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 2021 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:
Five Survive by Holly Jackson
Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident.
There’s a sniper out there. He’s watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.
As a game of cat-and-mouse plays out, the group desperately tries to get help. Buried secrets are forced to light and tensions within the group reach deadly levels. Only one thing is for sure. Not everyone will survive the night . . .(Credit: HarperCollins UK)
Not many books being released this month, so if you are looking for books perfect for gift giving, here are some great choices:
We Are All Witches by Mairi Kidd
From 1563 to 1736 Scotland put thousands of women to death for witchcraft. Their supposed crimes have much to tell us about attitudes to women in the past, and in the present day. This book introduces sixteen women who lost their lives or lived in the long shadow of the persecutions. ‘Witches’ who, like Margaret Aitken, confessed, implicated others, even aided the hunters before they were burned. Nonconforming women like Mary Macleod, who saw their reputations tarnished when they did not bend to society’s expectations. Creatures of the imagination, like Robert Burns’s nanny, who embody deep-seated associations between womanhood and the occult.
Weaving fiction with the facts where these are known, We Are All Witches invites the reader to explore the forces at work in one of the darkest episodes of Scotland’s history and consider their echoes in the present day. (Credit: Bonnier Books Ltd)
Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and illustrated by Tom De Freston
She was very tired.
She lay down, her soft head on her soft paws.
The sunset licked her face.
The snow covered her like a blanket.
Fox wakes, and begins to walk. She crosses ice and snow, over mountains and across frozen oceans, encountering bears and birds beneath the endless daylight of an Arctic summer, navigating a world that is vast, wild and wondrous.
Meanwhile, Leila embarks on a journey of her own – finding her way to the mother who left her. On a breathtaking journey across the sea, Leila rediscovers herself and the mother she thought she’d lost, with help from a determined little fox.
Based on the true story of an Arctic fox who walked from Norway to Canada in seventy-six days, a distance of two thousand miles, this compelling, emotional and beautifully illustrated story is the perfect gift for 9+ readers. (Credit: Hachette Children’s Group)
What Writers Read: 35 Writers on their Favourite Book by Pandora Sykes
In this love letter to reading, curated by Pandora Sykes in aid of the National Literacy Trust, bestselling and beloved writers share their favourite books: the ones they hold most dearly, that they return to time and again and that helped make them the writers they are.
With contributions from: Nick Hornby, Ruth Ozeki, Ann Patchett, Benjamin Zephaniah, Marian Keyes, Elizabeth Strout, Deborah Levy, Tessa Hadley, Elif Shafak, George the Poet, Leila Slimani, Ali Smith, Derek Owusu, Dolly Alderton, Paris Lees, Jojo Moyes, Paul Mendez, Sebastian Faulks, Diana Evans, Meena Kandasamy, Lisa Taddeo, Nikesh Shukla, Taiye Selasi, Monica Ali, Nina Stibbe, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Elizabeth Day, Sara Collins, Damon Galgut, Naoise Dolan, William Boyd, Emma Dabiri, Fatima Bhutto, Kit de Waal. (Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
The Climate Book created by Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg’s speeches shook the world. With The Climate Book, she has created an essential tool for everyone who wants to help save it.
It seems like an impossible task: secure a safe future for life on Earth, acting at a scale and speed that the world has never seen, in the face of vast and powerful forces–not just oil tycoons and governments, but the changing climate system itself. The odds are against us, and we are running out of time. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Around the world, geophysicists and mathematicians, oceanographers and meteorologists, engineers, economists, psychologists and philosophers have been using their expertise to develop a deep understanding of the crises we face. Greta Thunberg has created The Climate Book in partnership with over one hundred of these experts in order to equip us all with this knowledge. Alongside them, Greta shares her own stories of learning, demonstrating, and uncovering greenwashing around the world, revealing the extent to which we have been kept in the dark. This is one of our biggest problems, she shows, but also our greatest source of hope. Once we are given the full picture, we will be able to act–and if a schoolchild’s strike could ignite a global protest, what could we do collectively if we tried?
