Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Rating: A+

If you want to spend time and fall deep for a book, this might be the one to curl up with in February. Covering five disparate storylines across time – from 1453 Constantinople to present day Idaho – and five explorers obsessed with the text ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land.’ It’s a meandering and lovely story about dreamers, human connection and more.

Attached by Dr. Amir Levine and Rachel S.F. Heller, M.A.

Rating: B

A scientific approach to our attachment styles, this is a quick and pithy insight into ourselves and our own motivations and approaches when it comes to relationships.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Rating: B

A pithy and tight read, where no word is wasted, telling the story of Keiko as she grapples with her own identity and just how inextricable it is from her job at a convenience store. It is simultaneously heartwarming and saddening.

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kufafka

Rating: B+

An eerie story centred around Ansel Packer – a murderer on death row. The story is flipped though, as his backstory and narrative is told through the women that have had impact on his life – from his mother to his wife and the detective that located him. It’s more than just a juicy thriller, its an interesting note on the wider impact of his actions on those around him.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Rating: A

If you’ve seen any round up lists from 2022, this one will have featured heavily and for once, it stands up to the hype. It’s a delightful story set in the 1960s, telling the story of Elizabeth Zott as she makes a career fas a TV personality. It’s about feminism, motherhood and enduring love, it’s funny, tender and is a delight from start to finish.

The Christmas Wish by Lindsay Kelk

Rating: B-

An easy and quirky Christmas romance, based on the idea of Groundhog Day.

Spare by Prince Harry

Rating: C+

Not much more can ever be said about Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir but what I will say is that on the one hand it’s juicy and entertaining, but the middle part is almost mind-numbingly dull. The editor needed some more heavy handed editing to bring the book together, as it felt largely disjointed and clunky in points. As ever, there’s something lacking in his approach to make it compelling – his inability to be accountable in his own story that makes it feel dishonest and disingenuous. Read the newspaper articles about this – it’s quicker.

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The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Rating: A+

Quite simply one of the best books I read this year, Shipstead weaves the story of the female aviator Marian Graves through with the lost actress Hadley Baxter (set to play Graves in a forthcoming film) with ease. It is intricately plotted, with both protagonists intensely complicated but likeable in their own ways. A long but enjoyable read.

Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados

Rating: B-

If you liked Naoise Dolan’s Exciting Times, this is a good follow-up read. Granados tells the story of Isa and Gala – two girls trying to make it in New York. Both are complicated, problematic and not at all likeable, yet the prose is pithy and intoxicating.

A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin

Rating: B+

Drawing on the famed club The Wing for inspiration, Laura Hankin’s satirical look at an all female club and the power they hold in New York is clever, witty and immensely readable. Though readers will be familiar with the strange turn the plot takes, if you trust the prose and go with it – this makes for immensely entertaining reading.

Exes & O’s by Amy Lea

Rating: A-

Amy Lea is a bright new voice on the scene. This new rom-com is delicious, light and filled with a plethora of clever insights hidden beneath an immensely speedy and likeable prose.

The Binding by Bridget Collins

Rating: B+

This took a while to get into, but is worth the uphill climb, Bridget Collins book tells the story of a man learning his craft as a bookbinder (binding people’s memories into books so that they can forget). It’s clever and makes you think hard about the power of memory and regret.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Rating: A+

Perhaps the best book I read in 2022? Gabrielle Zevin’s story of friendship between two game-makers Sadie and Sam, who meet as children, before going on to form an industrious partnership is compelling and dazzling – weaving a story about the power of friendships, identity, misunderstanding. It’s a book about loss, disability and is so incredibly layered as to make it an intoxicating and dazzling read that we could read again and again.

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A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Rating: B

This was exactly the cosy thriller I needed to spend time with in October. The story centres around Pip who decides to look into the closed case of schoolgirl Andie Bell. The novel is cleverly plotted with twists and turns, so that it is only until the bitter end that all is revealed.

It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

Rating: B-

Colleen Hoover’s sequel to her phenomenally successful novel It Ends With Us tells the love story between Lily and Atlas. The book is no literary sensation but it was everything I needed it to be as the winter months draw in.

