Quick Reads 2024

The Reading Agency has announced the six best-selling authors championing Quick Reads for 2024. They are Kia Abdullah, Malorie Blackman, Matt Cain, Kit de Waal, Jo Nesbo and Karen Swan.

These are published on 11 April, and reflect the very best in contemporary writing. All titles will be available to reserve at each Wokingham Borough Library.

Boys Don’t Cry by Malorie Blackman

You’re about to receive your A-level results and then a future of university and journalism awaits. But the day they’re due to arrive your old girlfriend turns up unexpectedly – with a baby. Your baby. You agree to look after it, just for an hour or two. Then she doesn’t come back – and your life changes forever.

Without Warning and only sometimes by Kit de Waal

Kit de Waal and her brother and sisters had a hard childhood in the West Midlands. Her Irish mother didn’t feed them, didn’t believe in Christmas or birthdays, and thought the world would end in 1975. Her father saved all his money to return to the Caribbean, where he planned to make a new life without them. At school, their faces just didn’t fit in. This is the story of how Kit and her brother and sisters helped each other escape, and what gave Kit the strength to keep living.

Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah

Welcome to your dream home. Salma Khatun is extremely hopeful about Blenheim, the safe suburban development to which she, her husband and their son have just moved. Their family is in desperate need of a fresh start, and Blenheim feels like the place to make that happen. Meet your new neighbours. Not long after they move in, Salma spots her neighbour, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner her son put in their front garden. She chooses not to confront Tom because she wants to fit in. It’s a small thing, really. No need to make a fuss. So Salma takes the banner inside and puts it in her window instead. But the next morning she wakes up to find her window smeared with paint. This time she does confront Tom, and the battle lines between the two families are drawn. As things begin to escalate and the stakes become higher, it’s clear that a reckoning is coming. And someone is going to get hurt.

Game On by Matt Cain

Toddington FC defender Tom Horrocks is never happier than when he’s on the football pitch, but when it comesto love, he’s hiding a big secret. Worried about his young daughter and sick father – and with his team finally in the Premier League – he avoids all media. Journalist Cosmo Roberts wants to change the world, so is angry when he’s sent to a quiet northern town to cover a sport he sees as anti-gay. Then something about Tom catches his eye. Cosmo hates football. Tom hates journalists. Perhaps this time they’ve both met their match.

The Last Summer by Karen Swan

All her young life Effie Gillies has lived, wild and free, on the remote Scottish island of St Kilda. But when Lord Sholto visits the island, the attraction between them is instant. For one glorious week she guides the handsome young Lord around the isle, and falls in love for the first time. But a storm hits and her world falls apart. Three months later, all the islanders are moved to a better life on the mainland. And Effie is surprised to be offered a job working for Sholto’s father. But Sholto and Effie come from two different worlds – can love ever win?

The Jealousy Man by Jo Nesbo

Meet a detective on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin; a hired assassin facing his greatest adversary; and two passengers meeting by chance on a plane, spelling romance or something far more sinister. In his first collection of short stories, this master of crime delivers a gripping, edge-of-your seat read that you won’t be able to put down.

For information on how to reserve books and ebooks please visit our library services page online https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/libraries/library-services 

Quick Reads 2022

On 14th April, 8 new quick reads are published. Quick Reads provide a route into reading that prioritises great story telling and adult-focused content while ensuring the books are written in an accessible and easy to read style. The 8 titles will be available to borrow from each Wokingham Borough Library.

The Cutting Season by M.W. Craven

Dangling from a hook in a meat packing plant isn’t how Detective Sergeant Washington Poe wants to spend his weekend. He’s been punched and kicked and threatened, and when a contract killer arrives it seems things are about to go from bad to worse. He goes by the name of the Pale Man and he and his straight-edged razor have been feared all over London for twenty years. But Poe knows two things the Pale Man doesn’t. Although it might seem like a hopeless situation, Poe has planned to be here all along. More importantly, a nerdy, computer whizz-kid called Tilly Bradshaw is watching his back. And now things are about to get interesting.

