Welcome back to Book Break, and welcome to our October book haul.
If you're new here on Book Break, we do these book haul videos every single month,
where Elle, the other half of the Book Break team, sends me a really exciting email.
I haven't opened it yet. This email is full of details of some of the most exciting books that
we've published from Pan Macmillan in the last month. So I don't know what's gonna be in here.
Let's open it up together. Okay the first book in here is a new Peter James, Left You Dead. So this
is the paperback if you've been waiting for that, and this is the 17th book in the Roy Grace series.
Maybe you've been watching the Roy Grace series on TV or you just got started with the books - there
are 17 so far for you to enjoy. So if you've been waiting to collect them all in paperback,
Left You Dead is out now. I remember reading the synopsis of this before and it sounded really
mysterious. So a couple, a married couple, start their Sunday the same way they always do with a
long drive and a quick stop at the supermarket, but this Sunday ends differently because Niall
waits and waits in the car park for Eden to come back from the shop - but she never comes back. She
has vanished without a trace. And Niall ends up being arrested on suspicion of her murder.
So it is up to DS Roy Grace to solve the case. Then we have another one now out in paperback,
this is Joy at Work by Marie Kondo. So Marie Kondo you will know most famously from The Life-Changing
Magic of Tidying Up. This is her book all about how to organize your professional life,
and it includes tips for virtual working as well. Marie Kondo's method basically says that if you
organize your working life, virtual or physical, if you organize that once you will never have to
do it again - and she will guide you through the process of how to organize it so that your work
life sparks joy as much as we know she wants our homes too as well. Then we've got a really
Christmassy one, it's from the last book haul. I got very excited about the first hints of our
Christmassy publishing, now we've got Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan. This looks so festive
and cozy. It's not actually a Christmas book, you can read this whenever you want, but it is
wintery. It is set in the snow covered mountains of the Austrian Alps. This sounds to me like it's
going to be an enemies-to-lovers romance and I want to be living inside that cabin right now.
And the snow theme continues! Penguin Parcel. This is adorable and this is a title that I have not
seen yet. Are those the Northern lights? I want to go. So this one is described as a sparkling Arctic
adventure about friendship, empathy, and a very long journey. I want to read it. This looks like
a really really sweet children's book, but I am racing all the children to the shop for this one.
Next is another children's book, Return to Moominvalley. So this one is I think the third
in the Moominvalley collection which are these books actually based on the Moominvalley TV show.
So they're inspired by the original stories by Tove Jansson. So this one, Return to Moominvalley,
let's see what happens. Join the Moomins as they journey to a mysterious island. Meet the hobgoblin
and his extraordinary hat. And encounter a magic mural. So these are really really visual books,
I wish I had one here to show you but they are just filled with full colour artwork,
gorgeous. And the theme continues with Squirrel’s Snowman. So this is from the Tales from Acorn Wood
series by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. It's a lift the flap book. I'm feeling so Christmassy,
I don't care if it's too early. This is a really cute little preschool series. In this one it is
snowing in Acorn Wood and Squirrel wants to build a snowman. Will she and her friends
find everything they need to build? Lift the flaps to find out. I want to! Then we have, oh
a non-fiction. I actually have a physical copy of this one. One second. Here you go. Swan Dive: the
making of a rogue ballerina. So this is one that I'm really excited about, because this is going
to show us some of the dark side of ballet. But it's also a love letter to ballet. So the author
Georgina Pazcoguin is a ballerina. She's actually the first Asian American soloist with the New York
City Ballet. She's just incredible. And ballet is just something that is so enchanting to those of
us on the outside. I mean obviously literally watching ballerinas move is very entrancing,
but also I just find the whole world of ballet so fascinating, and I know I'm not the only one.