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

Rating: A-

For anyone who’s a fan of the TV show – The Summer I Turned Pretty – this novel embodies all the emotions that that series brought up. A delight of a novel, the story centres around Percy’s return to the coastal town where she grew up, where she reunites with the love of her life – Sam. It’s heartwarming, tender and joyful.

dear dolly by Dolly Alderton

Rating: A

Dolly Alderton’s collection of her Sunday Times columns feels like a warm hug from a big sister, though there are no big revelations in her advice, what Alderton brings is love, tenderness and charm delivered with a steady wit and humour throughout.

The Christie Affair by Nina De Gramont

Rating: A-

This is a fictional account of the real Agatha Christie disappearance on Friday 3 December 1926 at around 9:30 p.m. The novel is told from the perspective of Nan O’Dea, the mistress of Agatha’s husband, Archie. It is an immensely creative, fascinating and shocking account of what she imagines could have happened on those days that Christie was missing.

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

Rating: B-

The Bounty Hunter meets a Hallmark movie in this novel from Christina Lauren. Though by no means the smartest of their novels, this is still an immensely quick and readable novel.

The Devil You Know by Dr Gwen Adshead

Rating: A+

An absolutely fascinating examination of Dr Adshead’s therapy sessions with various figures in the criminal system – from serial killers to mothers on the brink of losing their children. What this novel will give you is an empathy for the human side of these figures that are the topic of so much vitriol and it is fascinating.

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Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Rating: A-

Taylor Jenkins Reid consistently knocks it out of the park with her string of latest releases. This novel centres around the fictional tennis player, Carrie Soto, and her attempts to make a comeback. It’s a brilliantly plotted, fast-paced novel that peeks behind the curtain of what it means to be a woman in sport.

Read our full review here.

The Culture Map by Erin Meyer

Rating: A+

This is a vital read for anyone who works within an international company – the book allows a framework to work and understand the gaps between different cultures and the painpoints that may cause misunderstanding and confusions.

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

Rating: A-

This stunning novel by Heather Morris tells the story of Cilka Klein, who having endured unspeakable horrors under the Nazi regime was forced into hard labour in Siberian camps. Over time, she learns to survive in this horrific environment. What the novel brings to life, more than anything, are the everyday horrors endured in these labour camps.

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

Rating: B+

Based off The Bachelor, The Charm Offensive is the tender and emotional love story between Charlie – the lead of the series Ever After and his male producer Dev. More than this though, the story brings to life, the human side of what it is like grappling with anxiety and also of understanding your own sexuality.

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1. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

This is the first book in Sarah J. Maas new series – Crescent City – the second book of which has been released this year.

It’s a breathless, fast-paced fantasy series filled with propulsive twists and turns. The plot is mapped out expertly and intricately, in a way that only Maas seems capable of doing. The novel revolves around Bryce Quinlan – a notorious party girl – who loses her closest friends in the most horrendous way. She is then tasked with capturing the murderer of her friends, with the help of Archangel Hunt Athalar and what follows is a breathless journey.

2. Writers & Lovers by Lily King

Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King has released this story, arguably based on her own experiences.

Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 without a plan. Her mail consists of wedding invitations and final notices from debt collectors. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she’s been writing for six years. At thirty-one, Casey is still clutching onto something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. Casey’s fight to fulfil her creative ambitions and balance the conflicting demands of art and life is challenged in ways that push her to the brink.

Writers & Lovers is whip-smart, but does not move with the same pace as her previous novels, at often times it is a largely unattainable novel in terms of depth and emotion but the result is an uncomfortably accurate portrayal of youth and times of crisis.

3. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

The Paris Apartment is one of the most hotly anticipated thrillers of 2022, following the release of The Hunting Party and The Guest List. 

The Paris Apartment centres around Jess who makes a spur of the moment decision to visit her brother Ben in his apartment in Paris. When she arrives, there is no sign of Ben and the longer he stays missing, the more questions Jess has around Ben’s life in Paris and the apartment building in which he lives. Foley builds out a mammoth and intricate cast of characters so that it is nigh impossible to decipher who the suspect might be.