Blind Spot by Paula Hawkins

‘How can you say things like this? How can you be so blind?’ Since they were kids, Edie, Jake and Ryan have been the closest of friends. It’s been the three of them against the world. Edie thought the bonds between them were unbreakable. So when Jake is brutally murdered and Ryan accused of the crime, her world is shattered. Edie is alone for the first time in years, living in the remote house that she and Jake shared. She is grief-stricken and afraid – with good reason. Because someone is watching. Someone has been waiting for this moment. Now that Edie is alone, the past she tried so hard to leave behind is about to catch up with her.

Sofia Khan and the Baby Blues by Ayisha Malik

Sofia Khan is going about everything the wrong way. At least, that’s what her mother, Mehnaz, thinks. Sofia is twice-divorced, homeless and – worst of all – refusing to give up on a fostered baby girl. Sofia’s just not behaving like a normal woman should. Sofia doesn’t see it like that. She’s planning to adopt Millie, and she’s sure it’ll be worth it. (Even if it means she and Millie have to stay at Mehnaz’s place for a while.) And as Sofia finally begins to live the life she’s chosen, she finds both romance and happiness start to blossom. But then someone comes back from the past – and not even Sofia’s own past. Suddenly, she’s faced with a choice. To do what’s best for those she loves, Sofia might have to break her own heart. And she might find herself needing the last person she expected.

The Kiss by Santa Montefiore

Madison has always known she had a different father to her siblings. But it wasn’t until she turned eighteen that she learned his name. And now she wants to meet the man who shares her fair hair and blue eyes. Robert is a very lucky man. A big house, beautiful wife, three handsome sons. Eighteen years ago, he made a mistake. A brief fling that resulted in a daughter nobody else knows about. Robert must finally tell his family the truth. Will they ever be able to forgive him and accept Madison as one of their own?

The Black Mountain by Kate Mosse

It is May, 1706. Ana, a young Spanish woman, lives in a small town on the north-west coast of Tenerife with her mother and twin younger brothers. The town is in the shadow of a mighty volcano, which legend says has the devil living inside it. However, there has been no eruption for thousands of years and no one believes it is a threat. One day, Ana notices that the air feels strange and heavy, that the birds have stopped singing. Tending the family vineyard, a sudden strange tremor in the earth frightens her. Very soon it will be a race against time for Ana to help persuade the town that they are in danger and should flee before the volcano erupts and destroys their world. Will they listen? And Ana herself faces another danger.

The Swimmer by Graham Norton

Helen is a retired teacher living on the Irish coast. She enjoys the peace and quiet – despite the burden of Margaret, her unpleasant sister. Margaret arrived three years ago for a short holiday, but somehow managed to stay and worm her way into Helen’s life. One day, Helen sees a man struggling in the sea and decides to investigate. She doesn’t quite know what it is, but something about it feels very strange.

Witness by Alex Wheatle

To tell the truth? Or protect his family? Cornell is having a bad time. Kicked out of secondary school for a fight he didn’t start, he finds himself in a Pupil Referral Unit. Here he makes friends with one of the Sinclair family. You don’t mess with the Sinclairs, and when Ryan Sinclair demands Cornell comes with him to teach another student some respect, Ryan witnesses something that will change his life. Torn between protecting his family and himself, Cornell has one hell of a decision to make.

My Name is Why: a memoir by Lemn Sissay

At the age of 17, after a childhood in a fostered family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth. This is Lemn’s story; a story of neglect and determination, misfortune and hope, cruelty and triumph. Sissay reflects on a childhood in care, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation’s best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely memoir is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.

Information on how to reserve one of these books can be found here https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/libraries/library-services/search-renew-and-reserve-items/

Quick Reads 2021

Quick reads is a programme developed to get adults reading. Each year, The Reading Agency commissions six high profile authors to write short books in an accessible format. The programme is currently funded by bestselling author and Quick Reads ambassador Jojo Moyes.

