In this year’s Christmas list, I’m sharing 15 incredible books from the authors I’ve interviewed throughout the year representing diverse talent from around the globe – Romania, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Moldova, UK, NZ and USA. From poetry to thrillers, from romcoms to memoir, there’s something here for even the most difficult person to buy for! There’s even an adorable adventure for children.
Crime Fiction
Author: Sarah Hawthorn
Sarah’s debut thriller, A Voice in the Night, will keep you guessing right until the very end as Lucie is haunted by a voice from the past.
Title: A Voice in the Night
Age group: adult
Interview: Sarah Hawthorn on Writing a Thriller
Blurb: Following a bitter separation, Lucie moves to London to take up a position with a prestigious law firm. It seems an optimistic new beginning, until one day she receives a hand-delivered note with the strange words: At last I’ve found you. A shock I’m sure. But in time I’ll explain. Martin.
Lucie hasn’t forgotten a man called Martin who was tragically killed twenty years ago in the 9/11 attacks. When she was working in New York as a young intern Lucie had fallen in love with him and he vowed to leave his wife to be with her permanently.
As an inexplicable series of events occurs Lucie wonders if her long-dead lover could have staged his own disappearance under the cover of that fateful day. Or could it be that someone else is stalking her, or that her vivid imagination is playing tricks?
Author: Anna Kent
Annabel Kantaria/Anna Kent delivers a slow burn thriller in The House of Whispers. A page turner that will keep you up at night.
Title: The House of Whispers
Age group: adult
Interview: Annabel Kantaria on The House of Whispers
Blurb: Some secrets aren’t meant to be kept…
When Grace returns to Abi’s life, years after they fell out at university, Abi can’t help but feel uneasy. Years ago, Grace’s friendship was all-consuming and exhausting.
Now happily married, Abi’s built a new life for herself and put those days behind her. And yet as Grace slips back into her life with all the lethal charm she had before, Abi finds herself falling back under her spell…
Abi’s husband, Rohan, can’t help but be concerned as his wife’s behavior changes. As their happy home threatens to fall apart, he realizes that there’s something deeply unnerving about Grace. Just what influence does this woman have over his wife, and why has she come back now?
A chilling story of guilt and obsession from Anna Kent.
Author: Nore Hoogstad
Nore’s debut political thriller, Gunfire Lullabies, feeds off her experience as an Australian diplomat in East Timor at the time of their vote for independence.
Title: Gunfire Lullabies
Age group: adult
Interview: Nore Hoogstad on Contemporary Historical Fiction
Blurb: Jakarta, 1998. Junior Australian diplomat Ava Vuyk is on her first overseas posting when she’s assigned the conflict-ridden issue of East Timor with its twenty-three year independence struggle. The new Indonesian regime announces a vote in which the East Timorese will choose their future, but the military and local militia oppose it, launching a brutal campaign of terror and destruction. Amid the turmoil, Ava must decide whether she’ll gloss over the spiralling violence as her domineering ambassador demands, or report the truth in the hope the Australian government will intervene.
In East Timor, teenage farmer Isabel is kidnapped by militia leader Gabriel as his sex slave after her brother escapes into the jungle rather than join his group. Alone but hopeful, she waits to be rescued. When a human rights group asks her to spy on Gabriel, she’s seduced by the promise she’ll be reunited her with her family.
Gunfire Lullabies is a gut-wrenching fictionalised account inspired by real life events that won’t fail to fascinate and enthral.
Romantic Comedy
Author: Lisa Darcy
Lisa also has two on my list: Lily’s Little Flower Shop and My Big Greek Holiday. These delightful tales will keep you entertained, perfect for a summer read.
Title: Lily’s Little Flower Shop
Age group: adult
Interview: Lisa Darcy on Writing, Flowers and Inspiration
Blurb: When Lily misses out on a well-deserved promotion the day her boyfriend is offered a job overseas, she faces a choice: should she embrace an expat life, or follow her childhood dream and become a florist?
Following her heart, she moves to the coast and starts again. But fitting into the tight-knit community proves harder than she expected.
As she navigates new friendships, financial worries and the pull of returning to her city life, she learns how flowers can bring her the happiness she’s been looking for.
And when romance appears on the horizon, Lily realizes she can’t commit until she reconciles her mistakes.
Can she overcome her past and learn the true meaning of love?
Title: My Big Greek Holiday
Age group: adult
Interview: Lisa Darcy on Giving a Book a Makeover
Blurb: Will she get more than a tan?
On an all-expenses-paid holiday, Claudia Taylor jets off to glorious Santorini with her two best friends, Tara and Sophie. But when her simple task of handing over a flash drive becomes complicated, and the handsome Jack tries to romance her, Claudia’s holiday becomes less relaxing than she’d hoped.
