Books that have arrived in my mailbox during November and what I'm excited about reading next
Picking up shortly after the events of the first adventure, James Clyde returns with his best friends Ben and Mary Forester to his grandfather’s house in search of a map that will lead them to the Tomb of Salvation – an ancient shrine, where the three diamonds of Orchestra must be returned with the promise of immortality.
James and his company of adventurers journey through treacherous lands fraught with danger and meet many obstacles along the way – dangerous assassins on board a train, the dastardly Gilbert, also known as the ‘man in black’, and even an unlikely encounter with a fabled lake monster.
If they reach the Tomb of Salvation, James knows they will then face their greatest threat, for the tomb is said to be home to a terrifying demon – an entity that has shown no mercy to anyone who has ever entered its lair.
The second novel in the James Clyde series will lead you on an action-packed adventure full of mystery, suspense, danger, hope – and, yes, salvation.
Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.
Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the librarian of Auschwitz.
Out of one of the darkest chapters of human history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope.
Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn't what the storybooks promised.
Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family's power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins.
Then again, maybe he’s not the hero, for Kihrin isn’t destined to save the empire.
He’s destined to destroy it . . .
Morton Hall, with its beautiful, ruined grounds and its reclusive mistress, Emilia Morton, is full of mysteries. For freelance editor Anne Marie, the wild garden has become a serene and secret refuge from her loveless marriage. The only other regular visitor is Cape, the hall’s part-time gardener, who is forbidden to tend to anything except the magnificent maze or to meet his enigmatic employer.
When Emilia dies, Cape and Anne Marie are astonished to find themselves among an unlikely group of villagers named in her strange will. Morton Hall, including its dazzling art collection and once glorious grounds, can belong to the community forever, but only if they work together to bring the garden back to life within a single year.
As they try to put their differences aside to restore the tangled grounds, long-buried secrets are unearthed. Can the past be forgiven as hope and new love begin to bloom?
Sometimes a girl just has to do what’s in her heart …
By day Miles Franklin, named after the famous author, is a successful lawyer. But by night she writes historical romance novels under the pen name Emma Browning. When Miles’s assistant covertly enters her boss's novel in one of Australia’s biggest literary awards—and it wins—Miles’s perfectly ordered world is torn apart.
Lars Kristensen smells a rat. As the CEO of Iconic International, the company publishing Miles’s prize-winning novel, he’s determined to meet the author and uncover her true identity. But Miles is equally determined to protect her privacy—and to keep writing. Even if it means mastering pole dancing, and choreographing a love scene in the back of a horse-drawn carriage … Well, she is a romance writer, after all.
Miles has the grit to keep her secret, but Lars has the smouldering looks and arrogance of any romantic hero she has ever imagined.
Hmm. Sometimes a girl just has to turn the page …
WYATT: MASTER THEIF
Some people just work better alone. Wyatt's one of them.
He's been getting by on nice quiet burglaries - one man jobs - when he gets wind of something bigger. A corporate crook, notorious Ponzi schemer, set to face court and certain jail time. About to skip bail the old fashioned way, on a luxury yacht with a million dollars in liquid assets.
To Wyatt it sounds like something he should get into.
He's not alone.
On the outside, Tena’s childhood looked like a fairytale. Her father was one of the richest men in the state; her mother was a regal beauty. The family lived on a sprawling farm and had the only swimming pool in town; Tena was given her first car—a royal blue Camaro—at twelve.
Behind closed doors, her parents' marriage was a swamp of alcohol, rampant infidelity and guns. Adding to the turmoil, Tena understood from a very young age that she was different from her sisters, all beauty queens and majorettes. She didn't want to be a majorette - she wanted to marry one.
On Tena's tenth birthday, her mother walked out on her father for good and Tena was left in the care of her black nanny, Virgie, who became Tena's surrogate mother and confidante - even though she was raising nine of her own children.
It was Virgie's acceptance and unconditional love that gave Tena the courage to stand up to her domineering father, the faith the believe in her mother's love, and the strength to challenge the bigotry that defined her world and to be her true self.
A cruise – no matter how magical – can't change your life. Can it…?
Clever, charming dressmaker Ketty Clift is embarking on her final cruise from Sydney before she must make serious changes in her life. Supported by the ship's all–powerful maitre d' Carlos, she has a mission: transform the lives of those who join her at her dining table every evening. Not only can Ketty turn Cinderellas into princesses with her legendary style–eye, but she has a gift for bringing people together.