The Climate Book shows that we all have the responsibility of being alive at the most decisive time in the history of humanity, and that, together, we can do the seemingly impossible. But it has to be us, and it has to be now. (Credit: Penguin Books)
A Children’s Literary Treasury: Magical Stories for Every Feeling edited by Anna James
Great stories ignite a child’s imagination and can fill a childhood with unforgettable characters, wondrous places and superb illustrations. They also allow young readers to explore, and to understand, their different feelings and experiences. In her second compilation for the British Library, children’s author and commentator Anna James delves deep into the collections to present stories for comfort, inspiration and adventure as well as touching tales to make you laugh or sometimes cry. We will meet mischievous characters from across the globe, sample classic stories from the likes of E. Nesbit, J. M. Barrie and Louisa May Alcott, as well as more recent favourites from some of our best-loved and prize-winning authors. Superbly illustrated throughout with both beloved illustrations and new archive finds, this spectacular volume belongs on every family bookshelf. (Credit: British Library Publishing)
Girls Who Slay Monsters: Daring Tales of Ireland’s Forgotten Goddesses by Ellen Ryan and illustrated by Shona Shirley Macdonald
Unsung stories from ancient Irish myths re-imagined for nine to twelve-year olds
There was a time when tales of Ireland’s mythical goddesses – their astonishing powers, bravery, and unbreakable bonds with nature – were famous, in Ireland and beyond. But over time, these stories were lost, often replaced or rewritten to make room for male warriors and kings.
Until Now.
Girls Who Slay Monsters brings these heroes of Irish mythology back to vibrant, magical life. From Eire, Ireland’s fierce namesake, and Be Binn, a giant who overcame her bullies, to Badb, a gleefully gruesome death prophet, and Be Mannair, a gender-fluid spy who challenged an entire army. These are goddesses of many shapes, skin shades and sizes, from every corner of ancient Ireland, whose daring still inspires today.
Stand by their sides as they wield magic, fight monsters, and protect the powerless – and you might just discover that you, too, are a force of nature. (Credit: HarperCollins UK)
And Everything Will Be Glad to See You by Ella Risbridger and illustrated by Anna Shepeta
A forceful, passionate and uplifting collection of poems by women and girls that is guaranteed to inspire, delight and empower. From well-loved poets, including Maya Angelou, Wendy Cope, Lucille Clifton and Christina Rossetti, to newer voices such as Amanda Gorman, Yrsa-Daley Ward and Ada Limon, this outstanding collection from talented anthologist Ella Risbridger has poems for every mood and every moment.
Ella’s selection is wide-ranging but accessible and will appeal to poetry lovers both young and old alike. With sumptuous finishes including cloth binding, full colour illustrations throughout, textured paper jacket, ribbon marker, and head and tail bands. This is the perfect gift to begin a lifelong love of poetry. (Credit: Nosy Crow)
The Heartstopper Yearbook by Alice Oseman
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love.
This joyful trip into the LGBTQ+ world of Heartstopper is the perfect gift for anyone who loves the graphic novels or Netflix TV series – from Alice Oseman, bestselling author and winner of the YA Book Prize.
Now in full colour for the first time!
The full-colour Heartstopper Yearbook is packed full of exclusive content from the Heartstopper universe – including never-before-seen illustrations, an exclusive mini-comic, a look back at Alice’s Heartstopper artwork over the years, character profiles, trivia, and insights into her creative process – all narrated by a cartoon version of Alice herself. (Credit: Hachette Children’s Group)
India Express by Rukmini Iyer
75 simple, fresh and flavourful recipes
From quick snacks and weeknight curries to simple desserts, Rukmini Iyer, bestselling author of the Roasting Tin series has created a collection of South Indian and Bengali-inspired recipes with a modern twist. Keeping with her ethos of ‘minimum effort, maximum flavour’, these dishes are vibrant, achievable and moreish. (Credit: Vintage Publishing)
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