Anatomy Of Fall Reading

Harmony Heights by Ong Chin Huat

About the book: Harmony Heights is anything but harmonious. 

In this nineties-style block of condominium located in a forgotten part of town resides a microcosm of bourgeois Malaysian society. From retired judges and doctors to CEOs and homemakers with side hustles, the residents in this apartment pride themselves on being model citizens.

But beneath the veneer of civility and respectability, lies a hotbed of secrets and skeletons that reveal the true nature of these residents. How will they respond to the trials and tribulations which life throws at them? Will they all manage to keep up appearances when their private affairs and exploits are exposed?

Harmony Heights (2024) is a peephole, allowing you to look in, to watch the unfolding lives of cheating husbands, ambitious women, unconventional families, and witness explosive (literally) situations. 

If you look close enough, you might just see someone you know. 

Are you ready to keep a secret?

About the author: After graduating from the London School of Economics with a law degree and later called to the Bar in both the United Kingdom and Malaysia, Ong Chin Huat studied History of Art at the British Institute of Florence in Italy. Deciding to pursue a career in journalism, he became the first Chinese person to work at the Hong Kong Tatler as the Social Editor. After a stint as a columnist at the South China Morning Post, he started his own PR Consultancy specialising in fashion and luxury goods. He has been a judge for the Miss Asia Pageant in Hong Kong, Miss Charm de Chine in Shanghai and Mrs International Global Grand Final in Kuala Lumpur. 

Currently, he is a freelance writer, fashion stylist and TV Host and has contributed to The Star, Life Inspired, Luxurious Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Design Anthology, Elle and Conde Nast Traveller among others. He hosted a TV Show called ‘Hong Kong High Life’ on ATV Hong Kong as well as a talk show named ‘Driven’ on TheStarTV.com. Voted as one of Hong Kong’s Best Dressed Personalities by the Hong Kong Fashion Designer’s Association, he has met and interviewed everyone from movie stars and business tycoons to politicians and world-class athletes.

You can follow him on Instagram at @chinhuat_ong

Rating: 5/5

Framed (NonFiction) by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

About the book: In John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, “the master of the legal thriller” (Associated Press) teams up with Jim McCloskey, “the godfather of the innocence movement” (Texas Monthly), to share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions.

John Grisham is known worldwide for his bestselling novels, but it is his real-life passion for justice that led to his work with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongly convicted. Together they offer an inside look at the many injustices in our criminal justice system.

Joe Bryan suffered the unbearable tragedy of his wife’s murder, only to be tried and found guilty of the crime himself – despite being 120 miles away at the time it was committed.

Clarence Brandley spent nine years on Death Row, coming to within six days of execution, before new evidence cleared him of all charges.

And in the case of the Norfolk Four, police and prosecutors continued to arrest innocent people until not one but four men were behind bars.

A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty, there is very little room to prove doubt. 

These ten true stories shed light on Americans who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. 

In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and corruption in the court system that can make them so hard to reverse.

Impeccably researched and told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed (2024) is the story of winning freedom when the battle already seems lost and the deck is stacked against you.

About the authors: Beginning with The Firm in 1991, John Grisham has published at least one No 1 bestseller every year. His books have been translated into 45 languages and have sold over 350 million copies worldwide. Ten have been adapted to film, including The Firm, The Pelican Brief and A Time to Kill. The Innocent Man, his other work of non-fiction, was a Sunday Times bestseller and was adapted into a six-part Netflix docuseries in 2018.

Jim McCloskey is the founder of Centurion Ministries, the first organisation in the world devoted to freeing the wrongly convicted. To date, Centurion has freed 70 people serving life or death sentences for the crimes of others. McCloskey's memoir, When Truth is All You Have, was published in 2020 and included a foreword by John Grisham.

The Love Of Eternal Wisdom by Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort

About the book: This book (revised translation 1991) gives the essential context of all the other writings of Saint Louis-Marie. In it, he treats of the relationship between God and mankind, stressing first and foremost the love of God for human beings, and the plan he devised for saving them from the consequences of sin. 

