New books...

Here are some new books I've bought lately. One of my reading goals for this year was to read more non fiction so I took that as the perfect excuse to add a few to my bookshelf...

Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington
'When Karen Finch’s seventeen-year-old daughter Sophie arrives home after a night out, drunk and accompanied by police officers, no one is smiling the morning after. But Sophie remembers nothing about how she got into such a state.

Twelve hours later, Sophie’s friend Amy has still not returned home. Then the body of a young woman is found.

Karen is sure that Sophie knows more than she is letting on. But Karen has her own demons to fight. She struggles to go beyond her own door without a panic attack.

As she becomes convinced that Sophie is not only involved but also in danger, Karen must confront her own anxieties to stop whoever killed one young girl moving on to another – Sophie.'

This was an impulse supermarket buy when I was doing a food shop. I can't resist a thriller!
Baby Doll by Hollie Overton
'Held captive for eight years, Lily has grown from a teenager to an adult in a small basement prison. Her daughter Sky has been a captive her whole life. But one day their captor leaves the deadbolt unlocked.

This is what happens next...'

This was another impulse supermarket buy that is for fans of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train (aren't all thrillers lately...?!) and looked like an enjoyable quick read.

More Moaning by Karl Pilkington

'Karl is back on the road once again looking for answers to some of life's big questions. In his inimitable style, he tackles the juicy subjects of health, art, values, identity and pollution. Will his travels around the world reveal the meaning of life? Find out in this hilarious new book.'

I love Karl and find everything he does hilarious. I have listened to the old podcasts so many times I know all the words, his TV shows are brilliant and this is his latest book that accompanies series 2 of The Moaning of Life. I've read all his others books and enjoyed them hugely so I'm sure this will be no different.

A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled by Ruby Wax

'500 years ago no-one died of stress: we invented this concept and now we let it rule us. We might have evolved to be able to miraculously balance on seven-inch heels, but as far as our emotional development is concerned we're still swimming with the pond scum. If we don't advance our more human qualities then we're doomed evolution-wise to become cyborgs, with an imprint of an 'Apple' where our hearts used to be. Ruby Wax shows us a scientific solution to these modern problems: mindfulness.'

I watched a documentary a few years ago about mental health by Ruby Wax and really enjoyed it and have heard great things about this book. I am looking forward to this for two reasons: 1. I could do with some advice on how to manage anxiety and 2. there is input from a cognitive therapist which interests the psychology student in me.

Do it Like a Woman by Caroline Criado-Perez

'Every day, all over the world, women are making a positive difference to their lives and the lives of the people in their communities. Most of these women are cut off from the rhetoric and theory of Western feminism; many are active in deeply patriarchal and socially restrictive societies; some may not even describe themselves as feminists. Nevertheless, these women are proving to themselves, and to the world, that a powerful force for change can sometimes start with a single brave action.

In Do It Like A Woman, Caroline Criado-Perez, an outspoken activist and campaigner, uncovers these stories and investigates what they mean for the feminist movement as a whole. She gathers together stories from beatboxers in Malta and prostitutes in Merseyside to fighter pilots in Afghanistan and doctors in Portugal, and shows how women are taking positive, practical steps to challenge injustice or inequality, and change their world. While some of these stories (the Everyday Sexism campaign and the trial of Pussy Riot) are already known, the majority of the stories here have not yet been told, and demand to be heard.'

I have so many feminist non fiction books on my wishlist I decided I wanted to start getting them so I could carry on reading up on a subject I have a big interest in. I think the idea of interviewing woman over the world who achieved amazing things is such an inspiring and positive idea for a book too.

Men Explain Things to Me: and Other Essays by Rebecca Solnit

'Rebecca Solnit's essay 'Men Explain Things to Me' has become a touchstone of the feminist movement, inspired the term 'mansplaining', and established Solnit as one of the leading feminist thinkers of our time - one who has inspired everyone from radical activists to Beyoncé Knowles. Collected here in print for the first time is the essay itself, along with the best of Solnit's feminist writings.

From rape culture to mansplaining, from French sex scandals to marriage and the nuclear family, from Virginia Woolf to colonialism, these essays are a fierce and incisive exploration of the issues that a patriarchal culture will not necessarily acknowledge as 'issues' at all. With grace and energy, and in the most exquisite and inviting of prose, Rebecca Solnit proves herself a vital leading figure of the feminist movement and a radical, humane thinker.'

This book has been on my radar for a long time, I've heard a lot of positive things about it and the blurb sounds brilliant. I've got the audiobook of this one, as it is just a couple of hours long I thought it would be interesting to try a non fiction audiobook compared to my usual thrillers choices.