So, I recently started my new job as a Bookseller of all things! Super exciting!! And I decided to treat myself to some books and I went a bit crazy this time around, the staff discount came through! Let’s jump right in!

Plot: It’s the following Thursday. Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life. As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus? But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?

I read the first book last August and throughly enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to read the sequel but one of my colleagues was telling me how much she enjoyed it and I was sold. Apparently, this novel focuses more on our sleuths and their backstories which I am really excited for!

Plot: Sold by her mother. Enslaved in Pompeii’s brothel. Determined to survive. Her name is Amara. Welcome to the Wolf Den… Amara was once a beloved daughter, until her father’s death plunged her family into penury. Now she is a slave in Pompeii’s infamous brothel, owned by a man she despises. Sharp, clever and resourceful, Amara is forced to hide her talents. For as a she-wolf, her only value lies in the desire she can stir in others. But Amara’s spirit is far from broken. By day, she walks the streets with her fellow she-wolves, finding comfort in the laughter and dreams they share. For the streets of Pompeii are alive with opportunity. Out here, even the lowest slave can secure a reversal in fortune. Amara has learnt that everything in this city has its price. But how much is her freedom going to cost her?

This was a book that has been hailed as a must read for fans of Circe or Silence of the Girls and as someone who loved Circe with all of her being I just had to pick it up.

Plot: As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again–a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…

So, I have heard amazing things about this manga and this series. I wasn’t sure if I was brave enough to watch the anime as I heard it was over 800 episodes long but I think the manga “might” be manageable. We shall see!

Plot: London, 1782. Desperate for her politician husband to return home from France, Caroline ‘Caro’ Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The Bow Street constables are swift to act, until they discover that the deceased woman was a highly-paid prostitute, at which point they cease to care entirely. But Caro has motives of her own for wanting to see justice done, and so sets out to solve the crime herself. Enlisting the help of thieftaker, Peregrine Child, their inquiry delves into the hidden corners of Georgian society, a world of artifice, deception and secret lives. But with many gentlemen refusing to speak about their dealings with the dead woman, and Caro’s own reputation under threat, finding the killer will be harder, and more treacherous than she can know . . . 

So, I actually have read this book and I loved it. It was my number one read of 2020! You can read my review of the novel here >>> But I read this book as an ARC and I always said to myself that if I saw it in a shop I would buy it and I did just that!

Plot: Born on the fringes of Bethel, Immanuelle does her best to obey the Church and follow Holy Protocol. For it was in Bethel that the first Prophet pursued and killed four powerful witches, and so cleansed the land. And then a chance encounter lures her into the Darkwood that surrounds Bethel. It is a forbidden place, haunted by the spirits of the witches who bestow an extraordinary gift on Immanuelle. The diary of her dead mother . . . Fascinated by and fearful of the secrets the diary reveals, Immanuelle begins to understand why her mother once consorted with witches. And as the truth about the Prophets, the Church and their history is revealed, so Immanuelle understands what must be done. For the real threat to Bethel is its own darkness.

This was a book I’ve had on my list since it was published but never got round to reading it. It finally came into our store a couple of days a go and I had to grab myself a copy.

Plot: The people of an ancient city awaken one night to find the earth beneath them trembling. At the Emperor’s Palace, though, the feasting goes on. Even as the omens multiply, the High Priest insists that the gods’ favour can be bought as it always has been — with gold and ritual sacrifice. Only the Augur — fearless, ageless, a prophetess who was once the power behind the throne — can see what is coming. Around her, an unlikely resistance gathers: Saba and Aemilia, her two young acolytes, stolen from distant homelands long ago; Myloxenes, the truth-seeking son of the High Priest, in flight from his savage father; and Antonus, pain-wracked and exiled, raising his family far from the depravity of the Palace he once called home. 

This was a book that I actually hadn’t heard anything about but I read the blurb and was super intrigued. I picked it up and got it straight away! I can’t wait to get to this!

Plot: Mirabelle has always known she is a monster. When the glamour protecting her unusual family from the human world is torn and an orphaned brother and sister stumble upon Rookhaven, Mirabelle soon discovers that friendship can be found in the outside world. But as something far more sinister comes to threaten them all, it quickly becomes clear that the true monsters aren’t necessarily the ones you can see.

I want to start getting into more middle grade books so I can help with recommendations for families etc. I work quite a lot in the kids section of the store so I feel that reading some of the new releases will help.