Gripping new reads to fill your shelves, plus top tech tips for book lovers
Words by Charlotte Griffiths
And So I Roar by Abi Daré
Abi Daré is back with an extraordinary novel about friendship, sisterhood, courage and secrets. This book once again stars the unforgettable Adunni and Ms Tia from Abi’s debut The Girl With The Louding Voice, but now it’s Ms Tia who is journeying to 15-year-old Adunni’s world, a year on from the events of the first book which saw Adunni go on the run in the hope of finally getting the education she deserves. After overhearing a mysterious fragment of conversation between her mother and her aunt, Tia is slowly uncovering the truth about her own past, while simultaneously trying to free Adunni from the clutches of societal expectations and brutal tradition.
Adunni’s village has caught up with her and she must return to clear her name, alongside a small group of other young women judged to have caused bad luck: the leaders speak of girls being sacrificed to bring the rain, but do they mean symbolically, or is this a more sinister ritual? The novel’s narration jumps between the two main characters but also gives voice to a whole host of other female perspectives, tackling some of the biggest issues facing women and girls around the world, particularly in less advantaged countries – but it’s also lighthearted and filled with joyful moments. Abi’s compelling and brilliantly descriptive prose has a vital immediacy which is touching in the thoughtful moments, but terrifying in tenser times, and the book’s dramatic conclusion will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. You don’t necessarily need to have read Abi’s first novel to enjoy this, but why deny yourself more time in Adunni’s presence?
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
This short but viscerally powerful book lets us follow Soldier, a new mother, as she adjusts to life with Sailor, her baby boy. She gives us a glimpse at the withering mental load of raising a baby, talking to Sailor about her decisions, the endless tasks driven by the unfathomable love of a parent for their child: she shares her loneliness, her bone-aching frustration with her husband, the iron-cast realisation that if she doesn’t do a particular task for Sailor, no one will.
The book feels like a peek behind the curtain of motherhood. Claire’s stark but emotive prose gives you the full force of Sailor going missing in Ikea, or frantically Googling symptoms while he burns with a midnight fever, and her whole-body yearning for what once was, yet never wanting to give up what she has now; the learning curve is a vertical cliff face that she has to climb. A stunning, shocking and haunting read on those bewildering first few months as a parent: part essay, part poem, entirely unforgettable.
Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day
September always feels like an opportunity for a new start, so this could be the perfect time of year to review your close connections. Are you, like Elizabeth Day used to do, overpromising and underdelivering on your promises of friendship, or could there be people who aren’t pulling their weight with you? Friendaholic is a fascinating nonfiction delve into the trials, tribulations and total delights of modern platonic friendship: you’ll nod along in parts and grimly recognise yourself in others.
Like many of us, Elizabeth found the pandemic lockdowns of 2020 forced her to reassess what being a close friend actually meant: were her best friends the people with which she was spending the most time? Having grown up determined to be a good friend above everything else – at the cost of her own mental and physical health – Elizabeth readily admits her own addiction to connection and dives into whether her past all-or-nothing behaviour is really the best route to healthy, mutually beneficial relationships with others.
The result is this book, an exploration of the science and history of friendship, interspersed with her own anecdotal evidence for how to handle platonic ghosting, dealing with toxic acquaintances and reconnecting with past besties. It’s a delightful mix of confession, criticism and carefully crafted advice, packed with interesting factoids and useful pointers on how to be a better friend – both to others, and to yourself.
Digital Tools For Readers
This is yet another push for this astonishingly brilliant app! Download Libby, connect it with your Cambridgeshire Libraries account and voila – free ebooks, audiobooks and magazines delivered straight to your phone or tablet.
This clever, free add-on for Chrome detects when you are on a book website (such as Goodreads or Amazon) and shows you if your local library has a copy for you to borrow instead. Libraries rule!
Join this excellent digital book club and you’ll not only get a superb book in the post every six weeks, as well as author events and Q&A discussions, you’ll also be helping a great charity support disaster-hit families around the world.
