On Bee's Bookshelf

Genre: Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 15th September 2022 Publisher: Orenda Books "There are two sides to every realm, Lucienne. It all depends on the position from which you choose to view the world." 1899 - France. Lucienne's Parisian home has burned to the ground, taking her daughters and her hope with it. But instead of giving up, she looks to the world of spirits and magic to find her children again. 19 49 - Qu é bec. The war is done, and Lina should be at peace but instead is hanging in suspense, unable to find her place in this world. Until she meets a woman, locked behind a door at an asylum, who shows her a side of the world she never imagined. 2022 -  Qu é bec. Maxine, a newly single mother and Detective, takes on a murder investigation - not realising that this the story she is about to uncover isn't just one of a woman standing accused of brutal murder, but of the darkest magic, of persecution, of webs of lies and secrets that...

  The Last White Man - Mohsin Hamid  ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Speculative Fiction | Released: 11/08/2022 Darling - Mercedes Yardley  ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Horror | Released: 23/08/2022 Sounds Fake but Okay - Sarah Costello & Kayla Kaszyca  ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Non-Fiction | Released: 21/02/2023 The Calculations of Rational Men - Daniel Godfrey  ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 15/08/2022 Is This Love - C. E. Riley ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 04/08/2022 Not Safe For Work - Isabel Kaplan  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 04/08/2022 Diary of a Void - Emi Yagi  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 11/04/2022 The Modern Craft - Claire Askew  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Essays | Released: 14/06/2022 It was Always You - Emma Cooper  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Romance | Released: 01/09/2022  Signal to Noise (re-release) - Silvia Moreno-Garcia  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fantasy | Released: 13/09/2022 All The Broken Places - John Boyne  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Historical Fiction | Released: 15/09/2022 My Darling Daughter - J P ...

Genre: Mystery | Horror | Fiction Release Date: Expected 13th October 2022  Publisher: Harper Collins UK 1965. Pearl arrives at Lichen Hall, a striking manor that feels almost lost in an endless woods - one that young women are sent to to give birth under a shroud of secrecy and silence.  There, she meets a mother and her young son living quietly in the woods, who've heard tales of the hall, of ghosts and witches, of strange things that happen at night, of a lost child who shouldn't exist. And together, they journey into the darkness, trying to shine a light on the secrets being hidden by the shadows of Lichen Hall and the family who watch over its inhabitants.  But Pearl and her new friends need to be careful - if they dig too deep, they could end up buried themselves.  "As I approach the woods, through the tall trunks I see not one light but hundreds, scattered across the forest floor like fallen stars." I'm not saying C.J. Cooke is a witch … but I'm also no...

Genre: Psychological Thriller | Mystery Release Date: Expected 15th September 2022 Publisher: Quercus Books It started with a message. Susie gets a lot of messages, especially when her band played a big show or had a new song come out. But this one changes everything. It's from Anna, who 15 years ago was Sky, the baby Susie gave up for adoption and is desperately unhappy at home with the man she calls the Monster. Susie and her husband Gabe can't deny the fact they need to reach out to her - it's clear something strange is happening, that Anna and her adoptive family are hiding secrets but they're not the only ones. And once those secrets come out, they could burn down the lives of everyone who hears them. " A therapist once told me that the pain of loss doesn't shrink, but sometimes we're able to let our lives expand around it, the way a tree can grow around a nail. I think that's what happened with me." My Darling Daughter is a dark, gritty tale ...

Genre: Speculative Fiction  Release Date: 11th August 2022 Publisher: Penguin General UK On a morning that felt like any other, Anders, a white man, woke up to find his skin was darker. He didn't recognise himself in the mirror, he didn't know what had happened to him or why. He turns to Oona, a person who his relationship with can't easily be categorized, and hopes that she can see him when he can't.  But it's soon revealed he isn't the only one - the world is changing. Conspiracies begin to form, unrest makes its way through society, until the last white man changes. All Anders and Oona can do is learn who they are when their skin isn't a factor anymore, and watch on quietly in curious contemplation as the world changes.  " Even under normal circumstances falling asleep can seem impossible when one is awake, and then it is happening, and not a matter of possibility, but a living dream, inhabited, and though impossible, already begun." I've se...

Genre: Contemporary Fiction |  Release Date: 11th August 2022 Publisher: Random House UK "Late summer was still dragging on - I was bored with being bored with it." Shibata is bored, tired and annoyed. She spends her days at work, where she is underpaid and unappreciated, being only addressed by the men who work there when they need a coffee, or need something cleaned. Until one day, she tells them she can't clear up, she feels sick - because she's pregnant.  But she isn't. She doesn't even know why she says it, at first, but everything changes. She's allowed to leave work on time, she doesn't have to clean up after fully grown men, she's even expected to relax and enjoy herself. But what will happen as the months go by and a baby isn't born? How long can she tell a lie before it spills into her real life? One interesting thing to note about this book is that in Japanese, B oshi Tech ō  refers to a mother/baby diary where pregnancy and childhoo...

Genre: Contemporary Fiction Release Date: 4th August 2022 Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph   Living in LA, she manages to land a job as an assistant for a successful television broadcaster - because she had to do something with that English degree she'd spent years studying for. The chairman, Robert, is charismatic if not eccentric. The director, a powerful woman at the top of her game. And the work, it's difficult but it's the only way to make it to the top. It's the perfect step towards a career where she can make a real difference to the way women are written and shown on screen. Until, she uncovers the truth about the people around her - the rape, abuse and misogyny behind every door. And maybe worse, amongst the rapists and abusers living in their untouchable towers, are the people turning a blind eye and covering it up. She's not safe anywhere.  " People love to tell women to come forward, as if it's a moral imperative, but they aren't considerin...

