Independent Hove book shop, City Books, lists their bestsellers this summer for July and August…
Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
The long-awaited return of private investigator Jackson Brodie. Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, son and Labrador in tow. His seemingly straightforward current assignment – gathering evidence of a husband’s unfaithfulness for a suspicious wife – suddenly puts him in the path of something much darker and much more dangerous. Old secrets and new lies collide. The independent bookshop edition includes a Q&A with the author.
At the Pond, Various Authors
At the Pond is a collection of writing on swimming in the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond, with contributors including Margaret Drabble, Esther Freud, Deborah Moggach and Leanne Shapton. It combines personal experiences – like Sharlene Teo’s first visit and Nell Frizzell’s view from the lifeguarding canoe – with a history of the Pond, over the years and from season to season. A wonderful celebration of swimming outdoors.
Fried & Justified by Mick Houghton
Fried & Justified is Houghton’s account of his career as a publicist in the record business – Ramones, Talking Heads, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth… A candid, witty and engaging read about hits, myths, break-ups and breakdowns in the record business 1978-98. Mick is joining us to discuss his book on Monday 15th July at the Rialto Theatre, Brighton. For more information about the show and to buy tickets visit the City Books’ website.
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif ShafakThe new novel from bestselling writer Elif Shafak. The book opens with the murder of Tequila Leila, dumped on the outskirts of Istanbul and left to die. As she dies, her life appears to her in flashbacks, telling the story of her life. Across the city, her misfit group of friends search desperately for her. Shafak blends love and hate, life and death, kindness and cruelty into a powerful, moving novel.
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
This Women’s Prize longlisted debut novel is out now in paperback. Surreal and dazzling, Freshwater is the story of Ada, a girl born with one foot on the other side. Ada’s parents have struggled to deal with the separate selves and spirits inhabiting their troubled daughter. Following a traumatic incident, the selves crystallise into something more powerful, taking control as Ada fades into the background of her own mind and shifting her life in a more dangerous direction.
On the Marsh by Simon Barnes
The story of journalist Simon Barnes, his wife Cindy Lee Wright, their son Eddie, and eight acres of Norfolk marshland. For Eddie, who has Down’s syndrome, the marsh was a place of calm and adventure. For Simon, it was an area to keep watch over and nurture. Working with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, they ensured the marsh became a thriving conservation area. A wonderful memoir about the transformative power of nature.
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman
A remarkable book that considers the lives of black women in America at the dawn of the twentieth century. Combining historical research with literary imagination, Hartman conjures individual characters from history and resurrects them, using historical sources as a springboard to imagine these often unrecorded stories and inner lives. Powerful, thoughtful and beautifully written.