Using many texts from the Old Testament Wisdom literature, he meditates on the extraordinary desire God has to love them and be loved by them. He, like Saint Paul and Saint John, sees the Saviour, Jesus Christ, as the embodiment of the Wisdom of God, and applies to Christ the title "Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom of God" - therefore the "Eternal Wisdom" in the title of the book is to be taken as Jesus Christ himself. 

In his reflections on the love of God for humans, Saint Louis-Marie picks out the death of Christ on the Cross as the greatest manifestation of this love, to the point where he can say:

"Wisdom is the Cross, and the Cross is Wisdom."

Making the assumption that all human beings desire happiness, and that "wisdom" (in a natural sense) is the way to achieve this, he discusses various forms of wisdom, and states that the only true wisdom is the Wisdom of God, incarnate in Jesus Christ himself. 

It then becomes the life-long quest of all Christians to seek to acquire this Wisdom, or, in other words, to seek to know and love Jesus Christ, the Eternal Wisdom of God. He proposes four principal means to achieve this:

1.      An ardent desire to do so

2.      Constant prayer for this grace

3.      "Universal" mortification

4.      A tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin

He claims that this fourth means (devotion to the Blessed Virgin) is the most effective way to acquire and preserve Divine Wisdom, and it is this theme which he develops in the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and The Secret of Mary. The third means (universal mortification) is seen as a way of participating in the Cross of Christ, by accepting our own "crosses" and so becoming more aware of the love shown by the sufferings of Christ. He develops this theme more in A Letter to the Friends of the Cross. (taken from https://www.montfortian.info/writings/the-love-of-eternal-wisdom.html)

The Love of Eternal Wisdom can be purchased for £2 from Holy Cross Catholic Bookshop at https://holycrossbooks.co.uk/products/the-love-of-eternal-wisdom. 

About the author: Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort is known throughout the world for his devotion to Mary, especially through his book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, which has been translated into numerous languages. But it is this present work, The Love of Eternal Wisdom, which gives the complete outline of his spirituality and presents the proper setting of his devotion to our Lady and his devotion to the Cross. 

For Montfort, possessing Wisdom is equivalent to seeking intimate union with Christ and carrying his cross after him. At the heart of Montfortian spirituality is Christ, the Wisdom of God, incarnate and crucified. Jesus is the goal, Mary is the way - the way chosen by God himself. (taken from the Preface of the book)

Displaced: Civilians in The Russia-Ukraine War by Valery Panyushkin

About the book: Displaced (2024) is about a Russian journalist’s first-hand account of the heartbreak and resilience of ordinary Ukrainians faced with Putin’s aggression.

In Displaced, Russian journalist Valery Panyushkin chronicles the devastating impact of his country’s invasion of Ukraine. By uncovering the stories of ordinary Ukrainians thrust into the chaos of war, and transformed overnight from citizens into victims and refugees, Panyushkin sheds light on the brutal crimes committed by the Russian regime, and offers a necessary act of truth-telling and atonement.

Reporting from cities and villages across Ukraine, Panyushkin delves into individual lives shattered by conflict, illuminating the human cost of war beyond the battlefront. Through interviews with people from all walks of life, the book paints a vivid picture of the challenges, choices, and hopes of those caught in the turmoil of war.

Urgent and necessary, Displaced is not only a compelling account of loss and survival, but also a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, a call for empathy and solidarity, and a Russian writer’s tribute to the courage of the Ukrainian people.

Displaced is translated from the Russian by Brian James Baer and Ellen Vayner. 

About the author: Valery Panyushkin was born in 1969 in Leningrad and is a well-known, and widely translated, journalist and writer. He has worked as a special correspondent for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti. He wrote a regular column in Gazeta.ru, and earned the title of "Golden Pen" for his journalism. He is the author of eleven books, two of which are about the Russian opposition movement, and the latest, Prison Cell #18, about repression and torture in Belarus. Panyushkin is the recipient of the Golden Pen of Russia award. He lives in Moscow and currently works as a correspondent for Snob magazine.

About the translators: Brian James Baer is the founding editor of the journal Translation and Interpreting Studies and the author of the monograph Translation and the Making of Modern Russian Literature (2016). Together with Ellen Vayner, he has translated Not Russian by Mikhail Shevelev (2022), Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko (2021) and Sacred Darkness by Levan Berdzenishvili (2019).