Genre: Thriller | Horror  Release Date: 18th August 2022 Publisher: Pan Macmillan  Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. She died the day she was born, and many times since.  Named after a flower that is often picked, trampled and made into chains, she knows she has always been invisible compared to the other flowers in her family bouquet, the beautiful and beloved Rose, and the poisonous and pale Lily.  Today she is returning to her ancestral home, Seaglass, for her Grandmothers 80th and possibly final birthday. And when the tide comes in around the little island, they will be trapped together until the sun rises. But then at the stroke of midnight, when the Darker family should all be in bed after Nana Darkers controversial will reading, there is a scream.  A scream that ensures when the tide finally returns and washes away the night, that nobody will be the same when they leave …  if they leave at all.  " There are as many different kinds of cl...

Genre: Adult Fiction Released: 4th August 2022 Publisher: Serpents Tail "I'm divorcing you.", You said.  You just told J you're divorcing them. There isn't going to be a conversation about it. J can't figure out why, how someone could love them yesterday and resent them today. J doesn't understand why you're saying all these awful things about, throwing evil accusations, and why you're acting like a stranger when all they wanted was to love you.  But as your marriage falls apart, you both tell a story - could they both be true? Or does the truth depend on what you want it to be? "You've done a tremendous job of labelling me as a monster. I half believed it myself now." This is a story about love, but it's not a love story. It's a story about the complexity of relationships, about the dangers of idolisation and desperation. It tries to shine a light on the grey and unspoken homes that are filled with abuse and terror that they ...

Genre: Contemporary Fiction | Romance | LGBT+ Release Date: 26th July 2022 Publisher: VERVE Books Even if Ava Simon didn't work as a box engineer for ST Ä DA, she'd probably still have her apartment furnished with their products. They're simple, functional and no more what they say. And that's exactly what she needs, especially as she tries to recover from the tragic loss of her girlfriend and parents and throws herself into work and designing her passion project - The Very Nice Box. Ava likes everything to be exactly like it says on the box and nothing more. So when a relationship starts to grow between her and her new charismatic and categorically handsome boss, Mat, she doesn't know what to do when she discovers he isn't exactly what he appears to. Their relationship is about to take a sharp turn into unknown territory along with everything else in her perfectly engineered life. "Falling in love with Mat was the feeling of jumping from a very high perch,...

Join me as we take a look through the bookshelves of our favourite writers, readers and book lovers - today we're talking all things books with Sarah Sultoon. Sarah was a news journalist for fifteen years, working all over the world with CNN International - from Baghdad to Kabul, Westminster to Washington. She loved her job, but the news business waits for no-one and despite everyone's best efforts, her work became incompatible with family life so she turned her hand to writing. The Source, followed by The Shot, were born - and it won't escape her readers notice that she hasn't deviated much from her past life in her fiction! But as Sarah says, newsrooms lend themselves to thriller writing and are underexploited in general. There are a lot of police and legal procedurals out there, but Sarah knows newsrooms have many of the same ingredients - investigations, scoops, all of which are by definition races against time. And truly authentic and compelling depictions of newsr...

Genre: Non-Fiction | Essays Released: 14th June 2022 Publisher: Watkins Publishing This intersectional journey into contemporary occultism and witchcraft gives a wealth of insight into what modern witchcraft really is, and how it can be used for change and empowerment Delving into the true scope of people who are connected all across the globe, and across time through their craft, this collection turns back the clock to watch the earlier roots of witchcraft as it grows into modern day witches in all their beauty and strength.  Each essay has a strikingly unique voice, from discussions on how witchcraft can break down social hierarchy, the relation of witchhunts and persecution, to perspectives of gender queer or disabled practitioners, to the ethics and philosophy of the craft, the power of words, colonialism and capitalism usage of witchcraft, and self-love - this collection features an array of powerful voices, talking about important subjects and promoting meaningful discussion....

  Genre: Non-Fiction Release Date: 7th July 2022 Publisher: Vintage | Bodley Head "Nothing raises an antiracist child more effectively than an antiracist society." I don't have my own children. But I do believe we are constantly raising ourselves to be better people, so I'd still definitely recommend you pick up this book regardless. And besides, it takes a village right? Kendi highlights a point that is becoming clearer in modern times - it is no longer enough to just not be racist, we must be actively anti-racist in our actions and beliefs if we are truly to achieve fairness and equality, and to unlearn countless years of systemic discrimination and hatred. He examines the roles of not only parents but wider society and their responsibility to not only protect the children of the world but educate them so they can grow up in a better world than we did.  This is a fairly short read but is brimming with information - Kendi provides useful stats and facts, but rather t...

Join me as we take a look through the bookshelves of our favourite writers, readers and book lovers - today we're talking all things books with Dewi Hargreaves. Dewi is a writer and freelance illustrator, and is passionate about wine, cheese and books! H e's drawn over 100 maps for authors releases, and his fiction has appeared in Etherea magazine as well as publications by Lost Boys Press, Magic and Moons press anf two independently-edited anthologies, Heads and Tales and Once Upon Another Time. His short fiction came 2nd in Grindstone Literary's Open Prose Competition 2017 and his self-published book, The Shield Road came out in 2021. What are you reading now/last? My current read is Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. I saw it had over 4000 reviews on Amazon and not a single 2- or 1-star review. I knew I had to get it, if only to see what the fuss was about, and all I can say so far is that it lives up to the hype. I truly believe that low-stakes books are going to b...