Book picks similar to
One Picture, Two Journeys by Tommy Gibbs


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Loving and Giving


Molly Keane - 1988
    Maman is beautiful and adored. Dada, silent and small, mooches contendedly around the stables. Aunt Tossie, of the giant heart and bosom, is widowed but looks splendid in weeds. The butler, the groom, the landsteward, the maids, the men - each as a place and knows it. Then, astonishingly, the perfect surface is shattered; Maman does something too dreadful ever to be spoken of.'What next? Who to love?' asks Nicaranda. And through her growing up and marriage her answer is to swamp those around her with kindness - while gradually the great house crumbles under a weight of manners and misunderstanding.

Hard Twisted


C. Joseph Greaves - 2012
    The drifter, Clint Palmer, lures father and daughter to Texas, where the father, Dillard Garrett, mysteriously disappears, and where his daughter Lucile begins a one-year ordeal as Palmer's captive on a crime spree-culminating in the notorious Greenville, Texas "skeleton murder" trial of 1935. C. Joseph Greaves weaves a chilling tale of survival and redemption, encompassing iconic landscapes, historic figures, America's last Indian uprising, and one of the most celebrated criminal trials of the Public Enemy era, all rooted in the intensely personal story of a young girl's coming of age in a world as cruel as it is beautiful.

Magic Required


H.S. Paisley - 2018
    So does fighting shoulder to shoulder with a God. But that was a long time ago - a past he's worked hard to bury.Now, in the Year 2047, Lochlan takes the public bus to his soul-sucking job answering phones. He lives to remain unnoticed.Then the visions started. Prophetic visions. That’s when he knew the Old World had found him again.These weren’t the fun kind of visions either. They were the watch-people-die kind, the try-to-stop-it-before-it-happened kind, the maybe-save-some-lives kind.These visions were powerful. And, as Lochlan had learned the hard way, power attracts enemies.MAGIC REQUIRED is the first in a planned series of five.

Metropolis


Ellie Midwood - 2020
    Having lost everything due to hyper-inflation, she considers jumping into the freezing waters of the Spree rather than facing the humiliating existence shared by millions of her fellow Germans. However, a chance meeting makes her change her mind at the last moment and offers her a chance to rely on the help of the metropolis itself, where anything can be sold and bought for money and where connections are everything. The bustling nightlife of cosmopolitan Berlin, with its casinos and dance halls, brings good income for the ones who don’t burden themselves too heavily with morals.    After a New Year’s Eve party, Margot finally meets her ever-absent and mysterious neighbor, Paul Schneider, who makes a living by producing a certain type of film for his rich clientele. Under his guidance, Margot discovers a new passion of hers – photography and soon, her talents are noticed by the prominent newspaper, Berliner Tageblatt itself. But being an official photographer of the most celebrated events of the La Scala and most famous Berlin theaters no longer satisfies Margot’s ambitions. As soon as the chance presents itself for her to get involved with the cinematography on the set of "Metropolis" - the film with the highest budget ever produced by the UFA – Margot jumps at it, without thinking twice. At the same time, Paul becomes involved with a rival project, "The Holy Mountain," which stars an as yet unknown actress and an emerging director in, Leni Riefenstahl. As the two women meet, professional rivalry soon turns into a true friendship, fueled by their passion for cinematography. However, due to the economic woes facing Germany, both projects soon run out of money and now, both film crews must go to extreme lengths to save their respective productions.    Set against the backdrop of a decadent, vibrant, and fascinatingly liberal Weimar Berlin, "Metropolis" is a novel of survival, self-discovery, and self-sacrifice, in the name of art, love, and friendship.

East Is East


T. Coraghessan Boyle - 1990
    In the hands of T. Coraghessan Boyle, praised by Digby Diehl in Playboy as "one of the most exciting young fiction writers in America," the result is a sexy, hilarious tragicomedy of thwarted expectations and mistaken identity, love, jealousy, and betrayal.

