There's a destinct little nip in the air in the mornings...

and the first autumn leaves are taking a place of pride on the trees. I believe the Cape Townians have full blown winter weather, rain and all. So its that time of the year to start to stock up on warm clothes, hot chocolate (what? Easter chocolate would be great too) and books of course! So what to read? I have read an excellent bunch of books the last month but more about that next time. To help you choose, I bring you the Exclusive Books recommend list for April:

The April Book of the Month

 & Sons by David Gilbert. The funeral of Charles Henry Topping on Manhattan’s Upper East Side would have been a minor affair, except for the presence of one particular mourner: the notoriously reclusive A.N Dyer whose novel Ampersand stands as a classic novel of American teenage angst. & Sons is the panoramic, deeply affecting story of an iconic novelist, two interconnected families and the heart-breaking truths that fiction can hide.

The Girl with A Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson is a thriller about love, loss and the memories we hold closest to our hearts. George Foss never thought he would see her again, but on a late night in Boston there she was, in his local bar. George first met her when she was eighteen years old and they became inseparable. Over Christmas break he received the news that she had committed suicide. Twenty years later, she is back and telling George that he is the only one who can help her.

Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood tells a tale about the most famous writer of his generation and the four extraordinary women who married Ernest Hemingway. Set in the dazzling summer of 1926, it is luminous and intoxicating. Over the ensuing decades, Ernest’s literary career will blaze a trail, but his marriages will be ignited by passion and deceit. Four extraordinary women will learn what it means to love a world-renowned author: each will be forced to ask herself how far she will go to remain his wife. Mrs Hemingway portrays real lives with rare intimacy and plumbs the depths of the human heart.

The News by Alain De Botton explains what we are looking for when we watch or read the news in a philosophical way. De Botton looks at the manic and peculiar position that the ‘news’ occupies in our lives. This brilliantly illustrated guide advises us on the precautions we should take before venturing anywhere near the ‘news’ and the noise it generates.

The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick is a story about thirty-eight year old Bartholomew Neil, who has lived with his mother his whole life. When she dies, he has no idea how to be on his own. His grief counsellor Wendy tells him to “find his flock and leave the nest”, but how does a man whose whole life has revolved around his mother, Saturday Mass and the library learn how to fly?

Although I am not a fan of any of the specific authors I am without a doubt going to at least read "Mrs Hemingway" and "The Girl with a clock for a heart". Both right up my ally

Our bookclub use these choices from Exclusive books every month to compile our lists and it is a great help to get pointers in the direction of great reading.

Note: I do not get paid in any way to do the Exclusive books releases. I do this in the interest of great reading.