Select 3 bucket list fiction or non-fiction books
Non-Fiction
Speak Your Truth
Fearne Cotton's voice is familiar to millions, whether that's through television, radio or on her hugely successful Happy Place podcast. Her voice is her career, her livelihood and the way she communicates with her audience and her loved ones. So, when Fearne's doctor told her she was at risk of needing a throat operation followed by two weeks of being unable to speak, she found herself facing a period of unexpected contemplation. As she considered what silence would mean, Fearne began to think about other times her voice had gone unheard - as a young woman, as 'just the talent', as the foil to louder, more dominant figures. She found herself wondering, at what point do we internalise this message, and start silencing ourselves? When do we swallow down our authentic words to become pleasers and compromisers at the cost of our own happiness or wellbeing? Speak Your Truth dives into all the ways we learn to stay quiet for the wrong reasons, and explores how to find your voice, assert yourself and speak out with confidence. Brave, vulnerable and deeply personal, Speak Your Truth shares Fearne's compelling story and helps you to shape your own.
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
This life-changing manifesto shows how you have the potential to make a huge difference wherever you are. Few authors have had the kind of lasting impact and global reach that Seth Godin has had. In a series of now-classic books, he has taught generations of readers how to make remarkable products and spread powerful ideas.
In Linchpin, he turns his attention to the individual, and explains how anyone can make a significant impact within their organisation. There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labour. Now there's a third team, the linchpins. These people figure out what to do when there's no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it and turn each day into a kind of art. Have you ever found a shortcut that others missed? Seen a new way to resolve a conflict? Made a connection with someone others couldn't reach? Even once? Then you have what it takes to become indispensable, by overcoming the resistance that holds people back.
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Published during the Great Depression and equally valuable during booming economies and difficult times - Dale Carnegie's valuable, time tested, rock solid advice has carried millions of people up the ladder of success in their personal and business lives.
Think and Grow Rich
Think And Grow Rich has earned the reputation of being considered a textbook for actionable techniques that can help one get better at doing anything, not just by riches and wealth, but also by people doing wonderful work in their respective fields.
The Richest Man in Babylon
The Richest Man in Babylon is a treasure chest of common sense when it comes to figuring out your finances. While it is not a how-to guide to wealth management, some of the simple techniques it teaches will stand you in good stead through the ages.
Meditations
In "Meditations," Marcus Aurelius reflects on a wide range of topics, including the nature of existence, the importance of living following reason and virtue, and the inevitability of change and impermanence. Drawing on Stoic principles, he offers practical advice on how to cultivate inner tranquility, withstand adversity, and find meaning and purpose in life.
Through its timeless wisdom and timeless relevance, "Meditations" continues to inspire readers to cultivate wisdom, resilience, and compassion in their own lives. Whether read as a spiritual guide, a philosophical treatise, or a practical manual for living, Marcus Aurelius' insights offer invaluable guidance for navigating the complexities of the human experience.
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
This remarkable book by Dr. Joseph Murphy, one of the pioneering voices of affirmative-thinking, will unlock for you the truly staggering powers of your Subconscious Mind. Combining time-honoured spiritual wisdom with cutting edge scientific research, Dr. Murphy explains how the subconscious mind influences every single thing that you do and how, by understanding it and learning to control its incredible force, you can improve the quality of your daily life. Everything, from the promotion that you wanted and the raise you think you deserve, to overcoming phobias and bad habits and strengthening interpersonal relationships, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind will open a world of happiness, success, prosperity and peace for you. It will change your life and your world by changing your beliefs.
Fiction
Life of Pi
After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and best-loved works of fiction in recent years.
The Oceans Between Us
A woman is found wandering injured in London after an air raid. She remembers nothing of who she is. Only that she has lost something very precious. As the little boy waits in the orphanage, he hopes his mother will return.
But then he finds himself on board a ship bound for Australia, the promise of a golden life ahead, and wonders: how will she find him in a land across the oceans? In Perth, a lonely wife takes in the orphaned child. But then she discovers the secret of his past. Should she keep quiet? Or tell the truth and risk losing the boy who has become her life? This magnificent, moving novel, set in London and Australia, is testament to the strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love.
