The Passage is the first in Justin Cronin’s epic trilogy – what a cracking read!

A gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

If you haven’t delved into this unputdownable series now is the time.  The sequel, The Twelve, is equally as good and the third and final instalment, House of Mirrors, has just hit the shelves. Happy binge reading!

Tough Guys Have Feelings Too by Keith Negley really strikes a chord. This deceptively simple picture book explores male emotions through a range of ‘tough guy’ characters. From wrestlers to ninjas, bikies to superheroes, the characters openly display their feelings showing it’s ok to feel sad or upset.  I absolutely love this book – particularly the gorgeous ending.  Stunningly illustrated with a powerful message.

The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world’s surface.  This is the intimate story of twenty tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Montefiore’s gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire-building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence and wild extravagance, and peopled by a cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries and poets, from Ivan the Terrible to Tolstoy, from Queen Victoria to Lenin.

Having taught high school history in my former life, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one.  Well, you certainly do not need a history background to enjoy this book – it did not disappoint!  The Romanovs is informative, entertaining and highly readable.  No doubt a compelling read for anyone with even a passing interest in this fascinating topic.

Sirocco is the eagerly awaited follow-up to the bestseller Persiana and has been met with rave reviews.   Much more than just a beautiful cover, Sabrina Ghayour gives us a book full of delicious and accessible recipes.  Dishes range from classics and comfort food to salads and sweet treats.  Yum!

Since 2008, the Morbid Anatomy Library of Brooklyn, New York, has hosted some of the best scholars, artists and writers working along the intersections of the history of anatomy and medicine, death and the macabre, religion and spectacle. The Morbid Anatomy Anthology collects some of the best of this work in 28 lavishly illustrated essays. Included are essays by Evan Michelson on the catacombs of Palermo; Simon Chaplin (head of the Wellcome Library in London) on public displays of corpses in Georgian England; mortician Caitlin Doughty on demonic children; and Paul Koudounaris (author of Empire of Death) on a truck stop populated with human skulls. In addition are pieces on books bound in human skin, death-themed cafes in fin-de-siècle Paris, post-mortem photography, eroticised anatomical wax models, taxidermied humans and other animals, Santa Muerte, “artist of death” Frederik Ruysch, and much more.

This book is a treasure trove for lovers of the macabre!

In a future Earth where ghosts from “before” roam the post-apocalyptic landscape, a religion has sprung up around the mystery of these troublesome ghosts and the past they belonged to.  Wasp is the current ‘Archivist’, divinely-appointed to trap and research ghosts before dispatching them.  Every year she fights younger temple novices for her title, and every year she gets slower, and death comes a little closer.  So when the ghost of a super-soldier seeks her help in finding his fallen comrade in the Underworld, Wasp strikes a deal which she hopes will buy her escape from the temple and a life that she hates.

Nicole Kornher-Stace has crafted a fascinatingly realised world, blending genres to create a strikingly original novel. Through Wasp’s journey we explore questions about friendship, morality and personal agency in the face of institutionalised power.

A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829. Set against Iceland’s stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Graham Swift’s new novella, Mothering Sunday, is narrated by elderly writer Jane, looking back to event that occurred on one day in 1924 when she was just 22 and working as a house servant. We know much of what happens in the end very early in the story, but the pleasure of this novel is in Swift’s brilliant telling.

Mothering Sunday is a holiday given for servants to visit their mothers. However Jane, an orphan, uses her day off to meet with upper class neighbour Paul with whom she is having an affair. The detail with which Jane recounts this day, which will ultimately change the direction of her life, seems to slowly stretch out time and imbues the short novel with poignancy. Drenched in warm tones and late summer stillness, Swift unfurls the story with a sensual languor.

“… a novel that is powerfully affecting, a condensed masterpiece that traces the lifelong battle of one man’s conscience, one man’s art, with the insupportable exigencies of totalitarianism.” Alex Preston (The Guardian)

Barnes’ new novel is a fictional account of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s lifelong struggle to compose in Soviet Russia. In Barnes’ account, the composer is by nature (almost haplessly) non-conformist – not an ideal character trait in an era that spanned the initial revolution, then the reigns of Lenin, Stalin and Kruschev. Driven to compose, Shostakovich navigates the deadly vagaries of a totalitarian society where truth is impossible to know.

Though mordantly humorous at times, it is Barnes’ ability to convey Shostakovich’s latent dread that marks this novel out. Told in close third person, the novel recreates the bewildering menace of Soviet Russia. Quietly brilliant, this is a great novel.