My May Reading List.

Each month I aim to read two books that are either self-published or by less well known authors and then review one of them. May’s picks are all from Book Extravaganza events I’ve attended, in Coventry and Birmingham. Look out for my next blog about my experience as a stallholder.

Read:

Bringing Down The Flowers by Denise Critchley

Bringing Down the Flowers cleverly lays bare the issue of women’s control of their own bodies and how sovereign states are too often prepared to intervene in the ‘interests’ of the nation. Not just a good read, it’s an important one.

This is a gripping dystopian story set in 2063, when a fertility crisis amongst men in the UK has led to a ‘birth quota’ of two babies per woman of child bearing age. Unsurprisingly, there are many unhappy with this law forced on them by the Science Party, particularly when it also involves swapping their own child with another to prevent inbreeding.

The book’s engaging protagonist, Cedar is caught between the worlds of herbalism and science and uses both to help women not get – or sometimes stay – pregnant. When she is accused of the manslaughter of a woman who asked for help, she must do everything she can to protect herself and those she loves

Reading:

The Approval of Sheep by Karen Storey

An uplifting story about family and love.

TBR:

Deadly Truths by Paul Gitsham

A Coventry based crime story.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve read these books and what you think of them, or if you can recommend another.

If you’d like me to review your book, please use my website’s contact page or email info@joannebarkerauthorevents.com