Sometimes you just need to have a good laugh.
Sometimes you just need to have a good laugh – it’s a tonic, a booster, a shot in the arm. A proper good chuckle can be a joyful distraction – it can be the blackboard rubber, the clean sweep, a restart button, it has the power to convert a frown to a smile – it’s the CTRL-ALT-DEL / TASK MANAGER which lights up your face. And as is often the case, there’s a book to help you get to such a joyful state – and this week it’s James Blunt’s new title ‘Loosely Based on a Made-up Story’, with each and every page a glistening jewel of merriment. It may not be a book to stretch the mind, but that’s not the point, the point is to empty your mind of one thing and fill it with another. And I think this is where books and reading can be such a powerful force for goodness and wellbeing – switch-off the bad stuff, pick up James’s book and the turning of the pages can turn on some joy.
Last week our pop-up bookshop popped up the road to The Mill Arts Centre in Banbury in support of an evening of poetry with Brian Bilston. Judging by the smiles of those in attendance, there was plenty of mirth being shared around. This little ditty is from his new paperback ‘Days Like These’.
cuppa by Brian Bilston
no matter if you’re uppity
or you cause a brew ha ha,
you’ll always be my cuppa tea,
my steaming mug of char
know this my darjeeling,
only tea leaves me this way
you stir me up and turn me
fifty shades of earl grey
yes, that’s the oolong
and the ooshort of it,
the infusing, confusing thought of it
but please don’t make a sport of it
because without you,
i am defunct
like a biscuit waiting
to be dunked
The literary phenomenon, Louis de Bernieres, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, has returned. Light Over Liskeard tells the story of Q, a quirky protagonist who is looking to ride out what’s left of his life holed-up in a house in Cornwall; however, the people he meets along the way are far from normal: including the park ranger in charge of the reintroduced lynxes and aurochs that roam the area; a holy man waiting for the second coming on top of a nearby hill; an Arthurian knight on horseback and the amorous ghost of an Edwardian woman who haunts the farmhouse. This novel pokes fun at twenty-first century life, and makes us question what we value the most. Our non-fiction pick of the week is an exquisite coffee table book, brought to us by Dolly Parton. Behind the Seams will have you transfixed. This book is bursting with colour, sequins, jewels and luxury, documenting some of Dolly’s favourite outfits from her years of performing.
New fiction includes a beautiful reissue of Mythos by Stephen Fry, this time with stunning pictures to spark your imagination throughout the tales; we also have an illustrated edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, illustrated by John Coulthard – this is definitely a book to sit pride-of-place on a bookshelf, with its sprayed edges, and red-transparent dustjacket; The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa is the comforting story of seven different cats as they weave their way through their owners’ lives; whilst Cassandra Clare is back with a new adult fantasy, Sword Catcher, the story of a prince and his magical bodyguard.
In non-fiction, A Brief Atlas of Lighthouses at the End of the World by Gonzales Macias documents all types of weird and wonderful lighthouses – perfect for geography lovers and travellers alike. Catch a rare glimpse at the inside of multi-award-winning Hilary Mantel’s mind, with her posthumous diaries and essays, in A Memoir of My Former Self. Jo Wimpenny takes a deep dive into old fables in Aesop’s Animals, where she tries to understand how animals gained their famous stereotypes – why are wolves always the villains? Why are crows insightful? And could a tortoise really beat a hare? You’ll have to buy the book to find out! For football fans, find out what really happens on deadline day, in Deadline Day, by Jim White and Kevah Solhekol: for three months every year football clubs buy and sell human beings. People who are so good at their job that others are willing to pay millions and millions of pounds to work with them, and for good reason; the right deal can help you win football’s top prizes while the wrong deal can cost you your job and bankrupt your club.
Lastly, for little ones, Bill Bryson takes us on a tour of our weird and wonderful bodies inside A Really Short Journey Through the Body (which we’re offering at an extra-special price). We also have ‘Tis the Season by Richard Jones, this book is an advent delight, with a poem to be read every day in December, as well as flaps to open. What’s more, the whole book folds out to make a lovely display.
As always, if there’s anything you need help with, or anything you need ordering in, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
From Amber
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