The Paris Apartment isn’t Foley’s strongest thriller to date, but it is still immensely enjoyable.

Read our full review here.

4. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

The latest novel in Sarah J. Maas beloved series A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Silver Flames is out now.For the first time, Sarah J. Maas pivots away from Feyre’s storyline and this novel instead focusses on Nesta Archeron. Since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae, Nesta has struggled to find her place in this new world, haunted by the horrors she endured in the last battle. Cassian, the Illyrian warrior, ignites her temper. When Feyre decides on an intervention to combat Nesta’s self-destructive behaviour, the two are forced to keep close quarters with each other. Meanwhile, the human queens who returned to the Continent after the last ware have forged a dangerous new alliance, the key to halting them may well rest in Nesta’s hands. As Cassian trains Nesta up, her powers both inherited from the Cauldron, and within herself, become clearer.

Read our full review here.

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1.  A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight is the 4th book in Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series. It’s a blissful interlude after the breathless pace of A Court of Mist and Fury telling the story of Feyre, Rhys and their friends celebration of the Winter Solstice – Feyre’s first as High Lady.

The book is narrated by Feyre and Rhysand and is wondrous tale of hope and promise, setting the stage for the last instalment of the series – A Court of Silver Flames.

This novel had a mixed reception from fans, but when taken as a palate cleanser between books, it is a welcome and hopeful reprieve.

Read our full review of the first novel here.

2. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

One True Loves is a startlingly powerful novel about loss, heartache and the true meaning of love. The novel centres around Emma Blair who marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, leaving their hometown in Massachusetts and pursuing a life of adventure and travel. On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Emma is heartbroken, quitting her job and moving home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.. until Jesse is found – alive. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect both men who she loves deeply.

Read our full review here.

3. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is a very quick read, but for those expecting something clever from Rachel Hawkins, this is not it. The Ex Hex feels childish at times, not just with the content but the writing itself. Whilst an enjoyable and easy read, the characters feel quite surface level and so the reader is not suckered in in the way they have been in her other works. Honestly, we’d give this one a miss, despite its TikTok viral crown.

Read our full review here.

4. Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates

5. Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters

Detransition Baby was one of the biggest, most acclaimed debuts of 2021. It is a whipsmart debut about three women—transgender and cisgender—whose lives collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires around gender, motherhood, and sex.

It is a provocative debut that will shift perceptions – an immensely eye-opening novel that will garner empathy for those of all genders encountering motherhood for the first time.

Pick up a copy here.

The post Everything I Read in February 2022 appeared first on off the record.

Let’s preface this by saying that my New Years’ resolution for 2022 was to read more non-fiction books… Well, that went hard out the window when I discovered Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses collection this year. I fell in love with the characters in this series and the world that Maas created and simply could not stop reading, particularly when I needed something a little lighter after the hefty tome that was Hanya Yanagihara’s hotly anticipated follow-up to A Little Life – To Paradise. 

1. To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

Hanya Yanagihara’s new novel To Paradise may be the most anticipated novel of the year, as a follow-up to her critically-acclaimed and viral hit – A Little Life. Like most reviewers, I will put the firm expectation in place that if you are expecting a sister novel to A Little Life then this novel is not it. Clearly, To Paradise is victim to its predecessor’s success, but even without that weight on its shoulders, this would still not have been a clear win for me. Still, it is a beautifully written and intricately woven creation that will sweep you off your feet through the power of Hanya’s writing.

Read our full review here.

2. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Helen Hoang’s widely loved novel The Kiss Quotient was a delightful palate cleanser after the grit and density of To Paradise. It’s a whimsical romance between Stella and Michael that is filled to the brim with immense charm.

Read our full review here.

