Book picks similar to
The Girl on the Red Pillow by Angelika Rust
first-reads
genre-contemporary-lit
indie-and-self-published
interesting
The Truth in My Lies
Ivy Smoak - 2018
But what my husband doesn't know won't kill him. I break his rules every morning on my runs. It's always been best when I have a routine. So every day I wake up, run, clean the house, wish for a better life, repeat. And every day is exactly the same. Except for Thursdays. I live and breathe for Thursdays. It's when he comes. I watch him from a distance. I can't help myself. But I was never supposed to talk to him. I know what you're thinking. But you don't know my story. You don't know the kind of monster my husband is. And trust me, you have no idea who I am.
Look I Bought Plants: And Other Poems About Life and Stuff
Taylor Garron - 2021
From career struggles to astronomical student debt to climate change angst, there's a lot to worry about. Look I Bought Plants: And Other Poems about Life and Stuff was dreamt up by two twenty-somethings—Taylor Garron and Eva Victor—who love jokes and sex, in that order. From silly slices of life to R-rated encounters, their witty, irreverent, and satirical poetry reflects on everyday challenges, relationships, and everything else there is to be anxious about.For the millennial trying to put together their IKEA furniture, your cool niece with the septum piercing, or anyone who has ever dated someone in their head, Look I Bought Plants is a funny, charming reminder that you aren't alone and we can all commiserate.• TIMELY AND RELATABLE CONTENT: Millennials may be exhausted, but their own amusing attitudes towards their exhaustion never tire! This book takes a cynical yet laughable approach—the millennial experience perfectly encapsulated in verse. Each poem is highly relatable and you may find yourself saying, "Okay, this is me."• RISING STAR AUTHORS: Eva Victor's writing is published in The New Yorker and she has appeared on various media outlets including Forbes. Taylor Garron's work has been featured in The New Yorker, The Onion, and Vulture.• GREAT PRESENT OR SELF-PURCHASE: With a vivid design, a low price point, and relatable content, Look I Bought Plants begs to be shared with all of your friends and gifted to you by your family. It's trendy and affordable—just the way millennials like it!
The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation
Jodie Patterson - 2019
But then in 2009 this mother of five had her world turned upside down. Realizing that her definition of community wasn't wide enough for her own child's needs, Patterson forced the world wide open.In The Bold World, we witness a mother reshaping her attitudes and beliefs, as well as those of her community, to meet the needs of her transgender son, Penelope-- and opening the minds of everyone in her family who absolutely, unequivocally refused to conform.As we walk alongside Patterson on her journey, we meet the Southern women who came before her--the mother, grandmothers, and aunts who raised and fortified her, all the while challenging cultural norms and gender expectations. She shares her family's history--particularly incidents within the Black community around sexism, racism, and civil rights. We learn about her children, who act as a vehicle for Jodie Patterson's own growth and acceptance of her diverse family, and her experiences as a wife, mother, and, eventually, activist. The result is an intimate portrait and an exquisite study in identity, courage, and love. Patterson's relentless drive to change the world will resonate with and inspire us all, reflecting our own individual strength and tenacity, our very real fears, and, most of all, our singular ability to transform despite the odds.Praise for
The Bold World
"In The Bold World, Jodie Patterson makes a case for respecting everyone's gender identity by way of showing how she came to accept her son, Penelope. In tying that struggle to the struggle for race rights in this country during her own childhood, she paints a vivid picture of the permanent work of social justice."--Andrew Solomon, bestselling author of The Noonday Demon and Far from the Tree
Songbirds
Christy Lefteri - 2021
So early, so cold, the branches shone with ice. I'd returned to collect the songbirds. They are worth more than their weight in gold.Yiannis is a poacher, trapping the tiny protected songbirds that stop in Cyprus as they migrate each year from Africa to Europe and selling them on the black market. He dreams of finding a new way of life, and of marrying Nisha, who works on the island as a nanny and maid--having left her native Sri Lanka to try to earn enough to support her daughter, left behind and raised by relatives.But Nisha has vanished; one evening, she steps out on a mysterious errand and doesn't return. The police write off her disappearance as just another runaway domestic worker, so her employer, Petra, undertakes the investigation.Petra's unravelling of Nisha's last days in Cyprus lead her to Nisha's friends--other maids in the neighborhood--and to the darker side of a migrant's life, where impossible choices leave them vulnerable, captive, and worse.Based on the real-life disappearance of domestic workers in Cyprus, Christy Lefteri has crafted a poignant, deeply empathetic narrative of the human stories behind the headlines. With infinite tenderness and skill, Songbirds offers a triumphant story of the fight for truth and justice, and of women reclaiming their lost voices.
