3-4-Friday - Serpents, Wickedness and Watery Secrets

With two heavyweight books out this week - one in paperback, one in hardback - we thought it was great opportunity to start putting together our pick of the best fiction that you'll be wanting to read over the coming months (yes, OK, we admit it - we've called it 'The Summer reading Table')

Yes, Summer is some way off. And yes, we've a few big 'events' politically to navigate our way past in the meantime. But it looks to be a bumper crop of books out over the next few weeks, so we thought we'd better start early.

So for today's '3 4 Friday' #FridayReads here's our starter-for-3...

With one of last year's biggest books 'The Essex Serpent' by Sarah Perry coming out in paperback, here's what Nicki wrote as her review last year. It's a book that we wholeheartedly recommend from one of this country's most brilliant new writing talents.

The friends of newly-widowed Cora Seaborne in Victorian England are indulging their passions for science, medicine and social reform. Cora is just happy to be out of an abusive relationship and finding herself both independent and wealthy, she is determined to follow in the footsteps of her heroine, Mary Anning, and discover fossils.

Her amateur geology draws her to a tiny village in Essex and rumours of a giant sea serpent, perhaps still living from prehistoric times. Science and Darwin have yet to penetrate the mud and the salt marshes and fear and rumour about the serpent means every crop failure, every death, is attributed to the creature. Local pastor, William, is having trouble convincing his flock and not allow myth and hysteria to take over.

A finely-tuned cast of characters get drawn to the beguiling Cora and her quest for science to be able to answer every question with reason. They all do battle on her behalf as she argues against superstition, pagan fear and religion. But whether it’s a community increasingly troubled by fear of the unknown, or the urban squalor Cora’s friends back in London are struggling to reform, the ideals of science have much to contend with in this rich and wonderfully human story of the clashes of the Victorian age.

As rumours and sightings of the serpent persist, will the ideals of science triumph in this rich and wonderfully human story of the clashes of the Victorian age?"

Out on May 2, Paula Hawkins follows her bestselling ‘The Girl on the Train’ with another claustrophobic tale, this time about the pressure of long-kept secrets...

'Into The Water' is set in the water-centred community of Beckford, where teenagers and families go to the water, sometimes to play. But it's best-known for being a famous suicide spot. Nel Abbott is writing a history of the many deaths and the narrative is shared between all of those living in the village who have been affected by a drowning – and no-one is left untouched. This leads to the central question that Nel is probing – is it a place where people go to die – or is it a handy place to cover up a murder?

Some of the deaths are none too so recent, so the narrative swoops between times as well as people as the hidden connections and secrets, like all good detective fiction, are slowly uncovered. The threads that tie everyone together are also tested to breaking point. A twisted story of secret affairs and the damaging effect of too many lies in a community makes for a compelling, claustrophobic thriller and a brave new direction to follow up the monster hit that was ‘The Girl on the Train’.

It's difficult to believe that it has been six years (!) since we welcomed author Kate Summerscale to Abingdon the day after her triumph at the British Book Awards with 'The Suspicion of Mr Whicher'.

Here latest book 'The Wicked Boy' is another forensic examination of a true-life murder that shocked Victorian society, but - on closer examination - isn't quite the story that you first think it is.

It's both horribly compelling, but also thought-provoking, and has lesssons to teach us about empathy and ethics, and the responsibilities that wider society has to its most vulnerable members.

Over the next few weeks we'll be picking more of our Summer reading choices, but for now - come in and browse our picks on the table!

We are all made of stars - the best science, space and physics books for Autumn 2016

"Make no small plans.  Dream no small dreams." - George Ellery Hale"

The 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar

This week, as part of Our Lady's Abingdon Reading Week, we had the opportunity to support an evening screening of the film 'Star Men'.

It's a poignant, thought-provoking documentary which sees four ageing astronomers - all British, each involved in some of the biggest breakthroughs in astronomy over the past fifty years - recreating a roadtrip and hike they made in 1960, against a backdrop of ponderings on their own mortality, humanity and the secrets to friendship and success.