Two By Two
At 32, Russell Green has it all: a stunning wife, a lovable six-year-old daughter, a successful career as an advertising executive, and an expansive home in Charlotte. He is living the dream, and his marriage to the bewitching Vivian is at the centre of it. But underneath the shiny surface of this perfect existence, fault lines are beginning to appear . . . and no one is more surprised than Russ when every aspect of the life he has taken for granted is turned upside down.
In a matter of months, Russ finds himself without a job or a wife, caring for his young daughter while struggling to adapt to a new and baffling reality. Throwing himself into the wilderness of single parenting, Russ embarks on a journey at once terrifying and rewarding -- one that will test his abilities and his emotional resources beyond anything he's ever imagined.
When a chance encounter with an old flame tempts him to take a chance on love again, he will navigate this new opportunity with trepidation and wonder. But with the loyal support of his parents, the wisdom of his older sister, Marge, and in the hard-won lessons of fatherhood, Russ will finally come to understand the true nature of unconditional love -- that it is a treasure to be bestowed, not earned.
The Maid
It begins like any other day for Molly Gray, silently dusting her way through the luxury rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel. But when she enters suite 401 and discovers an infamous guest dead in his bed, a very messy mystery begins to unfold. And Molly’s at the heart of it – because if anyone can uncover the secrets beneath the surface, the fingerprints amongst the filth – it’s the maid ..
Never Never
Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning… they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love… every memory has vanished. Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be… the more they question why they were ever together to begin with. Forgetting is terrifying, but remembering may be worse.
The Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of The Wives for a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery unlike any other.
Who's Lying Now
You think you know your neighbours. When Jeannie Symonds vanishes without a trace, her small town is thrown into disarray. You think you know who to trust. Cara Jakes, a trainee investigator, begins to interview Jeannie's friends and neighbours, sure that someone has something to hide. Behind every door is a different story. But how can you separate the truth from the lies?
The Four Winds
The Four Winds, an instant New York Times number one bestseller and 2022 Richard and Judy Book Club Pick, is a deeply moving story about the strength and resilience of women and the bond between mother and daughter, by the multi-million-copy number one bestselling author of The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah.
Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli had finally found the life she'd yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa's world is shattered to the winds. Fearful of the future, when Elsa wakes to find her husband has fled, she is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life. Fight for the land she loves or take her beloved children, Loreda and Ant, west to California in search of a better life. Will it be the land of milk and honey? Or will their experience challenge every ounce of strength they possess? From the overriding love of a mother for her child, the value of female friendship and the ability to love again - against all odds - Elsa's incredible journey is a story of survival, hope and what we do for the ones we love.
Secrets of Sainte Madeleine
Sweeping through the 1920s to WWII and beyond, this is the story of the Salignac family - the loves that bind them, the secrets that threaten to divide them, and the chateau that will always call them home.
Elise would do anything to inherit Sainte Madeleine, the vineyard that's been home to the Salignacs for generations. Only Laurent Senard, a distant cousin, is a rival for her heart - yet when a family rift sends her on a new and dangerous path, she risks losing them both . . .
Alexandre, Elise's brother, can't bear to see their capricious father put the vineyard - and Alex's birthright - in jeopardy. He leaves to carve out his own fortune in the rich hills of Napa, California. But will turning his back on the chateau be his biggest mistake? Laurent Senard's love for Elise was planted at Sainte Madeleine long ago. But with the shadow of war sweeping over Europe, Laurent must leave France to fight. Through the years of longing, secrecy and tragedy that follow, he vows to find his way back - if only it isn't too late..
The Return
Trevor Benson never intended to return to North Carolina.
But here he is, back where it all began. Trevor found himself unable to resist the call home when he inherited a tumbledown cabin from his grandfather. He's come back to live the simple life but nothing here is simple. There's Callie, the sullen local teenager who seems to know more than she should about Trevor's grandfather's death. And there's Natalie, the deputy sheriff intent on making a point and lingering in Trevor's mind long after she's left his porch.
In a bid to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets and to find out what really happened to his grandfather, Trevor is about to learn more than he's bargained for - that sometimes, in order to move forward, we have to return to the place where it all began.