Reading Over Easter
By Georgia Wells, Jaime Butler, and Anna Robinson
In the Lives of Puppets by T J Klune
24 April 2023, Pan Macmillan
Following the success of his novel The House in the Cerulean Sea, T J Klune returns with his newest release, In the Lives of Puppets. Join the Lawson family in their quaint little home hidden in the depths of a strange forest…
This peculiar family is made up of three robots: Giovanni Lawson, a fatherly inventor; a small vacuum who has developed a big heart; and an unpredictably sadistic android nurse. The robots are also joined by their human, Victor Lawson. They are unknown. They are safe.
Victor discovers an unfamiliar android named ‘HAP’. As he repairs his unusual finding, he comes to learn the dark past that Hap and Gio have shared – a past spent hunting humans.
But Hap’s resurrection doesn’t just shake Gio. Hap, beyond his control, sends out an alert to robots from their shared past life, informing them of the whereabouts of Gio and his unconventional family. Gio is abducted and dragged away to the laboratory from his past, located in the City of Electric Dreams.
Distressed at the loss of their fatherly figure, Vic assembles the family to set out on a rescue mission. However, what awaits them is more than they could have anticipated.
The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher
25 April 2023, Ballantine Books
Sarah Cypher’s debut novel spans generations, following one Palestinian family and their emigration and establishment in the United States. The novel centres around Betty, who lives in the Pacific Northwest and is wrestling between staying in the country that has become her home or following the woman she loves. She embarks on a journey of discovery related to her now-deceased Aunt Nuha’s secrets and, in doing so, realises Aunt Nuha was hiding more than she expected. As Betty attempts to weave together her aunt’s identity and complex past from partially translated notebooks, she may find answers for herself too.
This book includes elements of the fantastical, like Aunt Nuha’s belief that a newborn baby in the family with blue skin is a sign of the beloved blue soap their family was famous for making back in Palestine. The novel also includes refreshingly real themes, such as through Betty acknowledging Aunt Nuha’s struggles with her own sexuality. But at its core, this story is a search for identity among women whose histories are impacted by distance and time.
Honey, Baby, Mine by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd
25 April 2023, Hodder & Stoughton
Laura Dern, best known for her roles as Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park and Marmee in the recent adaptation of Little Women, is working with her mother Diane Ladd to discuss some of life’s difficult topics. Both look to navigate their relationship as mother and daughter as they begin to break down traditional barriers.
Growing up, Laura and Diane had a close relationship as mother and daughter. However, when Diane developed a life-threatening illness, the two found themselves in unknown territory. To help her mother through the pain of her recovery, Laura started telling her mother stories as a distraction.
However, these stories moved from light conversation into more personal topics of love, life, art, legacy and ambition. As a way to encapsulate this new level of their relationship, Laura and Diane have written down these conversations, alongside other stories and reflections, all to create their novel Honey, Baby, Mine.
The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space Will Change Our World by Tim Marshall
27 April, Elliott & Thompson Limited
The bestselling author of the highly informative books Prisoners of Geography and The Power of Geography returns with a focus on the geopolitical space race. Tim Marshall’s latest geographical exploration will analyse the efforts of Russia, China and the United States in reaching space and what it means for those on Earth.
There is much more in space than one might realise. Spy satellites orbit the moon, metals worth more than most countries’ GDP float past the Earth and there are plans for people to be on Mars within the next ten years. This isn’t a sci-fi novel; Tim Marshall is investigating astropolitics.
What happens in space will soon shape human history as much as natural features – mountains, rivers, seas – have done on Earth. The next 50 years will change the face of global politics, and with highly powerful countries involved in the second wave of space races, politics is a significant part of the rapidly expanding world above us.
In his latest explorative book, Tim Marshall lays bare the new geopolitical realities to show how we got here and where we're going, ranging from the modern space race, powerful rivalries, technology, economics, war and how all of that will affect those on Earth. This deep dive into the world above will encompass all that is going on and its effects on us.