3-5. A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas

This one had been sat on my shelf for coming on a year, but every time I went to pick it up, some other book caught my attention. Why I did not discover this novel sooner or the rest of the series, I do not know. I had always been put off by the idea of this as ‘fantasy’ fiction – not a genre in which I had ever delved into before. However, I was sorely mistaken, A Court of Thorns and Roses was breathtaking in the pace with which it dragged you into this fantastical realm, filled with faeries and other beasts. Each novel just ratcheted up the pace and the romance to unfathomable levels – what a joy these books were and addicted I will now be to Sarah J. Maas’ releases.

A Court of Thorns and Roses: Read our full review here.

A Court of Mist and Fury: Read our full review here.

A Court of Wings and Ruin: Read our full review here.

The post Everything I Read in January 2022 appeared first on off the record.

1. Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno Garcia

Honestly, I’ve put this down and picked it up more times than we can count, but finally I persevered and it was well worth it. This is a propulsive noir thriller set in Mexico – the novel flits back and forth between the perspectives of El Elvis, an eccentric criminal and member of the Hawks who wants to escape his life and Maite, a daydreaming secretary in 1970s Mexico City. Their lives become intertwined when Maite’s neighbour Leonora goes missing, leading Maite into the kind of romantic and thrilling life that she had always wanted. This was as readable for its atmospheric evocation of 1970s Mexico as for the plot itself – worth persevering.

Pick up a copy here.

Read our full review here.

2. Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

This may be one of my favourite thrillers from the past few years, Katherine Faulkner’s handling of suspense and way that she builds the plot is addictive and compelling. Though many books claim to be in the ilk of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, this one actually stands up to that hype and I couldn’t put it down.

Pick up a copy here.

Read our full review here.

3. How to Not Die Alone by Logan Ury

Published in 2021, How to Not Die Alone by Logan Ury is a compilation of her research on what mistakes people make when looking for love and how to shift perspectives when navigating the modern dating terrain. It’s one of the most readable ‘dating’ books I’ve laid my hands on and is a great read to kick off 2022 if one of your goals was to put yourself out there this year.

Pick up a copy here.

Read our full review here.

4. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

I challenge anyone not to bawl their eyes out to this read. Colleen Hoover is a prolific writer but It Ends With Us stands apart as an incredibly delicate, painful and raw novel – it is clear perhaps that this book more than any other meant something very important to Hoover. The delicate and tender care she takes with her prose is testament to that. Whilst the novel is propulsive and immensely readable, it is heart wrenchingly raw and an important read for understanding the perspective of victims of domestic abuse.

Pick up a copy here.

Read our full review here.

5. Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

Out in March, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn’s new novel ‘Yinka Where is Your Huzband?’ is a hilarious, witty and addictive new comedy about the modern experience of dating. The novel centres around Yinka, her mum and aunties think they are better qualified to find her a ‘huzband’ than Yinka, herself. It’s a joyful, hilarious celebration of family, the trials of friendship, love and self-love and is addictive from start to finish. This novel is owed smash hit status.

Pre-order a copy here.

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1. The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

Following her award-winning novel The Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka’s forthcoming 2022 release is a devastating portrayal of the relationship between a mother and daughter, as a mother succumbs to dementia. It’s a precisely written novel, full of emotional weight. The first part of the book focusses on the almost cult-like mania around a swimming pool – each who only know each other as a result of the pool and their separate focusses. When a crack forms on the bottom of the pool and the pool is consequently closed, the swimmers are forced back to their separate realities. One of the swimmers is Alice who is falling prey to dementia. 

Narrated by Alice’s daughter, The Swimmers then breaks down Alice’s decline and the effects of her illness and loss on her daughter. It is a commanding novel, though doubtless not for everyone.

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

To be released on 24th February 2022

2. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia 

Silvia Moreno Garcia’s 2020 novel is a deliciously thrilling and propulsive novel. Glamorous debutante, Noemí Taboada receives a letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom and heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. Noemi is no pushover but as she comes to realise all is not normal at High Place. Her cousin’s new husband is menacing as is his father’s odd fascination with Noemí, more than anything though she experiences strange nightmares in this inhospitable house. Mexican Gothic is an enigmatic page-turner of a Gothic novel, masterfully handled.