Helix
Nathan M. Farrugia - 2016
A rogue operative.A secret war that could destroy them both.Olesya hunts the augmented operatives she was trained to become. But when a clandestine mission takes her from the illegal bio-clinics of Brazil to the icy borderlands of Kaliningrad, she encounters a rogue assassin with a dangerous secret. As operatives and hunters start vanishing, one thing becomes clear…They aren’t the only players in this deadly game.This is the first episode in the new USA Today bestselling series of cyberpunk thrillers by Australian ex-recon soldier Nathan M. Farrugia. Do you like conspiracies and genetically-enhanced operatives? You’ll love this action-packed cross between Jason Bourne and Altered Carbon. Find out why readers are calling it “the most addictive action series” they’ve read.
The Golden House
Salman Rushdie - 2017
The neighborhood is a bubble within a bubble, and the residents are immediately intrigued by the eccentric newcomer and his family. Along with his improbable name, untraceable accent, and unmistakable whiff of danger, Nero Golden has brought along his three adult sons: agoraphobic, alcoholic Petya, a brilliant recluse with a tortured mind; Apu, the flamboyant artist, sexually and spiritually omnivorous, famous on twenty blocks; and D, at twenty-two the baby of the family, harboring an explosive secret even from himself. There is no mother, no wife; at least not until Vasilisa, a sleek Russian expat, snags the septuagenarian Nero, becoming the queen to his king—a queen in want of an heir.Our guide to the Goldens’ world is their neighbor René, an ambitious young filmmaker. Researching a movie about the Goldens, he ingratiates himself into their household. Seduced by their mystique, he is inevitably implicated in their quarrels, their infidelities, and, indeed, their crimes. Meanwhile, like a bad joke, a certain comic-book villain embarks upon a crass presidential run that turns New York upside-down.Set against the strange and exuberant backdrop of current American culture and politics, The Golden House also marks Salman Rushdie’s triumphant and exciting return to realism. The result is a modern epic of love and terrorism, loss and reinvention—a powerful, timely story told with the daring and panache that make Salman Rushdie a force of light in our dark new age.
Hidden Truths
Nicole Colville - 2013
Their lives are intertwined in more ways than they can see and only working through the truths hidden deep within each of them can they free themselves and find the love that they are searching for. Each of them need the other in a way not even themselves can understand. This is the first of three books following the complicated lives of Jamie Burton a three time Winter Olympic gold medallist, Valerio Capelli an Italian bike racing protégé and Scot a billionaire business genius. All three are stunning and sexy in different ways. All three desire the same thing, sex, love and freedom from their pasts.Jamie Burton is an enigmatic, beautiful, intoxicating person who entices those around him without him even trying. He's someone who appears to have it all. Good looks, good nature, wealth. How appearances can be deceiving. He has a crippling emotional fear of love and relationships stemming from his painful childhood. Mix that with his obsessive compulsion to remain clean and controlled and Jamie has no chance at falling in love. That may change when he meets Valerio Capelli. An innocent curly haired eighteen year old Italian bike racing protégé who lives life to the fullest and races at two hundred miles an hour on the world’s fastest racetracks. He’s warm and relaxed and undecided about his sexuality. Everything Jamie is afraid off but he can't stop the pull this enigmatic creature has over him.Just like Jamie Valerio is hiding the truth about his past, only by overcoming his fears and his hidden pain can he truly move on.Valerio may be Jamie's future but his past is constantly around him. Meet Scot the intense but stunning business man who appears to have nothing with Jamie apart from their passionate sex life. He’s a billionaire playboy who is controlled arrogant and powerful but weak around Jamie. When they meet both are lost and not just in their lust for each other but from the hidden secrets in their past.He sees things in Jamie that even he can't see, the truth shines from his black eyes tempting Jamie back into his arms I a way he doesn’t understand.All three have hidden the truth for so long about so many things. All have dark issues which can't be spoken about.What’s hidden in the fog of Jamie’s mind? What’s missing?Can these two men in his life help free him from his pain? Or will they push him the edge of his sanity in their attempts to make him love?
