Five new books to read this week
By Prudence Wade, Press Association
Beauty entrepreneur and wellness expert Liz Earle is back with her latest book about turning back the biological clock…
Fiction
1. A Killer In The Family by Amin Ahmad is published in hardback by Hutchinson Heinemann. Available April 30th
Do we ever really know what goes on behind closed doors? Can a life of privilege be masking some harsh realities? Amin Ahmad’s new novel explores these questions – and many more – as we follow the story of Ali Azeem, a somewhat naive single man from Mumbai who is placed into an arranged marriage with the daughter of a wealthy New York real-estate tycoon. His new wife, Maryam Khan, should be everything he has ever wanted, but the chemistry just isn’t there. Enter Farhan, Maryam’s older sister. Confident, sexy, mysterious… Ali is smitten. But it’s not long before Farhan is revealing a few home truths about her sister, sending Ali on a mission to discover the cold, hard facts about his wife, in-laws and their place in the upper echelons of New York society. This novel is the epitome of a page-turner. It’s a gripping tale of murder, mystery and family dynamics, set against the glittering backdrop of NYC, and it keeps you guessing right until the end.
9/10
(Review by Rachel Howard)
2. A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz is published in hardback by Century. Available now
A Deadly Episode is the sixth book in Anthony Horowitz’s Hawthorne series, and the Alex Rider author goes even deeper into metafiction. The narrator is Horowitz himself, who writes books based on his crime-solving escapades with stony-faced former police inspector, Hawthorne. This time around, the duo are on the set of the film adaptation of the first book in the series, The Word Is Murder. As you can probably expect, this is no ordinary, cheerful set visit – and the two are roped into yet another murder investigation when the lead actor is brutally killed. There is a colourful cast of characters – from the eco-warrior script writer to the sad supporting actor who is scarred from a deep professional embarrassment – as well as a story within the story, as we find out more about Hawthorne’s past. New readers might want to start at the beginning of the series as it doesn’t work quite as well as a standalone, but nevertheless it’s still the twisty fun we’ve come to expect from Horowitz.
7/10
(Review by Prudence Wade)
3. I’ll Take The Fire by Leïla Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor, is published in hardback by Faber & Faber. Available now
Leïla Slimani’s I’ll Take The Fire follows three generations of a French-Moroccan family from the Eighties through to the early 2000s, particularly tracing the childhood in Morocco and early adulthood in France of sisters Mia and Inés. Drawing from her own family history, Slimani explores feeling caught between being Moroccan and French amid domestic political unrest and world events leading up to 9/11. Her characters are beautifully wrought in their complexity, particularly Mia, struggling with her queerness even amid her gilded liberal upbringing, and her father Mehdi, a government minister. Mia and Mehdi are painfully alike in their ambition, their frustration with their easy lives, their desire to write, and yet tragically unable to speak about these things without restraint. I’ll Take The Fire is meandering in pace and at times feels slow, but the richness of its characters and their inner lives makes it a worthwhile read.
7/10
(Review by Jasmine Norden)
Non-fiction
4. How To Age: Supercharge Your Health And Feel Better Than Ever by Liz Earle is published in hardback by Yellow Kite. Available now
Beauty entrepreneur and wellness author Liz Earle is back with her latest book, and it’s all about ageing. Now in her early 60s, Earle professes she feels better than ever – and that’s because she’s researched how to turn back the clock on biological ageing. She outlines all these ideas in her new book, covering themes of biohacking and longevity – stressing the need to live better, not just longer. While a lot of her advice is common sense – getting outside, reducing screen time, lifting weights and more – some ideas feel a little more out of left field. At parts, it feels a bit too densely full of scientific studies and data, and some of Earle’s suggestions might raise a few eyebrows, yet she still has an engaging, easy-to-read style.
7/10
(Review by Lily Rose)
Children’s book of the week
5. Move Your Body! by Madhvi Ramani, illustrated by Anuska Allepuz, is published in paperback by Two Hoots. Available now
Move Your Body! is a lovely book which gets you and your little readers up and moving. It features a wide variety of animals and how they move – from a fluttering hummingbird to a wobbling octopus, you will find yourself doing the actions and filling the space in which you are reading. Beautiful illustrations follow a little girl on her adventures through the jungle to the ocean, into space, and back down to earth again. From an elephant stomp to a rabbit hop, it covers all the different ways animals move. It celebrates mindfulness in a child-friendly way, and is perfect for children between three and eight years old.
8/10
(Review by Josh Sparke)
BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING APRIL 25th
HARDBACK (FICTION)
1. Riftborne by Bree Grenwich & Parker Lennox
2. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
3. A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz
4. Last One Out by Jane Harper
5. Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan
6. The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
7. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
8. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
9. Transcription by Ben Lerner
10. Starside by Alex Aster
(Compiled by Waterstones)
HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)
1. The Nuremberg Women by Natalie Livingstone
2. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
3. Famesick by Lena Dunham
4. BBQ by Jamie Oliver
5. How To Age by Liz Earle
6. Talking Classics by Professor Mary Beard
7. Enough Said by Alan Bennett
8. Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins
9. Murder In Paris ’68 by Edward Chisholm
10. Running On Air by Sophie Raworth
(Compiled by Waterstones)
AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NONFICTION)
1. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
3. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
4. A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz
5. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
6. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
7. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
8. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire by J.K. Rowling
9. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
10. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
(Compiled by Audible)