This year’s Quick Reads are:

The Baby is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite

When his girlfriend throws him out during the pandemic, Bambi has to go to his Uncle’s house in lock-down Lagos. He arrives during a blackout, and is surprised to find his Aunty Bidemi sitting in a candlelit room with another woman. They both claim to be the mother of the baby boy, fast asleep in his crib. At night Bambi is kept awake by the baby’s cries, and during the days he is disturbed by a cockerel that stalks the garden. There is sand in the rice. A blood stain appears on the wall. Someone scores tribal markings into the baby’s cheeks. Who is lying and who is telling the truth?

The Skylight by Louise Candlish

Simone has a secret. She likes to stand at her bathroom window and spy on the couple downstairs through their kitchen skylight. She knows what they eat for breakfast and who they’ve got over for dinner. She knows what mood they’re in before they even step out the door. There’s nothing wrong with looking, is there? Until one day Simone sees something through the skylight she is not expecting. Something that upsets her so much she begins to plot a terrible crime.

Saving the Day by Katie Fforde

Allie is bored with her job and starting to wonder whether she even likes her boyfriend, Ryan. The high point in her day is passing a cafe on her walk home from work. It is the sort of place where she’d really like to work. Then one day she sees an advert on the door: assistant wanted. But before she can land her dream job, Allie knows she must achieve two things: learn to cook and end her relationship with Ryan, especially as through the window of the cafe, she spies a waiter who looks much more like her type of man. And when she learns that the cafe is in danger of closing, Allie knows she must do her very best to save the day.

Wish You Were Dead by Peter James

Roy Grace and his family have left Sussex behind for a week’s holiday in France. The website promised a grand house, but when they arrive the place is very different from the pictures. And it soon becomes clear that their holiday nightmare is only just beginning. An old enemy of Roy, a lowlife criminal he had put behind bars, is now out of jail – and out for revenge. He knows where Roy and his family have gone on holiday. Of course he does. He’s been hacking their emails – and they are in the perfect spot for him to pay Roy back.

The Motive by Khurrum Rahman

Business has been slow for Hounslow’s small time dope-dealer, Jay Qasim. A student house party means quick easy cash but it also means breaking his own rules. But desperate times lead him there – and Jay finds himself in the middle of a crime scene. Idris Zaidi, a Police Constable and Jay’s best friend, is having a quiet night when he gets a call out following a noise complaint at a house party. Fed up with the lack of excitement in his job, he visits the scene and quickly realises that people are in danger after a stabbing. Someone will stop at nothing to get revenge.

How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran

It’s a good time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven’t been burnt as witches since 1727. But a few nagging questions remain. Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should we use Botox? Do men secretly hate us? And why does everyone ask you when you’re going to have a baby? Part memoir, part protest, Caitlin answers the questions that every modern woman is asking.

Copies will be available in libraries very soon! You can reserve a copy directly from our catalogue using the “place reservation” button or by phoning Lower Earley, Woodley or Wokingham libraries. Full information available on our website here https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/libraries/click-and-collect-library-books/

Quick Reads 2020

Wokingham Libraries are delighted to be stocking the new 6 titles in the 2020 Quick Reads list. Quick Reads are short and engaging books for adult readers who may find reading difficult, and have enjoyed immense success since their launch in 2006. Read on to discover the 2020 titles, and what the authors have to say about the programme.

A Fresh Start by Fanny Blake

From wronged wives to nosy neighbours, from distant dads to new-found family, from secrets to lies, fresh starts to false endings – and everything in between – this is a collection of brilliant short stories from the best writers around.

Fanny Blake says: “Reading can widen your horizons without your even having to leave home, and should be a pleasure that that is open to everyone at any age or stage of their lives.”