A Girl Named Lovely: One Child's Miraculous Survival and My Journey to the Heart of Haiti
Catherine Porter - 2019
Catherine Porter, a newly minted international reporter, was on the ground in the immediate aftermath. Moments after she arrived in Haiti, Catherine found her first story. A ragtag group of volunteers told her about a “miracle child”—a two-year-old girl who had survived six days under the rubble and emerged virtually unscathed.Catherine found the girl the next day. Her family was a mystery; her future uncertain. Her name was Lovely. She seemed a symbol of Haiti—both hopeful and despairing.When Catherine learned that Lovely had been reunited with her family, she did what any journalist would do and followed the story. The cardinal rule of journalism is to remain objective and not become personally involved in the stories you report. But Catherine broke that rule on the last day of her second trip to Haiti. That day, Catherine made the simple decision to enroll Lovely in school and to pay for it with money she and her readers donated.Over the next five years, Catherine would visit Lovely and her family seventeen times, while also reporting on the country’s struggles to harness the rush of international aid. Each trip, Catherine’s relationship with Lovely and her family became more involved and more complicated. Trying to balance her instincts as a mother and a journalist, and increasingly conscious of the costs involved, Catherine found herself struggling to align her worldview with the realities of Haiti after the earthquake. Although her dual roles as donor and journalist were constantly at odds, as one piled up expectations and the other documented failures, a third role had emerged and quietly become the most important: that of a friend.A Girl Named Lovely is about the reverberations of a single decision—in Lovely’s life and in Catherine’s. It recounts a journalist’s voyage into the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, hit by the greatest natural disaster in modern history, and the fraught, messy realities of international aid. It is about hope, kindness, heartbreak, and the modest but meaningful difference one person can make.
Wild Aces
Marni Mann - 2015
Trapper Montgomery His darkness drew me in.A mystery with a past I wanted to solve.He was cold, like ice, but set me on fire.A heat I hadn't felt in ages.But when I saw his face, I burned...In mourningAgain.Brea Bradley She melted from my voice--shuddered from my touch.But trembled from the memoriesThat my face brought back.She wanted more...Maybe even him.I wasn't the hand she counted on.But I was what she was dealt...A Wild Ace with no way to win.
The King Tides
James Swain - 2018
And that of strangers, too. Wherever she goes, she’s being watched. Each stalker is different from the last, except for one thing—their alarming obsession with Nicki.Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Nicki’s father is turning to someone who can protect her: retired private detective and ex–Navy SEAL Jon Lancaster. Teaming up with FBI agent and former abduction victim Beth Daniels, Lancaster can help—his way. He’s spent most of his career dispatching creeps who get off on terrorizing the vulnerable. Unlicensed, and unrestricted, he plays dirty…But this case is unusual. Why so many men? Why this one girl? Does Nicki have something to hide? Or do her parents?Trawling the darkest depths of southern Florida, Lancaster faces a growing tide of secrets and deception. And the deeper he digs, the more he realizes that finding the truth won’t be easy. Because there’s more to this case than meets the eye.
