Read This: Books under the Radar is a weekly post, usually written by a guest author – often a friend of mine, someone I’ve met on my writerly travels, or an author I admire – who recommends three books they think deserve more recognition. But for a second time I’m inviting on a favourite book blogger of mine – someone whose taste in books I appreciate and follow: Sally Hughes, aka @salboreads on Instagram. If you’re interested in buying any of the books featured, please click on the covers and give these hidden gems some love. You can see the full list of books which have been selected on Bookshop.org, where you can have a browse and buy any that take your fancy. Happy reading!

Read This: Sally Hughes

Sally and I have never met in real life but we’ve followed each other for a while on Instagram and I always love her recommendations. Perhaps one day we’ll get to exchange book recommendations over a coffee. Here’s what she has to say about herself:

I am a librarian and teacher, currently volunteering at my local public library. I run the Children’s Classics Club on Instagram which is a virtual group celebrating the joy of children’s fiction. I have been book blogging as Salboreads for about 4 years. I read many genres from classics to thrillers. I have introduced two hashtags to bookstagram – Mindful Monday and Children’s Book Sunday. I have a beautiful, but crazy flat-coated retriever called Pippin who is well known by my followers and takes up the time when I am not reading! I have selected three books which I have absolutely loved and which also reflect something of the nature of my reading.

www.instagram.com/salboreads

Read on to find out which three books Sally recommends.

The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr

So many of us stop reading children’s books when we get to adulthood, and we miss out on some of the best writing. The Valley is the story of a group of London children who are evacuated to Wales during World War Two. Jimmy and Ronnie are brothers. Jimmy is awkward and resentful, but his loveable younger brother Ronnie immediately takes to their new family. However, the evacuees are not universally welcomed, and the children become aware of simmering resentments and secrets.

This has all the ingredients of a classic story and will appeal to those who grew up with books like Carrie’s War. The characters are beautifully drawn and the relationships between the children so insightfully intuited. This is a book that will sit in your heart for a lifetime.

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich is thankfully receiving the attention she deserves, but The Last Report seems to miss out on this. This book is quite simply extraordinary!

The story follows 2 narratives. Farmer Damien is writing letters of confession to the pope. For many years he has ministered to the residents at the Reservation Little No Horse. Agnes left a convent, enjoyed brief passion with a farmer and, during floods, found the body of a priest.

This is a gritty and physical novel with a sublime sense of spirituality and at times magical realism which sometimes overwhelms with a sense of its vision. The novel features some of the most brilliant characterisation I have ever read. This is an emotional read which will provoke both tears and laughter and which you will never forget.

How to be Hopeful by Bernadette Russell

I describe this as the book which changed my life. It was something of a mental audit for me and a refuelling. It helped me understand hope, its value and how to keep the flame burning in the hardest of times.

How to be Hopeful is full of positive stories, practical exercises, and resources. It is gentle, reassuring and recognises that for some each step must be very small. The author looks at how action can be an agent of hope and how hope can be a driver of action. The book showed me how to turn my feelings of overwhelm, frustration and anger into action and to hope. The idea that there were things that I can do gave me an amazing sense of peace. This is a book that I have gifted more than any other book and I recommend it to everyone. Place it by your bedside, restore and refuel regularly and stay hopeful.  

---

We haven’t had a self-help book on Read This before, and I’m always interested in something new. And doesn’t The Valley of Lost Secrets look delightful? I’ve read some Louise Erdrich but not this one, so I’m definitely curious. Any of these three catch your eye? And if you’d like to be told about future Read This recommendations, you can follow me on Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter.

More Read This: Books Under the Radar

Lou Morrish author of Women of War
Francesca Ramsay author of Pinch Me
Sarah Leipciger author of Moon Road
Tim Chapman university librarian
Juliet West author of The Faithful
Lindsay Hunter author of Hot Springs Drive
Gina Chung author of Sea Change
Susmita Bhattacharya author of Table Manners
Vanessa Harbour author of Safe
Freya North author of The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne
Judith Heneghan author of Birdeye
Clare Mackintosh author of I Promise it won’t always Hurt like This
Barney Norris author of Undercurrent
Jo Leevers author of The Last Time I saw You
Alice Winn author of In Memmoriam
Anna Mazzola author of The House of Secrets
Alice Peterson author of The Saturday Place
Jenna Smith bookblogger
Lucy Atkins author of Windmill Hill
LV Matthews author of To Love a Liar
Jo Furniss author of Dead Mile
Ruth Thomas author of The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line
Clare Pollard author of The Modern Fairies
Nina Stibbe author of Went to London, Took the Dog
Nassaibah Younis author of Fundamentally
Nina Stibbe author of Went to London, Took the Dog
Nassaibah Younis author of Fundamentally
Cara Hunter author of Making a Killing