6 wonderful reads for your Time-Out time

 Well, it appears that we are all going to have a bit more time on our hands for the next few weeks, if not months. This virus is unlikely to disappear any time soon.  So, while it is going to challenge all of us to move into a very different way of living, why not make the most of the slower pace of life it will demand of us all, and embrace the gifts it brings?

If staying in is the new going out, what a great opportunity to catch up on our reading.  In this blog, I've recommended 6 books that I've read (or re-read) recently and have loved. The descriptions have come from the books' Amazon pages and I've given you the Amazon links.

Circe: Madeline  Miller

Circe, reimagined as a strong, powerful woman who takes no s*** from any man. What's not to love?

Woman. Witch. Myth. Mortal. Outcast. Lover. Destroyer. Survivor.
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child – not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. Scorned and rejected, Circe grows up in the shadows, at home in neither the world of gods or mortals. But Circe has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. 

Read more on Amazon UK
Read more on Amazon.com

Twelve Kings: Bradley Beaulieu

A feisty young female heroine, swords and sorcery in a fast-paced tale full of twists and turns. 

In the cramped west end of Sharakhai, the Amber Jewel of the Desert, Çeda fights in the pits to scrape a living. She, like so many in the city, pray for the downfall of the cruel, immortal Kings of Sharakhai, but she's never been able to do anything about it. This all changes when she goes out on the night of Beht Zha'ir, the holy night when all are forbidden from walking the streets. It's the night that the asirim, the powerful yet wretched creatures that protect the Kings from all who would stand against them, wander the city and take tribute.

Read more on Amazon UK
Read more on Amazon.com

Sepulchre: Kate Mosse

Past and present skilfully interwoven in a fast-paced supernatural tale

1891. Seventeen-year-old Léonie Vernier and her brother abandon Paris for the sanctuary of their aunt's isolated country house near Carcassonne, the Domaine de la Cade. But Léonie stumbles across a ruined sepulchre - and a timeless mystery whose traces are written in blood.

2007. Meredith Martin arrives at the Domaine de la Cade to research a biography. But Meredith is also seeking the key to her own complex legacy and becomes immersed in the story of a tragic love, a missing girl, a unique deck of tarot cards and the strange events of one cataclysmic night a century ago...

​Read more on Amazon UK
​Read more on Amazon.com

The Alchemist: Paul Coelho

A delightful, inspiring spiritual adventure about the importance of following our hearts and our intuition.

Santiago, a young shepherd living in the hills of Andalucia, feels that there is more to life than his humble home and his flock. One day he finds the courage to follow his dreams into distant lands, each step galvanised by the knowledge that he is following the right path: his own. The people he meets along the way, the things he sees and the wisdom he learns are life-changing.

Read more on Amazon UK
Read more on Amazon.com

Good Omens: Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

Dark, quirky, original and extremely funny. Exactly what you'd expect from these writers.

What if, for once, the predictions are right, and the Apocalypse really is due to arrive next Saturday, just after tea?
It's a predicament that Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon, now find themselves in. They've been living amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and, truth be told, have grown rather fond of the lifestyle and, in all honesty, are not actually looking forward to the coming Apocalypse.

​Read more on Amazon UK
Read more on Amazon.com

The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls: Chris Morton & Ceri Louise Thomas

I read this after writing the first three books in The Skull Chronicles series. If you are a crystal skull lover, it's a fascinating story. 

The crystal skulls are a mystery as profound as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Nazca Lines of Peru, or Stonehenge.
​
Many indigenous people speak of their remarkable magical and healing properties, but nobody really knows where they came from or what they were used for. Were they left behind after the destruction of a previous world, such as Atlantis? Are they simply ingenious modern fakes or can they really enable us to see deeply into the past and predict the future? Searching for the answers takes the authors on a fantastic odyssey through both the physical and the spiritual world.

​Read more on Amazon UK
Read more on Amazon.com