The Reform Artists: A Legal Thriller (First Book in The Reform Artists Spy Novel Series)
Jon Reisfeld - 2010
An enjoyable read!" -- Readers' Favorite"Kramer vs. Kramer" Meets "Mission Impossible" in this Legal Suspense / Spy Thriller about the Perils of Modern-Day Divorce.If You Like Complex, Contemporary Legal Thrillers with Courtroom Drama, Real-World Scenarios, Emotional Insights, and Techno-Thriller Intrigue, You'll Love The Reform Artists.First book in the Reform Artists Legal Thriller / Spy Novel Series.Readers Praise Jon Reisfeld and The Reform Artists:“Grabs you by the collar and sweeps you along on a nightmarish journey through the legal system." -- Jamie Bruno“So well-written, it kept me hooked!” -- Helen Deakin“An exciting and thoroughly suspenseful read! -- Roger Corea“A page turner. Sharply drawn characters. Illuminating, imaginative and enjoyable.” -- Mary (Amazon customer)"A brilliantly-crafted legal thriller full of suspense, wit and a hint of science fiction." -- Amanda HeadleeBook Description:Who are the Reform Artists?That's the question plaguing Martin Silkwood, successful CPA and devoted dad, as his life spirals out of control. Martin has one week in which to prove he's innocent of the domestic violence charges his estranged wife, Katie, has brought against him. If he fails, he could lose everything.Martin can either play by the rules and trust a legal system that presumes he's guilty, or he can accept help from a covert reform group that will go to extremes to achieve its ends. Either way, his life will never be the same.Follow the action as the clock ticks down to the final, courtroom trial -- and stunning conclusion -- to this page-turning, legal thriller / spy novel.
Chasing the Sun
Natalia Sylvester - 2014
Then he learns that the unthinkable has happened: she’s been kidnapped. Too much time and too many secrets have come between Andres and Marabela, but now that she’s gone, he’ll do anything to get her back. Or will he?As Marabela slips farther away, Andres must decide whether they still have something worth fighting for, and exactly what he’ll give up to bring her home. And unfortunately, the decision isn’t entirely up to him, or up to the private mediator who moves into the family home to negotiate with the terrorists holding Marabela. Andres struggles to maintain the illusion of control while simultaneously scrambling to collect his wife’s ransom, tending to the needs of his two young children, and reconnecting with an old friend who may hold the key to his past and his wife’s future.Set in Lima, Peru, in a time of civil and political unrest, this evocative page-turner is a perfect marriage of domestic drama and suspense.
The Accidental Cougar
Tiffany N. York - 2012
Her friends have decided that while her son is away for six weeks, it's the perfect opportunity for Nicole to have a summer fling. Heading the top of the list is Wil -- sexy, successful, full of life...and twenty-five! Regretfully, Nicole declares him "hands-off," but soon he's complicating everything, from her job at the advertising agency to her self-imposed ban on relationships. When Wil becomes her top client, she has even more reason to adhere to her "hands-off" policy. So why is Nicole finding it so hard to keep her hands off him?
This is a new release of a previously published edition.
The Mist on Brontë Moor
Aviva Orr - 2012
Heather gets her wish when her concerned parents send her to stay with her great-aunt in West Yorkshire. But shortly after she arrives, she becomes lost on the moors and is swept through the mist back to the year 1833. There she encounters fifteen-year-old Emily Bronte and is given refuge in the Bronte Parsonage.Unaware of her host family s genius and future fame, Heather struggles to cope with alopecia amongst strangers in a world completely foreign to her. While Heather finds comfort and strength in her growing friendship with Emily and in the embrace of the close-knit Bronte family, her emotions are stretched to the limit when she falls for Emily's brilliant but troubled brother, Branwell. Will Heather return to the comforts and conveniences of the twenty-first century? Or will she choose love and remain in the harsh world of nineteenth-century Haworth?
Wonder Valley
Ivy Pochoda - 2017
The strange sight makes the local news and captures the imaginations of a stunning cast of misfits and lost souls.There's Ren, just out of juvie, who travels to LA in search of his mother. There's Owen and James, teenage twins who live in a desert commune, where their father, a self-proclaimed healer, holds a powerful sway over his disciples. There's Britt, who shows up at the commune harboring a dark secret. There's Tony, a bored and unhappy lawyer who is inspired by the runner. And there's Blake, a drifter hiding in the desert, doing his best to fight off his most violent instincts. Their lives will all intertwine and come crashing together in a shocking way, one that could only happen in this enchanting, dangerous city.Wonder Valley is a swirling mix of angst, violence, heartache, and yearning—a masterpiece by a writer on the rise.