Ellen Vayner has translated short stories, magazine interviews, and conceptual artistic projects. Together with Brian James Baer, she has translated Not Russian by Mikhail Shevelev (2022), Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko (2021) and Sacred Darkness by Levan Berdzenishvili (2019).

Silenced by Tommy Robinson

About the book: Silenced (2022) is the follow-up to Amazon's No 1 bestseller Enemy of the State (2015). 

Finally free from the persecution of the state, Tommy Robinson looks to rebuild his family life while facing an uncertain future.

Reluctantly at first, he sets out on a new journey as an independent journalist.

What follows is a wild series of face-offs with extremists and the State alike as terrorism returns to Britain's streets and the magnitude of the grooming gang plague is fully exposed.

Tommy discovers just how far the State will go in order to have him silenced.

About the author: Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, is a British anti-Islam campaigner and one of the UK's most prominent far-right activists. Robinson has been active in far-right politics for many years. He was a member of the British National Party (BNP), a British fascist political party, from 2004 to 2005. For a short time in 2012, he was joint vice-chairman of the British Freedom Party (BFP). He co-founded the English Defence League (EDL) in 2009 and led it until October 2013. In 2015, he became involved with the development of Pegida UK, a now-defunct British chapter of the German Pegida. From 2017 to 2018, he wrote and appeared in videos on the Canadian website Rebel News. In 2018, he also served as a political advisor to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Gerard Batten.

In May 2023, Robinson's film Silenced was released. On 28 July 2024, Robinson was arrested by Kent Police at the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone under the Terrorism Act 2000, "for frustration of a schedule 7 examination" immediately after his 'Unite the Kingdom' protest at Trafalgar Square. He was released on bail. At the Trafalgar Square protest, he allegedly screened the film, despite a High Court order. He had been scheduled to attend a High Court contempt of court hearing on 29 July for making the film. An arrest warrant was issued after he left the country, to be enacted in October should he fail to appear at a follow-up hearing scheduled for that month. The hearing is scheduled for 28 October 2024. (Wikipedia)

Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life by James Middleton

About the book: When he was a child, James Middleton wanted nothing more than a dog of his own. 

Struggling to connect in the classroom, James would often take off in pursuit of nature and animals - adventuring in the Berkshire countryside, tinkering with rusty farm machinery, performing locum care to injured creatures, and losing himself for hours to the outdoors. 

Then, finally, his pleas for a dog (made via handwritten letters to his parents) were answered.

Meet Ella (2024) traces the extraordinary bond between James and his beloved first pup, Ella. From their enchanting introduction when James was just twenty and their many expeditions, from Scottish mountain sides to royal weddings, their journey is marked by love, loyalty, and unexpected twists of fate. Ella, the well-mannered and kind-natured companion, accompanied James everywhere, even playing a pivotal role in introducing him to his future wife, Alizee.

But beyond the glamorous veneer of society engagements and entrepreneurial achievements lies a deeply personal account of James' battle with depression. Through unconditional love, Ella emerges as an intuitive friend, reading James' moods and offering solace during his darkest hours, becoming the catalyst for his healing journey, and helping him to see all the good in his life and future. 

Touching, honest and life affirming, Meet Ella is both devastating and wonderfully heart-warming. It is a love letter to man's best friend and a beacon of hope to anyone struggling through hard times.

About the author: James Middleton is an entrepreneur and dog lover. He has six dogs: four Cocker Spaniels and two Golden Retrievers. The founder of James & Ella, a happiness and well-being company for dogs, James is a proud ambassador for the Pets As Therapy charity, and volunteer for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and Dogs Trust. Meet Ella is his first book.

2024 The European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) Study

Mother Maria Pia Of The Cross by Massimiliano Taroni

About the booklet: Maddalena Teresa Rosa Notari (Foundress of the Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist) was born on 2 December 1847 in Capriglia, Salerno. 

She was just 3 years old when she was entrusted to an uncle from Naples and finally found affection and human warmth in the boarding school of the Sisters of the Visitation and from that environment emerged her vocation to religious consecration. 

After various vicissitudes, Maddelena got to know the spirituality of the Servants of Mary and on 2 February 1872, she took the habit of the Servite Tertiaries, taking the name Maria Pia della Croce (Maria Pia of the Cross). 

