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Newsletter #33

Hello lovely people! Can you believe it’s February already? Linear time eh, what a trip. If you're lucky enough to be spending it with someone, you’ll have big plans for this coming Valentine’s Day — why not show your loved one how much you care, and respect their intellect, by gifting them a book? And if you’re lucky enough to be spending it alone — why not spend your joyously free evening with a book? Basically, either way, you should be reading something on February 14th. Or doing a jigsaw. We’re not fussy, but we do have some further suggestions…

New this week

Here’s a unique pitch for an historical novel: The Language of Food tells the story of Eliza Acton, the real-life 19th century poet who, despite being initially kitchen-averse, went one to become on of the world's most successful cookery writers. Annabel Abs focuses on the friendship between Acton and her writing assistant Ann Kirby, as they find fame in the only arena of publishing that would accept women at that time, bond across their differing social classes, and paved the way for the food writing of today.

We’re going to stick around in Georgian London for Susan Stokes-Chapman’s Pandora, an ingenious mystery centring on a mysterious Greek vase. When it shows up at her uncle’s antiques shop; Dora sees a ticket out of her squalid life, and academic Edward sees a career boost. It turns out to be considerably more complicated than that. In the present day, Mona Awad’s All’s Well sees a hard-nosed theatre director intent on staging Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well — despite the protestations of her cast, a debilitating back injury, and failing marriage — with the help of a Faustian bargain offered by three strange benefactors…

Coming in hot with the recommendation of Raven Leilani and Oprah, K-Ming Chang’s Bestiary is a chimaera of a novel. It’s a magical-realist exploration of Taiwanese folklore; it’s a coming-of-age story; it’s a meditation of migration and intergenerational memory; it’s a book about a girl who starts turning into a tiger. Buried secrets begin to be uncovered as a young woman investigates her grandmother’s old letters, revealing that the fairy stories her mother used to tell her — about a woman possessed by a tiger spirit with an appetite for children’s toes — may have some basis in truth.

A delicious hotpot of a smalltown thriller/familial drama, The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang sees the eponymous characters thrown into disarray when their tyrannical patriarch is found dead in their restaurant’s meat freezer, with everyone a suspect. Asylum Road is the latest from Olivia Sudjic, an eerie tale that finds protagonists Anya and Luke on the verge of either marriage or break-up, tested further by a fraught holiday in Provence, an unsettling shared history, and Anya’s traumatic childhood escape from war-torn Sarajevo.

Literary editor, novelist and memoirist Diana Athill spent a formative fortnight in Italy in 1947: conning men into buying dinner for her and best friend Pen, seeing the sights and eating every delicious pastry they can find. The newly-published A Florence Diary is a vivid recollection of this jaunt, a superb evocation of a bygone era. New in paperback, Katherine Angel’s Tomorrow Sex Wil Be Good Again is an urgent, strident and entertaining exploration of desire, sexuality and consent in a post-#MeToo world.

Metaphysical Animals looks to be an absolute treat, a group biography of the “four women who brought philosophy back to life.” Their names? Iris Murdoch, Mary Midgley, Philippa Foot and Elizabeth Anscombe, all Oxford students during the Second World War. Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman depict an intellectually vibrant environment that developed in reaction to a particularly bleak period, filled with effervescent characters and insight.

From the metropolises of old to the megacities we inhabit today: how did we get here? In Ten Cities That Led the World, Paul Strathern sets out to explain just that, taking in the unique personalities and innovations of societies from ancient Babylonia to Soviet Russia, with stopovers in enlightenment-era Paris, Constantinople as it becomes Istanbul, and industrial London. An informative and enthralling look at the foundations which hold up our current world, and how we might build further upon them.

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid is Thor Hanson’s eye-opening examination of how the natural world is evolving in reaction to climate change, including the titular Caribbean reptiles that have grown larger toes to grip trees during extreme weather. A fascinating reminder of our planet’s resilience in the face of catastrophe. New in paperback, Paulina Bren’s The Barbizon is an absorbing and deeply researched biography of the renowned New York hotel, which counted such independent women as Sylvia Plath, Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly and Joan Didion amongst its temporary residents.

We’ve got a trio of comedic treasures for our children’s picks for this edition! Friend of the bookshop and author of the fantastic Dragon in the Library series Louie Stowell makes her solo writer/illustrator debut in Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good, a boundlessly inventive and hilarious take on the Norse god of mischief who’s been trapped in the body of a weedy eleven-year-old boy. Presented as a diary full of doodles and gripes about a school life far from the mythical politics of Asgard, this is a laugh-riot of a book!

Meanwhile, Must Do Better is the second fantastically funny instalment of author and stand-up Kate Weston’s Diary of a Confused Feminist series. This time around, plucky 16-year-old narrator Kat continues her one-woman Suffragette movement at school while navigating a reunion with former foreign exchange fling Sébastien. Last but by no means least, Dan and Jason’s Barb the Brave is a brilliantly fun graphic novel set in a fantasy world populated by vampire goat fiends, snotgoblins and a giant with serious foot odour issues.

Frank and Bert gets our highest recommendation this time around, a gorgeously illustrated and absolutely superb picture book from Chris Naylor-Ballesteros, author of The Suitcase. An interactive hide-and-seek game between the eponymous anthropomorphic characters, this is great fun for younger readers, Sarah adores the use of neon pink throughout. On the non-fiction side of things, Goddess is another luxurious volume from the British Museum. Dr Janina Ramirez and artist Sarah Walsh provide capsule biographies of 50 goddesses, spirits, saints and other women who have shaped belief.

Multi-award-winner Valerio Vidali is back with another sumptuously illustrated picture book in the form of The King's Ship. Shades of recent Oliver Jeffers abound in this fable about the perils of greed, wherein a monarch demands the construction of the largest sea-faring vessel in existence…which, naturally, does not go according to plan. A cautionary tale with a surprise twist, this is another top-tier picture book!

Did you know that those little blocks you try to disappear in Tetris have a special name? You did? Well, if you're so smart, then you'll have no trouble with this jigsaw made up of tetrominos (see, we knew too). Tetromino City is a mere 300 pieces, but the real puzzle will be getting your head around the geometric perspective in putting it all together.

What we're reading

Alex has been reading and loving Dailey Johnson’s debut short story collection Fen, an assortment of tender, feral, slimy modern fairytales set in the damp Fenlands
Letty has been revisiting Cowboy Mouth, the brainchild of Sam Shepard and Patti Smith: a bizarre exquisitry about a crow girl, a lobster man and a wannabe-washed up rock star.
Both Sam and Jo recommend Enbury Heath by Stella Gibbons, a bittersweet novel about family and grief set on Hampstead Heath!

We can hear cupid beginning to pull back on his bow, which means we need to get out of here and start selling some Valentine's Day cards. As always, we're here at the times listed below, as well as available over phone and email for orders, recommendations, and racing tips. All these heart-shaped balloons and romantic poetry don't pay for themselves. Take care of yourselves and we'll see you soon!

We are open for browsing 10-6 Monday to Saturday, and 11-5 on Sunday. You can also email or call (020 7249 2808) to place an order, then pick up your items from the shop. If you're unable to get to the shop for any reason, you can order books to be delivered to you through our friends at Bookshop.org (and we receive a decent commission!)