New books.

 Here are the books I've bought lately....

Who Runs the World? by Virginia Bergin 

"Sixty years after a virus has wiped out almost all the men on the planet, things are pretty much just as you would imagine a world run by women might be: war has ended; greed is not tolerated; the ecological needs of the planet are always put first. In two generations, the female population has grieved, pulled together and moved on, and life really is pretty good - if you're a girl. It's not so great if you're a boy, but fourteen-year-old River wouldn't know that. Until she met Mason, she thought they were extinct."

I LOVE dystopian books and thought the feminist slant sounded intriguing so pre-ordered this ages ago, also how beautiful is the cover? I've just started reading this although my expectations have been severely lowered since looking it up on Goodreads to see pretty much unanimous bad reviews... Let's wait and see.

The Power by Naomi Alderman

"What if the power to hurt were in women's hands?

Suddenly - tomorrow or the day after - teenage girls find that with a flick of their fingers, they can inflict agonizing pain and even death. With this single twist, the four lives at the heart of Naomi Alderman's extraordinary, visceral novel are utterly transformed."

This has been on my wishlist for ages and as soon as it won the Bailey's Woman's prize for fiction I new I had to get it. I'm glad I held out as the paperback cover is way more beautiful in my opinion. Again this is a dystopian with a feminist slant and has been likened to The Handmaids Tale. Looking forward to this one! 

 My Best Friends Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

"Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act . . . different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?"

A horror story set in 1988? YES PLEASE.

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson

"The perfect read for Hallowe'en, this new hardback volume of Jackson's finest stories reveals the queen of American gothic at her unsettling, mesmerising best

There's something nasty in suburbia. In these deliciously dark tales, the daily commute turns into a nightmarish game of hide and seek, the loving wife hides homicidal thoughts and the concerned citizen might just be an infamous serial killer. In the haunting world of Shirley Jackson, nothing is as it seems and nowhere is safe, from the city streets to the country manor, and from the small-town apartment to the dark, dark woods..."

I've been building up a collection of Shirley Jackson books for a while, despite not having read any I feel like she is going to be a writer I will love. What better way to try out a new to you writer than a short story collection? I also love the cat on the cover!

Evening Primrose by Kopano Matlwa

"Told in the form of a one-sided conversation with God, Evening Primrose is the story of Masechaba, a young woman who achieves her childhood dream of becoming a doctor, yet soon faces the stark reality of South Africa's healthcare system.

As she leaves her deeply religious mother and makes friends with the politically-minded Nyasha, Masechaba's eyes are opened to rising xenophobic tension in the shadow of the apartheid.

Battling her own personal demons, she must decide if she should make a stand to help her friend, even if it comes at a high personal cost. "

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book to review and it sounds amazing. The design is also stunning. I do really enjoy books written in the style of a journal and hope to get to this one soon. 

Also...

The new Ruth Ware thriller The Lying Game. She is an auto buy author for me and I read it as soon as it arrived- review coming in my monthly round up!

Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls, an YA mystery thriller about a girl who suspects her friend was murdered.

The second issue of literary zine 404 Ink. I will be posting about this soon.

Finally, a sci-fi thriller Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. This sounds very good, and is a about a man who wakes up in a world he doesn't recognise.

So that's all my recent book purchases. Have you ready any of them? What books have you bought lately?

[A couple of these books were bought from Charley's Book Shack on Facebook- a group I highly recommend!]