A Second Chance Summer


Katharine E. Smith - 2018
    How will he react to her return, and what changes have the intervening ten years meant for them both? Still recovering from a toxic relationship, Alice realises she has allowed life to become too predictable, while Julie has just ended things with the man she was due to marry. The two friends decide to throw caution to the wind; coming back to Cornwall, where they spent a long, happy summer before life got serious. As they return to the same small flat in the centre of town, and seasonal jobs at the Sail Loft Hotel, Alice harbours both hopes and fears of finding Sam, while Julie is determined to enjoy the freedom she’s been missing. A lot can change in ten years, though, as their friend Luke - now a handsome, successful businessman – proves. Back in Cornwall himself to spend time with his seriously ill mum, he and Julie form a close relationship. Alice is worried that her friend is making a huge mistake and, all-but-abandoned, starts to spend time with single mum Casey. Sam, meanwhile, proves elusive but slowly reveals that, although he appears not to have changed at all, the previous decade has been eventful for him, too. It's not all about the boys, though. Alice and Julie's strong, honest friendship will quickly draw you to them. Alice can be opinionated, Julie reckless, but both are quick-witted, funny, warm and ambitious. The county of Cornwall, famous for its rugged coastlines, glorious beaches and picturesque harbour towns, provides a vivid backdrop for the perfectly paced beginning of this cracking new series. Is it possible to relive the best time of your life? Alice and Julie are about to find out. Book Two of the series will be out in Spring 2018 with the final book scheduled for release later the same year.

The Beekeeper of New York: From Yemen to the US, Yusra Khaldun must fight to save her brother.


Summer Luqman - 2019
    Now, not only must she come to terms with his secret world, but she must use what she learns to help save his life. Part Paulo Coelho, part Lee Child... The Beekeeper of New York twists from philosophical and mystical to a more earthy thriller as Yusra's quest to discover the truth and save her brother heats up. Yusra's earliest memory is from the vibrant marketplace in Al Hudaydah, when her autistic brother Someer is savagely beaten by a crowd who believe he is possessed by demons. Since that moment she has protected Someer and rejected gods and monsters, and all of the invisible forces that make people do cruel and unthinking things. But now Someer is lying unconscious in a New York hospital bed, and Yusra is discovering his secret, invisible world that she had never imagined possible. But can she come to terms with her discovery and put her trust in Someer in time to save his life? Slowly Yusra discovers that nobody in her life is exactly who she thought they were, and that help can arrive from the most unexpected places, if only she can develop a little faith.

The Guardian of Lies


Kate Furnivall - 2019
    1953, the South of France. The fragile peace between the West and Soviet Russia hangs on a knife edge. And one family has been torn apart by secrets and conflicting allegiances. Eloïse Caussade is a courageous young Frenchwoman, raised on a bull farm near Arles in the Camargue. She idolises her older brother, André, and when he leaves to become an Intelligence Officer working for the CIA in Paris to help protect France, she soon follows him. Having exchanged the strict confines of her father's farm for a life of freedom in Paris, her world comes alive.  But everything changes when André is injured - a direct result of Eloise's actions. Unable to work, André returns to his father’s farm, but Eloïse’s sense of guilt and responsibility for his injuries sets her on the trail of the person who attempted to kill him. Eloïse finds her hometown in a state of unrest and conflict. Those who are angry at the construction of the American airbase nearby, with its lethal nuclear armaments, confront those who support it, and anger flares into violence, stirred up by Soviet agents. Throughout all this unrest, Eloïse is still relentlessly hunting down the man who betrayed her brother and his country, and she is learning to look at those she loves and at herself with different eyes. She no longer knows who she can trust. Who is working for Soviet Intelligence and who is not? And what side do her own family lie on? Further praise for Kate Furnivall's novels: 'Gripping. Tense. Mysterious. Kate Furnivall has a talent for creating places and characters who stay with you long after you’ve read the final word' Jane Corry 'Exquisitely heart-wrenching & utterly engrossing' Penny Parkes 'A thrilling, compelling read. Wonderful!' Lesley Pearse ‘Wonderful . . . hugely ambitious and atmospheric’ Kate Mosse ‘A thrilling plot … Fast-paced with a sinister edge’ Times ‘Truly captivating’ Elle ‘Perfect escapist reading’ Marie Claire

Somewhere in the Dark


R.J. Jacobs - 2020
    J. Jacobs returns with another compulsively readable novel of suspense for fans of B. A. Paris and Mary Kubica.Do the mistakes of the past mark us as guilty for life?After a childhood marred by neglect, Jessie Duval's finally got it together. With an apartment in Nashville and a job with a catering company, she's thriving.But all that changes when Jessie works an event where celebrities will be in attendance--including the one person from her past she must avoid at all costs: singer Shelly James. Jessie doesn't hate Shelly. Quite the opposite. One summer, she followed Shelly's tour everywhere. Only, Shelly wasn't flattered; she was terrified by Jessie's devotion--especially after Jessie was arrested. But after a year of therapy, Jessie understands what happened. She's not the same person anymore.Jessie keeps her head down, but when Shelly is found dead, Jessie's troubled past comes tumbling out and she quickly becomes a suspect in the high-profile murder. As the police close in on her, ignoring other credible leads, Jessie realizes Shelly's murder will be pinned on her--the perfect scapegoat--unless she finds the real killer. And no one knows Shelly's life and inner circle better than her. But she will have to go deeper into the dark--if ever she wants to find her way out.

