Quick Reads

Today marks the launch and publication of The Reading Agency's 2018 Quick Reads selection of books.

   

I am a big fan of the Quick Reads series. Each book costs only £1 and they are written by popular authors, and this years collection of authors are, I think, the best yet. I have read books by all of these authors and I firmly believe that there is something for everyone in this selection.

Quick Reads are designed to encourage more people to pick up a book and read. 1 in 6 people find reading difficult or something which they rarely do. This may be for a number of reasons, they have never learnt to read, they don't want to pick up a book or just don't have the time. Quick Reads aim to encourage everyone to (re)discover the joy of reading. 

Quick Reads are short books and are written in language that is easy to read and understand. These books may be the first 'adult' book a person reads or one that encourages a reader to try a new author as each book has details of other books by the author included.

Quick Reads are being sold by all the major retailers and also available in libraries across the country.

Quick Reads is making real, lasting changes to people's lives. Since 2006, 4.8 million books have been distributed through the initiative, 3 million library loans have been registered and through outreach work hundreds of thousands of new readers each year have been introduced to the joys and benefits of reading. Quick Reads is a unique collaboration and we are very grateful for the support of everyone involved.

 

     2018 titles

This year's Quick Reads authors and titles, available from 1 February 2018, are:

• Cut Off by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown): A punchy, taut urban thriller about that moment we all fear: losing our phone! For Louise, losing hers in a local café takes a sinister turn. Billingham has sold five million copies of his novels and has twice won the Theakston's Old Peculiar Award for Crime Novel of the Year.

• The Great Cornish Getaway by Fern Britton (HarperCollins): As the sun sits high in the sky over Cornwall, and the sea breeze brings a welcome relief to the residents of the seaside village of Trevay, a stranger arrives in need of a safe haven. The former presenter of This Morning, Britton is now a Sunday Times bestselling author and this story is full of her usual warmth and wit.

• Clean Break by Tammy Cohen (Transworld): A dark and twisty portrait of a marriage coming to its bitter end, from the mistress of domestic noir. Can Kate rid herself of her jealous husband before it's too late? Cohen's acclaimed novels include The Mistress's Revenge, The War of the Wives and Someone Else's Wedding.

• Inspector Chopra and the Million-Dollar Motor Car by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton): An enchanting Baby Ganesh Agency novella from the bestselling Khan set in the bustling back-streets of Mumbai. Inspector Chopra and his elephant sidekick have two days to solve the mystery of a missing - and very costly - car for its gangster owner, or there'll be a heavy price to pay.

• The Beach Wedding by Dorothy Koomson (Arrow): A gripping short read featuring a wedding, family drama, and old secrets. Tessa is thrilled when her daughter arrives in Ghana to get married but memories of the last time she was there haunt her; can she lay the ghosts of the past to rest or will they come back to haunt her daughter's future? Koomson is the bestselling author of 12 novels including The Ice-Cream Girls, My Best Friends' Girl and most recently The Friend.

• Six Foot Six by Kit de Waal (Viking): A charming novella from Costa First Novel Award shortlisted author de Waal about finding friendship in the most unlikely of places. Everything changes for Timothy, a 21 year-old with learning difficulties, when local builder Charlie calls on him for help. De Waal worked in criminal and family law and was a magistrate for many years before her international bestseller, My Name is Leon was published.

Thank you to Ed PR for sending me a selection of the Quick Reads books. I really love the selection of authors chosen for this years selection and will be reading all the titles very soon.

Blog Tour - A Year at Meadowbrook Manor by Faith Bleasdale

Today I am pleased to welcome Faith Bleasdale to my blog to celebrate the publication of her new novel A Year at Meadowbrook Manor.

One divided family, one life-changing year…

Harriet Singer hasn’t been home in ten years. When her beloved dad dies suddenly, she races to be there for her estranged siblings, despite the memories it brings back.

Then Harriet learns that all four Singer siblings must live together for one year, caring for their dad’s Animal Sanctuary, or forfeit their inheritance.

Living under the same roof could make or break the family, but it’s time Harriet stopped running and faced her past. Especially when her first love turns up…

A heart-warming story about love, hope and family, perfect for fans of Cathy Bramley and Heidi Swain

I really enjoyed A Year at Meadowbrook Manor, a lighthearted read which I lost myself in over a weekend. It is one of those books that transports the reader to a idyllic English countryside village, within which live characters who become friends. The story was one within which I became engrossed and found myself laughing out loud.

