We are moths to the flame, welcome to the carnival of reading.
The image is simple and whereas it is said that a picture can paint a thousand words, this particular photograph says just one. Arms are entwined and smiles radiate warmth, the glint in the eyes with heads gently touching, the smell of the hair and the closeness and security of the cuddle. That one word can only be Love.
Books and the covers they wear are competing fiercely with one another on the bookcase shelves, particularly at this time of year. The shop is ablaze with boisterous colour, you can almost hear the pages behind the covers of each shouting – ‘choose me, read me’ – it is as if the carnival has come to town. These last ten years or so book design has come on in leaps and bounds. The tablet of a false digital dawn has been a difficult pill to swallow. A forest fire for printed books was supposed to be the pre-cursor of us switching to e-books but has instead blossomed into a time of genuine book beauty. The way illustrators, publishers and their printers have presented real books is truly stimulating – we are moths to the flame, welcome to the carnival of reading.
But out of all that noise, that one image stands out – the quiet and gentle book cover of ‘Pru & Me’, Timothy West’s love story of 60 years of marriage with Prunella Scales. It is by far the most beautiful bookcover I have seen of late and I think it’s because its simplicity speaks volumes for how important the tale it tells is – the story which radiates from the book jacket is the story of Love.
Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
If you like a swoon-worthy romance with real depth, this week has been much anticipated: Heartstopper, Volume 5 by Alice Oseman is finally here! During the summer, after racing through the latest season on Netflix, I read the first four volumes in a week of bliss. Nick and Charlie’s relationship is the stuff of teenage dreams, marred only by difficulties dealt with masterfully by Oseman. These graphic novels are bursting with life in characters that are well-rounded and complex; if only all books were so perceptive in their portrayals of queer relationships and mental health issues. Another book with a lot of fans is the Private Eye Annual 2023. Edited by Ian Hislop, this compendium of political cartoons, gag headlines, and satirical articles tells the rollercoaster of events that made up the year. From Prince Harry to Jeremy Clarkson, no one is safe from the wrath of the Private Eye.
This week, ITV debuted a new show based on Platform Seven by Louise Doughty. Having written TV drama before, Doughty is no stranger to twists and turns. In this mystery, Lisa Evans desperately seeks to connect her death with one 18 months later, at the exact same place. Elsewhere in fiction, every budding psychologist knows that you must spot the patterns, but only amateur detective Philo Vance has what it takes to follow the nursery rhyme clues in The Bishop Murder Case. And in The Witch and the Tsar, the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga is turned upside down as Yaga travels to Moscow to protect Ivan the Terrible’s ailing wife; perhaps Yaga is not the iron-nosed, fearful creature as once believed.
In non-fiction, Richard Whatmore examines the Enlightenment period and argues that this grand social shift acted as a catalyst for terror, corruption, and excessive greed. For something lighter, Fifty Things to Do in the Snow brings a sense of joy to weather some people detest; the latest daily journal from Vex King focuses on manifestation and gratitude; and John Preston chronicles Watford FC’s meteoric rise out of the bottom of the league when Elton John, super-rich superstar, took over in a dramatic turn of events.
For younger readers, Beholder is a mystery novel that will keep teenagers engaged through its wildly hedonistic plot of obsessive art, cult-like violence, and a murder investigation. Just in time for the film’s release, Wonka is an absurd tale of an even more eccentric character, full of more chocolate than any advent calendar can hold! Finally, for the smallest member of the house, The Winter Wish combines the whimsy of stories with the magic of Christmas, in a tale of one boy and his wish-granting reindeer.
As always, if there’s something you need help with, or a book you need ordering, please call or email us!
From Sophie
Click on any of the book covers below for more info.
The full newsletter with links to books – including this week’s Signed Editions – can be found HERE
