2022 books read

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The mere fact that you are reading this back cover tells me that you have enormous power.I'm not trying to flatter you.You would not be here, reading this, if you were not interested in creating, or at a minimum contributing to, a total reimagination of how brands should behave in a new world.Your media budget and allocation is the most underutilized asset in your entire marketing arsenal. And your most powerful.Imagine this, what if you can no longer advertise.Why? Because most people hate advertising.We're on a globe without a map. Or perhaps we are in a snow globe. Wherever we are, in order to navigate the new world, you have to first face the multiple facets of "non-ad" value that give a brand its true meaning, from purpose to packaging and distribution to content creation and partnerships. The next question to ask is this: how can you create new customer benefits through brand behaviors, rather than interrupting them with ads?Envisioning such a place - which will disrupt our industry - requires us to reframe marketing entirely. This book shows you how.

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The new murder mystery thriller from the No.1, million-copy bestseller ‘Compelling, up-all-night reading’ Erin Kelly‘Atmosphere you can cut with a knife’Alex Michaelides‘Cunningly constructed’ Louise Candlish‘Gloriously twisty’ Ruth Ware‘Creepy and compelling’ Sarah Pearse Welcome to No.12 rue des Amants A beautiful old apartment block, far from the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower and the bustling banks of the Seine. Where nothing goes unseen, and everyone has a story to unlock. The watchful conciergeThe scorned loverThe prying journalistThe naïve studentThe unwanted guest There was a murder here last night.A mystery lies behind the door of apartment three. Who holds the key? Praise for the No.1 bestseller, Lucy Foley: ‘Gloriously escapist thrills from an Agatha Christie for the Instagram age’ Guardian ‘Thrilling’ The Times ‘Lucy Foley is really very clever’ Anthony Horowitz ‘A very modern Agatha Christie for the new roaring twenties’ Sarah Pinborough ‘Both a classic whodunnit and a very contemporary psychological thriller that left me guessing right to the end’ Kate Mosse The Guest List was a Sunday Times No.1 bestseller for w/c 14/09/2022 The Guest List was the Goodreads Choice Awards winner for Crime & Mystery 2020

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From the author of People Like Her, a smart and sinister murder mystery set in the secretive world of exclusive celebrity clubs, where the A-list members and the staff who serve them all have something to hide. The Club The A-List is Dying to Join Envisioned as a luxurious home-away from-home for Very Important People, The Home Group is a collection of celebrity members clubs dotted across the globe, from London to Lisbon, Malibu to Manhattan, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, far from the prying eyes of fans and the media. The most spectacular and exclusive of all is Island Home--a sprawling, closely-guarded complex of faux-rustic guest cabins, spas, bars and restaurants just off the English coast. To mark its opening, Home's mercurial CEO Ned Groom and his team have planned a glamorous three-day launch party, easily the most coveted A-list invite of the year. But behind the scenes, tensions are at breaking point. Years behind schedule and vastly over budget, the project has stretched a long-serving and long-suffering team to their limits. There's Ned's trusted PA, who has over decades maneuvered her way from coat-check girl to Home's inner circle; Ned's younger brother, who has sacrificed his marriage and morals to be Ned's right-hand man; the Head of Membership keeping the world's most spoiled and jaded individuals entertained using any means necessary; the Head of Housekeeping, who plays silent witness to the guests' very worst excesses. All of them have something to hide - and that's before the beautiful people with their own ugly secrets even set foot on the island. As tempers fray and behaviour worsens, as things get more sinister by the hour and the body count piles up, some of Island Home's members begin to wish they'd never RSVP'd at all. Because at this club, if your name's on the list, you're not getting out . . .

