Our book bundles are here to make gifting to your loved ones easier! Whether you’re Christmas shopping, looking for the perfect birthday gift for that book-loving friend of yours or just want to show someone you love them, our book bundles are here to save the day. We’ve handpicked two titles that have some things in common so that you can find the right books to give the reader in your life.
Bundles will ship immediately (same or next business day) and are wrapped in our signature brown paper bags. So, if you want to buy yourself a bookish treat, who are we to stop you?
Want to switch out the tote colour? No problems! Just shoot us an email at hello@wellread.com.au and we’ll sort it out.
In this bundle: Two literary page turners that tackle complex family relationships, shared histories, and uncertain futures, plus a signature navy WellRead tote bag with an illustration by Blue Mountains artist Oliver Carney.
Perfect for gifting to: Anyone who loves a sweeping family saga full of small revelations, complex characters, and questionable decision making.
Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
At fifty-seven, Julia Ames is living an improbably lovely life. Despite her inclination toward self-sabotage and prickly alienation, she has found herself with a husband she loves, two happy children, and a quiet, contented existence in the suburbs. When she bumps into an old friend that she hasn't spoken to in years—a friend who almost ended her marriage decades prior—Julia finds herself reexamining her supposedly happy life. Compounded with a bombshell announcement from her son and her daughter's impending departure for college, this chance meeting threatens to send Julia spinning out of control.
Daunted by a looming empty nest, Julia becomes consumed with her chequered past—and with the chaos of her present. She grapples with a complicated new daughter-in-law, the reappearance of her own estranged mother, and the forbidden allure of rekindling a relationship that was once both her lifeline and her downfall. The novel follows Julia over the course of a few tumultuous months as well as the fifty-plus years that preceded them, from her chaotic childhood in Chicago to her fraught early days of marriage and motherhood. SAME AS IT EVER WAS ultimately examines the complete and complicated trajectory of one woman's life and asks what it takes to form—and keep—a family.
Swift River by Essie Chambers
It’s the summer of 1987 in Swift River, and Diamond Newberry is learning how to drive. Ever since her Pop disappeared seven years ago, she and her mother hitchhike everywhere they go. But that’s not the only reason Diamond stands out: she’s teased relentlessly about her weight, and since Pop’s been gone, she is the only Black person in all of Swift River. This summer, Ma is determined to declare Pop legally dead so that they can collect his life insurance money, get their house back from the bank, and finally move on.
But when Diamond receives a letter from a relative she’s never met, key elements of Pop’s life are uncovered, and she is introduced to two generations of African American Newberry women, whose lives span the 20th century and reveal a much larger picture of prejudice and abandonment, of love and devotion. As pieces of their shared past become clearer, Diamond gains a sense of her place in the world and in her family. But how will what she’s learned of the past change her future?
A story of first friendships, family secrets, and finding the courage to let go, Swift River is a sensational debut about how history shapes us and heralds the arrival of a major new literary talent.
