Heron Books Has Begun – 15 October 2022

Heron Books has now been open for two weeks; thank you to everyone who has made the opening a wonderful start.

The Booker Prize winner will be announced on Monday. Rather than attempt any predictions, I’ll say that all six of the shortlistees are brilliant in utterly different ways. The Booker Prize have made some stunning films of actors reading passages from the novels, staring straight at the watcher in moving and eerie ways. We have the full shortlist in our shop or available online.

About one of the shortlisted authors however, I must write further. Elizabeth Strout’s latest book, ‘Lucy By the Sea’ was published on 6 October. Lucy Barton is hurried away from New York by her ex-husband at the start of the pandemic to a draughty house in Maine. I have read a few novels which try to tackle the pandemic. This is the first one from which I really learnt something about what happened; the moments when Lucy looks away from the news, the insights that come from this that her childhood was a lockdown – they opened something for me. I can’t wait for everyone to read it. And we have a few signed copies; let us know if you would like us to put one aside for you.

A few more of our favourite new books:

Fiction

Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens – the ghost of a teenage girl stuck in a monastery in Mallorca for hundreds of years watches the arrival of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand and falls desperately in love with the latter, a woman in man’s clothes.

An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie – a young man from Bristol strives to escape every element of the world in which he has been raised in this fable of redemption.

Poetry

Marigold and Rose by Louise Glück – a chronicle – a poem, of sorts – of the first year in the life of twin girls which becomes a multigenerational saga and an examination of time and language.

Non-fiction

Hagitude by Sharon Blackie – hags with attitude reclaiming and reimagining the second half of life and changing the stories we tell about ageing.

An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West by Konstantin Kisin – a journalist, comedian and immigrant’s take on cancel culture, free speech and capitalism, challenging the West’s increasing self-loathing.

Children’s

Don’t Ask the Dragon by Lemn Sissay and illustrated by Greg Stobbs – a stunning picture book about a boy seeking advice and answers about the world.

The Book that No One Wanted to Read by Richard Ayoade and illustrated by Tor Freeman – undoubtedly a story about a book that no one wanted to read. Also cartoons.

We look forward to talking about all of these books and more. If you can’t come into the shop, do not panic. You can order online, email us (read@heronbooks.co.uk) or call us on 0117 431 0616.

Book groups

In time, we are hoping to organise a few different books groups for fiction, nature writing, and intersectional feminism. If you would be interested in joining a book group, please get in touch with us by email or telephone.