After an educational experience at Verolino Orphanage in Barra, at the age of 36, God inspired in her heart the foundation of a new religious institute. On 21 November 1885, in a modest flat in the heart of Naples, the community of the Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist began. 

The community grew larger and, after a brief period in Portici, in 1891, it moved to a new house in San Giorgio a Cremano, Naples. In 1892, their Rule was approved. On 7 September 1902, the first General Chapter took place in the Mother House of the Congregation: Mother Notari was elected General Superior.

On the evening of 1 July 1919, Mother Maria Pia of the Cross, flew to heaven, to meet the Beloved of her life. 

In April 1921, the process for her beatification began. For more information, please visit www.suorecrocifisseadoratrici.org

Mother Maria Pia Of The Cross is printed in Italy in February 2020. 

Confession: A Series Of Lectures On The Mystery of Repentance by Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky)

About the book: There are not may of them now, but not long ago, within our memory, in piously disposed patriarchal village parishes and even sometimes among educated society, it was possible to meet pastors who were so disposed and so involved with people that their conversations with their flocks, at home or at gatherings or anywhere else, could hardly be distinguished at all from their conversation during confession: salvation of the soul, the will of God, the truth of God - this is what was always the subject of the intercourse between the pastor and his flock. - Metropolitan Anthony 

The present work, Confession (1996), is based on the lectures Vladika (Bishop) Anthony gave during his courses on pastoral theology, but it was actually written down in 1920, while he was temporarily confined in a Uniate monastery in western Russia, due to the circumstances of the Civil War. 

Confession is primarily a manual for priests, written to show them how to give spiritual advice and help during confession, and gives great insight into the various ways in which the passions afflict the human soul. It is precisely this struggle, and, with the help of God’s grace, gradual victory, which is, in the view of Vladika Anthony, the feature distinguishing Orthodoxy from all other religions - the very essence of Orthodoxy (see his “How does Orthodoxy differ from the Western Denominations?” in Orthodox Life, 1970, No 2). 

Although it is addressed to priests, it is obviously of great value to all Orthodox Christians, who are engaged in this struggle (with the exception of chapters 2-5). There are already many books about spiritual life, such as the Philokalia and St John Climacus's Ladder, but these often go over the heads of contemporary lay-people, as they are written primarily for monks, who are generally able to give more attention to their spiritual life. 

The special value of Metropolitan Anthony’s Confession is that it deals with such problems as are familiar to most contemporary Orthodox lay people, but which are not treated elsewhere. Although it was written over fifty years ago it is still remarkably relevant to modern life, although of course there are also new problems that have arisen in the last few decades and are not covered by it. 

There are some obvious anachronisms: in particular, his comments on Church life often do not apply today. Nevertheless, the perspicacious reader will easily be able to see the connection between some of the things he touches upon (such as the “mass delusion” movements in Chapter 10), and similar phenomena of contemporary life.

Confession is translated from the the Russian by Father Christopher Birchall. It was first published in Russian in Warsaw, Poland, in 1928; and, subsequently, in English in 1975. 

About the author: Metropolitan Anthony (1863-1936) is best known as the organizer and first primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Even before the Russian revolution, he was well known as a theologian and bishop. After being rector of the Moscow and Kazan Theological Academies, in 1900, he was consecrated Bishop of Ufa; in 1902, he was transferred to the Volynia diocese in the western Ukraine, and then, in 1914, he was made Archbishop of Kharkov. 

In his theological writings, he stressed primarily the moral implications of Christian doctrine. He fought against the influence of western scholasticism and stressed the need to turn to the Church Fathers for theological inspiration. As a bishop, he also fought against all anti-canonical and un-Orthodox tendencies of Church life, in 1918, he was appointed Metropolitan of Kiev and Galich, and after the revolution, as the senior of the exiled bishops, he was chosen to head the Russian Church Abroad. 

He kept the exile Church on the path of strict Orthodoxy, both in refusing to accept Metropolitan Sergei’s declaration of loyalty to the atheistic Soviet state, and also in opposing all kinds of theological modernism. This modernism was the chief cause of the sad schisms which divided the exile Church and which grieved Metropolitan Anthony very deeply.

