Satire, fictional and real
Red Birds
Author: Mohammed Hanif Publisher: Bloomsbury, contemporary fiction
MAJOR Ellie is tasked with bombing a village, but a crash landing gets in the way of his plans. Now he is seeking refuge in the very camp he was supposed to blow up, hallucinating palm trees and nursing his dehydration.
Not far from him, Momo’s money-making scheme is getting him into big trouble and his dog is having an even worse day. And what is a teenager to do when some pesky aid worker comes around wanting him to be a part of her research on the Teenage Muslim Mind?
The Fifth Risk
Author: Michael Lewis Publisher: Allen Lane
The US Presidential election happened in 2016, and then there was radio silence. Donald Trump appointees were few and far between, and those who did show up seemed uninformed about their new role or new workplace function.
When everything runs as it should, people do not notice. But when things come to a screeching halt, it is not something that can be ignored. So what happens when a government is under attack by its own leaders?
The Laws Of Human Nature
Author: Robert Greene Publisher: Viking, biology
PEOPLE are social animals; a huge part of our lives are shaped by our interactions and relationships with others. We are also complicated beings who sometimes do things without any rhyme or reason behind them – or so it seems.
This book attempts to shed light on understanding what drives us and how this informs self-control, empathy and your sense of purpose.
The Kinship Of Secrets
Author: Eugenia Kim Publisher: Bloomsbury, contemporary family fiction
NAJIN, Calvin and their young daughter Miran travel from Korea to the United States in search of a better life. They made the difficult decision to leave their other daughter, Inja, behind, intending to return later to get her.
But then war breaks out between north and south Korea and it looks like the separation will be a lot longer than they expect. Miran is growing up in American suburbia, but what is to become of the other girl in wartorn Korea?
Out Of The Maze: A Story About The Power Of Belief
Author: Dr Spencer Johnson Publisher: Vermilion
REMEMBER Hem and Haw from the bestselling motivational business fable Who Moved My Cheese
(1998)? Haw set off in search of new cheese, but Hem remained stuck where he was. Many other books later, Dr Spencer Johnson offers this sequel in which we find out what Hem did next to get out of the maze.
Once again, it’s a simple story offering insight into ways in which you can transform your life by thinking outside the box ... or maze.
Operation Playboy
Author: Kathryn Bonella Publisher: Quercus, true crime
THESE are drug runners and playboys who are travelling the world and painting the town red wherever they go. They surf in Bali, ski in Europe and hook up with celebrity models. They run high on risk, trafficking their goods through the world’s biggest airports and international flights.
And now one cop is watching closely, determined to take them down.
She Lies In Wait
Author: Gytha Lodge Publisher: Penguin, crime thriller
IT was the summer that would leave one of them dead, and the rest profoundly changed. Aurora’s friends claimed they last saw her well and alive just before they called it a night. When morning broke, she had disappeared.
Her body is found only 30 years later, forcing her friends to confront the secrets they buried deep in the forest when they were teenagers.
Annelies
Author: David R. Gillham Publisher: Penguin, historical fiction
WHAT if Anne Frank – she of the Diary fame – survived the Holocaust of World War II? Imagine: The year is 1945 and she has escaped the concentration camp after losing her mother and sister. Reuniting with her father in a newly-liberated Amsterdam, she tries to fit the pieces of their lives back together, but finds that it is easier said than done.
How does one build a new life when they cannot move on from the horrors of the past? This book delves into the woman and writer Frank could have been, if she had survived.