The Price of Life by Jenny Kleeman
The Price of Life is a truly eye-opening read. In a series of interviews, Kleeman sits face to face with philanthropists, weapons manufacturers, statisticians, hitmen, insurance adjusters, ransom negotiators, slave dealers and body brokers. She uncovers the price of creating, saving, and taking a life. These interviews are shocking and often darkly funny; they force us to see our fellows humans in the same quantitative way as many organisations-official and unofficial-see us; and to question where humanity is to be found amongst the remorseless logic. Absolutely unmissable. – Sam.
You can see Jenny in conversation with Sam at our event on 19th April – tickets and info here.
The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul
As soon as we received our signed copies, I snatched one up and absolutely ripped through it. This memoir is full of young ambition and relentless hustle, but it’s equally a self-aware dissection of both the light and dark experiences that fuelled the path to household name. We get to know RuPaul the young, artistic boy growing up in San Diego and navigating a tricky home life. We meet an adolescent, art-school RuPaul who makes a living driving cars cross-country whilst getting a first taste of performing in front of the camera with his friends. Plenty of stormy years follow, with many early iterations and honing of the fantastic creation we now know as RuPaul, drag superstar.
A fascinating life lived to the absolute full from the start – there is so much joy here – and a meandering path that reveals the scaffolding behind Drag Race. Less a tell-all than a close, private documenting of a very public persona. Dare I say, a diva. – Laura
The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le
A magical medical adventure in a Vietnamese inspired world, Vanessa Le’s The Last Bloodcarver is a wonderfully unique YA fantasy.
Nhika has lost everyone she ever cared about, and all she has now is her gift – blood carving, or as her culture calls it, heart soothing. Everyone in Theumas views her as wicked, and when she chooses to help heal the wrong family, she’s handed over to the black market and sold to the highest bidder. The children of the wealthiest man in the country, who’s just died under mysterious circumstances. They need her to heal their father’s driver, who’s been in a coma ever since the accident. For the first time in a long time, she’s finding somewhere she might belong, a place she could fit in and make a respectable life. But a life of comfort is not meant for someone like Nhika, and the farther she steps into this society, the more twists and lies she encounters. And the TWIST at the end – gah, it’s going to get you, folks! I didn’t see it coming, and I am beyond ready for book two! – Hannah
Clear by Carys Davies
On an island beyond Shetland amidst the raging sea, Ivar discovers John Ferguson on the beach, naked and unconscious. With the help of Pegi, (your new favourite horse), Ivar begins nursing John back to health, unaware that his patient is there to evict him from his home. The two men don’t speak the same language, but slowly they begin to understand each other, for better or for worse.
I knew very little of the Clearances, but this sharp and poignant novel brings this aspect of Scottish social history to light. It’s Carys Davies’ glorious writing, though, that brings this story to life. The writing is wonderfully sparse and evocative, conjuring masterful descriptions of the solitary and rugged landscape, exploring themes of isolation and the power (and failings) of language. This one’s a big favourite already; I loved it. – Tom H