After the screening, there was a talk from Becky Smethurst, astrophysicist at Oxford University, and one of the team behind Galaxy Zoo, or the spectacular success of crowdsourced public help in classifying galaxies and breakthrough discoveries in everything from supermassive blackholes to the dominant direction in which galaxies spin throughout the universe.

With our love for space and science at Mostly Books, we needed no excuse to put together a bookstall at the event, and gives us a chance today to tell you about some of the new books out this Autumn which we think will stimulate the mind and send your imagination soaring...

'Homo Deus' - Yuval Noah Harari
Anyone who has come into the shop in the last couple of years will have had a copy of 'Sapiens' by Yuval Noah Harari pressed into their hands. There aren't many books that get universally recommended in our shop, we think everyone deserves personalised recommendations, but with 'Sapiens' (like 'The Martian' or 'Pride and Prejudice') we make an exception: everyone should read. It featured in Mark's essay on 'How Reading Shapes Our Realities' and is no less than the epic story of our species. But the ending finished on a bit of a cliffhanger - what's going to happen next to our species?

In 'Homo Deus' Harari sets off to find out, along the way taking in a variety of post-apocalyptic and frankly frightening scenarios, mostly involving the end of the world as a whimper rather than a bang, with a few spectacular Jeff Bezos-style winners, but the vast majority not losers as such, but managed, monitored, little more than biochemical systems plugged into a global network relieving boredom in ever more immersive virtual-reality fictions to save our fragile mental states.

If all this sounds depressing, it isn't. Harari offers plenty of 'it doesn't have to be that way' alternatives which actually makes this book surprisingly upbeat and inspiring. After all, the big thing about the future is that it hasn't happened yet.

'The Origin of (almost) Everything' - New Scientist
Where did the Earth come from? Or the Universe for that matter. In fact, where does 'matter' come from? Where does anything come from?

New Scientist deputy editor Graham Lawton and illustrator Jennifer Daniel try - with the aid of a few scientists and 13.7 billion years of universal history - to tell you about the origins of almost everything. After starting with some of the big stuff, they go into more human-scale things such as the origin of oil, human emotions, cities and alcohol, and stuff from post-it notes to the QWERTY keyboard.

Informative and surprising, and topped off with a great foreward by Prof Stephen Hawking, this book entertains and educates in equal amounts and it's been produced in a gorgeous hardback that we think works for anyone young or old. And you do need to know this stuff. After all, as legendary astronomer Carl Sagan once said, 'if you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe'.

'Seven Brief Lessons on Physics' - Carlo Rovelli
A lot of people run screaming from maths and physics, which is a shame, because if you are not too bothered by the maths equations and instead focus on the concepts, you can discover some of the truly wonderful and weird theories about how the universe works. Rovelli's small (78 page) book will not take you long to get through, but you'll definitely feel more comfortable with some of the biggest ideas in modern physics. He is a masterful science communicator, and the effect is an armchair chat with someone who's overriding goal is to prove that you are way smarter than you think you are.

This was a big hit in the shop when it came out in a gorgeous paperback last year, and now available in an equally lovingly-produced paperback.

'The Darkest Dark' - Chris Hadfield and The Fan Brothers
Astronaut Tim Peake visited Harwell this week, but he would be the first to admit that the rock star of the astronaut world is 'Chris Hadfield', the guy who made space cool again, with his tweets from the International Space Station, and his in-orbit rendition of 'Space Oddity' becoming one of the most-watched videos in history.

In this, his first book for children, Chris tells the story of a young boy who is scared of the dark, but through watching real astronauts on the Moon, discovers that there are places in the universe darker yet more exciting. It's a pitch-perfect, heartwarming story about facing fears and following dreams - even when they are slightly scary.

The illustrations - from Toronto illustrators Eric and Terry Fan - are both cute and adorable, and the whole story is based on Chris’ own childhood. Children (and adults) can read about this softly-spoken, inspirational man and realise that we can all face our fears, and end up doing whatever we want to.

'The Story of Astronomy and Space' - Louie Stowell
Few people do space better than Usborne, and we're huge fans of author Louie Stowell. We've a big selection of Usborne's space books at the moment, but we've picked out her 'Story of Astronomy and Space' which we love.

