4 BOOKS TO READ...
How Do You Like Me Now? by Holly Bourne
How Do You Like Me Now? – is it this generation’s answer to Bridget Jones Diary? As if navigating your early 30s wasn’t already tough enough, Tori Bailey is doing it as an inspirational memoir writer whose reality is secretly far from perfect. Despite her massive fan following that hang her off her every #Girlboss mantra and humble bragging blog posts, she’s deeply unhappy – both in love and with herself. Stuck in a stale relationship while helplessly watching her friends around her marry and progress, Tori can’t help but think her entire persona and claim to fame are little more than a lie. And to make matters worse, she’s under pressure from her publishing house to write another bestseller. A brutally honest look at entering the decade of life so many fear, How Do You Like Me Now? is hilarious and poignant. The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson A collaboration between commercial thriller juggernaut, James Patterson, and former leader of the free world, Bill Clinton – the casting alone is enough to make you want to read it, even if you’re not usually into stories fraught with potential terrorist cyberattacks that could shut down America. President Jon Duncan, an Iraq war veteran and widower, who’s battling a blood disorder and possible impeachment, is in the throes of trying to outwit the leader of the so-called Sons of Jihad. Although there’s little wit and a lot of US political logistics to get your head around, it’s most engaging when you’re trying to decipher which bits are Patterson, and which are Clinton.
It’s like watching reality TV and trying to separate the staged moments from the real ones. Intriguing, if not engrossing, you’ll whip through it on the beach, that’s for sure.
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
Rachel Kushner’s second novel The Flamethrowers scorched the book charts and divided critics. In her follow-up, the Oregonborn writer restricts her gaze to the drab walls and iron bars of a women’s prison, but Netflix comedy drama Orange Is The New Black this is not. Kushner went undercover in a maximum security facility to better embody The Mars Room’s main character, Romy, who is serving a double life sentence for murder and our sympathies shift as the details of her crime are skilfully revealed. At times a visceral portrait of prison life, the novel also paints a picture of a seedy world which can suck poor and unfortunate souls into lives of crime. This is a typical tale of a little fish wanting to hang out with the cool big fish, only to attain his dream and realise he was better off all along. Written and illustrated by Jarvis (creator of Alan’s Big, Scary Teeth), Terry and his mates – Cilla the crab and Steve the sea snail – are having a rollicking time in Coral Reef City, until Terry catches a glimpse of tropical fish that are too aloof to join in. He decides to transform himself so they’ll accept him into their fold, but it doesn’t go to plan. The illustrations are beautifully psychedelic, but sometimes make it hard to keep track of the words.