Finding yourself unplugged these days?

Are you finding yourself unplugged and offline these days? Us to, here are some reading suggestion to keep you occupied. 


We have a feeling you might be finding yourself a little less online these day, against your will. 

We are too, so we have put together a list of suggested reading that could help occupy your downtime and while away the hours until you are back online again. This list has everything from historical fiction, humour and some good old-fashioned story-telling. Have a look at our suggestions and take your pick!

Looking for a laugh? 

Return to the Wild

by James Hendry

Book cover for Return to the Wild

Following on from his bestselling novels A Year in the Wild and Back to the Bush, James Hendry returns to the setting of Sasekile Private Game Reserve for another tale that takes the reader behind the scenes with the MacNaughton brothers, Angus and Hugh.

It is four and a half years since Angus’s last year in the wild when he was newly appointed to the position of head ranger at Sasekile. Much has happened in the interim.

In Return to the Wild there is high drama, much hilarity and close encounters with wildlife, fire and human incompetence as Angus unexpectedly returns to Sasekile to take on the training of a motley group of would-be game rangers with his usual stark but eloquent honesty. Alongside him, Hugh manages the lodge and its colourful staff with a varying degree of competence as events lurch from mishap to potential catastrophe.

Whether you are a fan of the MacNaughtons’ previous misadventures or a reader new to their story, Return to the Wild is a highly amusing, engaging and heartfelt read.

Chasing Marian

by Gail Schimmel, Pamela Power, Amy Heydenrych, Quarnita Loxton

Book cover for Chasing Marian

Four strangers, two cities, one chance online meeting.

Jess is a yummy mummy of two whose life is slowly unravelling and who has recently separated from her husband. Ginger is a happily widowed granny with a salty tongue and a wicked sense of humour. The gorgeous and sensitive Matt is an almost-qualified psychologist, who still lives with his parents. And Queenie, a librarian from Cape Town, has an absent boyfriend and a secret writing habit.

What could these four strangers possibly have in common?

They are all die-hard Marian Keyes fans. And when they hear that Marian is due to visit South Africa to attend a literary festival, they are all desperate to meet her. Together they come up with a mad-cap plan. Will they succeed – or will life intervene?

Theroux the Keyhole

by Louis Theroux

Book cover for Theroux the Keyhole

Come round to Louis Theroux’s house, where the much-loved documentary-maker finds himself in unexpected danger . . .

Louis’s latest TV series about weirdness – the one involving the American far right, home-grown jihadis, and SoundCloud rappers – has been unexpectedly derailed by the onset of a global pandemic. Now he finds himself locked down in a location even more full of pitfalls, surprises and hostile objects of inquiry: his own home.

Theroux the Keyhole is the candidly honest and hilarious diary of a man attempting to navigate the perils of work and family life, locked down in Covid World with his wife, two teenagers and a Youtube-addict fiver year-old. Why is his wife so intolerant of his obsession with Joe Wicks’s daily workouts? Can he reinvent himself as a podcast host? Why has the internet gone nuts for his old journalistic compadre Joe Exotic? And will his teenage sons ever see him as anything other than ‘cringe’?

This is Louis at his insightful best, as month-by-month he documents his year of unforeseen new challenges - and wonders why it took a pandemic for him to learn that what really matters in life is right in front of him.


We hope this list of reads will keep you going in your downtime!


Want to expand your mind?

Thrive

by Richard Sutton

Book cover for Thrive

We live in a world that demands perfection. Should we not meet established milestones or targets, not conform to the appropriate curve, or fail to live up to pre-established societal expectations, we invariably experience a sense of personal failure, worthlessness, and fears and anxiety about a tenuous future.

Added to this is the struggle with financial pressures and widening gaps in inequality, fractured family units, chronic stress and mental health challenges, overlaid with the uncertainty and complexity of a rapidly changing world.

Yet, in truth, it doesn’t matter where we come from and what our historic circumstances and achievements might be. We are all capable of extraordinary lives and should not be bound by limitations, whether self-imposed or from external sources

Resilience can help us to unlock our fullest potential; it is a consummate skill that can be developed and grown throughout our lives. This reality is echoed by the likes of Albert Einstein, Oprah Winfrey, Billy Jean King and Lucas Radebe, who all
struggled on some level and overcame the constraints of their circumstances
through resilience in various forms.