It's the history of spaceflight told in a masterful storytelling experience, packed with scientific facts about the solar system, comets, the Big Bang theory, telescopes and space exploration. Complex ideas are easy and fun, and there's also star charts, a glossary, and an astronomy timeline.

Professor Astro Cat's Atomic Adventure - Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman
We love this book - simple as. The 60s-style retro illustrations are a joy, the content is perfectly thought-out and presented.

Professor Astrocat is a brave and engaging guide, together with his mouse companion, as he explains all kinds of complex ideas from energy and gravity to what atoms are made of. The result is a brilliant primer for children of all ages, and a sneaky pleasure for anyone who likes original and beautifully produced books.

To infinity and beyond! If you've any space books you'd like to share, tweet them to us - or post something on the blog.

Time-Travelers, Watchmakers and Sunlit Nights: Ten top reads for the Summer

Looking for some satisfying, independent-minded, hand-selected Summer Reading? Then here are ten top reads for the Summer as selected by all of us at Mostly Books. Hopefully this will give you a few ideas for your next favourite read, particularly as some of favourite books of the last few months are new out in paperback.

And of course - come in for personal recommendations at any time!

In 'Beside Myself' by Ann Morgan, Helen and Ellie are identical twins: Helen is the leader and Ellie the follower. Until they decide to swap places: just for fun, and just for one day. But Ellie refuses to swap back. And so begins a nightmare from which Helen cannot wake up... 

This is much more than just an intriguing book on the nature of identity, it's actually a sensitive, accomplished and really gripping debut and a thoroughly engaging story. Constantly surprising, you find yourself desperate to discover how the story ends, with a twist that is brilliantly done and entirely satisfying. We think Ann Morgan is definitely an author to watch.

'Even Dogs In The Wild' is Ian Rankin's latest John Rebus thriller, and after 'retiring' Rebus a few years ago, and dabbling with other characters in Rebus' world, Rankin offers us a fantastic return to form - and a cracking thriller in which Rebus must join forces with DI Siobhan Clarke to stop a killer striking again.

Rankin's mastery of plot and characterization is complete, and Rebus's world is complex, brilliantly drawn, and utterly compelling.

The best holiday reads utterly transport you to places exotic and strange, and after the blistering temperatures of earlier this week, we recommend reading 'The Sunlit Night' by debut novelist Rebecca Dinerstein. Two very different people - one fleeing heartbreak, one looking to bury his father - meet on an archipelago in the Norwegian Sea, a hundred miles north of the Artic Circle.

Beautifully written, with a real sense of place, yet quirky, unashamedly romantic and hugely satisfying.

'The Immortals' by SE Lister is one of Julia's picks this Summer - published at the end of 2015, but new out in paperback. And get that cover!

When Rosa gets tired of living through 1945 again and again, she escapes from her parents and begins a rollercoaster ride back and forward through time and meets many strange and wonderful characters.There are so many effortless layers to Lister's writing that it allows the story to meander from one era to another. Can any human live, ever really live without a home and is a life spent without roots or relationships any real sort of life?

If Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quarter of novels has you hungry for more translated Italian fiction, we recommend you look at 'I'm Not Scared', originally published in 2001 by novelist Niccolò Ammaniti (and made into a film of the same name).

A classic contemporary thriller, it follows the story of nine-year-old Michele Amitrano, who makes a discovery in a dilapidated farmhouse so momentous, he dare not tell a soul - something that will have profound consequences on him and the world around him.

Another brilliantly inventive debut is Natasha Pulley's 'The Watchmaker of Filigree Street' which combines shades of Nick Harkaway, David Mitchell and Joseph Conrad's 'The Secret Agent' (now that's some combination!).

In a steampunkish London, a mysterious watch saves Thaniel Steepleton from a bomb which destroys Scotland yard - and then sends him on an increasingly frantic hunt for its maker. Questions of fate and destiny, as well as two remarkable female characters that Thaniel is increasingly torn between, this is a book of real ambition.