The publishers, Avon Books, have shared with me an extract to get my blog readers hooked with the everyday life of Meadowbrook Manor .........

‘OK, well we have chickens over there.’ He pointed to another field which held a very elaborate looking henhouse as well as space for them to run. ‘They’re all ex-battery hens but they do lay eggs – at times – and we try to rescue as many chickens as possible. They come to us in such a dreadful state but we mostly get them happy and healthy again. Although, and you have to get used to this, we do lose some of our animals.’

‘I guess they all have names too?’ Harriet asked. She hated to think about the cruelty aspect to the sanctuary, or animals dying. She knew it went on but she didn’t want to give herself nightmares. She might be a hard-nosed city woman but she had a heart. It was just a bit of a well-kept secret at the moment.

‘All named after Jane Austen characters, one of our staff, Jenni, is a huge fan so we let her name them. And she can tell them apart, but the rest of us get them mixed up.’

‘The chickens look kind of the same to me,’ Harriet said, looking at them.

‘Don’t tell Jenni that. There are also some geese, they sort of roam around, they’re quite tame, so you can approach them but don’t scare them. And in the far field two Highland bulls.’ He pointed and she looked across. They were enormous, and quite magnificent with their horned heads and shaggy coats. ‘They’re best friends. About a year ago I had a call about them and, well, it wasn’t easy as they aren’t always the friendliest of animals but we managed to get them here. They clearly adore each other, barely leave each other’s side, but they can be aggressive to any other animal and some humans, although they’re fine if you approach them properly. Still, we keep them on their own, we named them Elton and David.’

‘Gay bulls? Are you joking?’ Harriet looked at Connor but he had already turned his attention to other animals.

‘And if you look at the far side of the field just beyond the ponies, you’ll see that in the shelter we have our blind sheep and her guide lamb. Agnes and Abigail.’ Harriet looked to where Connor pointed and saw two white dots.

‘How come she’s blind?’

‘She was attacked by a crow when she was pregnant, blinded, but she managed to deliver a healthy baby and the lamb, Abigail, became her “guide lamb”. No good to the farmer so he brought them to us. They trot around together quite happily, it’s very sweet, but we do take extra special care of them, almost like domestic pets.’

‘God, Connor, the stories, they’re quite sad.’ Harriet wiped fresh tears from her eyes, for someone who never cried she was suddenly finding it a bit too easy. Poor heartbroken Romeo, the neglected gay cows, the blind sheep and her lamb who took care of her, the ex-battery hens, not to mention the domestic animals. It was so, so tragic. No wonder her father had invested so much in this.

Thank you to Faith Bleasdale and the publishers, Avon Books, for inviting me to take part in this blog tout.

Blog Tour - Dreaming of Florence by T A Williams

Today I am pleased to welcome T A Williams to my blog to celebrate the publication of 'Dreaming of Florence', which is a fantastic book that takes the reader on a tour of Florence. I have never been to Italy, let alone Florence, however while reading 'Dreaming of Florence' I could feel the Italian sun on my skin and the gorgeous scenery surrounding me. The author's writing allowed me to experience the sounds, smells and tastes of Florence from the comfort of my own home. I really enjoyed the story and felt it brought some of the Italian sun to my life during England's dull and gloomy winter months.

The Fascination of Italy

TA (Trevor) Williams tells us why he loves writing books set in Italy and why he chose it for his latest – Dreaming of Florence.

Before we go any further, I must hold my hand up and admit that I am a confirmed Italophile. I lived there for eight years, my wife is Italian, we still speak Italian together - even though we’ve been back in the UK now for forty years - and, just to put the icing on the cake, we have a Fiat 500. I have friends and relatives in Italy and I love going back to visit this wonderful country.

 For a writer, being able to write about a subject with which you are completely familiar is a great advantage. Although I still make regular “research trips” to Italy to check that everything is still as I remember it, I know I’m writing about something very, very familiar. I’m currently thinking about starting a future book in the sweaty jungles of Equatorial Africa and, although you can find out all sorts of information on the internet these days, no computer can give you everything. I want the smells, the imperceptible gestures of the people, the feel of the clothes, or the sound of a black mamba infiltrating its way into my tent (from a safe distance, I trust). Italy has no black mambas, but I do know that unmistakable smell of old incense, dust and humanity that greets any visitor to Florence’s iconic Duomo. I also instantly recognise the hand gestures an Italian uses to tell me the food is good, the girl beautiful, or the driver of the car in front a moron.

