Our first “regular” month after the fun of the opening day and Easter holidays. We’ve seen a much wider selection of people coming in and books being sold; here are a couple of “bestsellers” and our own personal picks from May. We have most in the shop but click on the pictures or titles to find them in our online shop.
Bestsellers
Books:
There’s a Hole In My Bagpipes by Kate Mclelland and The Mandalorian Vol 1. By Rodney Barnes have proven popular this month. They come from the popular Scottish section of our children’s area and our graphic novel selection which is selling better each week.
Records:
David Bowie was our best selling artist of May, with copies of Low and Live At The Montreal Forum 83 being sold. Low is a personal favourite and the Live 83 record seemed like an interesting addition to our stock – it seems we were right!
Our Reading
Jayne:
Book of the month: The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
Set against the backdrop of the division of Nicosia, Cyprus in the 1970s, this is an unforgettable story about forbidden love, displacement, home, family and where ones roots lie. Well written, desperately sad in places, but very enjoyable.
Notable mentions:
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Quirky, funny and sweet. This is a lovely little book about a grandmother and her grandchild and their adventures on a small island in the Finnish Gulf.
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
A short story collection which are mostly centred on the authors own life experiences. With running themes such as alcoholism and cancer it is tough reading in places, but the stories are told with such dry wit and humour they kept me coming back for more.
Dean:
Book of the month: Biography Of X by Catherine Lacey
The widow of a famous / infamous artist attempts to write a biography of her deceased partner but both the author and subject are deeply unreliable narrators. Set in an alternate America which spent much of the 20th century divided by a wall, it’s vivid and interesting storytelling and world building.
Notable mentions:
Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel
A SciFi book that isn’t really that Scifi, outside of using time travel as a means to explore relationships and the impact of history. The writing style was immediately engaging and the structure created natural intrigue; I’ll be exploring more by this author as a result.
The Premonitions Bureau by Sam Knight
A non-fiction book that sounds like fiction. In the 1960s a doctor becomes increasingly interested in the idea of premonitions and sets up the titular bureau in an attempt to predict natural disasters. The vision of the 60s, it’s beliefs and approaches to medicine seem like another world. An interesting insight.
Freya:
My First Pop-Up Endangered Animals by Owen Davey
I like looking at all the animals from around the world. My favourite is the (Geometric) Tortoise. We’ve been learning at nursery about looking after the Earth and animals and picking up litter.