In addition, many resilience ‘lessons’ and how these are applicable to everyday life are taken from a fusion of cutting-edge science and learnings from some of the most recognisable figures in world sport, including Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan and Martina Navratilova.

Thrive is a rich source of unique and practical skills and tools that are easy to apply to help you develop and harness your resilience and to realise your fullest potential.

Thinking 101

by Woo-kyoung Ahn

Book cover for Thinking 101

'A world-class tune-up for your brain' – Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of Drive

Why do we think we’re better prepared for job interviews than we are? Why does no one act on climate change? Why do we over think when something bad happens to us? In this clear guide, Professor Woo-kyoung Ahn gives clear and practical steps to actually change our thinking.

Renowned psychologist Professor Woo-kyoung Ahn devised a course at Yale called 'Thinking' to help students examine the biases that cause people so many problems in their daily lives. It quickly became one of the university’s most popular courses. Now, for the first time, she presents key insights from her years of teaching and research.

It’s well known that our minds are tripped up by error, cognitive bias and prejudice. But knowing that isn’t enough: the thinking problems still exist.

The natural follow-up to Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, Thinking 101 shows how we can improve not just our own daily lives through better awareness of our biases, but the lives of everyone around us. It is required reading for everyone who wants to think – and live – better.

'Terrific. Ahn offers compelling, research-based ways to limit the unwanted impact of thinking problems' – Robert Cialdini, bestselling author of Influence and Pre-Suasion

Genius

by Bruce Whitfield

South Africa and its fraught political economy provide a fascinating case study into how it takes a particular brand of genius to thrive in a difficult domestic environment and to take the ideas and the businesses that deliver them from local to global.

Genius tells the stories of some of the extraordinary individuals, companies and industries whose ideas, products and raw materials solve problems and add value across the globe. Greatness comes from acting on purpose, and there is a generation of South Africans solving problems for the future. Learn how Pratley beat Armstrong to the moon, how a former Eskom quantity surveyor capitalised on Britain’s obsession with meerkats to create the UK’s most visible price comparison website, how to take a Mediterranean-style food concept to the Mediterranean, and how a device designed to beat diamond smuggling made it from the set of a popular US hospital drama into emergency rooms and pathology labs across the US.

Genius examines what it takes to thrive in an increasingly complex, fast-paced and divisive global environment. These are lessons for anyone looking to succeed anywhere against the odds.


Cosy, but with a touch of fantasy

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Book cover for Before the Coffee Gets Cold

The million-copy bestselling series.

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s heartwarming Tales from the Cafe, translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?


In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time . . .

From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula's time-travelling offer. Among some faces that will be familiar to readers, we will be introduced to:

The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years ago
The son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeral
The man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marry
The old detective who never gave his wife that gift . . .


This beautiful tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives.

Continue the heartwarming storytelling with Before Your Memory Fades and Before We Say Goodbye.

*Pre-order Book 5, Before We Forget Kindness, now!*

Legends & Lattes

by Travis Baldree

Book cover for Legends & Lattes

A cosy, heartwarming slice-of-life fantasy about found families and fresh starts, Legends & Lattes is perfect for fans of TJ Klune, Katherine Addison and T. Kingfisher. From the Hugo Award-winning author, Travis Baldree.

Return to the world of Legends & Lattes with Bookshops & Bonedust, the hilarious and heartwarming prequel.

'This is a warm hug of a book' – T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of Nettle & Bone


High fantasy, low stakes – with a double-shot of coffee.

After decades of adventuring, Viv the orc barbarian is finally hanging up her sword for good. Now she sets her sights on a new dream – for she plans to open the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. Even though no one there knows what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the past behind her, she can’t go it alone. And help might arrive from unexpected quarters. Yet old rivals and new stand in the way of success. And Thune’s shady underbelly could make it all too easy for Viv to take up the blade once more.

But the true reward of the uncharted path is the travellers you meet along the way. Whether bound by ancient magic, delicious pastries or a freshly brewed cup, they may become something deeper than Viv ever could have imagined . . .

‘The most fun I've ever had in a coffee shop’ – Ben Aaronovitch, bestselling author of Rivers of London

'A must-read for every D&D player who has ever wondered what happens after 'happily ever after' - Cassandra Khaw, award-winning author of Nothing but Blackened Teeth

Wolfsong

by TJ Klune

Book cover for Wolfsong

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door and In the Lives of Puppets, Wolfsong is a story of love, loyalty, and family.

