It’s the first week of November and our team has come together to share our 5 favourite reads of the last month!
1) The Secret River – Kate Grenville | £8.99
“A really conscious account of white settlers in Australia based on the author’s own ancestors and their experiences. It grapples with the various levels of politics in settler/pioneer societies, as well as dealing with the tense and tragic relations with the native people of the continent. I found this to be a very interesting read.” – Andrew Gillon
2) The Leopold and Loeb Files: An Intimate Look at One of America’s Most Infamous Crimes – Nina Barrett | £24.99
“A non-fiction book documenting the case files of two teenaged sons of millionaires who murdered a 14 year old boy in Chicago in 1924. I started reading it for my dissertation but it is so interesting that I’ve told practically everyone I know all about it and now they think I’m crazy… still, definitely worth a read if you’re interested in true crime.” – Bethany Duck
3) Mornings in Jenin – Susan Abulhawa | £6.32
“It follows the lives of four generations of a Palestinian family from 1948 onwards, as their lands, family and identity is stripped from them. It sheds light on the Palestinian plight in such a gripping and emotional. Way, and I was crying from about 10 pages in. I think it’s definitely worth a read, especially in our current political climate!” – Sumayyah Zannath
4) The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini | £6.42 “Just finished this classic for the fourth time! I love how the author foregrounds Afghan political and social history, using personal vehicles. It offers a great insight into Afghan culture, and a very graphic portrayal of how the political world if linked with the personal.” – Sophie Rong
5) Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | £4.49
“This was a perfect read. A bildungsroman about love conquering continents, poverty and individual ambition. I was struck by Adichie’s dissection of blackness in America, her critique of the female experience in Nigeria and the treatment of immigrants in the UK. Growing up in multi-cultural London, as a child of Albanian immigrants, questions of identity have always resonated with me. My sense of self always felt divided between two cultures and so I could identify with Ifemelu’s story, focusing on the diaspora experience. Adichie’s novel is certainly one to pick up.” – Migena Cela
With the cold season creeping up on us, we think it is the perfect time to pick up a new read to take you into the 4pm sunsets and keep you entertained on those frosty evenings. We hope you take our recommendations on board and give all of these books a read soon!
Let us know what you think, whether you enjoyed them like we did or perhaps have opposing opinions on them!