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Newsletter #38

Hello lovely people! We do hope you enjoyed your long weekend. We spent the time resting, recuperating, and scoffing our body weight in chocolate. Thankfully the sugar crash has come and gone, and we're once again ready to hatch a cracking newsletter for you. We do hope you enjoy our recommendations, or else it'll be egg on our faces. Enough with the awful yolks, let's get onto the books!

New this week

What sophomore slump? Young Mungo is Douglas Stewart’s superb follow-up to deserved Booker winner Shuggie Bain. This is another Glasgow-set work sensitively exploring the intersections of class, sectarianism, and toxic masculinity. Ellie highly recommends this soft, gentle love story kindled between two teenage boys against a backdrop of the city’s East End in the 1980s. Stewart works from a similar palette as his breakthrough debut, but paints a different, rich portrait of loneliness and community alike.

Jogging memoirist Bella Mackie makes a splashy, gory entrance to fiction with the darkly comic How to Kill Your Family. Grace Bernard sets out on a mission of self actualisation-through-slaughter, bumping off her estranged family for both revenge and fortune — American Psycho for the Alderton set? Hackney resident Ashley Hickson-Lovence follows up his sweeping The 392 with the equally thought-provoking and well-realised Your Show, tracing the life story of a jobbing referee from Jamaica to Sheffield, reflecting on how he got there and the hostile environment he overcame to do so.

Already picked up for a TV adaptation and recommended by the likes of Celeste Ng and Karen Joy Fowler, Sanjena Sathian’s Gold Diggers certainly lives up to the hype! This is an effervescently energetic, funny and insightful coming-of-age story with a twist. As kids, Anita and Neil found the secret to success as first-generation immigrants: a form of enchanted alchemy which created fortune-bringing jewellery. Naturally, greed and naivety meant it all went a bit pear-shaped, leading them to become somewhat less-extraordinary adults. Surely one last spin of the magic wheel couldn’t hurt…?

Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses trades in a lot of familiar themes and imagery — a volatile love affair played out against The Troubles, all tearful confrontations and, well, tear gas — but does so with such clarity and emotional honesty it’s like you’re seeing them for the first time. Following a successful sideline in self-help podcasting, Elizabeth Day returns to writing with the terrifically tense Magpie. Marisa has a seemingly idyllic life with her older live-in boyfriend; that is, until they take in lodger Kate, who seems intent on ruffling a few feathers. No spoilers, but perhaps cuckoo might have been a more apposite name for this twisty domestic thriller…

What the “beaches” of the Thames lack in sunbathing opportunities they more than make up for with their insight into 18th and 19th century London. Malcolm Russell’s Mudlark'd sifts through the detritus collected along the city’s waterways, dredging up high-quality photographs alongside the enrgossing backstories of discarded coins, hairpins and pipes, many of which travelled from as far as continental Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Alongside this unique history of British industry and culture, the book offers a step-by-step guide for budding mudlarkers intent on finding treasure (first of all: invest in some wellies).

After making a lot of noise with Quiet, her non-fiction exploration of introversion in a loud world, Susan Cain returns with the similarly fascinating and subtle Bittersweet. Again drawing on psychological studies, anecdotal evidence and personal experience, she explores the ways loss and suffering bonds us closer together. Still thinking about the Thames? Well, The Mercenary River is Nick Higham's page-turning exploration of how London’s waterways were built, using newly-discovered research to lay out the scientific breakthroughs and political skullduggery that made the city what it is today.

Rachel Kushner’s The Hard Crowd is now out in paperback, collecting The Mars Room author’s essays and journalism. From personal recollections of her Californian childhood, to critiques of the work of Koons and Duras, through to reportage from a Palestinian refugee camp, Kushner has an unwaveringly sharp and probing approach to her subjects that will be familiar to fans of her fiction. The collection covers a plurality of subjects and a twenty-year career, yet the intelligence and perspective of its author holds steadfast throughout. Engaging, thought-provoking stuff!