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

3. The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

The Soulmate Equation may just be the best Christina Lauren novel to date. With their signature writing style, crammed full of witty and sparkling banter, the writing duo craft this gorgeous love story between Jess and River. After Jess decides on a whim to join GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever by finding your soulmate through DNA, she attains the unheard-of 98% compatibility with GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Pena. GeneticAlly offer to pay her in return for Jess to get to know River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could prove GeneticAlly’s worth, sparks fly between the unlikely pair. 

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

4. Pull Focus by Helen Walsh

Helen Walsh – the founder and president of Diaspora Dialogues and a former film / digital media producer – has released her debut novel – Pull Focus, a dizzyingly pacy thriller that infuses a huge amount of issues into its pages to create a complex and interesting novel.

The book centres around Jane who has been appointed as interim director of the Worldwide Toronto Film Festival after her boss has been removed for sexual harassment. No easy role, but made the more complicated when her partner goes missing and she is repeatedly threatened by strange women at the festival. In the dark as to what is going on with her partner and facing a numerous amount of fires to burn during the festival itself, Jane works to understand who are her true allies and enemies in this complicated fabric of the film and finance industry.

Read our full review here.

Pick up a copy of the novel here. 

5. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

The Unhoneymooners went viral on TikTok this year – deservedly so, it’s a deliciously light and propulsive read. Christina Lauren are masters of their craft and the proof is here, in their ability to craft characters and storylines that are as addictive as any TV show.

The protagonists in The Unhoneymooners are Olive and Ethan. Olive has always been unlucky – unlike her twin sister Ami. However, her luck looks like it is set to turn at Ami’s wedding when the entire wedding, minus Olive and her sworn enemy and the best man – Ethan – gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish. So as to not put Ami’s honeymoon to waste, Olive and Ethan set off on the free vacation that gets more complicated from a series of unfortunate run-ins. 

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

6. Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth

Adults is a hilarious read, almost uncomfortable in its candid and painfully accurate notations. The novel centres around Jenny who at thirty-five owns her own house, writes for a cool magazine and has hilarious friends just a message away, but all of these have downsides – she can’t actually afford her house, her best friend Kelly is clearly trying to break up with her, she spends half her life on social media looking at lives more glamorous than her own. Adults is a painfully accurate (at times) portrayal of young life and the curveballs life can throw at you.

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

7. Magpie by Elizabeth Day

In a literary world, where many thrillers seem to follow a formula, this novel pulls the rug out from under you. Magpie is a dizzying story that moves with so much pace told in Elizabeth Day’s taut, razor-sharp prose. Day is a master storyteller and this is an immensely propulsive read-in-a-day read for a cozy winter’s evening, as she narrates the story of Marissa and Kate in a story of infertility, insecurities and ramifications. We loved it.

Read our full review here.

Pick up a copy of the novel here. 

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Girl A, Abigail Dean (Harper Collins, 2021), A

Girl A is the daring thriller by Abigail Dean that tells the story of a girl who runs away from an abusive home – The House of Horrors – and the story that unfolds 15 years later as she revisits the path that led to the worst of her abuse.

Read our full review here.

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

Memorial, Bryan Washington (Riverhead, 2020), B

A painfully intimate examination of the crumbling foundations of a relationship.

Read our full review here.

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

One Last Stop, Casey McQuiston (Griffin, 2021), B+

The hotly-anticipated follow up to McQuiston’s cult favourite debut Red, White and Royal Blue, One Last Stop is an immensely heart-warming and charming love story between August and Jane with a  supernatural twist.

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

Accidentally Engaged, Farah Herron (Piatkus, 2021), A-

Another delightful romantic comedy novel about a woman who fakes an engagement to her neighbour in order to enter a cooking contest. It’s a charming and whimsical read perfect for a summer beach read.

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

Our Women on the Ground, Edited by Zahra Hankir (Penguin, 2019)

A devastatingly honest collection of essays from various Arab female journalists examining their experience reporting on the Arab world – it’s a necessary and important read that shines the spotlight on a relatively unexamined area of prejudice and hardship.

Pick up a copy of the novel here.

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