7 New Books To Read This Month
All products on this page have been selected by our editorial team, however we may make commission on some products.
True Biz by Sara Novic
This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they'll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the hearing headmistress, a CODA (child of deaf adults) who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact – but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin and February find their lives inextricably linked – and changed forever. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.
Available here
Thrown by Sara Cox
Thrown is the debut novel from much-loved broadcaster Sara Cox. The inhabitants of the Inventor's Housing Estate keep themselves to themselves. There are the friendly hellos when commutes coincide and the odd cheeky eye roll when the wine bottles clank in number 7's wheelie bin, but it's not exactly Ramsay Street. The dilapidated community centre is no longer the beating heart of the estate that Becky remembers from her childhood. So the new pottery class she's helped set up feels like a fresh start. And not just for her. The assorted neighbours come together to try out a new skill, under the watchful eye of their charismatic teacher Sasha. And as the soft unremarkable lumps of clay are slowly moulded into delicate vases and majestic pots, so too are the lives of four women. Concealed passions and heartaches are uncovered, relationships shattered and formed, and the possibility for transformation is revealed.
Available here
Sedating Elaine by Dawn Winter
Frances was not looking for a relationship when she met Elaine in a bar. She was, in fact, looking to drown her sorrows in a pint or 12 and nurse a broken heart, shattered by the gorgeous Adrienne. But following a steady stream of beer and weed, Elaine ends up in Frances’s bed and never leaves. Now, faced with mounting pressure from her drug dealer Dom (and his goon Betty), Frances comes up with a terrible idea: she asks Elaine to move in with her for real. Unfortunately, this seemingly romantic overture makes Elaine even more sex-crazed and maniacal with love. Frances fears she may never escape the relationship so she makes the obvious decision: she will sedate Elaine. A story as enthusiastically madcap and funny as it is smart and emotionally surprising, Sedating Elaine introduces a roster of unforgettable characters – which make for an unforgettable read.
Available here
Ruth & Pen by Emilie Pine
This is the brilliant debut novel from Emilie Pine, author of the international bestseller Notes To Self. Dublin, 7th October 2019. One day, one city, two women: Ruth and Pen. Neither knows the other, but both are asking the same questions: how to be with others and how, when the world won't make space for you, to be with yourself? Ruth's marriage to Aidan is in crisis. Today she needs to make a choice – to stay or not to stay, to take the risk of reaching out, or to pull up the drawbridge. For teenage Pen, today is the day the words will flow, and she will speak her truth to Alice, to ask for what she so desperately wants. Deeply involving, poignant and radiantly intelligent, it is a portrait of the limits of grief and love, of how we navigate our inner and outer landscapes, and the courage demanded by the simple, daily quest of living.
Available here
Raven Smith’s Men by Raven Smith
Following his Sunday Times best-selling debut, Raven Smith’s Trivial Pursuits, Smith is back with a sharp, hilarious and incisive exploration of what it means to be a man in the modern age. This book is about men because everything is. Funny men, tall men, charming men. Stepdads, actual dads and ripped ‘sports dads’ – Smith has been trying to distil what it is about men that has kept him intrigued his whole life. Part memoir, part exploration of the peculiar dynamics and formless boundaries of masculinity, Smith looks unflinchingly at his own history, offering a cautious reverence of a life lived in parallel with other men. Blending the personal, primal and perennial, these are Raven Smith’s men in all their infuriating, tantalising complexity.
Available here
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Emily Henry is the author of recent romantic comedies Beach Read and You & Me on Vacation, both of which were New York Times bestsellers. Nora is a cut-throat literary agent at the top of her game. Her whole life is books. Charlie is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers. And he's Nora's work nemesis. Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she's the one men date before finding their happy-ever-after. To prevent another dating dud, Nora's sister has persuaded her to swap her city desk for a month's holiday in Sunshine Falls, a small town straight out of a romance novel. But instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie. Can they take a page out of an entirely different book? Brimming with banter, characters you can't help but fall for and off-the-charts chemistry, Book Lovers is a perfect summer read.
Available here
An Olive Grove In Ends by Moses McKenzie
Sayon Hughes, a young Black man from Bristol, dreams of a world far removed from the one in which he was raised: torn slips outside the bookie's; the burnt spoons and the crooked solutions his community embraces; and most of all, the Christianity of his uncaring parents and the prejudice of law makers. Growing up, Sayon found respite from the chaos of his environment in the love and loyalty of his brother-in-arms, Cuba; in the example of his cousin Hakim, a man once known as the most infamous drug dealer in their neighbourhood, now a proselytising Muslim; and in the tenderness of his girl, Shona, whose own sense of purpose galvanises Sayon's. In return, Sayon wants to give the people he loves the world: a house atop a grand hill in the most affluent area of the city, a home in which they can forever find joy and safety. But after an altercation in which a boy is killed, Sayon finds his loyalties torn and his dream of a better life in peril.
Available here
DISCLAIMER: We endeavour to always credit the correct original source of every image we use. If you think a credit may be incorrect, please contact us at info@sheerluxe.com.