Sophie, a former high-flying lawyer turned mother of one, is no longer sure what the future holds. Tara is toying with the idea of leaving her less-than-satisfying job to realise a long-held ambition to be a writer. After taking stock of their lives will they all find what they are looking for?
One thing is for sure, life will never be the same for Claudia and her friends after their much-needed holiday in paradise.
My Big Greek Holiday is a funny, thoughtful novel about friendship, romance, laughter and shopping – with some drunken karaoke thrown in.
Author: Susannah Hardy
Susannah’s debut, Loving Lizzie March, puts the comedy in romantic comedy.
Title: Loving Lizzie March
Age group: adult
Interview: Susannah Hardy on the Funny Side of Writing
Blurb: Life is not going to plan for failed fashion designer Lizzie March, until she finds herself pregnant to super-hot bad boy Jake Wheeler. Convinced that he’s The One, all she has to do is make him realize that she is The One for him!
But is it possible she’s been looking for love in all the wrong places? Maybe everything she has ever wanted is right under her very own stilettos.
Author: Enni Amanda
Enni has two books on my list, romantic comedies set in New Zealand that are part of a trilogy, although they work as stand-alones. Stay tuned for the finale in 2022.
Title: Nest or Invest
Age group: adult
Interview: Enni Amanda on Nest or Invest
Blurb: All is fair in love and real estate, right?
Single mum Shasa Daniels is heartbroken when she discovers her landlord is selling her rental home to Mac McCarthy, a hotshot developer known for replacing old villas with luxury condos. Determined to stop him, Shasa gathers her friends to outbid him and build community housing instead.
Mac, the man in thousand-dollar shoes, isn’t as financially stable as he makes out. This deal promises to secure his future, until Shasa the eco-warrior stands in his way.
Each will do what it takes to succeed. He barges in on her community meeting. She crashes his improv group. But Shasa quickly finds out spying on a guy this hot is a lot like playing with fire. Can her newly discovered love of acting and their on-stage chemistry bridge the gap between their two worlds?
Title: Hidden Gem
Age group: adult
Interview: Enni Amanda on Sex, Religion and Politics in Hidden Gem
Blurb: A politician on the verge of a breakdown. A woman who’s given up on love. They may be just what the other needs if they find the courage to follow their hearts.
Nearly 40, burnt by divorce and newly diagnosed with chronic illness, Marnie has resigned herself to a lifetime of loneliness. Tea. Blankets. A remote cabin. The last thing on her mind is a whirlwind love affair amidst a political scandal.
Rising political superstar Jason is on a mission to fix New Zealand’s housing crisis. If only he could sleep. Haunted by guilt, he stares at the ceiling every night, his goals slipping away with his health and sanity. Until hope enters his life in the shape of a woman. She seems to remedy everything – his insomnia, career … and libido.
Then she vanishes.
Jason is prepared to scour New Zealand to find her. But as he falls for the woman of his dreams (pun intended), he discovers how much really stands in the way of their happily ever after.
Tough questions about ageing, illness and self-worth are examined in this steamy romantic comedy that will leave you with a warm glow.
Women’s Fiction
Author: Marcie Maxfield
In a light-hearted book with some home truths about expat life, Marcie’s debut, Em’s Awful Good Fortune is both funny and poignant.
Title: Em’s Awful Good Fortune
Age group: adult
Interview: Marcie Maxfield on Identity and the Expat Spouse
Blurb: Part dysfunctional marriage, part global romp, this is not your typical expat story. Instead, Marcie Maxfield pulls back the curtain on the globe-trotting world of a tagalong wife to explore issues of marriage and compromise. Moving backward and forward—both in time and between countries—Em’s Awful Good Fortune is woven together thematically by bits and pieces of Em’s life: love, loss, and betrayal. She stomps her way around the world coming to terms with the fantasy of having it all: husband, kids, and a career. Em is not just married; it’s more like being handcuffed to her husband’s international career. Sure, her life reads like a fantasy, bouncing between Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Seoul. But—the good fortune is all her husband’s: Em is just the tagalong wife. A voice-driven narrative that is raw, comic, and authentic, this is, true to life, a disorderly journey—one that ultimately arrives at a new understanding of self-love and the complexity of relationships.
Memoir
Author: Christina Houen
Christina’s memoir A Practice of Loss explores the death of her marriage and the abduction of her children by their father, who took them to live in the US.
Title: A Practice of Loss
Age group: adult
Interview: Christina Houen on the Healing Power of Writing
Blurb: At twenty, Anna married an ambitious computer scientist. Now, twelve years later, they have three young daughters. Yet something vital is missing. He is more away than at home, and she dreams of an equal love. But she dreads the price of breaking free. Within a year, the marriage shatters and her children are abducted overseas. In the vengeful shadow of their father’s blame, how can she nurture and protect those who were the crown and comfort of her life? The true-life story of a desperate choice and its heart-breaking yet redemptive consequences for Anna and her daughters.