Savannah Law


William Eleazer - 2009
    The intense drama—both inside and outside the courtroom—builds to an unexpected climax in an unforgettable final chapter. Savannah Law is filled with colorful but believable characters, including a few cantankerous law professors, who demonstrate their vanity and eccentricities at the weekly faculty meetings. The novel will appeal to anyone who enjoys a legal thriller or Southern novel.

The Jungle


Pooja Puri - 2017
    About how the first humans were born with wings. Can you imagine what that would be like? To fly anywhere in the world without worrying about having the right papers?Mico has left his family, his home, his future. Setting out in search of a better life, he instead finds himself navigating one of the world's most inhospitable environments the Jungle. For Mico, just one of many 'unaccompanied children', the Calais refugee camp has a wildness, a brutality all of its own.A melting pot of characters, cultures, and stories, the Jungle often seems like its own strange world. But despite his ambitions to escape, Mico is unable to buy his way out from the 'Ghost Men' the dangerous men with magic who can cross borders unnoticed. Alone, desperate, and running out of options, the idea of jumping onto a speeding train to the UK begins to feel worryingly appealing.But when Leila arrives at the camp one day, everything starts to change. Outspoken, gutsy, and fearless, she shows Mico that hope and friendship can grow in the most unusual places, and maybe, just maybe, they'll show you the way out as well.

Dark Seed


Lawrence Verigin - 2013
    Nick Barnes and Morgan Elles learn that the man behind these organizations means to intentionally harm the global population, and he eliminates all opposition without hesitation or remorse.As they uncover proof of the unscrupulous plan, Nick and Morgan quickly find themselves fighting for their lives. They have to stay one step ahead of the security force ordered to terminate all original research. And them.Grab hold for a wild ride with this exciting, high concept story that tackles one of the biggest issues of our time. Winner – 2014 Chanticleer CLUE Thriller Award for International Intrigue/World Events.Finalist – 2015 Eric Hoffer Book Award Montaigne Medal for Thought-Provoking Books that Illuminate, Progress, and Redirect Thought.

Minty Alley


C.L.R. James - 1936
    James that it is not possible to have full comprehension of Caribbean literary art in English without first reading Minty Alley. Although frequently reprinted in the United Kingdom, Minty Alley at last reaches the United States. In this ground-breaking novel, James discerns new forms of society rooted in the oldest of desires and aspirations through the interactions of the characters of Maisie, Haynes, Mrs. Rouse, and Benoit. In the everyday language and unforgettable dialogue James reveals new modes of human relationships. Haynes, a young middle-class lodger at No. 2 Minty Alley, becomes both confidant and judge as he examines the other inhabitants at this address. From his experiences he is made aware of the educated West Indian's impoverishing alienation from society's mainstream. Through Haynes's vivid narration James reveals the rich cultural life on Minty Alley. Haynes, an outsider among people of lower class, knows his fellow lodgers only as they have revealed themselves to him through their speech and actions, yet each has a mysterious inner life.

Liza's England


Pat Barker - 1986
    The tough, severe, but very real and recognizable world of women is put to the most strenuous tests, and Liza, at eighty-four, is proof that loyalty, fortitude and humor survive.

The World Is a Narrow Bridge


Aaron Thier - 2018
    Eternity, a darkly comic road novel about a millennial couple facing the ultimate question: how to live and love in an age of catastrophe.Young Miami couple Murphy and Eva have almost decided to have a baby when Yahweh, the Old Testament God, appears to Eva and makes an unwelcome demand: He wants her to be his prophet. He also wants her to manage his social media presence.Yahweh sends the two on a wild road trip across the country, making incomprehensible demands and mandating arcane rituals as they go. He gives them a hundred million dollars, but he asks them to use it to build a temple on top of a landfill. He forces them to endure a period of Biblical wandering in the deserts of the southwest. Along the way they are continually mistaken for another couple, a pair of North Carolina society people, and find themselves attending increasingly bizarre events in their names. At odds with their mission but helpless to disobey, Murphy and Eva search their surroundings for signs of a future they can have faith in. Through wry observations about the biggest things—cosmology and theology—and the smallest things—the joys and irritations of daily life—Thier questions the mysterious forces that shape our fates, and wonders how much free will we really have. Equal parts hilarious and poignant, The World Is a Narrow Bridge asks: What kind of hope can we pass on to the next generation in a frightening but beautiful world?