So this book is going to take us behind the scenes to everything that she loves about ballet,
but also to look at some of its darker sharper edges. Okay back to the laptop. Next in here,
The Library of the Dead. So this one is now out in paperback. The Library of the Dead by T L Huchu
is the first in a new series and people are loving it so far. If you're a fan of books like Rivers of
London this is definitely gonna be your vibe. So it's urban fantasy, it uses a mixture of Scottish
and Zimbabwean folklore and magic and it's about a girl who can talk to ghosts. Oh and of course
it says library in the title. So book lovers are always going to have to pick it up. Then, oh good,
I was missing the children's Christmas books. How Winston Came Home for Christmas. So Winston is a
mouse. We first met him in the book How Winston Delivered Christmas. And this is the sequel,
so we've got a whole new Christmassy adventure. And what's really fun about this book is it's told
in 24 and a half chapters, so it's perfect to read one every day throughout December in the build up
to Christmas. And as well as being a great story there's also a really fun family festive activity
in each chapter to do every day. So it might be some Christmas crafting, it might be a recipe,
it might be about discovering Christmas traditions from around the world. Then, children will be
having a great month in October it seems, this is the 143 Storey Treehouse. If you've been following
this series, the treehouse just keeps getting taller and taller every time. I can't believe
we've made it to 143 storeys now, that's amazing. In this one we're going to find camping hoots and
soggy boots. This is book number 11 in the series, the treehouse keeps growing by 13 storeys every
time. It started off as a 13-storey treehouse so it is doing pretty well. What are the new levels
that we've added this time? A word-o-matic level, a recycling depot, a wrecking ball, a complaining
room, I'd like to go there sometimes, a deep dark cave with a real live fire-breathing dragon, and
so much more. These books have been so so popular and you can see why. That is a lot of fun. Am I
gonna have to go back to the world of grown-ups for the next one? No I am not. My Magical Santa.
This is one of the Campbell books. I love playing with these. So these are push pull slide books,
they're really really interactive for children but also for me. Okay now we're going back to grown-up
books. The Strays of Paris by Jane Smiley. This is gorgeous. So this is the paperback, I haven't
seen this new cover yet, it looks Christmassy. I'm so in the mood. This one is a really heartwarming
book, it's about an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a group of animals: a horse, a dog,
two ducks, and a crow. But it is a book for adults to enjoy. This novel celebrates the intrinsic need
for friendship, love, and freedom, whoever you may be. Really lovely. Yay we're going back to
children's books! The Fire Fox. This is beautiful. And another one with northern lights on the cover.
This is just a sign to me I need to go and see the northern lights. This is also another one that I
hadn't seen before, children's have been hiding some really gorgeous titles from me. Freya and
her mum have gone to a little cabin to get away for a while. The light has gone out of their lives
since Freya's dad passed away. Freya isn't sure about going sledging, but when she meets a magical
fox in the snow, she can't help but follow him into the forest and onto a thrilling adventure.
Oh okay, so this is inspired by a Finnish myth about fox fires, the sparks that fly from the
fur of a fox and those become the northern lights. Amazing. Then going to another equally cozy one:
The Yorkshire Shepherdess. Celebrating the Seasons with the Yorkshire Shepherdess.
So Amanda Owen is the Yorkshire Shepherdess. You may be very familiar with her from TV. Look
how cute her little sheep on the front cover of that is? Love that. So this book is celebrating
the seasons, going through and telling you about farming, family and delicious recipes to share.
Amanda and her family have become famous for their amazing life where they live completely
in tune with nature. And their attitude to food and the recipes that they make
is really reflected in that as well. Then, oh we're taking a darker turn for David Baldacci.
This is book number two in the Aloysius Archer series by David Baldacci who is an incredibly
beloved and best-selling crime writer. This one is set in California in 1949. So this series takes
us into the golden age of crime. Bill Clinton is actually a big fan of this series. Then The
Prince of the Skies - that's another one I have a hard copy of. BRB. This is The Prince of the Skies
by Antonio Iturbe. It is historical fiction about the life of Antoine De-Saint Exupery, who is the
author of The Little Prince. So if you are one of the many many people who has The Little Prince as
one of their all-time favourite childhood books, dive into this story that gives you some of the
backstory and adventures of the author, who was a pilot during the warAand if you recognize the name
Antonio Iturbe, it's because this is the same author who wrote The Librarian of Auschwitz.
Okay going back in, we have another one that I've got the hard copy of.
This is A Funny Life by Michael Mcintyre. Here he is, isn't he fab? I'm such a Michael Mcintyre fan.
So this is his second autobiography, his first led up to the point where he got his big break,
so this follows everything that came after. This is actually his life during fame. It
begins in 2006 when Michael has just had his big break at the Royal Variety performance,
waking up the next morning in the tiny rented flat he shared with his wife Kitty and their
one-year-old son. He is beyond excited about the new glamorous world of show business,
unfortunately he is also clueless. Okay this is quite exciting. Will I have the next one too?
Oh no I don't but I wish I did. Aziza's Secret Fairy Door and the Ice Cat Mystery.
So this is the second book in a series. It started with Aziza's Secret Fairy Door
and this one from the cover - just how I like it, looks like it's going to get festive. Aziza
can't wait for the holidays when the flat is filled with pretty tinsel and delicious smells.