Author: Louise Ross
Louise Ross’s two anthologies share interviews with expats living in Portugal: Women Who Walk and the companion book with men, The Winding Road to Portugal.
Interview: Louise Ross on Documenting the Expatriate and Immigrant Journey
Title: Women Who Walk
Age group: adult
Blurb: What compels someone to leave their country of origin? What happens on their journey to the new place? And what causes them to finally land somewhere and decide to stay, if not for the rest of their lives, then for an extended period?
Women Who Walk: How 20 Women from 16 Countries Came to Live in Portugal is a collection of interviews with a diverse group of immigrant and expatriate women. Their personal narratives tell tales of world travel and cultural immersion as a form of higher education, a vehicle for personal growth, expanded awareness of self and other, and a greater appreciation of the differences that today too often separate us. Their tales are communicated honestly and openly, sometimes with humor, sometimes through tears of loss, but they are always courageous, uplifting, poignant and inspirational.
Title:The Winding Road to Portugal
Age group: adult
Blurb: How do men navigate moving countries, on their own or with a family? Is their path easy, because they’re men, fortuned with greater liberties than women? Or do they encounter a different set of challenges, faced with the complexities of what it means to be man today?
Twenty men from 11 countries share the truth of making different, often difficult life choices, eschewing the prescriptive straight and narrow path for the winding road.
Literary Fiction
Author: Maura Pierlot
Maura Pierlot’s book Fragments, which is based on a successful play, gives insight into mental health issues.
Title: Fragments
Age group: adult
Interview: Maura Pierlot on Writing about Mental Health
Blurb: I feel like I’m a piece, a fragment that’s missing all the good bits, but I don’t know where to find the rest … the parts I need to work properly. I bet they wouldn’t fit anyway. (Lexy, age 17)
Eight young people navigating high school and beyond, each struggling to hold on – to family, to friends, to a piece of themselves. Perhaps you know them. The bubbly girl who keeps telling you she’s okay. The high achiever who’s suddenly so intense. The young teen obsessed with social media. The boy challenged by communication. Every single day they, and others, are working hard to keep it together. So hard, they don’t see their friends are struggling, too.
Based on conversations with high school students and recent graduates, Fragments explores a range of mental health issues facing young people today. Through the motif of isolation, the eight imagined stories are both compelling and unforgettable, moving from a place of disconnection to connectedness. Themes include anxiety; depression; neurodivergence; social media; gender dysphoria; family dysfunction; bullying; cultural alienation; peer pressure; life after graduation, body dysmorphia, grief and bereavement.
Speaking to the complexity, uncertainty and challenges of our lives today, Fragments is an honest and unflinching work, and a must-read for young people and adults alike.
Poetry
Author: Inna Rothmann
Inna Rothmann’s Multiversed shares reflections on life, love and quantum physics.
Title: Multiversed
Age group: adult
Interview: Inna Rothmann on Poetry, Expat Life and Quantum Physics
Blurb: Multiversed is a poetry collection of everything life. It is an entanglement of dreams and reality, science and angels, love and betrayal, fake and honesty, finding roots and traveling the world – all creating infinite universes with unlimited possibilities. This empowering book is for those who believe everything happens for a reason and there is more to the world than what we see with our eyes.
The book was inspired by the wonderfully unexplainable quantum physics, which predicts very strange things about how matter works.
These poems will encourage self-reflection, empower you to love yourself, and find strength and beauty in yourself.
Anything is possible, including fallen angels.
Children’s Picture Books
Author: Alexandra Paucescu
Alexandra’s children’s picture book Boni Goes Around the World is a delightful adventure with Boni and her grandma.
Title: Boni Goes Around the World
Age group: 5-8 year-olds and ‘early readers’
Interview: Alexandra Paucescu, a Diplomatic Spouse
Blurb: Boni Goes around the World is a picture book meant to increase children’s appetite for adventure and novelty.
The book presents the fantastic journey of a little girl called Boni, who travels around the world with her grandmother in a magical adventure. From Europe to Canada, Mexico or Japan, they discover beautiful places, along with the readers.
Motivational, sensitive and educational, the book teaches kids that dreams can be fulfilled!
A bedtime story to read with your kids before letting them dream and imagine their own adventures.
Best of luck with your Christmas shopping. I hope you can find something here for your book-lover friends.
Here’s last year’s list: Christmas Book List 2020
Here’s next year’s list: Christmas Book List 2022
Next time: Wishing everyone Happy Holidays 2021
Brightside Story Studio 
3 thoughts on “Christmas Book List 2021”