We may have to make do with memories of the halcyon days of June just gone.
Today the world of soccer is buzzing with ‘Woman’s World Cup Quarter Final Day’. By the time this newsletter has gone out, England may be through to the Semi-Final – an exciting prospect, and it prompted a walk around our stockroom looking for a particular book. Browsing our Coles Signed Editions I’m always struck by the number of books we have from strong, inspirational women, books by writers committed to their subject and passionate about the role they play in society – each of these women a role model. A great example being Beth Mead with her book ROAR for younger readers. But just as importantly, these strong books by strong women should be read much more widely by men.
A conversation with some good friends yesterday about pootling through the Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire countryside by train brought to mind the Edward Thomas poem ‘Adlestrop’ – as the summer seems to still struggle to get going, for this year at least, we may have to make do with memories of the halcyon days of June just gone.
Yes. I remember Adlestrop
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat, the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.
The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop—only the name
And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, our top fiction pick of the week is Michiko Aoyama’s What You Are Looking For Is In The Library. This novel tells the story of five different visitors at a library, seemingly at a difficult crossroad in their lives. Nothing that an unusual librarian can’t help with…Already loved by thousands of readers across the world, this a poignant inspirational story. In the same vein, The Little Frog’s Guide to Self-Care by Maybell Eequay is our other top pick of the week. It’s filled with motivational and uplifting quotes, a humorous, no-nonsense approach to positivity.
Other new fiction releases include, But The Girl by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu, a campus novel about postcolonial literature, Sylvia Plath and finding belonging in a foreign land; Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo, the story of a family who can predict the exact date when others will die; The Sun and The Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz, a fantasy-romance where our protagonist is deperate not to use the magic coursing through her veins; and finally, crime sensation, Vaseem Khan, is back with his fourth installment in the Malabar House series: Death Of A Lesser God, where Persis Wadia sees herself being assigned to a new case in Calcutta.
In non-fiction, Finch Bakery’s new cook book Disco Bakes and Party Cakes is a feast not only for the mouth, but also for the eyes. These brightly-coloured extravaganzas are sure to have you donning your apron in no time. Simon Sebag Montefiore’s goliath The World is now out in paperback, taking us through the most important families in history, including the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Saudis, Kims and Assads. In The Forgers, Roger Moorhouse tells the inspirational story of the ordinary people who forged the documents that saved thousands of Jewish lives in World War Two. And in Vines in a Cold Climate, Henry Jeffreys informs us of the strange success story of English Wine.
For ages 7+ we have The Magic of Forests by Vicky Woodgate, a beautifully illustrated book that answers questions such as: can trees communicate with each other? Why are rainforests called the lungs of the Earth? And what on earth is tree bathing? For young adults, Karen McManus releases the final book in The Bayview Trilogy: One Of Us Is Back, where the gang see the return of a copycat killer.
The full newsletter with links to books can be found HERE
