologist Rose Lainey can be certain of is that Iona Gardener’s confession is false…. A creepy, gritty and very compelling crime novel, perfect for fans of Patricia Gibney, Angela Marsons and Jane Casey. (Credit: HarperCollins)

Silence is Not An Option: You can impact the world for change by Stuart Lawrence

Silence is NEVER an option – stand up, speak out, be the difference.

In this book, Stuart Lawrence talks about what he has learned from life – the tools that have helped him live positively and kept him moving forwards when times have been tough. “We all want to be successful in life and to be remembered for our achievements – but how can we do that, when the world can seem so big and sometimes scary?”

From role models to self-control, failure to imagination, Stuart’s aim with this book is to use his own experience to help young people – to help all people – harness the good in themselves and in the world around them, using that fire of positivity to create change in their lives. (Credit: Scholastic)

The Supreme Lie by Geraldine McCaughrean 

Expected Publication Date: April 15

Fifteen-year-old Gloria is maid to Afalia’s tyrannical Head of State, Madame Suprema. When the country is hit by unprecedented flooding, Madame Suprema runs away, fearing she will be blamed for the crisis. To cover up this cowardly act, Gloria is made to step into Madame Suprema’s shoes and is thrust into a world of corrupt and desperate politicians. As Gloria becomes aware of the forces toying with her every move, she must take decisions that could save, or end, thousands of lives – including her own…(Credit: Usborne Publishing)

Millennial Black: The Ultimate Guide for Black Women at Work by Sophie Williams

Expected Publication Date: April 15

The much-needed roadmap for young black women to succeed in the workplace in 2021 and beyond.

From tips on setting boundaries, and avoiding the race pay gap, through advice on building your own ‘lady gang’, establishing your value and being able to negotiate, to tackling the serious issues of workplace sexual harassment and racist abuse, this is a comprehensive guide to building the career you want and being recognised in the workplace.

It also offers implementable guidance for employers and business owners who are tackling the essential task of building and retaining inclusive and diverse offices, as well as looking to be effective allies and leaders in the future of inclusive working.

Packed with interviews and insight from trailblazers at every stage of their careers, including June Sarpong, Aja Barber, Candice Brathwaite, Naomi Ackie and Munroe Bergdorf, this is the ultimate guide to the workplace for black women. (Credit: HarperCollins)

Boys Don’t Cry by Fíona Scarlett

Expected Publication Date: April 22

Joe is 17, a gifted artist and a brilliant older brother to 12-year-old Finn. They live with their Ma and Da in a Dublin tower block called Bojaxhiu or ‘the Jax’. It’s not an easy place to be a kid, especially when your father, Frank, is the muscle for the notorious gang leader Dessie ‘The Badger’ Murphy. But whether it’s daytrips to the beach or drawing secret sketches, Joe works hard to show Finn life beyond the battered concrete yard below their flat.

Joe is determined not to become like his Da. But when Finn falls ill, Joe finds his convictions harder to cling to. With his father now in prison, his mother submerged in her grief, and his relationships with friends and classmates crumbling, Joe has to figure out how to survive without becoming what the world around him expects him to be. (Credit: Faber Faber)

The Dark Lady by Akala

Expected Publication Date: April 22

A natural storyteller with a vision of his own, The Dark Lady, Akala’s debut novel for teens will enthuse and entertain teenagers and young adults, showing that reading is a true super-power.

A pickpocket with an exceptional gift.

A prisoner of extraordinary value

An orphan haunted by dreams of the mysterious Dark Lady

Henry is an orphan, an outsider, a thief. He is also a fifteen-year-old invested with magical powers …

This brilliant, at times brutal, first novel from the amazing imagination that is Akala, will glue you to your seat as you are hurled into a time when London stank and boys like Henry were forced to find their own route through the tangled streets and out the other side.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

Expected Publication Date: April 29

As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition? (Credit: Wildfire)

You can also get this book in the US on May 4. (US Edition)

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