Italy is such a diverse country. We have a stereotype of Italy as a composite of gondolas, pizzas, priests in black robes, Roman amphiteatres, and Ferraris driven by handsome Latin Lovers. These do indeed exist, but the country – and the people – differ so very much from region to region. Don’t forget that Italy is a very recent addition to the family of nations. Up to 1861, it was just a collection of different – and often warring – states, and a peasant from Calabria would have been unable to understand a single word spoken by a peasant from Tuscany. And don’t forget that there are still today regions of Italy where they speak French, and others where they speak German – although Italian is taught as the lingua franca. Indeed, my wife’s native language (she’s from the very far north, in the Alps) is a dialect that is still impenetrable to a fellow Italian living only a few hundred kilometres down the road.

This very diversity is what gives the country so much of its charm. In my latest book, Dreaming of Florence, the characters can step out of their doors in the middle of the Florence and be on the ski slopes in little more than an hour and a half. On that very same day, the temperature a bit further down the peninsula might be like a balmy summer day in England. People can be dining outside on the Italian Riviera while less than a hundred kilometres away, the temperature is well below zero, and there is ice on the roads. Italy is a very long country. I remember when, shortly after I arrived in Turin in northern Italy, I was told that the distance from there back to London was considerably shorter than from there to the southern tip of Italy. If you look at a map, you’ll see that Florence is still pretty far north, but the feel of the place is so very different from Venice to the north or Naples to the south.

Florence, in my opinion, has it all. It has a rich and fascinating history, incomparable art and architecture, delightful scenery and warm, welcoming people – although some of them can hide it pretty well at times. I love the city, just as I love the whole country, and I hope some of my love shines through as you read Dreaming of Florence.

Thank you to the publishers, Canelo, and to T A Williams for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Blog Tour - Close to Home by Cara Hunter

Today I am pleased to welcome Cara Hunter to my blog. Cara is currently taking part in a blog tour to celebrate the publication of her debut novel. Close to Home. 

Close to Home is a really good book, full of twists and turns and kept my attention to the very end. When I choose a new author to read, I often refer back to Richard and Judy and their WHSmith Book Club. I have been a fan since the very first list and I still think that they have a great eye to picking great books that a wide audience will enjoy. Therefore when I saw that Close to Home had made it on to the new 2018 Book Club list I knew I was in for a good read, and I definitely was not disappointed. 

Last night, eight-year-old Daisy Mason disappeared from a family party.

No one in the quiet suburban street saw anything - or at least that's what they're saying. DI Adam Fawley is trying to keep an open mind. But he knows the nine times out of ten, it's someone the victim knew. That means someone is lying...

And that Daisy's time is running out. 

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241283097

Cara Hunter joins me to talk about detective stories on the small screen ......

Watching the detectives…

“It reminds me so much of Broadchurch”. That was pretty much the first thing my editor at Penguin ever said to me and it was just about the nicest compliment she could have chosen. Right from the start, one of the things I wanted to do with Close to Home was give readers the same sort of experience they get from crime TV.

There’s so much superb writing for the screen now – look at Line of Duty or Hinterland. Tightly plotted, with enthralling characters, and fantastic twists. I wanted to recreate some of that same pace and energy on the page, which is what inspired me to develop what I suppose you could call the ‘signature style’ of the DI Fawley books (the second, In the Dark is out in July, and the third next winter). There are lots of short scenes, lots of different points of view, and lots of different types of narrative, from blog posts - like this one! - to Twitter feeds and police interview transcripts. This keeps the story bowling along, and at the same time it also gives the reader the chance to turn detective themselves, as they piece together all the various strands of evidence and come up with what they think really happened.

Another thing TV crime is really good at is using setting to maximise the menace. I’ll never forget the brooding flatlands of True Detective I, and the cinematography of Hinterland is likewise outstanding. As one person on Twitter put it, the show manages to make the Welsh hills feel like Mordor. For the Fawley books, the setting is Oxford, which has a huge TV ‘hinterland’ of its own, of course. It’s such a gift for me, as a writer, because everyone already has a picture of Oxford in their heads from Morse or Lewis, so I have the luxury of taking all that for granted. I can ‘turn the camera the other way’, and show them a side to the city that’s much ‘closer to home’….  

