March Picks

Winchester, Simon (2025) The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind. WilliamCollins.

This is a book all about the wind – this source of life and invisible force which we have feared and revered over the centuries. Winchester provides a portrait of the wind – exploring its impact from climatic conditions, disasters and natural events to nomenclature, its work and part in our everyday life. Alongside the history and science there are lots of stories and literary references about this often malevolent force that does not respect borders. A book for the curious.

Rating: 3/5

Armitage, Rebecca (2025) The Heir Apparent. HarperCollins.

Lexi Villiers is undertaking her medical residency in Hobart, living an ordinary life, until she is called home by her grandmother, the Queen, to take up her position as second in line to the British throne, following the unexpected deaths of her twin brother and father. Lexi has been estranged from the royal family for some years and her return gives rise to treacherous power plays, media leaks and exposes painful secrets. Lexie must choose between her royal destiny or follow her own heart. A modern princess drama with plenty of suspense, by an author who has had significant experience of all things royal.

Rating: 3/5

Gurven, Michael D (2025) Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer. Princeton UP.

Anthropologist Michael Gurven contends that human longevity is a legacy of our evolutionary path as a species. He investigates lessons from our ancestral history, to the Present, to reveal what a healthy and productive old age could look like. Under preindustrial conditions our body was built to last roughly seven decades, but whilst we have become a bit biological younger than in the past real improvements are still in the realm of science fiction. Gurven conducted fieldwork with indigenous South American subsistence-level societies to understand conditions that have shaped our bodies and biology across the span of human history. He discusses components beyond just survival to include multigenerational cooperation, utility of old age, quality of life, health and wellbeing, and the longevity economy. Holistic revisioning of life in our later years. Big read but worth it. Excellent.

Rating: 5/5

Hart, Lana (2025) Nice People on Planes. Katima.

Chicago-based Cora travels for her job. As she flies across America she meets strangers that seem to know more about her than they should. Cora a workworn solo mother, with three failed marriages behind her, is searching for real connection and is worried about her family. When she escapes to her family’s ramshackle Coromandel beach house she reconnects with her ancestral past and learns what is behind those mysterious interludes with people on planes. Complex tale of connection, cultural identity, and clouds, that comes to a fast denouement in its last pages. Intriguing.

Rating: 4/5

McFadden, Freida (2026) Dear Debbie. Poisoned Pen Press.

Debbie is a wife, mother of two teenage girls and a part-time neighbourly advice columnist. But Debbie is also clever, particularly in the tech space. And, she doesn’t take any slight to her or her family very kindly. Also, through her column she has befriended numerous women who are being ignored, belittled and abused. So when she loses her job and her life begins to spin out of control she decides it is time to take her own advice. Enough is enough. Killer read.

Rating: 4/5