Lovereading Latest: Books of the Month - May

Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel

Bring Up the Bodies
Hilary Mantel

Format: Hardback - Released: 10/05/2012
Lovereading Price: £15.00 - Saving £5.00 (25%)

May 2012 MEGA Book of the Month. With her dazzling, utterly absorbing style of writing Bring Up the Bodies focuses on the downfall and destruction of the charismatic Anne Boleyn. This is the sequel to the 2009 Man Booker-winning Wolf Hall the second in what will be a Tudor trilogy. The final book will be called The Mirror & the Light, and will continue Thomas Cromwell's story until his execution in 1540.

The Chaperone - Laura Moriarty

The Chaperone
Laura Moriarty

Format: Paperback - Released: 26/04/2012
Lovereading Price: £5.99 - Saving £2.00 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. I am reminded of the 20s musical number "Anything Goes" here, for in "The Chaperone" it certainly does. This is 20s New York, the girl being chaperoned is the young Louise Brooks (the silent filmstar) and the whole prohibition and explosive atmosphere of the period is superbly realised. Our heroine is orphaned Cora, the chaperone, a lovely character in a dead-end marriage, bent on finding her biological family. What she discovers both in her marriage and her old adoption home are secrets that eventually all concerned will take to their graves. Highly recommended.

Changeling - Philippa Gregory

Changeling
Philippa Gregory

Format: Hardback - Released: 24/05/2012
Lovereading Price: £9.74 - Saving £3.25 (25%)

May 2012 MEGA Book of the Month. Best-selling Philippa Gregory’s first book for teenagers is a thrilling story of malice and betrayal, courage and passion. Tricked out of her inheritance by her greedy and duplicitous brother, Isolde must swap ruling over her own castle and estate for a life of confinement as the Lady Abbess of the local nunnery. Bad things are happening among the nuns and soon Isolde’s life is in grave danger as she is accused of heresy, a crime which carries the penalty of being burnt at the stake. How clever and feisty Isolde is rescued from her fate and turns the tables on her persecutors with the help of Luca Vero, the handsome young enforcer of true religion, is a spellbinder of a story. Click here to visit The Order of Darkness website.

Dare Me - Megan Abbott

Dare Me
Megan Abbott

Format: Hardback - Released: 10/05/2012
Lovereading Price: £9.74 - Saving £3.25 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. Following on from her Richard and Judy selected title, The End of Everything, is this dark dangerous coming of age story set among a fiercely competitive cheerleading squad who are driven to win at any cost by a new coach. The mix of the allure of adulthood and teenage sexuality in American suburbia is a potent one and if you enjoyed Donna Tartt's The Secret History then Dare Me should be on your reading list.

I Left My Tent in San Francisco - Emma Kennedy

I Left My Tent in San Francisco
Emma Kennedy

Format: Paperback - Released: 26/04/2012
Lovereading Price: £5.99 - Saving £2.00 (25%)

May 2012 Travel Book of the Month. Startlingly honest and ridiculously funny, I Left My Tent in San Francisco is the miraculous story of how the hapless pair made it back alive to tell the disastrous tale. Emma Kennedy has the wonderful gift of being able to write as if she is talking to you, in a chatty, half laughing way. The basis of her story is her post university trip across America with her well bred friend Dee which turns into an adventure they will never forget. They seem, on the face of it, an unlikely combination but in fact balance each other and combine well to give a contrast in each scene the author presents. She has an amazing memory for detail, for conversation and has a self deprecating air which highlights her liability to be involved in incidents where she is made to seem amusingly either inadequate or inefficient. I suspect she is neither, but instead has the art of turning the most trivial happening into an adventure which makes for laugh-out-loud reading. There is an element of “there but for the grace of God go I” about much of her recollections, as most of us can remember getting into scrapes when young which seemed hilarious at the time, so it is easy to relate to her style of writing. I suspect that looking back at the trip has highlighted the fun and the amusement rather than any hardship and this gives the book a sunny, happy go lucky air which recommends itself for light summer reading.

Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 - Sonnet Stanfill and Oriole Cullen

Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950
Sonnet Stanfill and Oriole Cullen

Format: Hardback - Released: 07/05/2012
Lovereading Price: £15.00 - Saving £5.00 (25%)

May 2012 Non-Fiction Book of the Month. Published to tie in with an exhibition opening on 19th May and running throughout the year. A quite fascinating progress through recent women’s fashion for glamorous evening wear. A change that we follow from the highly structured and corseted New Look to the more recent trends of deconstruction and asymmetry with folded and pleated fabric showing new materials, radical new ways of wearing clothing. As ever with V & A costume books, the colours are rich and vibrant but I would just have loved a bigger book with more detail and I would have loved to see inside some of these costumes to look at their construction. Like for Like ReadingThe Golden Age of Couture: Paris & London 1947-57, Claire WilcoxFashion History: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century, Akiki Fukai

The Heroes - Joe Abercrombie

The Heroes
Joe Abercrombie

Format: Paperback - Released: 10/05/2012
Lovereading Price: £6.74 - Saving £2.25 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. Why do people fight pointless wars and what does it take to be called a Hero? If you are a lover of action fantasy novels then the brilliant, powerful and bleak The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie should be on your reading list.

