I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
The imagination was ignited, the plans were poured over, the ideas translated into workable processes, the scaffolding’s gone up and the building work has started – our website is having a bit of work done on how it looks and how it works. Translating everything that a bookshop is in the real world into something that can be experienced online is a fascinating idea. The look and feel and smell of the real thing can be difficult to replicate on a screen, but the choice and variety of the books we curate and display in the shop is how we’d like our website to look – no algorithms, no automatic stuff – books chosen on their merits and appeal, books you’ll see reviewed in the papers over the weekend, books we’ve read and loved, books worth reading and books worth collecting. And just like the windows of the shop in Bicester, we hope the website becomes a window to Coles for those who visit us online.
‘I Opened a Book and in I Strode’ by Julia Donaldson from her book Crazy Mayonnaisy Mum
I opened a book and in I strode
Now nobody can find me.
I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.
I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king
And dived in a bottomless ocean.
I opened a book and made some friends.
I shared their tears and laughter
And followed their road with its bumps and bends
To the happily ever after.
I finished my book and out I came.
The cloak can no longer hide me.
My chair and my house are just the same,
But I have a book inside me.
Luke Jennings has brought out a new book this week, which is amazing news for those of us who devoured Killing Eve. #Panic is set to be a hit, with four friends on a dangerous mission to help their favourite celebrity, Jennings questions the power of fandom in his trademark thrilling style. Perhaps we are in for another star-studded series?
Our top non-fiction book this week is George by Frieda Hughes. Perfect for the budding Spring afternoons spent in the garden, George captures the tender relationship Hughes develops with a rescued magpie in her new home in the country. Complete with emotive drawings of George’s development, this one is peaceful and gentle, like every great companionship should be.
In fiction, The Neil Gaiman Reader is a ginormous retrospective of short stories, novellas, and excerpts from a revered author; Celeste Ng’s Our Missing Hearts is out now in paperback, a tale of uncovering family history, injustice, and the importance of art; and Fray by Chris Carse Wilson has all the makings of an excellent thriller: eery forests, an abandoned cottage, and a family in crisis. Due out in September is Robert Galbraith’s The Running Grave, which has a Coles Special Price of £12.50.
Rory Smith kicks off our non-fiction picks with Expected Goals, examining the impact data has on professional football and the genius brains behind the tactics that lead to goals scored. Milan Kundera puts forward the case for shining the spotlight on Central Europe in A Kidnapped West and Gordon Ramsey travels the world in Uncharted, a cookbook that moves beyond recipes to give an insight into different cultures, methods of farming, and culinary traditions.
For younger readers, Escape to the River Sea by Emma Carroll is an adventure story surrounded by rainforest beauty and poet Pam Ayres introduces children to the wonderful world of otters in her rhyming book, I am Oliver the Otter.
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.
The full newsletter with links to books can be found HERE