Talking of ambition, 'Arcadia' may be author Iain Pears' biggest yet. It's a story of three worlds: One present (1970s), one future and the third an invention from the mind of a writer called Henry Lytten. When these worlds collide a whole heap of trouble occurs. A schoolgirl from the nineteen seventies is mistaken for a fairy. Security officers from the future are arrested as Soviet spies and Lytten enters his own story and is worshipped as a deity. This is an eclectic mix of fantasy, history, science fiction and dystopian future which together make an engrossing read.

In 'Rembrandt's Mirror' by Kim Devereux, we are plunged into the world of legendary Dutch painter Rembrandt's later years, which were blighted by a string of personal and financial losses. This is a powerful a compelling story of the later loves of the painter's life and the clash of genius and the man inside.

The novel is steeped in Rembrandt's art; each chapter is named after, and in some way reflects, one of his paintings. The writing is laced with painterly description and art theory, giving the impression that we are looking at this world through an artist's eyes. Who can resist the charms of the Dutch Golden Age - now in a sumptuous paperback.

Want more? We reckon you should also take a look Sebastian Faulks' latest sweeping novel 'Where My Heart Used to Beat' and Edna O'Brien's story of a charismatic faith-healer on the West coast of Ireland ('The Little Red Chairs').

But come in for more recommends - because there are a whole collection of great reads out this Summer and we'd be happy to show you more!

Not of an age, but for all time: Shakespeare Saturday at Mostly Books

His language is at times impenetrable, yet all of us know huge chunks of it off by heart. He can cause teenagers to groan in the classroom, yet set those same adolescent imaginations on fire with tales of jealousy, love and revenge. He’s as recognisable as Albert Einstein, yet we’re not entirely certain what he looked like or what he did for large parts of his life.

There is a whiff of the paradox about Shakespeare. Condemned in his own time for mixing tragedy and comedy, he eventually triumphed to become the ultimate playwright, the third most translated author of all time, and whose stories have seemingly become encoded into the DNA of our greatest literature for centuries.

What is it about William Shakespeare? What makes him the ultimate Elizabethan Bard-ass? Just what is it that makes him so special? Ahead of a weekend of bookshop celebrations both here and around the world a few clues can be found amongst the many books recently published which look at everything from Shakespeare's skill as a writer, to the murky world in which he lived.

Michael Rosen asks ‘What’s so Special About Shakespeare?’ and it's a wonderfully engaging, brilliant introduction to Shakespeare.

Rosen has always been able to look at subjects through the eyes of a child, and with his usual wit, wordsmithery and deep passion for language he answers questions such as 'What do we actually know about Shakespeare' and 'how did he become so famous?' (something a child asked us this week in the shop).

It’s a cracking route into Shakespeare’s world, and the next time someone asks 'What's so special about Shakespeare' you can answer "there's a book for that"...

(And you can listen to Michael enthuse about Shakespeare here)

Another really imaginative route into some of Shakespeare's plays is offered by the wacky and wonderful Pamela Butchart in 'To Wee or Not To Wee'. We love Butchart's school mysteries such as 'Attack of the Demon Dinner Ladies', and again features illustrations with Thomas Flintham.

It features the star of those books (Izzy) whose passion and enthusiasm for Shakespeare (particularly the gruesome bits) spills over into a retelling of four of Shakespeare's most well-known plays to her school friends. It's a really effective and fun device, and we reckon a superb introduction to Shakespeare to young readers 8+

'Shakespeare in Love' may have taken him off his academic pedestal and brought him imaginatively to life, but for a decade now James Shapiro has been quietly fleshing out the real-life Shakespeare, arguing convincingly that it is impossible to understand Shakespeare’s work without understanding the world in which he lived in – one of conspiracy, political intrigue and the ever-present dangers of the Elizabethan world.

His books are as dramatic as Shakespeare's plays (his book '1599' opens with Shakespeare’s actors dismantling a theatre and carrying it across the Thames in a dispute about money), but his latest book '1606 : Shakespeare and the Year of Lear' starts seven years later, the year in which Shakespeare shakes off worries, uncertainty, set-backs and a feverish political atmosphere to write 'King Lear'.

