Some laugh-out-loud reads (and a tear-jerker)
86-year-old Jinx Sullivan promised herself she’d never eat fast food, go on a coach trip, and die without exacting revenge on the people who ruined her life. She’s let herself down on the first two, but she’ll be damned if she doesn’t keep her word on the third. Along with a bunch of senior citizens and a recalcitrant teen, she’s off on a trip to Florence, where she plans some long overdue vengeance on the worst best friend a woman ever had. The one who trained her in etiquette, cocktail-mixing, and silent killing. Bad Influence by CJ Wray (a pseudonym for Chris Manby) … laugh-out-loud funny rubs shoulders with moving tenderness, with a little bit of a thrill thrown in for good measure. Orion
The Retirement Plan is about three wives who imagined retirement would be lying back in a hot tub, margaritas in hand; not recovering from the shock of their husbands losing all their savings in a reckless investment. Now collecting their husbands’ life insurance looks more appealing than growing old with them. So they hire a hit man (as one does!). And that’s when the trouble starts. Because they don’t realise the three hubbies have some tricks up their sleeves, too. Sue Hinchenbergs’ tale about three wives wanting a new life (with three husbands in their way) is hysterical … a lovely weekend read. Sphere
Two daughters. One is a therapist who’s discovered her adored father has given his inheritance to a daughter no one knew. The other … well, she needs therapy. And she’s quite happy to kneel at the Kleenex altar since she’s just inherited five million dollars. The two girls know nothing about one another. At all! They are unknowingly thrown together for the first time. Crazy. Unethical. Perfect! Favourite Daughter is Morgan Dick’s darkly funny, moving debut novel. Penguin Viking
A young screenwriter’s chance of a lifetime … to write a big-budget movie set in New York. Problem … Elle’s had writer’s block for months. A handsome tech billionaire who needs to fake a steady relationship during his company’s precarious acquisition. Maybe his new neighbour Elle could help out. Problem … the two hooked up in a stairwell years earlier, and there’s no love lost! On the plus side … meeting Parker again has led to nights of hate-fuelled writing for Elle. Also …. he needs a date, she needs to research classic date spots in the city. This could work out well after all. Alex Aster’s Summer In The City … it’s obvious where it’s going, but such fun getting there. Bloomsbury
Julie Chan didn’t mean to steal her identical twin’s life. She meant to call 911. But when she unlocked Chloe’s phone, she also unlocked the emails, gaining access to her estranged sister’s sponsorship deals, followers, wealth … her whole life. So it’s goodbye to Julie who struggles to pay her rent. And hello Chloe who’s going to breathe, detox, work out, and spend days filming unboxing videos. But someone knows even identical twins have their differences. Liann Zhang’s Julie Chan is Dead is great fun from first page to last. Raven Books
The Story of a Heart is the tale of a boy. A girl. And the heart they share. The story of Keira’s heart … one that maintained its rhythm despite the nine-year-old suering catastrophic injuries in a car accident, one which saw her brain and body shut down. But not her heart. And in an act of extraordinary generosity, her parents and siblings agree that she would have wanted to be an organ donor. It’s the story of nine-year-old Max, who’d been in hospital for nine months with a virus that was causing his heart to fail. And of how when his parents received the call they’d been hoping for, they knew it came at the most awful cost to another family. It’s a true story … non-fiction that reads as fiction … a heartbreaking, groundbreaking love story, beautifully written by Dr Rachel Clarke. Abacus Books
For these and more brilliant book club reads, visit exclusivebooks.co.za
