We're celebrating the Autumn season and Black History Month this October - Have a read of our blog featuring our top favourite handpicked reads for this month. For the full Autumn collection click here and to see our full Black History Month collection click here.
Lilith's Brood Series Octavia Butler 3 Books Collection Set (Imago, Adulthood Rites, Dawn)
Titles:
Imago
Adulthood Rites
Dawn
Imago:
Jodahs is a child of the Earth and stars, born from the union between humans and the Oankali, who saved humanity from destruction centuries before. But Jodahs is approaching adulthood, a metamorphosis that will take him beyond gender and family, and into a great but dangerous unknown. Frightened and alone, Jodahs must come to terms with this new identity, learn to master lifechanging powers and bring together what's left of humankind - or become the biggest threat to their survival.
Adulthood Rites:
Lilith's son Akin looks like an ordinary child. His family live together on Earth, but not in complete peace. The Oankali saved humanity years before, compelled by the desire to create an extraordinary new race of children. But there are those who resist the Oankali and the salvation they offer. The first of his kind, Akin is more powerful than any other being. He understands the desire to fight for the independence of humanity. He also fears that, if left alone, humanity will destroy itself again.
Dawn:
When Lilith lyapo wakes in a small white room with no doors or windows, she remembers a devastating war, and a husband and child long lost to her. She finds herself living among the Oankali, a strange race who intervened in the fate of humanity hundreds of years before. They spared those they could from the ruined Earth, and suspended them in a long, deep sleep. Over centuries, the Oankali learned from the past, cured disease and healed the world.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf: Dark Star Trilogy Book 1 By Marlon James
Tracker is a hunter, known throughout the thirteen kingdoms as one who has a nose - and he always works alone. But he breaks his own rule when, hired to find a lost child, he finds himself part of a group of hunters all searching for the same boy. Each of these companions is stranger and more dangerous than the last, from a giant to a witch to a shape-shifting Leopard, and each has secrets of their own.
As the mismatched gang follow the boy's scent, from perfumed citadels to infested rivers to the enchanted darklands and beyond, set upon at every turn by creatures intent on destroying them, Tracker starts to wonder: who is this mysterious boy? Why do so many people want to stop him being found? And, most important of all, who is telling the truth and who is lying?
Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James weaves a tapestry of breathtaking adventure through a world at once ancient and startlingly modern. And, against this exhilarating backdrop of magic and violence, he explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, the excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all.
Vashti Harrison Little Leaders Collection 3 Books Set (Bold Women in Black History, Exceptional Men in Black History, Visionary Women Around the World)
Little Leaders Bold Women in Black History:
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History: Did you know the treatment for leprosy was developed by a young scientist called Alice Ball? And Josephine Baker- world famous cabaret singer and dancer- was also a spy for the French résistance? Featuring 40 trailblazing black women in the world's history, this book educates and inspires as it relates true stories of women who broke boundaries and exceeded all expectations.
Little Leaders Exceptional Men in Black History:
Did you know that the father of African cinema was originally a bricklayer? Or that Vogue's editor-at-large read his first Vogue magazine in his local library?Learn all about the exceptional black men who broke barriers and fought injustice to realise their dreams and make the world a better place.
Little Leaders Visionary Women Around the World:
Featuring the true stories of 40 inspirational women creators - from writers to inventors, artists to scientists - this book is as inspirational as it is educational. Readers will meet trailblazing women such as revolutionary architect, Zaha Hadid, actor/inventor Hedy Lamarr, environmental activist Wangari Maathai, modernist painter and animator Mary Blair and physicist Chien-Shiung Wu. Some names will be familiar, some will not - but all these women had a lasting impact on their fields.
The Last Hours Series 2 Books Collection Set by Cassandra Clare (Chain of Gold, Chain of Iron)
Titles in this Set:
The Last Hours: Chain of Gold:
The Last Hours: Chain of Iron:
The Last Hours: Chain of Gold:
Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to Edwardian London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else.
The Last Hours: Chain of Iron:
Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend Lucie Herondale and James’s charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade.But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia’s reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident.
Phil Hickes 2 Books Collection Set (The Haunting Of Aveline Jones & The Bewitching Of Aveline Jones)
The Haunting Of Aveline Jones:
Aveline Jones loves reading ghost stories, so a dreary half-term becomes much more exciting when she discovers a spooky old book. Not only are the stories spine-tingling, but it once belonged to Primrose Penberthy, who vanished mysteriously, never to be seen again. Intrigued, Aveline decides to investigate Primrose's disappearance.
Now someone... or something, is stirring. And it is looking for Aveline.
The Bewitching Of Aveline Jones:
Aveline is thrilled when she discovers that the holiday cottage her mum has rented for the summer is beside a stone circle. Thousands of years old, the local villagers refer to the ancient structure as the Witch Stones, and Aveline cannot wait to learn more about them.
Then Aveline meets Hazel. Impossibly cool, mysterious yet friendly, Aveline soon falls under Hazel's spell. In fact, Hazel is quite unlike anyone Aveline has ever met before, but she can't work out why. Will Aveline discover the truth about Hazel, before it's too late?
Graceling Realm Series 3 Books Complete Collection Set by Kristin Cashore
Titles in this Set:
Graceling
Fire
Bitter blue
Graceling:
In a world where people born with an exceptional skill, known as a Grace, are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her Uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to carry out his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him. Breaking arms and cutting off fingers are her stock-in-trade. Finding life under his rule increasingly unbearable, Katsa forms an underground Council whose purpose is to combat the destructive behaviour of the seven kings.
Fire:
A must-read title for all fans of Patrick Rothfuss and Trudi Canavan, FIRE is an exceptional fantasy novel. From the deft characterisation to the gripping story, the fast-paced action to the evocative prose, this is one of the strongest fantasy novels of the year. Set in a world of stunningly beautiful, exceptionally dangerous monsters, Fire is one of the most dangerous monsters of all - a human one. Marked out by her vivid red hair, she's more than attractive. Fire is mesmerising.
Bitterblue:
Eight years have passed since the young Princess Bitter blue and her country were saved from the vicious King Leck. Now Bitter blue is the queen of Monsea, and her land is at peace. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisers, who have run the country on her behalf since Leck's death, believe in a forward-thinking plan: to pardon all of those who committed terrible acts during Leck's reign; and to forget every dark event that ever happened.