Welcome to What I’ve Been Reading Lately, a feature where I’ll be giving short reviews of what I’m currently reading:
Where The Light Goes by Sara Barnard
To the world, Lizzie Beck is a superstar: famous, talented and beloved.
To Emmy, she is simply Beth: her brilliant older sister, her idol.
But then Beth takes her own life, and all the light in the world disappears.
Now Emmy is lost. Amidst the media storm and overwhelming public grief, she must fight to save her own memories of her sister – and find out who she is without her. (Credit: Walker Books UK)
As always with Barnard’s books, I am finding this one touching and heartbreaking and it’s on its way to being one of my favorites of 2023.
Bad Kids by Zijin Chen
Expected Publication Date: June 6
THE PERFECT CRIME DOESN’T EXIST…One beautiful morning, Zhang Dongsheng pushes his wealthy in-laws off a remote mountain.
It’s the perfect crime. Or so he thinks.
For Zhang did not expect that 3 kids would catch him in the act while they’re working on a photography project. When an opportunity for blackmail presents itself the trio start down a dark path that will lead to the unravelling of all their lives.
This dark and grizzly story, where no one is innocent, is perfect for fans of Keigo Higashino and Un-Su Kim. (Credit: Pushkin Vertigo)
Killer children always creep me out but I am finding this intriguing and mysterious. I have no idea how it’s going to end but I can’t wait to find out.
Gay Club by Simon James Green
Expected Publication Date: June 6
Barney’s a shoo-in for his school’s LGBTQ+ Society President at the club’s next election. But when the vote is opened up to the entire student body, the whole school starts paying attention. How low will the candidates go to win? Buckle up for some serious shade, scandals and sleazy shenanigans. It isn’t long before it’s National Coming Out Day – for everyone’s secrets!
But when the group faces an unexpected threat – and a big opportunity – can the club members put politics aside and stand united? (Credit: Scholastic Press)
This is so funny!! If you are looking for a LGBTQ book to read for Pride Month (or for any month of the year) then you can’t go wrong with this one. You will learn, be touched and laugh all the way to the end!
Disconnected: How to Stay Human in an Online World by Emma Gannon
Disconnected is a little book about reclaiming our humanity in our increasingly digitized, monetized world. Our focus on community and real connection has been sent off-course, and we’re becoming more aware of how the algorithm manipulates us and how our data has made us a product to be sold. So, where do we go from here, and how can we get back on track? Disconnected examines these topics and offers tangible tips and advice for those of us who might feel a little lost and are looking to find our real-life selves again. (Credit: Andrews McMeel Publishing)
I’m loving the insight this is providing and I am learning so much from it. I highly recommend it to readers who are looking for ways to be more connected but outside the way of the internet.
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
Arguably Bronte’s most refined and deeply felt work, Villette draws on her experiences as a student in Brussels as well as her profound loneliness following the deaths of her three siblings. Lucy Snowe, the narrator of Villette, flees from an unhappy past in England to begin a new life as a teacher at a French boarding school in the great cosmopolitan capital of Villette. Soon Lucy’s struggle for independence is overshadowed by both her friendship with a worldly English doctor and her feelings for an autocratic schoolmaster. Bronte’s strikingly modern heroine must decide if there is any man in her society with whom she can live and still be free. (Credit: Wordsworth Editions)
What I Plan to Read Next:
The Khan by Saima Mir
US Release Date: August 1
Successful London lawyer Jia Khan is a long way from the grubby Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father, Akbar Khan, led the Pakistani community and ran the local organized crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule – the old way – was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind.
Now, with her father murdered, Jia must return to take his place. The police have always relied on the Khan to maintain the fragile order of the streets. But a bloody power struggle has broken out among warring communities and nobody is safe.
Justice needs to be restored, and Jia is about to discover that justice always comes at a cost. (Credit: Agora Books)
Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater
Roach would rather be listening to the latest episode of her favorite true crime podcast than assisting the boring and predictable customers at her local branch of the bookstore Spines, where she’s worked her entire adult life. A serious true crime junkie, Roach looks down her nose at the pumpkin-spice-latte-drinking casual fans who only became interested in the genre once it got trendy. But when Laura, a pretty and charismatic children’s bookseller, arrives to help rejuvenate the struggling bookstore branch, Roach recognizes in her an unexpected kindred spirit.
Despite their common interest in true crime, Laura keeps her distance from Roach, resisting the other woman’s overtures of friendship. Undeterred, Roach learns everything she can about her new colleague, eventually uncovering Laura’s traumatic family history. When Roach realizes that she may have come across her very own true crime story, interest swiftly blooms into a dangerous obsession. (Credit: Scarlet)
Zero Days by Ruth Ware
Expected Publication Date: June 20
Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect–her.Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer in this unputdownable and heart-pounding mystery from an author whose “propulsive prose keeps readers on the hook and refuses to let anyone off until all has been revealed” (Credit: Scout Press)
The DOS and Donuts of Love by Adiba JaigirdarÂ
“Welcome to the first ever Junior Irish Baking Show!”Shireen Malik is still reeling from the breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Chris, when she receives news that she’s been accepted as a contestant on a new televised baking competition show. This is Shireen’s dream come true! Because winning will not only mean prize money, but it will also bring some much-needed attention to You Drive Me Glazy, her parents’ beloved donut shop.
Things get complicated, though, because Chris is also a contestant on the show. Then there’s the very outgoing Niamh, a fellow contestant who is becoming fast friends with Shireen. Things are heating up between them, and not just in the kitchen.As the competition intensifies, Shireen will have to ignore all these factors and more– including potential sabotage–if she wants a sweet victory! (Credit: Feiwel & Friends)
Board to Death: A Board Game Shop Mystery by CJ Connor
Expected Publication Date: August 22
Back in his hometown of Sugar House running his family’s board game shop and cafe, Ben Rosencrantz just can’t seem to get his life to pass go, much less collect $200. Once he was a happily married English professor in Seattle. Now he’s a divorced caregiver, looking after his ill father and a chihuahua named Beans while still figuring out the rules of retail management. At least the town has become more LGBTQ+ friendly than when Ben was a teenager–and that flower shop owner Ezra McCaslin enjoys flirting with him.
But despite his usual clientele of gamers, Ben is barely earning enough to keep the store running and stay on top of his father’s medical bills. Then a local toy and game collector named Clive offers him a winning strategy–to purchase a turn-of-the-twentieth-century edition of The Landlord’s Game, the realty and taxation game that inspired Monopoly, at a tenth of the rare edition’s true value. Suspicious of Clive’s shady, low-priced deal, Ben turns the offer down.
Then Clive turns up dead in the dumpster behind Ben’s shop and a backpack full of $100 bills appears on his doorstep. Now Ben is the #1 suspect in Clive’s death, and unless he and Ezra can prove his innocence and find the real killer, he’ll go to jail for murder–and no amount of double dice rolls will set him free . . . (Credit: Kensington Cozies)