Another handsome Thames and Hudson tome, Joshua Fry’s guide to The Japanese Myths is a succinct tour from the foundational legends of the Shintō religion to the continuing influence on the country’s modern-day popular culture. A fascinating and full-bodied exploration not only of the stories, but how they shaped Japan as we know it. Caryn Rose waxes lyrical on a more contemporary icon in Why Patti Smith Matters, a long-form biography/essay contextualising the musician and writer’s work in the New York scene of the seventies and ongoing impact she has today.

The Girl Who Lost a Leopard is the third standalone story from the brilliant Nizrana Farook, once again telling a rich, meaningful story against modern-day Sri Lanka. This time the adventure centres on Selvi, a young firecracker who loves nothing more than exploring the mountains behind her home — often with her leopard friend Lokka in tow. When poachers threaten their peace, Selvi and her friends hatch a plan to protect Lokka and her land. A real page-turner with wonderful characters, an exquisitely rendered setting, and a valuable message!

The latest in her Kate on the Case series, Hannah Peck’s The Call of the Silver Wibbler is another superb, illustrated detective story for younger readers. This time our reporter-in-training (along with pet mouse Rupert) is on a jungle cruise, searching for the titular mythical bird; a journey full of twists, turns, and colourful characters. Speaking of boats and mysteries, The Riddle of the Sea is a gorgeous-looking adventure story from Dutch author Jonne Kramer and illustrator Karl James Mountford. When his father is lost at sea, Ravian defies rumours of a “cursed ship” to find him. He must do battle with the elements — supported by a motley crew including his pet seagull and a grumpy pirate.

Ready for a fresh perspective on life and death? Look no further than The Unofficial Guide to the Egyptian Afterlife, a raucously funny and informative book credited to “Bastet, the Pharaoh's Cat,” who we suspect has gotten a bit of help from Sophie Berger and illustrator Laura Winstone. They probably took dictation, what with Bastet’s lack of opposable thumbs. A colourful, light-hearted look at the process of mummification and crossing over (complete with a cruise over the river Styx) — all narrated by a feisty feline, sparing none of the gory details without getting overly morbid.

Sarah highly recommends The Eyebrows of Doom, Steve Smallman and Miguel Ordóñez’s hilarious picture book about a mild-mannered bear who plays host to a pair of eyebrows intent on world domination. Just a standard Thursday, then. Back to the non-fiction realm (although we can’t swear those eyebrows aren’t out there, somewhere…) with A Day in the Life of Bugs, a colourful and wonderfully presented exploration of what bees, ants and dragonflies get up to in their day-to-day, from Dr Jessica L. Ware and artist Chaaya Prabhat.

Jigsaw time! And what better to highlight during this verdant spring period than Around the World in 50 Trees? This 1,000 piece puzzle features a design by local artist Lucille Clerc, who also provided the illustrations for Jonathan Drori’s book Around the World in 80 Trees. Not sure what happened to the other thirty. Maybe that’s part of the puzzle?

What we're reading

Jo just read A Town called Solace by Mary Lawson; very Anne Tyler-esque, she absolutely loved it!
Josh has been loving Matrix by Lauren Groff, a deeply atmospheric, beautifully written tale about mining a life from the hard edges of luck.
Ellie is reading Kim Hye-jin's Concerning My Daughter, the story of how a family home shifts when the daughter's boyfriend movies in, written from the mother’s perspective so it follows all her doubts and frustrations.
Sam has so far been much enjoying At Certain Points We Touch by Lauren John Joseph - spiky, sexy queer Künstlerroman.

That's another eggs-quisite selection (a dozen and a half by our count), even if we do say so ourselves. We're absolutely fried! If you fancy poaching a few of the books spotlighted here, or anything else that tickles your fancy, all details about opening hours, contact and ordering details are below. We'll not whisk outstaying our welcome, and see you back in your inbox in a fortnight!

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!)