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Introducing our resident cultural therapist, Gary May, General Manager at Books etc Whiteleys. Cue a crescendo of drum rolls and heightened expectation… for Gary is brilliant at picking out the best new reads. This month he recommends a restored ‘unfinished’ Tolkein, more delights from Precious Ramostwe’s No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, a warm and heady epic from Salman Rushdie, a hilarious road trip across the USA and a dark psychological novel from Sebastian Faulks. Book of the MonthThe Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkein,
Set in a legendary time long before The Lord of the Rings, The Children of Hurin was begun by J.R.R. Tolkien at the end of the First World War and became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth, but he could not bring it to a final and finished form. Here, Christopher Tolkien has constructed, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention. Best of the Rest…The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith.
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie.
America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip in Search of Non-corporate USA by Dave Gorman.
Engleby by Sebastian Faulks.
CHILDREN’S PICKS There is always a treasure trove to be found on the shelves of Books etc Whiteleys. You can spend lovely, long hours trawling through titles, new and classic, or you can pick up the trail here with store manager Gary May’s Top Three books of the month! Top 3 RecommendationsOnce Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman.
It is 35 years before the trilogy, and young aeronaut Lee Scoresby has put down on Novy Odense in the North, looking for work and adventure. He finds the latter in spades…This small, neat volume won't hook newcomers, but the way it delves into beloved characters' backstories will please trilogy fans of all ages. Jacky Daydream by Jacqueline Wilson.
It is a lovely insight into her life and also into the inspirations that are in her best-selling books, such as her love of dolls which makes it into many of her novels (perhaps best seen in “Dustbin Baby”). Little comments and questions at the end of each chapter link her life into a similar event in her books. Clearly aimed at her main market, the 8 – 12 age group. Field Guide Book 1: The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black.Always read the book before you see the film! This is the first of the best-selling fantasy series, set in the Spiderwick Estate in New England, which follows the adventures of Jared Grace and his family as they discover a field guide to faeries and battle goblins and other magical creatures. Click to share this story on your favourite Social Networking site.               |
Alan Lee and Christopher Tolkein Painstakingly restored from Tolkien's manuscripts and presented for the first time as a fully continuous and standalone story, this epic tale will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, dragons and Dwarves, eagles and Orcs, and the rich landscape and characters unique to Tolkien.
It has never occurred to Precious Ramotswe that there might be disadvantages to being the best-known lady detective in Botswana. But when she receives a threatening anonymous letter, she is compelled to reconsider her unconquerable belief in a kind world and good neighbours… The No1 Ladies Detective Agency is a publishing phenomenon, each adventure of Mma Ramotswe being more eagerly awaited than the last. Once again McCall Smith creates a vision of Botswana that is beguiling and down to earth. This is a must for fans and new readers alike.
A young man arrives at the Court of the Grand Mughal with a fantastical tale to tell of a lost Mughal Princess (his mother) and her sensual journey as prisoner first to an Uzbeg warlord then the Shah of Persia. She eventually becomes the lover of a Florentine soldier of fortune, the Commander of the armies of the Ottoman. Bewitching and mesmerizing her adopted city with her exotic Indian ways, she becomes the 'Enchantress of Florence', a powerful and beguiling woman in a time of treachery and torture. This is an intriguing story encompassing love, philosophy and the eternal strength of a powerful woman.
The plan was simple. Go to America. Buy a second-hand car. Drive coast-to-coast without giving any money to The Man. What could possibly go wrong? Dismayed by the relentless onslaught of faceless American chains muscling in where local businesses had once thrived, Dave Gorman set off on the ultimate American road trip - in search of the true, independent heart of the US of A. He would eat cherry pie from local diners, re-fuel at dusty gas stations on remote highways and stock up on supplies from Mom and Pop's grocery store. At least that was the idea… This is Dave Gorman at his humorous best.
Mike Engleby says things that others dare not even think. When the novel opens in the 1970s, he is a university student, having survived a 'traditional' school. A man devoid of scruple or self-pity, Engleby provides a disarmingly frank account of English education. Yet beneath the disturbing surface of his observations lies an unfolding mystery of gripping power. One of his contemporaries unaccountably disappears, and as we follow Engleby's career, which brings us up to the present day, the reader has to ask: is Engleby capable of telling the whole truth? Engleby hooks you from the first page. A dark and disturbing psychological portrait that is as thought-provoking as it is unsettling.
In his characteristic compactly rewarding prose, Pullman offers another glimpse into the world of His Dark Materials, less heady than Lyra's Oxford (2003), but somberly satisfying.
An account of Jacqueline Wilson’s early life which takes us with mesmerizing detail through the lives of her parents and even grandparents as well as her own childhood.