Sincerely, Me: 2023’s most feel-good read from the Richard and Judy Book Club author

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Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse Lucie Whitehouse's third novel is a love story of mystery, intrigue, and suspicion. If you can't even trust the person you've pledged till death do you part to be completely transparent and honest, than who can you trust? When Lily and the policeman meet again, Lily is convinced that he holds the key to her happiness. But might he also be the one to uncover her crime and so condemn her to death? How To Kill Your Best Friend by Lexie Elliott But the glamorous veneer of the rich hides dark secrets. Out at sea, Emma is both hunter and prey, and no one can protect her. In Norway 1617, a violent storm dramatically wipes out all the men in a small fishing community, leaving all the women to fend for themselves. Twenty-year-old Maren loses both her brother and father when they perish in the storm and, like all the women in Vardø, must learn to live without men. Eighteen months later, Absalom Cornet arrives from Scotland with his wife, Ursa, with the intent of bringing the women to heel. As a witch hunter, Absalom sees a place untouched by God and flooded with evil. Meanwhile, his wife sees something she never has before – independent women. Inspired by the real events of the Vardø storm and the 1620 witch trials, The Mercies is a feminist story of love, evil, and obsession.

Edi and Ash have been best friends for over forty years. Since childhood they have seen each other through life’s milestones: stealing vodka from their parents, the Madonna phase, REM concerts, unexpected wakes, marriages, infertility, children. Malibu Rising was a brilliant read, one of my favourites of 2021. Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller has been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 and is currently sitting on my TBR (to be read) pile. The book club aims to promote reading and to help readers discover new authors and books. The selection includes a mix of fiction and non-fiction books, and the books are chosen based on their quality and readability. The only question is – in a game of brinksmanship, can the inevitable ever be stopped? One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his new wife, Hannah: protect her. Hannah knows exactly who Owen needs her to protect – his sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. And who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother. As her increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, his boss is arrested for fraud and the police start questioning her, Hannah realises that her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey might hold the key to discovering Owen’s true identity, and why he disappeared. Together they set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realise that their lives will never be the same again.His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to forget. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because – as William discovers – giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves.

The Reading Agency and Reading Groups for Everyone are also delighted to announce our new initiative with The Richard and Judy Book Club where we’ve joined forces to help people find a reading group local to you. Ten seconds before the crash, Cate and Aiden Gascoigne are recorded on CCTV. The couple are laughing – happy, untroubled. Then their car plunges into a ninety-foot ravine. The impact should kill them. And if that doesn’t, the fire will. Within seconds, the vehicle is an inferno – with the Gascoignes trapped inside. But when fire crews arrive at the scene, they find something impossible. The vehicle is empty. Cate and Aiden have vanished. Now only missing persons investigator David Raker can solve the mystery. Dear Thing by Julie Cohen Claire and Ben are the perfect couple. But behind the glossy façade, they've been desperately trying - and failing - to have a baby for years, until Ben's friend offers to help, but now there are three friends, two mothers and only one baby, and an impossible decision to make. Julie currently writes full time and lives in Berkshire with her husband and their son. Here are all six books chosen for the Richard and Judy Book Club List May 2022. Not A Happy Family by Shari LapenaRichard and Judy have chosen six wonderful new books for the new Spring selection of the Richard and Judy Book Club. Either available now, or very soon, reserve your copy from Wokingham Libraries and delve into a a good read! High-flying lawyer Jessica Wells has it all. A successful career, loving husband Tom and a family she adores. But one case – and one client – will put all that at risk. Other books mentioned during this episode include: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, Bossypants by Tina Fey, I Made a Mistake by Jane Corry, The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye and I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes With Death by Maggie O'Farrell. In a rural Wiltshire town lies TheDevil’s Corridor. A road which has witnessed eerie happenings from unexplained deaths to thesounds of a child crying at night. But nothing more puzzling than theOlivia Ru therford case. Four girlsdrove home but after their car crashed only Olivia was found. Twenty years later, journalist Jenna Halliday is covering thecase. But thelocals aren’t happy with this stranger’s arrival. Least of all Olivia. Jenna soon starts receiving threatening notes and it is clear someone wants her out of this town before she suffers a dark fate.

