A look at new book releases this month, including a family grappling with a terminal illness and a world apocalypse, a commoner disguising herself as an aristocrat at her cousin’s request, and individuals preserving some of the world’s oldest and rarest cultural traditions.
Definitely Better Now by Ava Robinson
After keeping herself busy with work and steering clear of bad decisions, Emma manages to stay sober for one whole year.
Now she’s ready to move on with her life, like hanging out with her colleagues and getting back to the dating scene.
But things aren’t smooth sailing like she thought it would be. Emma’s mother is moving in with her new partner, while her estranged father is back with unexpected news.
At work she has to plan the office’s holiday party, then there’s Ben the IT guy she’s drawn to. Being sober, it turns out, does not unlock the perfect future that Emma imagined.
Cabin by Patrick Hutchison
A memoir of the author’s life after giving up his office job to restore a shabby cabin in the woods that he bought on a whim.
With barely any carpentry skills to fix up his new home, Hutchison’s adventure is off to a rocky start. His main resource is Youtube videos as he prepares for his major renovation project with the help of his good friends.
Nobody’s Hero by MW Craven
The murder of two pickpockets in London sets off a chain reaction with global repercussions. A safe, opened for the first time in 10 years, reveals a letter with a cryptic message: ‘The Acacia Avenue Protocol has been initiated’. Four names are listed, three of which are dead. Ben Koenig is the last name on the list. Central to this mystery is a woman who has resurfaced and deemed a threat by the authorities – someone Koenig happens to know and helped disappear.
The Wrong Lady Meets Lord Right by Suzanne Allain
Arabella Grant’s aunt is far from a good person. So when she suddenly passes away, Arabella and her cousin Lady Isabelle can’t help but feel relieved to be free from misery.
But their newfound freedom is at risk when Isabelle is summoned by her great-aunt to London.
Reluctant to present herself to other nobles, Isabelle convinces her cousin to take her place.
Her great-aunt has poor eyesight so she wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. Being a commoner, Arabella never had the opportunity to experience the wealthy lifestyle so she agrees.
While in London posing as an aristocrat, Arabella meets Lord Brooke who is far above her own social class.
After the Ocean by Lauren E Rico
Emilia and Paul’s honeymoon cruise ends in a tragedy when Paul disappears, presumably drowned. Framed as a gold-digging murderer, Emilia escapes and starts a new life as a mother of two.
Thirty years later, a mysterious phonecall suggests Paul is alive, driving Emilia to search for her husband, not knowing her grown daughters Meg and Gracie are following close behind.
I Think We’ve Been Here Before by Suzy Krause
Diagnosed with a terminal illness, Marlen has little time left – and so does the world. With a cosmic blast set to destroy Earth in just a few months, Marlen and his wife Hilda try to make the most of their time together as family. But their daughter is currently in Berlin and having difficulty trying to get home, while Hilda’s nephew is missing and his mother refuses to believe the world is about to end. Amid this chaos, an odd sense of deja vu lingers.
Custodians of Wonder by Eliot Stein
A journalist goes on a journey around the globe, meeting people who preserve some of the world’s oldest and rarest cultural traditions.
In India, Eliot Stein meets one of the few women alive who knows how to make the world’s rarest pasta.
In Germany, he meets the official mailman of the only tree in the world with its own address and has received countless letters from people finding love.
Stein introduces readers to some of the last people on Earth still in touch with quickly vanishing rites. – Aqilah Rahman