Ox Matheson was twelve when his father taught him a lesson: Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.

Ox was sixteen when the energetic Bennett family moved in next door, harbouring a secret that would change him forever. For the family are shape-shifters, who can transform into wolves at will. Drawn to their magic, loyalty and enduring friendships, Ox feels a gulf between this extraordinary new world and the quiet life he’s known. He also finds an ally in Joe, the youngest Bennett boy. Joe is charming and handsome, but haunted by scars he cannot heal.

Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town, and tore a hole in his heart. Violence flared, tragedy split the pack and Joe left town, leaving Ox behind. Three years later, the boy is back. Except now he’s a man – and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.

Wolfsong is the first book in beloved the Green Creek series by bestselling author TJ Klune. Continue the journey with Ravensong.

Praise for TJ Klune:


'Like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket' – V. E. Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

'A whimsical, warm-hearted fantasy' – The Guardian

'A radiant treat' – Locus Magazine


Looking for a little bit of love

Alone with You in the Ether

by Olivie Blake

Book cover for Alone with You in the Ether

From the internationally bestselling author of The Atlas Six, Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake is a glimpse into the nature of love, what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you're not broken.

Chicago, sometime. Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. After their meeting, those things do not change.

Everything else, however, is slightly different.

Both obsessive, eccentric personalities, Aldo Damiani and Charlotte Regan struggle to be without each other from the moment they meet. The truth - that he is a clinically depressed, anti-social theoretician and she is a manipulative liar with a history of self-sabotage - means the deeper they fall in love, the more troubling their reliance on each other becomes.

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake is a literary, intimate study of time, space - and a love story like no other.

Praise for Olivie Blake:


'Olivie Blake is a mind-blowing talent' – Chloe Gong

'This is a book to savor' - Publishers Weekly

'Pages fly by in this character-driven novel that is intimate, complicated, and utterly romantic' - Booklist

Flock

by Kate Stewart

Book cover for Flock

'A modern day re-telling of Robin Hood . . . giving us all the steam. Buckle up' – Glamour Magazine

Flock is the first in Kate Stewart's Ravenhood Trilogy – a gritty, sexy and romantic modern-day take on Robin Hood, with breathtaking twists.

The deal is simple: all nineteen-year-old student Cecelia Horner has to do is survive a year in the small town of Triple Falls, living with her estranged father and working at his factory. In return, he’ll not only pay her college tuition but will hand over a small fortune that will enable Cecelia to help her single mother.

But everything changes when she meets sexy local Sean on her first day of work. He introduces her to his close knit circle of friends – including the enigmatic Dominic – a group who live by their own rules and brandish the same raven tattoo.

Cecelia has always played it safe but, blinded by her growing feelings for Sean and Dominic, she’s determined to enjoy her last summer of freedom and be open to new experiences. No matter where they might lead . . .

This unconventional love story is a white-knuckle ride filled with suspense, steam, addictive bad boys and ALL OF THE FEELS. Continue this bestselling series with Exodus and The Finish Line.

'Flock is a wild ride of a novel that is almost impossible to put down' – Culturefly

A Restless Truth

by Freya Marske

Book cover for A Restless Truth

Knives Out meets The Binding in this historical romp full of magic, queer romance and adventure. A Restless Truth by Freya Marske is the thrilling follow-up to A Marvellous Light.

'It's the lesbian locked-room murder mystery of my dreams. Beyond delightful!' - Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She’d hoped for plenty of it when she agreed to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy. She even volunteered to serve as an old lady's companion on an ocean liner. But Maud didn't expect the old lady to turn up dead on the very first day of the voyage.

Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham. Violet is everything Maud has been trained to distrust, yet can’t help but desire: a magician, an actress and a magnet for scandal.

Surrounded by open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must learn to drop the masks they’ve learned to wear. Only then might they work together to locate a magical object worth killing for – and unmask a murderer. All without becoming dead in the water themselves.

Set in an alternative Edwardian England filled with magic, murder and romance, A Restless Truth is the spellbinding second book in The Last Binding trilogy by Freya Marske. Continue the series with A Power Unbound.