Choice is an indicator of liberty – freedom to choose is one of those precious commodoties which can sometimes be easily overlooked and taken for granted. A book shop is the perfect place to exercise choice, and therefore freedom – these four walls should contain a haven of liberty.
Every week we’re presented with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of new books. Despite us being lucky enough to have a good sized shop, we can’t accomodate all these new books, and so we have to choose which can find a place on our shelves (although there is plenty of space on our website for tens of thousands of titles). Those choices are made from our experience, from seeing what is happening in the world around us, from wanting to share what we have read and enjoyed, from the excitement of finding that niche title which needs to to be shouted about, from travelling in a direction which is different to the crowd – but most importatly those choices are made by listening to you – our book shelves are a reflection of our customers. We have always prided ourselves on being accessible – books, and more importantly reading, should be for all. Book shops should be warm and friendly, they should wear their politics and opinions lightly, they should respect and offer choice – we hope that Coles is a haven of liberty, it is one you’ve helped create.
This week our Coles Signed Editions are plentiful and varied – the sports autobiography we’ve been waiting years for is almost here, Pat Nevin has always travelled in a direction different to his crowd, his memoir next week, ‘The Accidental Footballer’ will be a fascinating read. We take to the boxing ring with Tony Bellow; and our commentators are Clive Tyldesley and ‘The Voice of Anfield’, George Sephton; we blast-off with Andy Weir and Grahame Baker-Smith; when it comes to books being things of beauty, then our edition of Elizabeth Macneal’s ‘Circus of Wonders’ is a thing to behold (and a wonderful writer too); we welcomed author Matson Taylor to the shop this week and he’s signed paperback editions of his bestselling novel ‘The Miseducation of Evie Epworth’; our History teacher this week is Max Hastings with one of the most extraordinary stories of the Second World War; the thrills come courtesy of Tom Bradby and Peter James; if you think the weather’s been a bit odd, then Tristan Gooley will help make sense of it all; TV’s Fearne Cotton brings voice to the unheard – we should all speak our truth; the journalist Stephanie Phillips gives voice to the musician Solange Knowles; we have new novels from Phoebe Wynn, Jennifer Saint and Lisa McInerney and there’s always fun to be had when you’re in the the company of Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
Of Old Sat Freedom on the Heights by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Of old sat Freedom on the heights,
The thunders breaking at her feet:
Above her shook the starry lights:
She heard the torrents meet.
There in her place she did rejoice,
Self-gather’d in her prophet-mind,
But fragments of her mighty voice
Came rolling on the wind.
Then stept she down thro’ town and field
To mingle with the human race,
And part by part to men reveal’d
The fulness of her face—
Grave mother of majestic works,
From her isle-altar gazing down,
Who, God-like, grasps the triple forks,
And, King-like, wears the crown:
Her open eyes desire the truth.
The wisdom of a thousand years
Is in them. May perpetual youth
Keep dry their light from tears;
That her fair form may stand and shine,
Make bright our days and light our dreams,
Turning to scorn with lips divine
The falsehood of extremes!
With our website now offering tens of thousands of titles, if you find too much choice a little overwhelming, we can throw you a lifebuoy – a Coles Books ‘Rescue Me’ book bundle is just like having one of us to chat to – a few questions and we’ll help you find the perfect books. We also have available the monthly book review magazine Strong Words – unpretentious and accessible – just like Coles!