 

Notting Hill Carnival: A West End Story by Candice Carty-Williams

Sapphire is the hot-headed leader of the Red Roses in an area where gang loyalty is all that matters. When she meets a boy called Apollo on her way to Notting Hill Carnival, she forms an instant bond with him. She thinks he could be the one. Until she discovers he’s a member of rival gang, the Gold Teeth.

Candice Carty-Williams says: “As someone who comes from a family of non-readers, and someone whose mum is dyslexic, Quick Reads is such an important resource.”

 

Darkness Rising by A.A. Dhand

Detective Inspector Harry Virdee has a lot on his plate. His team is facing government cuts, tensions are building between Bradford’s two rival drugs gangs and his wife Saima is due to give birth any day now. So when bodies start turning up in the old industrial district, the pressure is on to get the case wrapped up as quickly as possible, or risk a full-scale gang war. But the man behind the murders is ruthless and pushy. And things are getting personal. Harry must think fast and bend the rules if he wants to keep his city, and his family, safe.

A.A. Dhand says: “I’m thrilled to be part of such a vital scheme as Quick Reads and hope to give readers a short, sharp burst of entertainment which brings literacy and fast-paced storytelling into their lives.”

The Little Dreams of Lara Cliffe by Milly Johnson

Lara Cliffe and her three friends are off on a mini-break for her hen party. However, on the overnight ferry, Lara finds out that Danny, her ex – the one who jilted her three weeks before their wedding – is playing in the onboard band, and he spots her in the crowd. Will she meet him the next night to talk?

Milly Johnson says: “It [Quick Reads] opens the door and says ‘come on in and fall in love with books’. Reading is the key to a life enriched.”

The Donor by Clare Mackintosh

She gave you everything. But what does she want in return? When Lizzie’s daughter Meg is given a life-saving heart transplant, Lizzie feels hugely grateful to the nameless donor. Then she receives a letter from the donor’s mother, Karen, asking to meet, and it seems like the least she can do. But as soon as Karen is welcomed into their lives, Lizzie feels something isn’t right. And before long, she can’t help but worry that by inviting Karen in, she might have put Meg in danger.

Clare Mackintosh says: “Quick Reads addresses a very real need — pacey, good-quality storytelling, in an accessible format — and I’m honoured to be contributing to 2020’s line-up with a story I’ve been wanting to write for several years.” 

This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor. You work 97 hours a week. You make life and death decisions. You are often covered in blood (or worse) from head to toe. And the hospital parking meter earns more money than you do. Adam Kay’s diary was written in secret after long days, sleepless nights and missed weekends. It is funny, moving and sometimes shocking. This is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn’t – about life on and off the hospital ward.

Adam Kay says: “Literacy and healthcare have much in common; they are among our fundamental rights as individuals. They both require sustained funding, governments who believe in the possibilities they offer, and outspoken champions. Quick Reads are the most wonderful champion for literacy.”

To reserve any of these titles please visit the Wokingham Libraries online catalogue at https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/libraries/library-services/search-renew-and-reserve-items/

 

 

 

 

Quick Reads 2018

Six enticing Quick Reads titles from well loved authors have been anounced by The Reading Agency for publication on 1 February 2018. This selection of titles are written by bestselling writers Fern Britton, Dorothy Koomson, Tammy Cohen, Kit De Waal, Vaseem Khan and Mark Billingham. They span the globe from Mumbai to Ghana, from Cornwall to inner cities, and explore a wide range of themes including friendship, secrets and lies, marriage and the horror that losing your phone can bring.

Quick Reads are shorter, easier to read, accessible fiction for less confident adult readers. Now in its 12th year, the programme has distributed over 4.8 million books since it was launched, and has introduced hundreds of thousands of new readers each year to the joys and benefits of reading.

All six books are available in Wokingham, Woodley, Lower Earley, Twyford, Wargrave, Winnersh, Maiden Erlegh, Spencers Wood and Finchampstead libraries. To reserve copies go to the online catalogue http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/libraries/library-services/search-renew-and-reserve/items/