Top 15 in quarantine: Books to read

Things to read

As we continue to remain in lockdown, now is the perfect opportunity to get stuck into a new book!

We asked the team at Kinetic for some recommendations and here they are!

1) A Fall of Marigolds - Susan Meissner

A beautiful scarf connects two women touched by tragedy in this compelling, emotional novel.

2) Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

3) The Glass Hotel - Emily St. John Mandel

From the award-winning author of Station Eleven, a captivating novel of money, beauty, white-collar crime, ghosts, and moral compromise in which a woman disappears from a container ship off the coast of Mauritania and a massive Ponzi scheme implodes in New York, dragging countless fortunes with it.

4) Lord of the Flies - William Golding

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued.

5) Plainsong - Kent Haru

A heart strong story of family and romance, tribulation and tenacity, set on the High Plains east of Denver.

6) Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong.

7) Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency - Olivia Laing

Funny Weather brings together a career’s worth of Laing’s writing about art and culture, examining its role in our political and emotional lives.

8) Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell

 Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality.

9) Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, a Tamil boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age.

10) Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

For years, rumors of the Marsh Girl have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl.

11) Normal People - Sally Rooney

At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers - one they are determined to conceal.

12) Long Bright River: A Novel – Liz Moore

Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn't be more different. Then, one of them goes missing.

13) The Day of the Accident - Nuala Ellwood

They say you killed...But What If They're Wrong?

Sixty seconds after she wakes from a coma, Maggie's world is torn apart.

The police tell her that her daughter Elspeth is dead. That she drowned when the car Maggie had been driving plunged into the river. Maggie remembers nothing.

14) Not a book, but free book resource!

Project MUSE is supporting participating publishers in making scholarly content temporarily available for free on their platform.

15) One of our eBooks!

We have a range of different industry-related eBooks to get stuck in to.

Happy reading!

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