I guess there are never enough books.

Good Husbands - Cate Ray

This book really does challenge perceptions of how we see certain types of assault. How a lack of aggression is deemed as not as clear cut, or ‘straight forward’ rape. When 3 wives receive a letter from the daughter of a victim of rape, claiming that all 3 of their husbands were involved, they have to decide how to respond. Do they confront their husbands? Investigate behind their backs? Or brush it under the carpet to maintain status quo, after all, it was so long ago…

Does ‘historical rape’ when times were different and lines of acceptability were not as clear cut, somehow make it less intentionally horrific? How blurred are the lines in reality, or is reality catching up with archaic morality? This book sends you on a journey with characters distorting right and wrong for their own survival. But ultimately, we have to be able to live with our decisions. Does one bad decision, a monster make?

Good books get you questioning yourself and what you would do in a similar situation. This is a fantastic book.

 

It Ends With Us – Colleen Hoover

Oh my goodness gracious me, this is so beautifully written, with such compassion and heart-breaking reality. Showing the gradual nature of how we can move from ‘This would never happen to me’ to ‘Until you are in it, you can’t understand’.

Life is a constant stream of decisions to be made and we have no idea whether they are the right ones. Love and fear can get in the way of making the ‘right’ decisions, but our decisions affect how we feel and what we teach people about how to treat us.

 

Bookish People - Susan Coll

Errant hoovers, authors, ego’s, riots and litigation. Just another day in the life of a book store owner… A kind of stream of consciousness for those amongst the team at recently bereaved, Sophie Bernstein’s bookstore. But who are worse, the authors, the staff or the general public? Every workplace has its foibles, their little bit of weirdness, commonalities and pet peeves. If you’re a book fan or a writer, you’ll love this hilarious book. If you’re not either, you still will!

 Available from 2 August 2022

 

Breaking The Silence - Perry Power

A selection of stories from everyday people, who have been abused.

Breaking The Silence looks to encourage young men in particular, but anyone in reality, to share their experience of sexual abuse. The more we share, the less victims live burying their trauma deep down to be dealt with on their own which unfortunately often results in horrific mental health issues. The aim is to break down the shame stigma, to flip the narrative and bring people together, not isolated in fear.

Buy it here. 

www.theandyproject.org.uk/info54804434

 

 

Ooh ooh more books…

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” ― Groucho Marx