The eyes are treated to a riot of colour and choice.
At first thought, it’s not obvious that four of the five senses – vision, hearing, touch and smell – have a joyful role to play in the bookshop. The obvious one of course is vision: those books are things of beauty and our shop itself is a lovely looking place too – the eyes are treated to a riot of colour and choice. The full panorama of the place is beyond the scope of just a screen: find a chair and flick through a few pages – the eyes become a portal through which to see another world. Chatting with customers is another of those sensory pleasures – there’s nothing better than listening to other readers’ thoughts and recommendations. And there’s our Book Club too – what could be better than listening to an engaging author dive into the waters of their work with a beautiful introduction to their literary passion? Then, of course, there’s the feel of holding these printed delights themselves, the touch of the paper and the process of turning pages becomes an integral part of the reading process itself: there’s something soothing about the hands and fingers being instrumental to the words leaping from the page – through the hands you become a magician conjuring delights from a top hat. And finally, there’s the smell. Barely a day goes by without a comment about the smell of the bookshop: you can often hear the deep intake of breath as a customer comes in through the door, lungs being filled with that distinctive aroma, the exhalation of breath, the pulse slows and all is calm.
Working in this space every day it is that fourth sense which we tend not to notice – the smell is just part of the landscape to us, but the role it plays is part of the whole deal. We thought we’d explore the idea of smell being part of the joy of books and reading – have a read of Amber’s lovely note below!
All we need to do now is find a local Chocolatier and we’ll have the full set of senses covered!
Notes On the Art of Poetry by Dylan Thomas
I could never have dreamt that there were such goings-on
in the world between the covers of books,
such sandstorms and ice blasts of words,
such staggering peace, such enormous laughter,
such and so many blinding bright lights,
splashing all over the pages
in a million bits and pieces
all of which were words, words, words,
and each of which were alive forever
in its own delight and glory and oddity and light.
This week’s two picks of the week happen to be two of our ‘Coles Special Prices.’ The first is Richard Osman’s highly anticipated next installment in The Thursday Murder Club series, The Last Devil to Die, which we’re doing for half price. Can the gang, yet again, solve the case? We also have Mona Awad’s new fiction, Rogue, which we’re offering for £12. Brimming with California sunshine and blood-red rose petals, Rouge holds up a warped mirror to our relationship with mortality, our collective fixation with the surface, and the wondrous, deep longing of what might lie beneath.
Our new fiction picks are just as exciting. The Golden Gate by Amy Chua is a historical crime, set in 1944 California: a presidential candidate has been assassinated in a hotel suite and it is up to Detective Al Sullivan to solve the crime. The literary sensation, Rose Tremain, is back with her short new book Absolutely and Forever; set in 1960s London, this tells the story of a young man and woman trying to cement their relationship whilst the world is seemingly crumbling around them. If you’re in the mood for something spooky, All Hallows by Christopher Golden tells the story of The Cunning Man, a monster out to get trick or treaters on the eve of Halloween. And for fantasy fans, we have Kendare Blake’s new book, Champion of Fate – perfect for fans of Alexandra Bracken and Stephanie Garber.
New in non-fiction by Georgia Angus is Birds with Personality – a great gift for a twitcher friend who seems to own everything! This is a hilarious and interesting depiction of the world’s most beguiling birds. The master of cookery, Bee Wilson, returns with her new mammoth recipe book, The Secret of Cooking. It contains 140 recipes, as well as hints and tricks to make your time in the kitchen easier.
For children, we have When Frankie Made a Human, by Rachel Delahaye: one day Frankie decides to make his own friend, a friend that isn’t as scary as werewolves and vampires – a human! But Frankie soon learns why humans were banned from the Monsterweld in the first place… We also have Butterfly Skies by Lauren Fairgrieve and Kate Read; a gorgeous giftbook with pop-out butterflies to create your own 3D mobile.
Coles also has some very exciting news…we’ve created our own candles! All the customers who walk into the shop always comment on how nice the smell of books is, and we couldn’t agree more. Whilst it was harder to bottle the paper-cardboard-intelligence aroma than expected, we have come up with something close. ‘The Reading Room’ is a more traditionally masculine smelling candle, with notes of tobacco and oak. Whilst ‘Curl Up With A Book’ is a more traditionally feminine smelling candle, with hints of oud. But there’s no reason why you can’t buy both! We love them here in the shop, and we hope you do too.
As always, if there’s a book you can’t find, call us and we will try our best to source a copy for you.
From Amber
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