 I am already looking forward to Cara Hunter's next novel and I recommend Close to Home to all my blog readers.

Thank you to the publishers, Penguin Random House, for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and a copy of the book in return for an honest review and to Cara for visiting me on the blog tour. 

Blog Tour - On The Bright Side (The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen)

Chaos ensues as 85-year-old Hendrik Groen is determined to grow old with dignity: to rise up against the care home director. NO more bingo. NO more over- boiled vegetables. NO more health and safety.

85-year-old Hendrik Groen is fed up to his false teeth with coffee mornings and bingo. He dreams of escaping the confines of his care home and practising hairpin turns on his mobility scooter. Inspired by his fellow members of the recently formed Old-But-Not-Dead Club, he vows to put down his custard cream and commit to a spot of octogenarian anarchy .But the care home's Director will not stand for drunken bar crawls, illicit fireworks and geriatric romance on her watch.

The Old-But-Not-Dead Club must stick together if they're not to go gently into that good night. Things turn more serious, however, when rumours surface that the home is set for demolition. It's up to Hendrik and the gang to stop it - or drop dead trying . . .

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780718186630

I am a big fan of 'The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old' and so when I heard that the lovable diarist, Hendrik Groen, was returning with his next diary I was eager to read it and I was definitely not disappointed.

Hendrik Groen returns and is determined that there is life outside of the care home in which he lives and he wants to be part of it. Joining up with the fellow members of the Old-But-Not-Dead Club they hatch a plan. Reading their exploits left me in fits of giggles and it is like reading about a group of rebellious teenagers. However, as with life, there are also times of sadness and those tug on the heart strings. 

The book is set in 2015 and there are nods to actual events from those time and also issues which affected the general public both then and now including the threatened closure of the care home and I really enjoy reading books that remind me of years gone by and significant events. 

This is the second diary of Hendrik Groen and although it could be read as a stand alone read I think that I enjoyed it more having read the first book as characters from the previous book are mentioned and it is like catching up with old friends again.

A great book to curl up with on long winter nights.

Thank you to the publishers, Michael Joseph, for sending me the book in return for an honest review.

Angel's Great Escape (A Christmas Story) by Kirstie Rowson and Kristyna Litten

It's Christmas Eve and Angel is looking forward to a magical Christmas with her decoration friends. There's only one problem, they're trapped in a box at the home of the Mean family. Will they be able to escape? And will they be in time to meet Father Christmas?

Find out in this magical, rhyming, Christmassy tale with cosy illustrations by Kristyna Litten!

When I was younger I remember I had a special Christmas story that I read every year over the festive period and I think this book could be a child's special Christmas story. It is written in rhyme, another favourite style, and the illustrations are beautiful.

The story tells of good v bad and has a lovely Christmassy feel to it. A magical story to read to a child this Christmas time.

Thank you to the publishers, And So We Begin, for sending me the book in return for an honest review. 

Roller Coaster Ride Around The Body by Gabby Dawnay and Alex Barrow

Shortlisted for the Association for Science Education "Book of the Year 2017"

Jump on board and take a ride around the human body on our read-aloud, rollicking rollercoaster. Created by CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal nominees Gabby Dawnay and Alex Barrow, prepare to take your inquisitive youngster on a visually led, fast-paced rhythmic trip, from bones to muscles, feelings to sleep. This book is bursting with energy and fun - the perfect way to introduce your enthusiastic little one to a key school topic.

Roller-coaster Ride Around the Body has been designed to promote learning through imagination and humour, building visual and auditory memory, in addition to stimulating questioning and enquiry skills. It is particularly suitable for reading together with pre-school children, individually and in groups, and as a starting point for physical-led expression.

Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
ISBN: 9781445152028

This is the perfect book for an inquisitive child who wants to learn more about the human body. There is lots of information contained within the book and it is displayed in many different ways. There is lots of imaginative prose throughout the book, inviting the reader to take a journey throughout the human body - comparing body shape, colour and ability, while also answering those questions that trouble a child's mind e.g. what is spit for or what are bogies for? The book can be dipped in and out of as questions arise and will be great for school biology topics. It will make a great addition to any resource shelf, school library or for the country's future doctors.

Thank you to the publishers, Orchard Books, for sending me the book in return for an honest review.