It's warm and cozy in Aziza's bedroom, so when she notices that her secret fairy door is covered in
ice and frost it's a sure sign that she's about to go on a new adventure. So so cute. Then we
have Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho. So I do have a hard copy of this
one but I have the hardback and this is now out in paperback so I won't go and get my old hardback,
it'll just confuse you. This is a really really interesting book that is all about asking those
uncomfortable questions that these days we need to be asking, we need to be finding the answers to.
Emmanuel Acho has a YouTube series with the same name which is all about confronting particularly
white people or other non-Black people with the uncomfortable conversations that they need to be
addressing. He takes a really empathetic tone, it's a beginner's guide, it's a safe space,
you are welcome to puzzle things out there, but ultimately he wants everyone to join
the fight against racism. Next we have a really interesting one and I do have it. This is Deep
Wheel Arcadia by Harry Josephine Giles, and this is a very unusual book. This is a science
fiction written in the Orkney dialect. It's also a novel in verse. So if we have a look inside you
can see that every page has the poetry written in the Orkney dialect and then a translation as well.
We've actually got a video coming up on Book Break all about unusual books that you're going to want
to tell your friends about - and spoiler alert, you will be seeing this one in there because
it's just unlike anything you've come across before. Moment of truth, do I have the next one?
I don't have this edition but this is Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson.
This is a really beloved childhood classic for a lot of people. There've been a lot of new editions
of this coming out recently to celebrate the 20th anniversary, and this is a fully
illustrated version, so it's a really gorgeous one particularly to give as a present. Christmas is
coming up. If you haven't read the book it's about an orphan called Maya who goes on an adventure up
the Amazon along with her rather eccentric governess - and it's fabulous. Okay next,
this is a really exciting one because this is a children's book written by Sir Lenny Henry.
This is The Boy With Wings which is all about a boy called Tunde who sprouts wings and learns
that he is the only thing that stands between Earth and total destruction. So he has a mega
mission to go on, with his unlikely group of pals from school who are going to help him.
And so what if he can't stand up to the school bully? This is his destiny. Then a very sweet one.
Sleepily Ever After: Bedtime Stories for Grownups. And guess what? I've got it. This gorgeous
book - another really nice present idea perhaps? - is an enchanting anthology full of calming,
touching and funny tales to help you relax and drift off to sleep. Look, literally the first
one I opened it at just happens to be a Christmas story just for me called The Burglar’s Christmas.
The rest of them are not Christmas stories but this is just such a beautiful book with amazing
silver sprayed edges there, to keep by your bed and you can read one little story before bedtime
every night to help you drift off to sleep. This is becoming my new game. Will I have the next
one? Oh no I don't but this is Robin Robin. This is about to be a Netflix film so watch out. The
irresistible story of Robin Robin and her adopted mouse family is the perfect Christmas treat, well
sign me up. It looks like we've just got three more in here. We have A Bigger Picture by Vanessa
Nakate. So this is a non-fiction book written by Vanessa Nakate who is a climate activist.
She's just incredible. She was actually the first Ugandan climate striker at the age of just 21,
and she unfortunately gained fame when a picture went viral in which she was cropped out of it. So
it was a picture of her along with her all-white climate activist peers, and she, the only person
of colour, was cropped out of the photo. So she drew attention to this and how it signified a much
wider problem that people of colour, while affected disproportionately by the climate crisis,
are not on the front page of the climate movement. Then we have a crime thriller written by Hillary
Rodham Clinton along with Louise Penny. This is State of Terror. This book is a cautionary tale
written by a woman who has seen more than most of us about what goes on behind the scenes and
it is scarily familiar to our real world. In this book, the US has just been through an incredibly
tumultuous period in American politics with a very damaging president. We're following the
secretary of state who has just been sworn in to work in the administration of her rival and she is
about to face a horrifying international threat. And finally the last book in here is Under the
Whispering Door by T.J. Klune. So T.J. Klune fans are going to be very very excited about this one.
T.J. Klune is the author of the House in the Cerulean Sea which has been absolutely beloved
across BookTube, and across book lovers on all corners of the internet and real life. Under the
Whispering Door is described as a warm hug of a story, I've heard people describing T.J. Klune's
writing like that in general, so this is a warm hug of a story about a man who spent his life
at the office and his afterlife building a home. It's a queer love story between a ghost and the
owner of a small peculiar tea shop. It just sounds delightful. So there you go, that was our October
book haul, a selection of some of the loveliest looking titles that we published in October.
I will link here to a playlist of all of our previous book hauls, so you can click through
and have a browse and add some more books to your shopping list maybe. Do leave me a
comment below and let me know which books you are most excited about, and I'll see you next time!