Looking for something new to read? This week, we’re bringing you 5 good reads from different genres that you can enjoy, including Karen Thompson’s The Dreamers and Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age.
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker ****
One night in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a first-year student stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep—and doesn’t wake up. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital. When a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, Mei finds herself thrust together with an eccentric classmate as panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. Those affected by the illness, doctors discover, are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, higher than has ever been recorded before. They are dreaming heightened dreams—but of what?
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid ****
When Emira is apprehended at a supermarket for ‘kidnapping’ the white child she’s actually babysitting, it sets off an explosive chain of events. Her employer Alix, a feminist blogger with the best of intentions, resolves to make things right. But Emira herself is aimless, broke and wary of Alix’s desire to help. When a surprising connection emerges between the two women, it sends them on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know – about themselves, each other, and the messy dynamics of privilege.
The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel *****
Hilary Mantel proves once again that she is just too good at what she does. She has brought to life an incredibly vivid portrayal of Cromwell and the suspenseful setting of the Tudor court and its political turmoil in the aftermath of Anne Boleyn’s execution. Incredibly compelling and nuanced!
A Quiet Kind Of Thunder by Sara Barnard *****
Steffi doesn’t talk, but she has so much to say. Rhys can’t hear, but he can listen. Their love isn’t a lightning strike, it’s the rumbling roll of thunder. Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life – she’s been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He’s deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she’s assigned to look after him. To Rhys it doesn’t matter that Steffi doesn’t talk and, as they find ways to communicate, Steffi finds that she does have a voice and that she’s falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it.
Kashmir’s Untold Story by Iqbal Chand & Maroof Raza
Written by two journalists (former soldiers), the story unravels the torturous accounts of Jammu and Kashmir. It provides the readers with riveting accounts on the history of this region, the different political agendas, and conflicts that exist to date, and the compelling arguments regarding their future state.
Iqbal Chand and Maroof Raza delve deeper into why has this state of siege in the Kashmir valley has continued for 72 years since the Partition of India to present-day India? Although the book fails to add the broader narrative of the past and presence, it still sets the readers with the gruesome reality of power over a beautiful place.
