Best Books this Winter
From apocalyptic dramas to murder mysteries, here’s a great selection of the latest (and darkest) reads for the season, with thanks to Book Face, Port Macquarie.
FICTION
LOCAL AUTHOR RECOMMENDATION – LUNATION by Teresa Bell
Port Macquarie author Teresa Bell has penned a wonderful novel that is garnering rave reviews. It follows the story of Isabella Luce, a Sydney journalist who is put under surveillance by the government for trying to tell the story of Luna, a young girl from Basra who is held in detention. The novel charts Isabella’s subsequent psychic disintegration, taking the reader on a paranoid journey into the confined mind. It is also the story a mad nation and the stories we tell ourselves in order to feel free. A must-read for the deep thinker.
BLOOD RIVER by Tony Cavanaugh
Who doesn’t love to curl up with a thrilling murder mystery? Tony Cavanaugh’s Blood River centres around Brisbane in 1999, when, as floodwaters rise, Homicide Detective Constable Lara Ocean is facing her first serial killer investigation, and the victims are all men. Could a seventeen-year-old private school girl really be guilty? A gripping read.
MACHINES LIKE ME by Ian McEwan
Looking for a light read? This is not the book for you. In Machines Like Me, Ian McEwan imagines a world in the past that is also the future, following the life of Charlie, a day-trader who comes into an inheritance which he uses to purchase ‘Adam’, a highly sophisticated and life-like robot. What follows is an unsettlingly possible exploration of AI as Adam comes to life and becomes an independent, thinking being who falls in love with Charlie’s girlfriend and takes over his day-trading. Dark and deep.
THE SECRET RUNNERS OF NEW YORK by Matthew Reilly
There’s something about apocalyptic dramas that we can’t get enough of, and The Secret Runners of New York is no exception. When Skye Rogers and her twin brother Red move to Manhattan, rumours of a coming global apocalypse are building Skye is invited to join an exclusive gang who have access to an underground portal that can transport them into the future, where Skye makes a horrifying discovery. Now she must use her knowledge to figure out how to survive the impending annihilation.
NON-FICTION
LOVE YOUR BODY by Jessica Sanders
This is the book we all needed growing up. In Love Your Body, social worker an author Jessica Sanders encourages young girls to become aware of all the amazing things their bodies can do – helping them see that they are much more than their appearance. Packed with fun illustrations and a comforting tone, Love Your Body has some great tips on self-care and nourishment for young girls. A lovely gift with an important message.
ORIGINS: HOW THE EARTH MADE US by Lewis Dartnell
Your inner science-nerd will love Lewis Dartnell’s latest offering, a fascinating read about how we, as humans, are shaped by our environment. Linking the human story to the evolution of natural forces, from plate tectonics and climate change to atmospheric circulation and ocean currents, Dartnell takes us billions of years into our planet’s past and invites us to see the vast web of connections that underwrites our modern world.
AUSTRALIA DAY by Stan Grant
This recent release by award-winning Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant is already proving to be very popular. Australia Day is the long-awaited follow up to Grant’s 2016 critically acclaimed book, Talking to My Country. Grant’s new work delves deeper into Australian attitudes, our identity as a nation and the indigenous struggle for belonging. It has been described as ‘essential reading’ as well as ‘eloquent’, ‘wise’ and ‘compassionate’.
All above the above titles are available at Book Face Store and Café at Port Central. Ph) 6584 6001.