Two Families: A Memoir Of English Life During And After the Council (Autobiography) by Joseph Bevan

About the book: "Joseph Bevan traces this family's voyage through the choppy waters of Church life in England in the last decades. In recalling these years, the author chronicles the collapse of the liturgy and of religious life, and gives examples of decadence in Church music and the effect this had on the practice of the Faith for himself and his family. Frank about his own shortcomings and realistic about the current crises in the Church, Joseph seeks a solution to modern ills. He finds this in a renewed immersion in Catholic tradition, doctrine, and practice. Two Families is an engaging and honest work." - The Right Reverend Dom Cuthbert Brogan, OSB, Abbot of St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough

“This is an inspiring book that grittily teaches a perennial truth which we ignore at our peril: genuine charity is ‘the only defence’ against all that assails us. Whatever our state in life, Two Families challenges us to return to its daily practice whilst there is still time.” - Dom Alcuin Reid, OSB, Prior of Monastère Saint-Benoît, Fréjus-Toulon

"Wise, amusing, and beautifully written, Bevan shares not only the secrets to a well-lived Catholic life that has borne abundant good fruit, but also invaluable insights into the extent of the crisis facing the Church. Recalling the ups and downs he and his wife Clare faced in raising ten children as the post-conciliar Church steadily imploded, Bevan is candid and incisive in his analysis, offering much-needed hope and guidance not only to Catholic families but to all Catholics serious about their faith." - Edward Pentin, Senior Contributor, National Catholic Register

"The Bevan family are well known throughout his native Somerset and, indeed, in England and internationally, for their musical talent as a family choir. Joseph's lifelong career in church music has given him an insider's perspective on the liturgical revolution that took place after the Second Vatican Council. A mixture of nostalgia and realism, historical charm and contemporary comment, the story carries the reader along whilst providing insight into a most unusual time in the history of two families, a country, a Church, and a world." - James Bogle, barrister, retired army officer, former President of the Una Voce Federation

"These memoirs by Mr Joseph Bevan remind faithful Catholics that the only certain means of preserving the faith today is to follow what we must unfortunately call 'Traditional Catholicism' (as if any other kind should exist!), which begins with the traditional family." - Anthony P Stine, Return to Tradition Podcast

The Winds From Further West by Alexander McCall Smith

About the book: If equally affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me. - 'The More Loving One' by Auden

From the world's favourite author of The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, The Winds from Further West (2024) is about chance encounters; it is richly atmospheric and packed with compassion and humour.

Often a small and seemingly insignificant event can change the course of our lives.

Not long after starting a new job, Neil meets Chrissie. Romance soon blossoms and together they move to a lavish flat in Edinburgh. Everything seems to be falling into place perfectly.

But an innocuous, throw-away comment unintentionally causes Neil’s career to collapse, and, at the same time, a cruel betrayal shatters the life he thought he knew.

His only option is to escape to the secluded, remote beauty of a breathtaking Hebridean island. Here, he finds a different way of life, and new friendships develop. But he cannot escape the past forever, and soon he must confront a life-changing decision once more.

About the author: Alexander McCall Smith, often referred to as ‘Sandy’, is one of the world’s most prolific and best-loved authors. His various series of books have been translated into forty-six languages and become bestsellers throughout the world. These include the highly successful The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the popular 44 Scotland Street novels, the Isabel Dalhousie novels, the von Igelfeld series and the new Detective Varg novels. He also writes stand-alone novels, children's fiction and libretti for short operas.

Alexander has received numerous awards for his writing and holds thirteen honorary doctorates from universities in Europe and North America.  He is Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In 2007, he received a CBE for services to literature and in 2011 was honoured by the President of Botswana for services through literature to the country.  In 2015, he received the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and in 2017, The National Arts Club (of America) Medal of Honour for Achievement in Literature. In 2020, he received the honorary fellowship of the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival. In 2021, he received the coveted Edinburgh Awards, chosen by the people and cross-party politicians of Edinburgh. And in 2022 he received the Lifetime Achievement in the Saltire Literary Awards for contribution to the Arts at the Scottish Book Awards. In 2024, he was knighted by the King. He lives in Scotland.

Rating: 5/5