But this trip is different. As the glamour and indulgence of the cruise takes hold, and the ship sails further away from Sydney towards the Pacific Islands, it becomes clear that her fellow travellers – a troubled family, a grieving widower and an angry divorcee determined to wreak revenge on her ex – are going to be harder work than usual.
As Ketty tries to deal with her own problems, including the unexpected arrival on board of her long–lost love, Leo – the man who broke her heart – as well as troubling news from home, she begins to realise this might be the one cruise that defeats her…
Ten terrible dinosaurs standing in a line, soon began to mess about until there were....nine!
Ten Terrible Dinosaurs, a lively counting book first published in 1997 and now reissued.
A celebratory edition of this classic book, now twenty-five years old and never out of print.
originally published in 1994, Dinosaur Roar! by Henrietta and Paul Strickland is now seen as a modern classic, a book every preschool child will love.
Magic is real, Thomas. No matter what happens, always remember that magic is real.
Seven years have passed, and Thomas hasn't forgotten. He hasn't forgotten the blue of his dad's eyes either, or the tickle of beard on his cheek as they hugged goodbye. Last moments with a parent are memorable, even if you don't know that's what you're having at the time.
Now, with his 13th birthday rapidly approaching, Thomas's search for magic is about to take a radical and unexpected turn. At an out-of-the-way shop filled with dusty leather books, a strange little man with gold-flecked eyes offers him an ancient text called The Book of Sorrows. The price is high and the rules are strict, but there's no way Thomas can resist the chance to look inside.
With the mysterious book guiding the way, a strange new world is revealed – a world in which Thomas has a name and destiny far more extraordinary than he ever imagined. But time is short. Even as Thomas uncovers his secret family history, enemies emerge, threatening to end his rise to power and destroy everything he holds dear.
TILL DEATH DO US PART. When Jake Adams uttered those words to his wife, Stephanie, he had an entirely different intention in mind. Industrious, determined, dedicated, devoted to his wife and children, he plans to give her, and them, the world. What Jake lacked in education, he made up for with willingness to learn and work hard so as to reap the rewards. In the end, it paid off—or so he believed. Stephanie should have been happy. And after all they went through together—the scares, dares, jobs, babies, successes, failures, lovers, separations, and second chances, why isn’t she content? What will it take? What is it that she wants him to do? As he struggles to discern truth from lies, it becomes a matter of being dead wrong or dead right. Find out who gets what’s deserved in this latest novel of emotional twists and turns by Nesly Clerge.
A warm and witty multi-generational romantic comedy, set in a coastal Australian farming community, from international bestselling romance author Marion Lennox. Dr Jennifer Kelly has reached the pinnacle of her career as a successful Manhattan obstetrician, complete with ambitious, blue-blooded fianc�. After a desolate childhood with a distant grandmother, life seems everything she's ever wanted.
When a grandfather she's never heard of leaves her a dairy farm on an isolated Australian island - plus one depressed dog, thirty geriatric cows and a bunch of ancient surfboards - she plans a quick trip to put the farm up for sale. Her aloof, socialite grandmother Muriel is appalled, yet insists on accompanying her.
Once there, Jenny finds herself caught, by cows, by turtles - and by Jack McLachlan, the overworked island doctor who desperately needs her help. Muriel's caught too, with ghosts of her wartime past threatening to crack the shell she's built with such dedication and care.
But isn't Manhattan their home? How can two women give up the perfect world they've worked so hard for by taking a chance on...life?
What am I really looking forward to reading? This is going to be a hard pick as I am keeping myself down to three 'I can't wait to get my hands on it' books.
Southern Discomfort - I don't read many memoirs but I like the sound of this as Tena overcomes adversity and finds her true self.
Kill Shot - I haven't read Garry Disher before and this is book 9 in the Wyatt series so I'm hoping I will love it so I'll have another 8 great books to look forward to.
The Ruin of Kings - When I saw the words epic and fantasy in the description of this book I was sold immediately. This one isn't out until February 2019 so look out for my review.
I've already read James Clyde and the Tomb of Salvation and On the Same Page so those two reviews we be posted soon
Anything here that takes your fancy? I'd love to know what is on your must-read list for December.
