Books Books Books

Science journalist and writer Laura Spinney is coming to the bookshop on 5th June to talk about her latest book Proto : How One Ancient Language Went Global. The book explores how one language emerged from the last ice age before exploding around the world until today its descendants constitute the world’s largest language family, and are the thread that connects Dante’s Inferno to the Rig Veda, The Lord of the Rings to the love poetry of Rumi. Indo-European languages are spoken by nearly half of humanity. How did this happen? Laura Spinney set out to answer that question, retracing the Indo-European odyssey across continents and millennia. With her we travel the length of the steppe, navigating the Caucasus, the silk roads and the Hindu Kush. We follow in the footsteps of nomads and monks, Amazon warriors and lion kings – the ancient peoples who spread these languages far and wide. In the present, Spinney meets the scientists on a thrilling mission to retrieve those lost languages: the linguists, archaeologists and geneticists who have reconstructed this ancient diaspora. What they have learned has vital implications for our modern world, since people and their languages are on the move again. Proto…

We are pleased to announce that the writer Paul Scraton is coming back to the bookshop on Friday, 23rd May to talk about his latest novel A Dream of White Horses. I have admired Paul’s work since he published In the Pines, and even travelled to Berlin for the launch of this book. In some ways, very appropriate as the story is about journeys, with Ben travelling from London to a small German island to see his friend Pascal, who is in his last days of his life. As he travels, Ben listens to voice notes from Pascal, each relating to a photograph from a different moment in his life. In the same way that In the Pines, is for anyone who has been young, A Dream of White Horses is for travellers in both the physical sense, and for those who journey backwards in time to explore friendships and absence. A tale of friendship, the book also explores what happens when the idols of our younger years grow old and turn to us for help and validation. As well as being a great writer, Paul is a thoughtful speaker and his events are well worth attending for his ability to create an intimate atmosphere and…

After being in a bit of a reading slump, I’ve managed to get myself out of it, thanks to some really good books! Coincidentally, two of the better books I’ve read lately (basically one after the other) both had footnotes. Who doesn’t love a good footnote? I find they’re generally used to interject humour, which we can all use more of these days! Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney Genre: Fantasy This book has been on my list for awhile, but I read an article recently that book two was coming out soon, and decided the time was ripe – gentle reader, I was not disappointed! This is a beautiful coming-of-age story, about magic, and family, and legacy. The central unfolds a bit slowly at first, and it shifts and twists, but this is one of the better books I’ve read in awhile, and book 2 has just come out (I’m also a bit of a sucker for fantasy books with footnotes…) Nothing complicates life like Death. Lanie Stones, the daughter of crown-appointed killers, was born with a gift for necromancy—and a literal allergy to violence. For her own safety, she was raised in isolation in a crumbling mansion by…