Obviously there's a huge number books about Shakespeare and his legacy, but what about a book written *by* Shakespeare? Aside from getting hold of one of his sonnets or plays (or better still, going to see a production) we recommend 'The Globe Guide to Shakespeare' by Andrew Dickson and published by Profile Books.

It's ultimate guide to his life and work, with full coverage of the 39 plays, including a synopsis, full character list, stage history and a critical essay for each. Use it as a quick reference before nipping off to a play - or a comprehensive primer for theatre goers, students, film buffs and lovers of literature.

You might feel Shakespeare is a bit highfalutin, pretentious and, well, not for you - but for many years he was claimed as a symbol of working-class struggle and revolution. And in 'Shakespeare on Toast' actor, producer and director Ben Crystal knocks the stuffing from the staid old myths of the Bard, revealing the man and his plays for what they really are: modern, thrilling, uplifting drama. The bright words and colourful characters of the greatest hack writer are brought brilliantly to life, sweeping cobwebs from the Bard - his language, his life, his world, his sounds, his craft. Find yourself uplifted and entertained (some Shakespeare would have wholeheartedly approved of!)

Finally, can you ever write like Shakespeare? Mark Forsyth thinks you can. The beginning of his book ‘The Elements of Eloquence’ begins with the words ‘Shakespeare was not a genius’ (controversial stuff). But he shows how Shakespeare sat with tudor history books on one side, and rewrote huge passages using rhetorical devices to make the language sing. Good artists copy, great artists steal – and according to Ben Johnson (England’s the second-greatest playwright) “Shakespeare wanted art”.

So we have some art that you can show off to your friends. To celebrate Shakespeare Saturday, we have some exclusive limited edition tote bags with the ‘The Bard is my Bag’ in glorious orange. 

Yours if you spend £20 or greater on Saturday, strictly on a first come, first served basis.

400 years after his death, the genius tag is firmly stuck. Shakespeare’s plays are performed more than ever, in more places than ever. Many of our favourite authors continue to revisit their favourite plays, having been profoundly affected by them when young. Jeanette Winterson's 'The Gap In Time' is a retelling of 'The Winter's Tale' and Howard Jacobson has retold 'The Merchant's Tale' in 'Shylock Is My Name'.

But our final recommendation is Malorie Blackman's 'Chasing The Stars'. Othello was the book that first inspired her, and although set deep in space, with Othello recast as a teenage girl, it’s Shakespeare through and through.

Shakespeare in space – who’d have thought it?

Well, in 1964, during the world’s first three-man spaceshot by the Soviet Union, the Chief Designer, Sergei Korolev, radioed to Vladimir Komarov that he should terminate the mission immediately. Unbeknown to the crew, there had been a coup and Kruschev had been deposed. Korolev wasn’t allowed to reveal what had happened, but he had to get the men back on the ground. They were reluctant - the mission was going well.

Korolev thinks for a moment, then quotes Hamlet, Scene V:

O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!

  And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. But come,

Here.

There is a moment’s silence. The words of an English playwright, at the height of the Cold War, transmitted over centuries and through space. Komarov gets the meaning “Pack up boys” he sayd to the crew "it's time to go home".

The Greatest of these is Love: the Mostly Books Valentine's Day selection for 2015

This year's Valentine's Day selection is our typical mix of the traditional and the quirky (which you would expect from the team that offered up Potatoes and Zombies in 2013, and 'The Martian' in 2014).

Whether buying a gift for a special person - or treating yourself to a romantic read - love takes many forms, and can be found in all kinds of books. Enjoy.

The true romance of 'Pure Juliet' is how it came to be published. Stella Gibbons will always be the author that wrote 'Cold Comfort Farm', but she came to resent this book squatting on her reputation, overshadowing her achievements as a poet and the many other books she wrote. So when, in 2014, her family discovered this unpublished manuscript Vintage Classics took the opportunity to publish.

Written in the 1970s and 80s, it's a novel ahead of its time, with the character of Juliet definitely 'on a spectrum somewhere', obsessed with the maths and physics she excels at, but clumsy and baffled by the messiness and unpredictability of relationships and love. 'Pure Juliet' will be a joy to fans, told with wit, wry observation and sensitivity. It adds a welcome dimension to an author often described as our '20th century Jane Austen'.

