Five new books to read this week
By Prudence Wade, Press Association
Luan Goldie, previously longlisted for the Women’s Prize, is back with her latest novel…
Fiction
1. Between Yesterday and Tomorrow by Luan Goldie is published in hardback by Juniper. Available now
Glasgow-born novelist Luan Goldie returns with another accomplished work of literary fiction, delivering the emotionally rich, character-driven storytelling that has become her trademark. After suffering a loss in tragic circumstances, Zoe struggles to understand who she is and what life looks like in the aftermath of grief. A chance request from her boss brings her into the orbit of her witty and charismatic colleague Cian, and together they slowly begin to emerge from the walls they’ve built around themselves. As their connection deepens, they must decide whether they’re simply finding comfort in shared loneliness, or whether they can overcome the baggage of their pasts and allow themselves the possibility of something more. Beautifully written and driven by sparkling dialogue and nuanced characters, Between Yesterday and Tomorrow is a tender exploration of love, loss and learning how to move forward after trauma.
8/10
(Review by Holly Cowell)
2. Eden Falls by Ajay Chowdhury is published in hardback by Harvill. Available now
After Dr Adam Stone vanishes from Delhi airport, his wife Aisha is forced to team up with his ex-partner Sara Wolf to uncover a series of clues and locate a mysterious object at the heart of his disappearance. Set in a world that feels alarmingly close to our own, Ajay Chowdhury’s Eden Falls raises questions on artificial intelligence, governmental corruption and the power wielded by tech billionaires. The novel’s multi-narrative structure keeps the suspense high, allowing the reader to closely follow a cat-and-mouse style chase as Sara and Aisha are pursued by different authorities. The thought-provoking ideas around science and technology combined with a thrilling plot makes Eden Falls a gripping read.
8/10
(Review by Georgia Bates)
3. Hello Baby by Kim Eui-kyung, translated by Sora Kim-Russell, is published in paperback by Fourth Estate. Available now
Kim Eui-kyung’s cult South Korean feminist novel tracks seven women going through the process of trying to conceive through IVF at a top clinic in Seoul. They share all of their hopes and fears in a WhatsApp group until one of them, Jeong-Hyo, stops replying. A year later, to their shock she announces she has had a baby. The women prepare to visit, but with questions of their own. Hello Baby hits all the notes you would expect a book like this to: difficult partners, trickier in-laws, and the precarious balance between the dream of having children and work. Most of all, it is about the support between friends, but also the uncomfortable competitive jealousy as they seek the same result. It will resonate with many millennials, and the late twist is worth waiting for.
8/10
(Review by Harry Taylor)
Non-fiction
4. Biological War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen is published in hardback by Torva. Available now
Reading Annie Jacobson’s account of how a genetically engineered plague could escape from a laboratory and wipe out humanity often feels more like a science fiction novel than the serious work of non-fiction that it is. Pieced together after interviews with senior US officials and scientific experts, the narrative shows how an invisible microorganism could obliterate the world’s richest and most scientifically advanced nation. It is a terrifying account of what lurks on the nightmarish fringes of reality, written with the pace of a Hollywood thriller. Jacobson shows us how such a disease, weaponised for use in biological warfare, could spread through social inequality and the speed of international travel, leaving only the most ruthless and determined survivors. That it seems so unreal is perhaps the mark of a general unwillingness to face the possibility of an unlikely but plausible apocalyptic path for our society.
8/10
(Review by Danny Halpin)
Children’s book of the week
5. A Day Off School by Oliver Jeffers, illustrated by Kevin Waldron, is published in hardback by HarperCollins Children’s Books. Available now
Herbie is excited to stay home from school because he has the sniffles, listening to his sister Daisy leaving the house while he’s still in bed. He has breakfast in a fort he makes on the settee, races his cars, draws a dinosaur and watches cartoons on TV. But after having so much fun, by lunchtime he starts to become mildly interested in what he might be missing at school. He was even bored of watching TV, wanting Daisy to come back so they could play together. Bestselling picture book creator Oliver Jeffries and award-winning illustrator Kevin Waldron have produced a stunningly illustrated book with a storyline guaranteed to make children think twice about wanting to miss school – with a fun twist at the end.
8/10
(Review by Alan Jones)
BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 25th
HARDBACK (FICTION)
1. May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry
2. Prince Of Swords by Elise Kova
3. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
4. Getting Away With Murder by Shari Lapena
5. Land by Maggie O’Farrell
6. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
7. Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead
8. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
9. It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell
10. The Midnight Train by Matt Haig
(Compiled by Waterstones)
HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)
1. The Odyssey by Homer
2. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
3. The Land And Its People by David Sedaris
4. Regime Change by Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan
5. BBQ by Jamie Oliver
6. An Expert Witness by Professor Dame Sue Black
7. The Book Of Birds by Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris
8. Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins
9. Things I Told My Notes App by Milly Goldsmith
10. The Iliad by Homer
(Compiled by Waterstones)
AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)
1. It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell
2. Odyssey by Stephen Fry
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
4. The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
5. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
6. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
7. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
8. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
9. Red Dwarf: Titan by Rob Grant, Andrew Marshall
10. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
(Compiled by Audible)