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When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.Amazon.com ReviewWhen a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.Explore the reading group guide for The Kitchen House. hrA Conversation with Author Kathleen GrissomQ: What information surprised you while doing research on white indentured servants?A: When I first began my research I was astonished to discover the great numbers of Irish that were brought over as indentured servants. Then, when I saw advertisements for runaway Irish indentured servants, I realized that some of them, too, must have suffered under intolerable conditions.Q: Why did you chose not to go into detail about some of the most dramatic plot points in the novel, for example, the death of Waters or the abuse of young Marshall?A: For the most part, Lavinia and Belle dictated the story to me. From the beginning, it became quite clear that if I tried to embellish or change their story, their narration would stop. When I withdrew, the story would continue. Their voices were quite distinct. Belle, who always felt grounded to me, certainly did not hold back with description, particularly of the rape. Lavinia, on the other hand, felt less stable, less able to cope; and at times it felt as though she was scarcely able to relate her horror.Q: It is interesting that your novel has two narrators--Lavinia and Belle. Do you have any plans to continue the story into the next generation--perhaps from the perspectives of Jaime and Elly?A: In 1830, Jamie is a well-respected ornithologist in Philadelphia and Sukey is enslaved by the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. Theirs are the two voices I hear. In time I will know if I am meant to tell their story. Presently I am writing Crow Mary, another work of historical fiction. A few years ago I was visiting Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills of Saskatchewan. As I listened to an interpreter tell of Mary, who, in 1872, at the age of sixteen, was traded in marriage to a well-known fur trader, a familiar deep chill went thorough me. I knew then that I would return to write about this Crow woman. Some of her complex life is documented, and what fascinates me are her acts of bravery, equal, in my estimation, to those of Mama Mae.Q: This is your first novel after diverse careers in retail, agriculture, and the arts. How have each of these experiences contributed to your writing style?A: I don't know that any endeavor specifically contributed to my writing style, but I do know that every phase of my life helped prepare me to write this book.Q: The dialogue of the slaves in this novel is very believable. It must have been a difficult thing to achieve. How did you go about creating authentic voices from two hundred years ago?A: At the very beginning of my research I read two books of slave narratives: Bullwhip Days: The Slaves Remember and Weevils in the Wheat: Interviews with Virginia Ex-Slaves. Soon after, the voices from The Kitchen House began to come to me. My original draft included such heavy dialect that it made the story very difficult to read. In time I modified the style so the story could be more easily read.Q: You said you wrote the prologue in one sitting after being inspired by a map you found while renovating an old plantation tavern. Since this is your first novel, do you think you were "guided" by residents of the past?A: Not only do I feel I was guided but also that I was gifted with their trust. However, I am not alone in this. In Alice Walker's book The Color Purple, she writes: "I thank everybody in this book for coming. A.W., author and medium." Unless I misread that, I'd say, in this experience, I'm in good company.Q: Your book has been described as "Gone with the Wind turned upside down." Are you a fan of Margaret Mitchell's novel? Which writers have inspired you through the years?A: I have only recently read Gone with the Wind. Although I did enjoy it, a few of the writers that have truly inspired me are Robert Morgan, Alice Randall, Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, Edward P. Jones, Nuala O'Faolain, Alexandra Fuller, Susan Howatch, Rick Bragg, Breena Clarke, Beryl Markham, Alice Walker, Joan Didion . . . this list could go on forever. I love to read.Q: There are many characters in this novel. How did you go about choosing their names?A: They were all taken from different lists of slaves that I found in my research.Q: What advice do you have for writers working on their first novels?A: If you feel called to write a book, consider it a gift. Look around you. What assistance is the universe offering you as support? I was given an amazing mentor, a poet, Eleanor Drewry Dolan, who taught me the importance of every word. To my utter amazement, there were times she found it necessary to consult three dictionaries to evaluate one word! Take the time you need to learn the craft. Then sit down and write. When you hand over your completed manuscript to a trusted reader, keep an open mind. Edit, edit, and edit again. And, of course, never give up! Q: At times in the novel, you can almost smell the hearty foods being prepared by Mama and others. In your research, did you find any specific notes or recipes from kitchen houses that you can share with your readers?A: In 1737, William Byrd, founder of Richmond, wrote of the many types of fruits and vegetables available in Virginia. Watermelons, pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, artichokes, asparagus, green beans, and cauliflower were all being cultivated. I discovered that many of these were preserved by pickling. For those interested in how this was done and for recipes from that time, an excellent resource is Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery and Booke of Sweetmeats, transcribed by Karen Hess.While in Williamsburg, I watched re enactors roast beef over a spit in a kitchen fireplace. Small potatoes in a pan beneath the meat were browning in the drippings, and I cannot tell you how I longed for a taste. That was my inspiration for the Christmas meal. For basics, such as the chicken soup, I built a recipe around what I knew would have been available for use in the kitchen house at that time.Whenever Belle baked a molasses cake, I craved a taste. I did try several old recipes that I found, but I was unsatisfied with the results. So, using the old recipes as a baseline, my daughter, Erin, and I created our own version of a simple yet moist and tasty molasses cake. I am happy to share it with the readers:Simple Molasses Cake½ cup butter1/3 cup packed brown sugar1 egg½ cup milk1 cup molasses2 cups flour1 teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon ground ginger1 teaspoon cinnamon2 dashes ground cloves¼ teaspoon saltPreheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inchsquare baking pan. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg. In a separate bowl, combine the milk and the molasses. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Add each of these alternately to the butter mixture, beating well between additions. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.hrFrom Publishers WeeklyGrissom's unsentimental debut twists the conventions of the antebellum novel just enough to give readers an involving new perspective on what would otherwise be fairly stock material. Lavinia, an orphaned seven-year-old white indentured servant, arrives in 1791 to work in the kitchen house at Tall Oaks, a Tidewater, Va., tobacco plantation owned by Capt. James Pyke. Belle, the captain's illegitimate half-white daughter who runs the kitchen house, shares narration duties, and the two distinctly different voices chronicle a troublesome 20 years: Lavinia becomes close to the slaves working the kitchen house, but she can't fully fit in because of her race. At 17, she marries Marshall, the captain's brutish son turned inept plantation master, and as Lavinia ingratiates herself into the family and the big house, racial tensions boil over into lynching, rape, arson, and murder. The plantation's social order's emphasis on violence, love, power, and corruption provides a trove of tension and grit, while the many nefarious doings will keep readers hooked to the twisted, yet hopeful, conclusion. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University “Extraordinary . . . an act of courage and self-invention.”—The New York Times NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • BILL GATES’S HOLIDAY READING LIST • FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle’s Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home. “Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”—VogueNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • Time • NPR • Good Morning America • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • The Economist • Financial Times • Newsday • New York Post • theSkimm • Refinery29 • Bloomberg • Self • Real Simple • Town & Country • Bustle • Paste • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • LibraryReads • Book Riot • Pamela Paul, KQED • New York Public Library