Books of the Month April 2024

APRIL BOOKS PAGE

Put your feet up and see our books for April. You can also win all of the books reviewed this month in our competition - see below.

My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes. Anna has just lost her taste for the Big Apple. She has a life to envy. An apartment in New York. A well-meaning partner. And a high-flying job in beauty PR. Who wouldn’t want all that? Anna, it turns out. Trading a minor midlife crisis for a major life event, she switches the skyscrapers of Manhattan for the tiny Irish town of Maumtully (population 1,217), helping old friends Brigit and Colm set up a luxury coastal retreat. Tougher than it sounds. Newflash: the locals hate the idea. So much so, there have been threats and violence. Anna, however, worked in the beauty industry. There’s no ugliness she hasn’t seen. No wrinkle she can’t smooth over. There’s just one fly in the ointment, old flame Joey Armstrong. He’s going to be her wingman. Never mind their chequered history. Never mind what might have been. Published by Michael Joseph, 11th April 2024. Pre-Order here

Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson.  For Pumkin Patterson, family is complicated. Her mother Paulette, who ignores her. Her beloved Auntie Sophie, who her mother resents. And her grandmother, who has always played favourites. Whenever tensions rise, Pumkin retreats to the kitchen, creating Jamaican bread puddings and coconut drops that always give her comfort. When Sophie moves to France, she vows to send for her niece in one year’s time. But in order to follow her, Pumkin has a mountain to climb, starting with how to escape her mother, and make enough money to get to Marseille. Inspired by her skills in the kitchen, Pumkin turns to her community in the hope that she can sell enough sweet treats to bake her way out. When her school and her mother discover her plan, everything she’s worked so hard for may slip through her fingers.  Pubished by Michael Joseph, 11th April 2024. Pre-Order here

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor. In a small Alaskan town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and the blood drained from his body. The brutality of the murder echoes a killing from twenty-five years ago. Detective Barbara Atkins is brought in to assist sheriff Tucker, who investigated the original case, but the inhabitants of Deadhart believe they know who is responsible: one of the nearby vampyr colony who live deep in the mountains. Under pressure to authorise a cull of the colony, the evidence doesn’t stack up, people are lying, and the more Barbara and Tucker delve into history, the darker the secrets they uncover. As the snow thickens and the nights grow longer, another teenager goes missing and body parts are found, time is running out for Barbara and Tucker to find the truth. Are they hunting a cold-blooded murderer, or a bloodthirsty monster? Published by Michael Joseph, 11th April 2024. Pre-Order here

The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides. July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach in Hawaii, Cook was killed after a conflict with the indigenous population. What brought Cook to these final moments, so at odds with his reputation? He was different on his final, fatal voyage, becoming mercurial, using the lash to enforce discipline, leading his ships into danger time and again, meting out savage punishments against native peoples for perceived wrongs. Whatever was driving Cook, revealed itself to be the sharp edge of a colonial sword bringing catastrophe to the people in its path. After returning from the Arctic to the shores of Hawaii, the expedition finally tore itself apart. Deeply researched and vividly told, The Wide Wide Sea is a ferociously-paced, epic adventure and a searching examination of the consequences of the Age of Exploration from a master storyteller. Published by Michael Joseph, 11th April 2024. Pre-Order here

The Lost Paths by Jack Cornish. Hundreds of thousands of miles of paths reach into, and connect, communities across England and Wales. More than just a practical way for us to walk, ride and cycle, they are an inheritance from our past, revealing how our ancestors interacted with and shaped their surroundings. But thousands of miles are still missing from our maps, and they will be lost forever unless they are urgently reclaimed. Fighting for their survival through his work with the Ramblers Association, Jack Cornish has spent years walking and recording these forgotten routes, those that have been lost, those that have been saved and those which remain hidden in plain sight. This incredible ‘ordinary’ history of the land beneath our feet reminds us just how precious these paths are to the human story of this island. This is a celebration of an ancient network and a rallying cry to reclaim what has been lost and preserve it for future generations. Published by Michael Joseph, 11th April 2024. Pre-Order here

You can win all the books in our April collection. Just click here to enter.