Celia Imre might just make the transition from one of our best-loved actors to authors with her debut novel 'Not Quite Nice'. Bellevue-Sur-Mer sits on the French Riviera, just outside Nice.

When Theresa - sick of her spoilt daughter and equally obnoxious grandchildren - loses her job she heads off to the south of France to contemplate her future. Cue a Kate Fforde-esque tale of oddball characters, and plenty of twists and turns in the Sun. But what sets this apart is the pace and humour - a real joy to read.

Erotic poetry might make a few people do a double-take when viewed on the table of our family-friendly shop, but then Gaius Valerius Catullus wasn't your average erotic poet. His yearning, pining love poems track a doomed obsession during the tumultuous years of Rome in the first century BC, and as such are packed with tantalising glimpes of a different Rome than is found in other literary works of the period.

Mocked in his own lifetime, he boasts plenty of modern fans including Robert Harris, historians Dan Jones and Tom Holland, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) Boris Johnson (who, one suspects, has deployed a few stanzas over the years!). Their praise adorns the cover of 'Catullus' Bedspread' this fabulous book by debut author and classical scholar Daisy Dunn. It's part biography, part imagined travelogue and part analysis of his works. Original, accomplished and a lot of fun, this might be the perfect gift for anyone with an interest in Roman life - or the unchanging hopes and desires of the human heart over the millennia.

How about a romantic gift that does double-duty as an adorable picture book? As has happened to just about everyone in the shop, you will absolutely fall in love with 'I'll Never Let You Go' by author Smriti Prasadam-Halls and illustrator Alison Brown.

Beautiful illustrations and a sensitive story will quickly make this a firm favourite at bedtime - but also something to soothe any worry lines on little brows.

On the same lines, but in a lovingly-produced gift edition, 'Love...' by Emma Dodd is another beautifully produced book from one of our absolutely favourite publishers, Nosy Crow (who celebrate their fifth birthday this year).

Celebrating the love between parent and child, with delightful rhyming text - we have some exclusive, limited edition matching cards to give away with every book purchased to make this an extra special gift!

Last Summer, our Courtyard Garden was packed to listen to debut novelist Laura Barnett talk about her book 'The Versions of Us', a book that takes a what-if approach to the vagaries of the human heart.

And who hasn’t wondered ‘What if?’ about their own life? What if you’d taken a particular job, taken that path instead of this one, or that one chance – said ‘yes’ one time instead of ‘no’? 

The outcome of a chance meeting - or not - between Eva and Jim on a Cambridge path is followed in three alternative strands, which is constantly surprising and not at all what you might have expected. Thought-provoking and now out in paperback.

We reviewed 'Crooked Heart' by Lissa Evans on BBC Radio Oxford last week - a fun, brilliantly plotted, enjoyable and rollicking good story, told with dark humour, showing how different people, with different skills, can be thrown together and blossom in the confusion of war.

Click to read the full review here and you can also listen to Mark discussing the book with Alex Lester during the show.

'It's never too late to have a fling, for autumn is just as nice as spring ...' Christopher Matthew's latest collection of comic verse negotiates the perils and pitfalls of romance in later years in 'A Bus Pass Named Desire'.

Love is revealed in the most unlikely places, with the most improbable people seeking it. Whether in Dorking, Diss, Clapham Junction or West Wittering, there are amorous opportunities waiting to be seized at the bridge table, on the tennis court, in the herbaceous border, on a bicycle made for two, or simply in warm companionship.


Delightful and stirring tales of late-flowering love (and even mild debauchery in a retirement home, of which Catullus - see above - would be proud!) this is a celebration of life for the young at heart.

3 4 Friday - New fiction for 2016: Secrets, Lies and Blurred Realities

2016 has started with a bang, with loads of new fiction coming into the shop. For today's '3 4 Friday' selection, we've picked three new titles for you to enjoy.

In ‘The Girl in the Red Coat’ documentary maker Kate Hamer has written an intriguing debut: with elements of a thriller, it is more an exploration of religious ideas, family ties and personal identity.

