Books To Help You Understand The World Better

The Big Fix - Holly James (Release Date: 25th March 2025)

When Penny is unwittingly set up by her sister on one of her weekend visits with the new guy across the street who is having an estate sale (unbeknownst to him too), they all get more than they had bargained for. Anthony is not your average neighbour, clearly, he is involved with some dubious and dangerous dealings that need fixing, but is he one of the good guys? There are dead bodyguards in the closet, missing socialites, random vintage disguises, Vegas and for Penny, tenure to achieve.

This was exactly what I needed. A bit of drama, violence, romance and a reminder to not make assumptions or underestimate people.

 

Turning A Blind Eye to The World – Aaron R Everitt

There are so many of our senses that we take for granted, however, being told that you have a degenerative eye disease, choroideremia, that could finally render you blind at any point can spark the need to take advantage of what you have while you have it.

Aaron takes us on a journey of denial, coping mechanisms, weird adventures, different forms of loss and dealing with feeling like a fraud that comes with not quite being blind enough yet to supposedly warrant the sympathy and tools of other visual impaired people. All delivered in a deliciously dry and interesting sense of humour. I too had to encounter guilt reading this book, giggling at the delivery of the bizarre and at time quite dangerous antics of Aaron’s travels and reluctance to take his diagnosis as an indicator of his potential imitations.

 

Sweat – Emma Healey (Release Date: 30th January 2025)

This was not what I was expecting, yet as it unfolded, I found it as haunting and brutally accurate as it was important for us to understand the complexities of what being in a coercively controlled relationship can entail and the repercussions for so many that are involved. When you are in such a situation, it is not only damaging, but enduring such crazy behaviour, can in return make you do crazy things to try unpacking what happened to you, to regain control or to survive and feel safe again. It is incredibly hard to explain the why’s, so often you don’t, it is furthermore isolating and a slippery slope into the cycle of abuse.

So, when Cassie gets the opportunity to face Liam, her ex, without him knowing it is her, she see’s her opportunity for revenge, to face her fears and trauma head on and find some sort of closure. But when somebody has got in your head so incomparably, letting them back in in any capacity is a dangerous game.

This one will stay with me for some time.

 

London Sketch Artist - Charles Leon

For all you SW London fans, whether that is Richmond, Kew, or a variety of South West London - Charles Leon has a book for you to enjoy an alternative way of absorbing the current and historic beauty of these iconic areas. Additionally, to Celebrate 28 Years of The Thames Path (24th July 1966 - 24^th July 2024), Charles Leon is due to release The Thames Path Sketch Journal in November 2024. Find out more in my chat with the author on Riverside Radio below!

 

More Books... Have a staycation by opening a book.