The Wisdom of Herons – 24 November 2023

I am curious as to what it is about the lack of daylight hours, the presence of fairy lights, a glass of mulled wine and a warm mince pie that makes one reach for a murder story but it seems to make a winning combination. Whether you are an Agatha Christie fan, a Raymond Chandler aficionado, a committed Mick Herron reader or someone who enjoys the more gory Lucy Foley, Shari Lapena or Clare Mackintosh titles: Rhode Island Red by Charlotte Carter is the book to read; it’s all kinds of great, noir fun. Nanette Hayes plays saxophone on the streets of New York City. She offers a fellow musician in need a place to stay and wakes up to find him murdered and a wad of cash stashed in her saxophone case. So, of course, she turns detective. There’s dialogue to rival Philip Marlowe and everyone she meets has a personal story as improvised as the jazz. It’s the first in a trilogy and I can’t wait to climb under a blanket this evening, candles lit, clove-infused pastry in hand, to read the next one, which may be even better as Nanette is off to Paris…

Parts of Rose Tremain’s latest novel are set in Paris too. Although Absolutely & Forever is rather more romantic. It’s a first-love story, set in the 50s and 60s, imbued with great style in the writing, not to mention the fashion and the cars. Or, if another noir does appeal, and if, like us, you long to combine that with a heart-wrenching Irish family drama then This Plague of Souls by Mike McCormack is the book for you. Just make sure someone is on hand to provide cups of tea while you’re reading.

You’ll need tea and baklava too to accompany Marjorie Lotfi’s poetry collection, The Wrong Person to Ask. Although the descriptions of these staples of daily life in Iran are bound up in loss as Lotfi was forced from her childhood home by the revolution. She now lives in Scotland and her poetry asks, beautifully: “and what is home if not the choice – over and over again – to stay?”

Last week the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction was announced: Fire Weather by John Vaillant is a stunning account of an urban fire in Canada in May 2016. It was a multi-billion-dollar disaster, seemingly apocalyptic for the tens of thousands of people who found themselves homeless. Vaillant uses this lens to look at the rising temperatures of our world and the increasing threat of fires.

Alongside a fascinating and important climate change book, it always seems good to inspire love of the natural world and Rosamund Young certainly does that in The Wisdom of Sheep & Other Animals. If you doubted for a moment that a sheep can have as much personality as a border collie or that a hen might be rather canny and intelligent, then you will be quickly corrected by the lovely observations of this book.

The shop is also increasingly full of cookery books at this hearty time of year. There are lots of gorgeous new ones out – and who wouldn’t want to gaze at some pictures of Stanley Tucci placed near various pasta dishes? – but particularly beautiful is Brutto by Russell Norman: a collection of Florentine recipes to make one imagine one is ensconced in a wine-soaked trattoria.

If you are in search of conversation-starting coffee table books – from little sparks of joy like Jackie Morris’ accordion books to awe-inspiring photography, we have put together a list here.

This week Harry and I each enjoyed reading some new middle-grade fiction. Harry read Greenwild by Pari Thomson, an adventure story about a girl who, on a quest to find her mother, passes through a door to another world. It’s a green world and you’ll need ID… so don’t forget your grassport. Meanwhile I entered the cold blue world of The Ice Children by M G Leonard, a clever version of The Snow Queen retold for an age of environmental concerns which will make you fall in love with winter (as long you are holding a hot chocolate).

In event news:

• On 6^th December at 5pm, Benjamin Markovits, author of eleven novels including You Don’t Have to Live Like This, will be in discussion with Michael Kalisch, at the University of Bristol. We will be the bookseller for this event which includes a reading and discussion. It’s free to come along; look forward to seeing you there.
• Poetry in Herons (our monthly poetry series) and our book clubs will continue apace next year. Watch this space for some exciting updates.

May your weekend overflow with jazz and mince pies!

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