Welcome the ripe, the sweet, the sour,
the hollow and the whole.
It was one of those serendipitous occurrences which happen in life and you find yourself thinking ‘how did that happen?’ and of course in our world it was related books and authors. Some months ago we decided to embrace a non-fiction title for our traditionally fiction focused Coles Book Club. The author we chose was Professor Seirian Sumner with her book ‘Endless Forms: Why We Should Love Wasps’. We first met Seirian many months ago when her book was first published in hardback – her enthusiasm for her subject was infectious, to call her character exuberant would be an understatement. And so last Thursday evening Book Club dipped into a vespine world of tiny creatures whose skills and endeavours taught us how to make paper from wood (who knew?). It was a fascinating evening, full of stuff which we knew nothing about – such as to avoid picnic pests, have sweeter foods earlier in the year and protein based foods later – follow the rule of thumb ‘Jam then Ham’ and the little blighters will stay away (wasps go for ham early in the year and jam in the later months). Also these little chaps will only try and sting if you strike out at them – keep still whilst they pootle about and then they’ll soon be off – fascinating stuff at BookClub!
The serendipity came about the following evening whilst supporting an author at the Oxford University Department for the Environment – another scientist, this time Tim Blackburn and his book launch for ‘The Jewel Box’ about the world of moths. Tim, like Seirian, is a professor at University College London, his office is next to Seirian’s – that both these ‘scientist come nature writers’ who work in adjoining rooms at UCL should both enter our world inconsecutive evenings is one of life’s happy coincidences. Both Seirian and Tim signed some extra copies of their respective books and they’re on the website and in the shop.
Apples by Laurie Lee
Behold the apples’ rounded worlds:
juice-green of July rain,
the black polestar of flowers, the rind
mapped with its crimson stain.
The russet, crab and cottage red
burn to the sun’s hot brass,
then drop like sweat from every branch
and bubble in the grass.
They lie as wanton as they fall,
and where they fall and break,
the stallion clamps his crunching jaws,
the starling stabs his beak.
In each plump gourd the cidery bite
of boys’ teeth tears the skin;
the waltzing wasp consumes his share,
the bent worm enters in.
I, with as easy hunger, take
entire my season’s dole;
welcome the ripe, the sweet, the sour,
the hollow and the whole.
It’s been one of the coldest Mays on record, and, frankly, I don’t think it’s very fair! However, it does mean that on coming weekends, when we had been previously blessed by sunshine, and now we’re cursed with rain, we can still wrap up warm inside the house with a good book. And we do have some very good books for you this week.
Is This OK? One Woman’s Search For Connection Online by Harriet Gibsone is a hilarious memoir about the overwhelming necessity to find relationships online – and it’s our non-fiction pick of the week. Music journalist, self-professed creep and former winner of the coveted ‘Fittest Girl in Year 11’ award, Harriet Gibsone lives in fear of her internet searches being leaked. Suddenly, with a diagnosis of early menopause in her late twenties, her relationship with the internet takes a darker turn, as her online addictions are thrown into sharp relief by the corporeal realities of illness and motherhood.
Our fiction pick of the week comes from two household names: Douglas Adams and Monty Python’s Terry Jones. They have teamed up in a round-a-bout way to bring us Starship Titanic: At the centre of the galaxy, a vast, unknown civilization is preparing for an event of epic proportions: the launch of the greatest, most gorgeous, most technologically advanced spaceship ever built – the Starship Titanic. This novel is the perfect piece of Science Fiction escapism.
Other new fiction titles bursting from the shelves include The Guest by Emma Cline, a dizzying tale of one woman’s heat-filled summer, always teetering at the edge of mystery and oblivion. Good Husbands by Cate Ray is a dark and twisty thriller that asks the question, what happens when Mr Right is also the Bad Guy? Go as a River by Shelley Read is a beautiful and poetic novel, with shades of Delia Owens. Set in the 1950s, it follows a woman as she questions what would have happened if she’d made alternative decisions. Finally, The God of that Summer by Ralf Rothmann is a historic novel set in 1940s Germany, where a family of oppressed Germans question what is right and wrong amidst a war, where the perpetrators are their own kin.
In non-fiction we have a whole host of interesting new titles. Will You Read This, Please? is a compilation of heartbreaking mental health stories, edited by Joanna Cannon, and retold by popular authors – including Tracy Chevalier, Clare Mackintosh and Kathryn Mannix. Bestselling author of Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy, has released a new bestseller: The Russo-Ukrainian War, which explains the current situation in Ukraine, and the history of the tension between the two countries. Too Big To Jail by Chris Blackhurst delves into how HSBC helped drug-lords launder money, in one of the biggest financial scandals of the century. On Days Like These by Martin O’Neill is now out in paperback – the football sensation tells the story of his time as both a player and a manager. I recently saw Martin talk at the Oxford Literary Festival and he had me in hysterics despite not knowing a single thing about football myself – if I’m recommending a football biography then it must be good.
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
