Although I’ve been reading for years, this year is the first time I came across something called Quick Reads 2020 on Amazon.

Quick Reads are a series of short books by bestselling authors and celebrities. With no more than 128 pages, they are designed to encourage adults who do not read often, or find reading difficult, to discover the joy of books.

Wikipedia

What a great initiative!

“It [Quick Reads] opens the door and says ‘come on in and fall in love with books’. Reading is the key to a life enriched.”

Milly Johnson

I was quick to pre-order some books and happy to have bought them today.

Quick Reads 2020

Here are all the books available on Quick Reads 2020.

The Donor, Clare Mackintosh

When Lizzie’s daughter Meg is given a life-saving heart transplant, Lizzie feels hugely grateful to the nameless donor. Then she receives a letter from the donor’s mother, Karen, asking to meet, and it seems like the least she can do. But as soon as Karen is welcomed into their lives, Lizzie feels something isn’t right. And, before long, she can’t help but worry that by inviting Karen in, she might have put Meg in danger.

This is Going to Hurt: a specially adapted version, Adam Kay

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor. You work 97 hours a week. You make life and death decisions. You are often covered in blood (or worse) from head to toe. And the hospital parking meter earns more money than you do. Adam Kay’s diary was written in secret after long days, sleepless nights and missed weekends. It is funny, moving and sometimes shocking. This is everything you wanted to know — and more than a few things you didn’t — about life on and off the hospital ward.

Darkness Rising , A.A. Dhand

Detective Inspector Harry Virdee has a lot on his plate. His team is facing government cuts, tensions are building between Bradford’s two rival drugs gangs and his wife Saima is due to give birth any day now. So when bodies start turning up in the old industrial district, the pressure is on to get the case wrapped up as quickly as possible, or risk a full-scale gang war. But the man behind the murders is ruthless. And things are getting personal. Harry must think fast and bend the rules if he wants to keep his city, and his family, safe…

The Little Dreams of Lara Cliffe, Milly Johnson

Lara Cliffe and her three friends are off on a mini break for her hen party. It’s three weeks before her wedding to ‘Steady Freddie’, one of the kindest men on the planet. But something is worrying Lara. Her friends say it’s wedding jitters, but she isn’t so sure. Fifteen years ago the love of her life, Danny Belfont, walked out on her three weeks before their wedding. And she has never been able to get him out of her heart. Then, on the overnight ferry, Lara finds that Danny is playing in the onboard band and he spots her in the crowd. Will she meet him the next night to talk? As the wonderful city of Amsterdam works its magic on Lara, she tries to sort out her thoughts. And if fate has brought Lara and Danny back together… is it really for love or for something quite different?

Notting Hill Carnival: A West Side Story, Candice Carty-Williams  

Sapphire is the hot-headed leader of Red Roses in an area where gang loyalty is all that matters. But after a tragic event, Sapphire vows to leave her old life, friends and her gang behind. Life without the Red Roses and the violence that always followed them is certainly quieter to say the least. When she meets a boy called Apollo on her way to Notting Hill Carnival, she feels something she’d never felt before, and thinks he could be the one. That’s until she discovers he’s a member of rival gang. Will she ever escape her past with the Red Roses, and how many lives will be ruined until she does? Funny, emotional and raw, with Notting Hill Carnival acting as the backdrop of this retelling of West Side Story, by the Sunday Times bestselling author of Queenie.

A Fresh Start  – A collection of short stories showcasing ten bestselling authors edited by Fanny Blake

Jojo Moyes, The Makeover

Following the end of her marriage, a woman finds herself in a department store where she agrees to have a makeover. She needs a fresh start. But the makeover doesn’t go the way either she or the make-up girl expect.

Sophie Kinsella, Decluttering

When a couple set aside a day to unclutter their garage, they not only come across happy memories and fun secrets but also a painful family secret.

Ian Rankin, Easy Street

A woman darts back into her house to check everything is ready for her and her husband to go on holiday. As she is reminded of their life together he sits outside in the car. Full of surprises to the last gasp-inducing twist.

Mari Hannah, Let No One In

Features the first outing for PC Kate Daniels from the bestselling DCI Kate Daniels series. She is on her first ever night shift, left to guard the crime scene, alone and unarmed. What happens next takes her completely by surprise.

Louise Candlish, Lock Up and Leave

On the day Clare and her cheating husband are due to go on holiday, she takes satisfying revenge on him and his mistress. It’s payback time.

Adele Parks, A Quiet Road

When a new neighbour raises the tone of the neighbourhood, Annie is only too pleased. The neighbour is divorced, comes with a big chest freezer and has a liking for night-time gardening. How can Annie have got her so very wrong?!

Mahsuda Snaith, The Estate

Asmi and her mother know one kind of estate and it’s not the glorious country pile they are invited to visit. On arrival, Asmi discovers she has inherited the house – but why? How does its history link with hers?

Mike Gayle, You and Me

A poignant story of a newly single father taking his teenage daughter shopping for the first time.

Keith Stuart, An Accidental Date

A spin-off from the bestselling A Boy Made of Blocks. 13-year-old Sam is on the autism spectrum. When he goes on his first date, his anxious father and mother decide to follow him – with surprising results.

Fanny Blake, Sisters

When two estranged sisters are brought together after their father’s death, they find a letter that will change both their past and their future.

Grab those Quick Reads 2020 now!

Disclosure: Although I am part of the Amazon Associate programme, these books are excluded from the programme. The links I've provided below each image lead to the Kindle version of the books and I get no compensation for this.