Another day of struggling with my urgent need for buying another book. I don’t try too hard to avoid buying more titles for my collection however, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not familiar with moderation when it comes to buying another piece of literature. Sometimes I try to avoid visiting all sorts of local bookshops, and charity shops. There are loads of them in my area (even Sainsbury’s doesn’t spare me – Love Marriage by Monica Ali landed between milk and bread rolls today) then I’d have to cut myself off from the internet. So what can I say, today I didn’t cut myself off from the internet, nor did I manage to avoid any bookshops (it was a fruitful day yeah!).
Let’s pretend I didn’t buy too much and be content with the dearest new pieces in my collection.
Rakuten Kobo today:

An Introvert’s Year of Living Dangerously
Jessica Pan
“When she found herself jobless and friendless, sitting in the familiar Jess-shaped crease on her sofa, she couldn’t help but wonder what life might have looked like if she had been a little more open to new experiences and new people, a little less attached to going home instead of going to the pub. So, she made a vow: to push herself to live the life of an extrovert for a year. She wrote a list: improv, a solo holiday and… talking to strangers on the tube.
She regretted it instantly.”

Kate Clayborne
Beginner’s Luck:
“A scientist with a quiet, steady job at a university, Kit Averin’s sudden lottery win changes nothing, with one exception: the fixer-upper she plans to buy, her first and only real home. It’s more than enough to keep her busy, until an unsettlingly handsome, charming, and determined corporate recruiter shows up in her lab. Ben Tucker is willing to put in the time to talk Kit into a big-money position in his firm. Especially when
sticking around his hometown for the summer gives him a chance to reconnect with his dad. But the longer he stays, the more questions he has about his own future and where he belongs. What begins as a chilly rebuff soon heats up into an attraction neither Kit nor Ben can deny – and finding themselves lucky in love might just be priceless… “
Luck of the Draw:
“Sure, winning the lottery allows Zoe Ferris to quit her job as a cutthroat corporate attorney, but no amount of cash will clear her conscience about the way her firm treated the O’Leary family in a wrongful death case. So she sets out to make things right, only to find gruff, grieving Aiden O’Leary doesn’t want her apology. He does, however, want something else from her. Aiden needs a bride if he hopes to be the winning bid on the campground he wants to purchase as part of his beloved brother’s legacy. Skilled in the art of deception, the cool beauty certainly fits the bill. Only Aiden didn’t expect all the humour and heart Zoe brings to their partnership -or the desire that runs deep between them. Now he’s struggling with his own dark truth – that he’s falling for the very woman he vowed never to forgive…”
Best of Luck:
“Greer Hawthorne is finally on the cusp of proving to her big, overprotective family that she’s independent – until a careless mistake jeopardises her plan to graduate. Lucky for her, there’s someone in town who may be able to help. Alex Averin plans to show up for his sister’s wedding, then get straight back to his job as a world-renowned photojournalist. But when gorgeous, good-hearted Greer needs an assist with a photography project, he’s powerless to say no. Can a ceaseless wanderer find a stopping place alongside a woman determined to set out on her own, or are Alex and Greer both pushing their luck too far?”

by Sean Lin Halbert, Un-su Kim
Winner of the Munhakdongne Novel Award, South Korea’s most prestigious literary prize.
“Cabinet 13 looks exactly like any normal filing cabinet…Except this cabinet is filled with files on the ‘symptomers’, humans whose strange abilities and bizarre experiences might just mark the emergence of a new species.
But to Mr Kong, the harried office worker whose job it is to look after the cabinet, the ‘symptomers’ are a headache; especially the one who won’t stop calling every day, asking to be turned into a cat.
A richly funny and fantastical novel about the strangeness at the heart of even the most everyday lives, from one of South Korea’s most acclaimed novelists.”
Translated by Sean Lin Halbert

Mindfulness Practices and Spiritual Tools
Brendon Burchard
Dr Wayne W. Dyer
“Beloved spiritual teacher Dr. Wayne W. Dyer often shared his thoughts on the path and practice of personal empowerment during his writings and presentations. He’d say, “This is not about self-help. It’s about self-realization, which is way beyond self-help.”
“Wayne will help you understand what an illusion much of life is, so you can see the big picture and spark deep transformation (that is, “the ability to go beyond your form”), resulting in peace and harmony in all areas of your life. He will also take you through the stages of enlightenment and instruct you in mindfulness practices such as visualization and meditation, ultimately helping you reach a higher consciousness. Indeed, as a result of reading this book, you’ll feel as if you are absolutely living in the light, in tune with the magnificence of the universe… and yourself.”

“When the sleepy English village of Green Bottom hosts its first literary festival, the good, the bad and the ugly of the book world descend upon its leafy lanesBut the villagers are not prepared for the peculiar habits, petty rivalries and unspeakable desires of the authors. And they are certainly not equipped to deal with Wilberforce Selfram, the ghoul-faced, ageing enfant terrible who wreaks havoc wherever he goes.
Sour Grapes is a hilarious satire on the literary world which takes no prisoners as it skewers authors, agents, publishers and reviewers alike.”
During the daily Sainsbury’s shopping:

“Yasmin Ghorami has a lot to be grateful for: a loving family, a fledgling career in medicine and a charming, handsome fiancé, fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But now the moment she has been dreading has arrived: it is time for her family to meet Joe’s firebrand feminist mother.
As the two families are drawn closer together, long-held secrets, lies and betrayals unravel on both sides – and Yasmin is forced to ask herself what she really wants in a relationship and what a ʻlove marriage’ actually means…”
At the local pdsa:

“Kitchen juxtaposes two tales about mothers, transsexuality, bereavement, kitchens, love and tragedy in contemporary Japan. It is a startlingly original first work by Japan’s brightest young literary star and is now a cult film.”
“When Kitchen was first published in Japan in 1987 it won two of Japan’s most prestigious literary prizes, climbed its way to the top of the bestseller lists, then remained there for over a year and sold millions of copies. Banana Yoshimoto was hailed as a young writer of great talent and great passion whose work has quickly earned a place among the best of modern literature, and has been described as ‘the voice of young Japan’ by the Independent on Sunday.”
Yours L.



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