We hide from the wind, we run from the water
It must be seventy or so miles to the nearest part of Britain’s coast from Bicester, and yet this week the incoming tide seems to have got all the way to the edge of town. The fields to the south and east have become inland seas. Small brooks which pootle along most of the year have turned into raging torrents, the tiny River Bure racing through town like a Mad Hatter late for an important date. Beast-like clouds backed into a corner, dark grey and growling, throwing all they have to the ground below. A phrase heard on the radio from Florida, experiencing their own deluge these last few days – ‘we hide from the wind, we run from the water’ – little can be done when facing their beast. And yet this morning, as the stars turn out their lights and a blue wash descends onto the orange horizon, the sun starts its ascent into a cloudless sky. Every now and then Mother nature and her partner, the weather, poke us with a stick to let us know who’s in charge – it’s not us.
There’s a deluge of a different type in the shop – we are a cork bobbing along on a sea of beautiful and wonderful books.
Smooth Between Sea and Land by A.E. Housman
Smooth between sea and land
Is laid the yellow sand,
And here through summer days
The seed of Adam plays.
Here the child comes to found
His unremaining mound,
And the grown lad to score
Two names upon the shore.
Here, on the level sand,
Between the sea and land,
What shall I build or write
Against the fall of night?
Tell me of runes to grave
That hold the bursting wave,
Or bastions to design
For longer date than mine.
Shall it be Troy or Rome
I fence against the foam,
Or my own name, to stay
When I depart for aye?
Nothing: too near at hand,
Planing the figured sand,
Effacing clean and fast
Cities not built to last
And charms devised in vain,
Pours the confounding main.
There are so many books to be excited about at this time of year, that it’s hard to pick just a few shooting stars from the collection. But Louise Erdrich, known as a literary master to some, has released The Mighty Red, a book that promises the absurdity of human experience. Kismet is marrying Gary, but Hugo wants to win her back, and Kismet’s mother, Crystal, is worrying about the future and envisioning guardian angels. On paper it might sound like a soap opera, but the reality is a beautifully crafted, heart-rending book, worthy of its top spot. And our non-fiction pick this week is another fantastic Coles Special Price book: Simply Jamie makes cooking easy with dinners that can be whipped up in minutes and meals that make the most out of cupboard staples.
Also in fiction, Dawn O’Porter’s Honeybee is a book for those of us who are still finding a way to belong: an ode to the power of friendship and a hilarious ride through the trials and tribulations of adulthood – why did no one warn Renee and Flo that adult life isn’t all coming up roses? Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is full of intrigue as an elderly lady steps into strangers’ lives with predictions for their futures; as they become bound to her, their existential dilemmas surface, and we are left to guess whether she is a genuine clairvoyant or an agent of chaos. Nobel Prize Winner Olga Tokarczuk brings back her signature chilling style in The Empusium, a short novel set in a sanatorium on the eve of the First World War. And in fantasy, Terry Pratchett’s collection of rediscovered stories from his early days of writing, A Stroke of the Pen, is now out in paperback; these short stories hint at the otherworldly characters and imaginative adventures of his Discworld series.
In non-fiction, Ned Palmer’s mouth-watering A Cheesemonger’s Tour De France traces the history of some of the country’s best cheese, delighting with morsels of knowledge about identity, politics, and cheesy traditions. James Norbury, author of The Cat Who Taught Zen, is back with an illustrated treat that teaches us to step back and allow life to unfold in ways we cannot control; Simon Read details the inception of Scotland Yard, using some of the most well-known gruesome cases to highlight the advancement of crime-fighting techniques; and Lucy Worsley’s Jane Austen At Home has been released as a gorgeous birthday edition featuring a guided tour of all the best Austen sites to visit, as well as marvelling at how the spaces she occupied helped her change the literary landscape.
For children 12+, The Forest of a Thousand Eyes by Frances Hardinge is an atmospheric story about a young girl’s fight for survival in a treacherous forest; and for a toddler’s bedtime story, Night Night Little One is a sweet board book filled with adorable animals and glowing stars.
As always, if there’s something you need help with, or a book you need ordering, please call or email us!
From Sophie
The full newsletter with linkd to books – including this week’s Signed Editions – can be found HERE
