Join the Booktober challenge!
- Want to read more but don’t know where to start?
- Can’t find the time for some me-time?
- Need an autumn challenge to focus on?
If you’re finding it hard to take time out to relax, or if you’d love to read more but never seem to have long enough to lose yourself in a good book, the Booktober challenge is a great way to start.
The challenge is to read one Quick Reads book a week during October. This special series of short books by well-known authors offers the perfect way to delve into a book – even if you only have a few minutes a day.
The 2024 Quick Reads include books by Clare Mackintosh, Jo Nesbo and Malorie Blackman, as well as Welsh authors Nicola Davies and Hugh Warwick.
Titles include both fiction and non-fiction. Priced at £1, and at around 100 pages each, the books are perfect for a train trip to work, a lunchtime read or 10 minutes with a cuppa.
Here are some Quick Reads books you may like to check out – available now from your local bookshop.
Five Nights Out by Hugh Warwick (Graffeg)
It can be easy to think that we live in a daylight world – we see the flowers, hear the birds, watch butterflies then we go to bed and it all stops. Or rather, we stop paying attention. However, what goes on at night is every bit as exciting. This book takes us on a journey through Hugh’s interactions with some of our favourite nocturnal creatures including hedgehogs, bats, owls and more. Including many facts about each creature and a retelling of some of Hugh’s own journeys trying to view them, Five Nights Out is a perfect read for any naturalist.
Piebald by Nicola Davies (Graffeg)
Moxie has a lot on her plate, caring for her little brother, Ryan, and sick mother, all in a town which the world has more or less abandoned. But life seems to take a turn for the better when a piebald horse and Dylan, Moxie’s long lost Dad, turn up out of the blue. But Dylan brings trouble to Moxie’s door in the shape of drug lord Sunny Spells; Moxie must get out of town to keep Ryan safe and the piebald turns out to be more help than Moxie could ever have imagined.
The Journey by Maggie Ogunbanwo (Graffeg)
Maggie Ogunbanwo’s journey has taken her from Lagos in Nigeria to Penygroes in north Wales, with family and food inspiring her at each step of the way. Here Maggie shares her story of raising a family in the UK, building successful businesses and links in the Penygroes, learning the Welsh-language and publishing award-winning cookbooks, accompanied by her favourite recipes to give you a flavour of her.
Last Resort by Richard Williams (Graffeg)
The Welsh Saltlands. A remote and desolate district in the corner of south-west Wales with notoriously spiky locals. Known for decades as the “Last Resort,” the area has seen an unprecedented surge in domestic tourism and investment. After a second bumper summer season, The Saltlands has been listed in the top three Most Desirable Places to Live in the UK by a renowned lifestyle magazine, and its star attraction
– Wibli Wobli Bay – has topped a national broadsheet’s Beach of the Year award. This sends another tsunami of holidaymakers out west, and the locals into a tailspin. A potential civil war totters between those locals that wish to embrace this new opportunity for The Saltlands, and those who absolutely do not.
Return to the Sun by Tom Anderson (Graffeg)
A surf-obsessed brother and sister from South Wales, Caio (19) and Chloe (25) embark on a journey in a camper van. The van was given to them by their father Geoff, a well-known local surfer who has just passed away. Geoff had a reputation for telling wild and wonderful stories, and his last request was that his son and daughter take the van to Morocco, via France and Spain. Their goal is to find its seventies owner – Geoff’s best friend with whom he has lost contact. But there’s a bit more to Geoff’s request than they realise.
The Replacement Centre by Fflur Dafydd (Graffeg)
Set in a slightly alternative reality, when a husband or wife in the community dies the grieving partner can get a replacement; they get to choose one who looks similar etc. But there is a mystery surrounding where the replacements come from and if they are content to play this role. Or are they instead planning an escape?
