Vicky’s Recent Reads: 3
Blog · Posted February 28, 2025
Here are just some of Vicky’s go to recommendations at the moment.
A gentle and deeply moving novel full of heart and hope. In Donegal Bay, 1973, a baby drifts onto the shore held in a barrel. He is taken in by local fisherman Ambrose Bonnar and his wife but is never accepted by their son Declan.
At times heart-rending and raw, this debut serves as a love letter to home and family. It’s a coming-of-age story as well as a celebration of all the extraordinary moments in ordinary lives.
Carr combines lyrical prose with a narrative voice that is honest and joyful and will have you laughing out loud. Through the laughter and the tears, you’ll bid a reluctant farewell to this beautiful community. I made a conscious decision to slow down, just so it wouldn’t have to end. Savour this one.
Life Hacks For a Little Alien by Alice Franklin | Hardback | £16.99
Little Alien isn’t like other children. She doesn’t know what they’re saying* to her. Misunderstood and underestimated, her life changes when she discovers an untranslated medieval manuscript. Perhaps she can find her way in this strange world after all.
Wonderfully quirky, refreshingly witty and utterly lovable. Alice Franklin has given us a rare and happy triumph.
*but more accurately, what they really mean when they say it
In fewer than 200 pages, Amherst manages to encapsulate the many and contrary struggles of an adolescent on the cusp of his teenage years. Succinct and understated, this is a powerful debut.
The protagonist, most often referred to simply as The Boy, feels all things intensely; betrayal and disappointment feature prominently in his world. But amidst the often hilarious and outrageous declarations of self-importance, The Boy stumbles upon profound and beautiful avenues of thought.
Though protected by his innocence and sense of injustice, there is a certain inevitably that The Boy will become sullied by the very world he rallies against. The reader must leave him on the threshold of his future, not entirely confident of what that future entails.
A baby shower held in a glass house in the middle of a scorching heatwave. What’s the worst that can happen? Oh yeah, a massive fire. Add to that the pent up tensions between a group of girls who call themselves the ‘little women’ and you’ve got yourself a page-turner.
Holly Bourne knows her subject – so thoroughly that she is able to create characters so shady yet so relatable. At once a study of a friendship group in all its savage honesty and a wider commentary on what society demands of women and motherhood.
As long-held secrets come to the surface and resentments years in the making begin to boil over, can this friendship survive?
Having escaped slavery and fought for George III in the American Wars of Independence, Daniel and his sister are promised a new life in Britain. On arrival, however, they meet with hatred and injustice.
In an epic adventure, this writing duo has highlighted a little-known underworld of Georgian London. To survive, Daniel and Pearl will need to rise above the poverty and violence of their new surroundings. Every character is precisely and vividly evoked, making this world feel almost Dickensian.
The Blackbirds of St Giles combines the essential focus of Paterson Joseph with the sweeping style of Laura Shepherd-Robinson. A gritty and informative must-read.
Read last year and now brand new in paperback, we wanted to highlight this thrilling read again…
This story isn’t about male criminals who make the newspaper headlines. It’s about men who are self-claimed ‘good guys’ who think something is owed to them for meeting a very low bar.
Filled with questionable characters, unreliable narrators and creeping suspense, a psychological thriller that is also thought-provoking and alarming. Hall is an author who doesn’t shy away from sensitive and controversial topics – this is a feminist masterclass for our times.
Don’t expect to put this down before the last page.
Meet the Movement team. Trapped in a system that ensures they remain at the bottom, these workers are struggling to get by. So when the opportunity to get rid of a hated and incompetent manager arises, they decide to take control and make sure Meredith gets promoted and out of their lives.
Part comedy, part acerbic social commentary, Help Wanted will have you rooting for every member of the team. Maybe even Meredith…or maybe not.
Our booksellers love to recommend books and share their favourite reads with other booklovers (it is their job but also their hobby). Our blog is a good place to start to find some recommendations but if you still need some help, simply pop into the shop, give us a call or shoot us an email.
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