We May Be Halfway Through The Month, But It’s Not Too Late To Enjoy February’s Literary Highlights
As the sunset very slowly gets later and later, it’s worth making the most of the current season (and lockdown, of course) by indulging in one of the winter’s most enjoyable and relaxing activities – curling up on the sofa and losing yourself in a great book.
If you’ve worked through your current to-read list and are looking for a brand new page-turner to enjoy, the New York Times Bestseller List is always a brilliant place to start!
Here are just five of the books currently climbing the ranks to reach one of literature’s most coveted ranks – the title of #1 New York Times Bestseller.
Atomic Habits
James Clear
We’ve all experienced the trails-and-errors of attempting to replace our unhelpful old habits with productive new ones, usually finding ourselves giving up before we’ve had the chance to solidify their place within our daily routines. Enter habit-building expert James Clear, who’s here to teach you about ‘atomic habits’ – tiny changes which yield remarkable results.
Atomic Habits sets out to teach you everything that you need to know about these little rituals, as well as the neuroscience and psychology behind them, why they’re so important and how Olympic gold medalists, CEOs and celebrated scientists have used ‘atomic habits’ to keep themselves productive, motivated and happy!
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett follows the story of the Vignes twins, two sisters born and raised in a small black community in the Deep South before running away aged sixteen and choosing two very different paths in life. Years later, with one sister living in the same community she had attempted to escape and one sister secretly passing as a white woman (with even her own husband unaware of her true identity), their daughters’ stories begin to intersect.
Described as ‘utterly mesmerising’, ‘deeply compelling’ and ‘a novel of intense, shining, powerful intelligence’ by critics, The Vanishing Half seeks to explore just how much our past goes on to shape our decisions, desires and expectations in life, as well as the factors that might force a person to feel they have to live as someone other than their truest self. Truly enthralling from start to finish, this is well worth a read!
The Body: A Guide For Occupants
Bill Bryson
From award-winning writer Bill Bryson comes The Body, essentially a ‘users manual’ for all humans! Throughout 400 delightful pages, Bryson explores the wonder of the human body, along with all its remarkable abilities and functions.
Teeming with wildly interesting facts and some truly incredible stories, The Body: A Guide For Occupants is a fascinating, quirky and often funny attempt to understand everything there is to know about our anatomy. This brilliant addition to Bryson’s catalogue is sure to leave you reflecting for days on the miracle of simply being alive.
Where The Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens
Currently being developed into a major feature film, there’s never been a better time to delve into Delia Owen’s Where The Crawdads Sing, a deeply engrossing coming-of-age tale woven into a compelling murder mystery.
The story takes place in North Carolina, 1969, where the town of Blakely Cove has been haunted for years by rumours of the so-called ‘Marsh Girl’. When a local heartthrob is found dead, the locals of the town immediately suspect that the ‘Marsh Girl’, Kya Clark, is the killer – but Kya is not at all what the residents of Blakely Cove say she is.
Praised as ‘astonishingly fresh’ and ‘painfully beautiful’, Where The Crawdads Are is the perfect source of escapism for any avid reader.
A Promised Land
Barack Obama
Taking readers along with him on his personal journey from ambitious young man to leader of the free world, Barack Obama shares some truly compelling stories throughout A Promised Land, in the first instalment of his presidential memoirs.
Featuring tales of turmoil, triumph and transformation, all told with almost surprising levels of detail and honesty, this is one piece of literature that’s bound to be remembered for years to come. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s well worth picking up a copy right away!
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