ARTS & CULTURE
Books Nov-20
Staying in doesn’t feel so bad when you have one of these beautiful books to keep you company. Escape to another world, laugh until you cry, marvel at the dedication of our NHS workers and revisit an old favourite in this month’s picks.
Sh**ged. Married. Annoyed.
by Chris & Rosie Ramsey
If you’re in need of a good laugh (and really, who isn’t right now?), look no further than this hilarious book about relationships from the hosts of the number one podcast.
SH**GED – Nights out on the tiles, undying crushes, dating like it’s a competitive sport, awkward tales of dating woes, one-night stands, the walk of shame, ghosting, tears and break-ups.
MARRIED – Finding ‘the one’, meeting their parents, first holidays and romantic weekends away, engagement rings, big moment proposals, wedding bells, the hen and stag do, the much anticipated – and feared – best man speech, the honeymoon of a lifetime.
ANNOYED – Who stacks a dishwasher like this? Empty milk cartons placed back into the fridge, pregnancy, sleepless nights, toilet seats up, toothpaste everywhere, less and less frequent date nights, DIY weekends, divorce.
Whichever category you’re in, this relatable look at life’s highs and lows will have you howling.
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
At 34, Sophie Heawood was a celebrity interviewer in Hollywood, where her life at the seedier end of Sunset Strip was happy, free of care and consequence. A power yoga injury lands her in hospital, where she and a credit card machine are wheeled to a host of different tests that ultimately result in an unexpected infertility diagnosis. This leads to an ill-advised, unprotected tryst with ‘the Musician’, which turns into the story of how she was brought back down to earth (and back to east London) with, quite literally, a bump.
From her surprise at being pregnant: “What I longed for was a book called What To Expect When You Weren’t F****** Expecting To Be Expecting”, to the loneliness of being the single person at an antenatal class and why paternity testing is not a good topic for a first-date, this refreshingly honest and devilishly humorous memoir is a love letter to the trials, tribulations and ultimately the joys of single parenting.
Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You
by various
Great writers, artists, entertainers and thinkers talk about their experiences of our wonderful NHS and explore what it means to them in this unique collection curated and edited by Adam Kay, author of This Is Going to Hurt. With pieces by Emilia Clarke, Peter Kay, Sir Paul McCartney, Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Sir Trevor McDonald, Graham Norton, Sir Michael Palin, Naomie Harris, Ricky Gervais, Sir David Jason, Dame Emma Thompson, Joanna Lumley and many more, Dear NHS is a thank you and a celebration of our health service and all who work within it.
By turns deeply moving, hilarious and hopeful, these stories are a love letter to the NHS and the 1.4 million people who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day.
All author and publisher profits go to NHS Charities Together to fund vital research and projects, and The Lullaby Trust which supports parents bereaved of babies and young children.
Postscript
by Cecelia Ahern
The long-awaited sequel to the wildly popular P.S, I Love You is finally here and it was certainly worth the wait. Dive back into the world of Holly and Gerry after seven years away.
‘The PS, I Love You Club.’
These are the six words written on a card handed to Holly Kennedy. They’re words that are engraved on her heart – because PS, I Love You is how her husband, Gerry, signed his last letters to her, letters that mark a year she will never forget.
Now, the mysterious club wants something from her. And if Holly can find the courage meet them, she’ll learn what it really means to live life to the full. Because every love story has one last thing to say…
This one is heartwarming and yes, a tear-jerker, so have tissues at the ready. Ultimately though, it’s a hopeful story of life after loss and the enduring power of love, guaranteed to give you all the warm and fuzzy feels this autumn.