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee has been dubbed by Red magazine as ‘summer’s sauciest, sexiest read’. Solène Marchand is a 39-year-old art gallery owner and divorcee. After taking her daughter to see her favourite boy band, Solène strikes up a connection with one of the members. Hayes Campbell is clever, confident and enigmatic but also almost twenty years her junior. What do you get when you cross a painfully awkward son, lofty comedic ambition and a dead best friend? Norman. Norman and Jax were a legendary comedic duo in waiting. They had a plan to take them all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe in just 5 years’ time. But when Jax dies before they turn twelve, Norman decides a tribute act for his best friend just can’t wait – so he rewrites their plan: 1. Look after mum 2. Find Dad 3. Get to the Edinburgh Fringe. Sadie won’t win a mother of the year award anytime soon and not knowing exactly who her son’s father is isn’t topping her list of achievements. But if performing at the Fringe and finding his dad is what will help Norman through, they’re going to make it happen. Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a remote Irish village would be the perfect escape. After twenty-five years in the Chicago police force, and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But then a local kid comes looking for his help. His brother has gone missing, and no one, least of all the police, seems to care. Cal wants nothing to do with any kind of investigation, but somehow he can’t make himself walk away. Soon Cal will discover that even in the most idyllic small town, secrets lie hidden, people aren’t always what they seem, and trouble can come calling at his door. In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of The Richard and Judy Book Club with WHSmith, the pair behind a decade of outstanding recommendations have selected some of their favourite, stand-out titles from the past decade. Here are all six books chosen for the Richard and Judy Book Club 2022 March List: I Have To Tell You Something by Susan LewisWhen his wife Brie vanishes from their home one night, never to be seen again, people assume Andy got away with murder. The police can’t build a case against him, but still his friends and neighbours abandon him. Just how far is she willing to go to get what she wants? And how far will her husband go to stop her? Missing persons investigator David Raker has solved too many impossible cases. He knows that behind every disappearance lies a dark tale waiting to be uncovered. As the hunt intensifies, Emma knows that she is in mortal danger. And that she needs to find the traitor before they find her . . . We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

Other books mentioned during this episode include: Behind The Mask by Tyson Fury, The Lady In Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Lady Anne Glenconner, War Doctor: Surgery on the Frontline by David Nott, So Me by Graham Norton, The Life and Loves of a He Devil by Graham Norton, Apeirogon by Colum McCann, The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson and Billy by Albert French.

Richard and Judy Book Club 2022 Book List (March 2022)

Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defence attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilised – her life is just as unremarkable as she’d always hoped it would be. But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood which was far from average – a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and finally torn apart by a devastating act of violence. But now the past is catching up. Then a case lands on her desk – defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It’s the highest profile case she’s ever been given – a case which could transform her career, if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realises that it’s no coincidence that he’s chosen her as his attorney. The six of us arrived on that beautiful Greek island dreaming of sun-drenched beaches and blood orange sunsets, ready to lose ourselves in the wild freedom of a weekend away with friends. Leutnant Schreiberis more comfortable wielding a paintbrush than a pistol. But he has little choice in the role he is forced to play in the occupying forces – or in his own forbidden desires. This is the complete list of Richard and Judy Book Club books 2023 so far. I’ll keep this list updated as and when new lists are released. The Richard and Judy Book Club has firmly established itself as the home for all book lovers. The club brings you the hottest new reads throughout the year, with each title going through a rigorous selection process to ensure only the very best titles make the list. Each book in the club has been personally selected and reviewed by Richard and Judy themselves, who reveal exactly why the title was chosen and explore why they think you’ll love it as much as they do.