The Bicycle Book - Bella Bathurst

The Bicycle Book
Bella Bathurst

Format: Paperback - Released: 26/04/2012
Lovereading Price: £6.74 - Saving £2.25 (25%)

May 2012 Travel Book of the Month. A brilliant, charming, engaging look at the sometimes weird world of the bicycle and bicyclist. The people who ride them (including over water), the people who build them (the revered magicians), in fact a huge cast of colourful characters and stories. A must for any fan of pedal power.

Stolen Childhoods : The Untold Story of the Children Interned by the Japanese in the Second World War - Nicola Tyrer

Stolen Childhoods : The Untold Story of the Children Interned by the Japanese in the Second World War
Nicola Tyrer

Format: Paperback - Released: 10/05/2012
Lovereading Price: £6.74 - Saving £2.25 (25%)

May 2012 Non-Fiction Book of the Month. With or without their parents, children were interned in great numbers in Japanese camps, some 4,000 UK children alone. This thoroughly researched and rounded account of their story relates their experiences of the camps and through the personal stories – often recounted for the first time - learn what impact these events had on their lives as children and as adults. Their experiences are very mixed, some suffered through terrible deprivations under despotic camp guards others were “luckier” to be interned under less strict rulers, a few luckier still were young enough and resilient enough to see it all as a terrific adventure. With so many disparate strands, it would be easy to lose focus but Nicola Tyrer has a strong hand on the narrative , honouring the people who told her their stories.Like for Like ReadingHow the Girl Guides Won the War, Janie HamptonEmpire of the Sun, J G Ballard

In One Person - John Irving

In One Person
John Irving

Format: Hardback - Released: 10/05/2012
Lovereading Price: £14.24 - Saving £4.75 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. Picking up on the term 'a sexual suspect' Irving first used in his landmark novel The World According to Garp, In One Person is the tragic, comic and tender story of Billy. Over 50 years we follow Billy's convoluted bisexual life and the theatrical cast of friends and lovers and he searches for love and a sense of who he is. Political and passionate this has been described. Irving's best novel since The World According to Garp.

A Rural Affair - Catherine Alliott

A Rural Affair
Catherine Alliott

Format: Paperback - Released: 10/05/2012
Lovereading Price: £5.99 - Saving £2.00 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. Catherine Alliott is at her sparkling and brilliant best in this her latest feel-good read. Full of her trademark wit and characters you feel instantly drawn to. Perfect to curl up with in that 'me' time you've been promising yourself!

Jasmine Nights - Julia Gregson

Jasmine Nights
Julia Gregson

Format: Hardback - Released: 26/04/2012
Lovereading Price: £9.74 - Saving £3.25 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. Set in WW2 with star crossed lovers, espionage and exotic locations, Jasmine Nights is a captivating and enjoyable read from the award-winning author of East of the Sun.

15 Seconds - Andrew Gross

15 Seconds
Andrew Gross

Format: Paperback - Released: 26/04/2012
Lovereading Price: £5.99 - Saving £2.00 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. If you love fast-paced, topical thrillers that you simply can't put down, then Andrew Gross and especially 15 Seconds is a great place to go. Pulled over by a traffic cop who is then shot by someone else leaves surgeon Henry Steadman framed for murder and on the run trying to prove his innocence. It's thrilling stuff. Visit our Facebook page and have the chance to win a copy of 15 Seconds... Our Book of the Month this month is the gripping '15 Seconds' by Andrew Gross, and we're giving 10 lucky fans the chance to WIN a signed copy! Click here to find out more...

Now You See Me - S. J. Bolton

Now You See Me
S. J. Bolton

Format: Paperback - Released: 26/04/2012
Lovereading Price: £5.24 - Saving £1.75 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. S.J. Bolton, known to her friends as Sharon, has become established as one of England's foremost crime writers. She is right up there with Martina Cole - or for that matter - the male American James Patterson. In fact, in 94 chapters, this book races along as quickly as the best that Patterson has delivered. Young policeman Lacey Flint is personally, and thus emotionally, involved in her first murder case - and so, as the reader, are you.

Dead Scared - S. J. Bolton

Dead Scared
S. J. Bolton

Format: Hardback - Released: 26/04/2012
Lovereading Price: £9.74 - Saving £3.25 (25%)

May 2012 Book of the Month. Good grief! – talk about tense (practically unbearable towards the end of this book). S.J. Bolton has again delivered a cracking, addictive thriller. This one is set in the rarefied atmosphere of Cambridge University where far too many female undergraduates are, seemingly, committing suicide. DC Lacey goes undercover to investigate. This is her 5th crime book and her 1st sequel, to Now You See Me.