The Comeback Code by Jake Bailey. Jake came to national prominence when, only a few days before he was due to make the end of year speech as Head Boy at Christchurch Boys’ High, he was diagnosed with a deadly aggressive cancer – and made the speech anyway. This is his second book – after living through such adversity he then had a lot of questions and studied psychology to look for answers – and in this book he shares his experience and knowledge, providing insights and mechanisms for other people facing major setbacks to help them through it.

How to Say Babylon by Safiyah Sinclair.  She was the daughter of a radical Rastafarian in Jamaica, who was obsessed with keeping his girls away from the “unclean” world, which they referred to as Babylon. He was a brutal, difficult father and she had a tough childhood, but she also had the soul of a poet which is what she wanted to become (and eventually did). This is an extraordinary memoir about those early years and then finally being able to find her voice and the courage she needed to break free from her father. I think fans of Tara Westover’s Educated will love this as much as I did. 

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