Inspired by fairy tales - as well as Hamer's discovery of an infamous ancestor who ran a cult - it is the story of an abducted girl - Carmel - told from the point of view of both her and her family. The book is published in paperback this month.

When Carmel disappears the police comb every piece of evidence trying to discover who on earth might have snatched her. But the reader sees the story from Carmel’s eyes and know her abductors have been planning this meticulously for years. Her captor, pretending to be her estranged grandfather, believes Carmel has special powers and has taken her because he believes she should be doing the work of God. So begins Carmel’s extraordinary new life, struggling to keep her identity while ‘grandfather’ plans something quite different. But at home, neither her mother nor the police have ever given up on finding a lead that will lead them back to Carmel...

With plenty of themes to discuss, we think it would make a great bookgroup read.

Different points of view are also at play in 'The Widow' by Fiona Barton. This is one of 2016's big new hardback releases, and it's definitely tapping into the unreliable narrator aspects of last year's huge hit 'The Girl on the Train' (even the cover looks familiar).

What works brilliantly is this three-way story – the widow of a man (Glen Taylor) who went on trial for child abduction, the policemen who doggedly collected evidence, and the journalist who sees a career-making chance at a story when Glen Taylor dies.

As the truth is teased out of the widow, will it emerge that the police set him up as Glen always claimed? Or has the silent widow always known a lot more than she claims?

Barton is a former journalist who covered some infamous court cases for The Daily Mail and The Telegraph - and found herself drawn to the wives of those men accused of terrible crimes. You'll be hearing a lot about this book as the year progresses...

Our first event of 2016 is in conjunction with Abingdon Library, when author Francesca Kay will be discussing her new novel 'The Long Room'.

The novel - set in 1981 - is the story of Stephen Donaldson, who’s day is spent listening into the endless taped conversations of others – ageing communists and small-time revolutionaries – for giveaway signs of terrorist activity. But being part of the secret service is not the dashing job Stephen imagined and life has failed him in so many ways.

Listening brings him into the world of the wife of one of the suspects and he quickly becomes obsessed with offering her a better life. From diligent, quiet and lonely, ‘The Long Room’ charts Stephen’s descent into risk-taking and rule-breaking as the line between obsession and reality starts to blur,

Francesca Kay’s first novel, 'An Equal Stillness', won the Orange Award for New Writers in 2009. She lives in Oxford with her family. She will be at Abingdon Library on Wednesday, January 27 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £2 and are available from the library - and find out more here.

Here's to finding your next favourite author in 2016...and we'd love to hear what you are reading!

3 4 Friday - The fragility of global economics, porcelain perfection and the human heart: Edmund De Waal, Vince Cable and Jojo Moyes

Today's '3 4 Friday' is about fragility - the things we take for granted that can break at any moment.

On Wednesday, at Our Lady's Abingdon, former MP and Coalition Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable compared the global economy to a heart attack patient. Seemingly walking around and smiling, and well on the way to recovering, the emergency life support (in the form of quantitative easing and low interest rates) are still plugged in, and no-one seems to have a clear idea on how we remove it...

Sir Vince endeavoured to answer this vexing question - and others - in what was an intelligent, even-handed and above all entertaining evening (three words you might not feel go automatically with discussions about global economics...).

His first book 'The Storm' - written in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis - was an unexpected critical and commercial success. Sir Vince has been able to go back to that book and take a more measured look at what has happened since - and 'After The Storm' also contains the added insight from five years as Business Secretary in the Coalition government. 

His writing is as lucid and compelling as his talk - and with the economic future as fragile and uncertain as its ever been, the book covers everything from why young people can't afford to buy houses, to the political narrative of austerity.

The sobering reality is that patient could suffer another attack at any moment. Britian needs to use its wisdom, experience and influence on an international stage to start offering solutions. This book is an excellent start.

(For a fantastic write-up on some of the details of Vince's talk, Ben has written a brilliant account of the evening - we recommend visiting his blog and reading "There may be trouble ahead" to learn more.

The Abingdon Blog also featured a report and more photos.)

Whilst there are no prizes for naming the most famous 'Potter' in literature, the second most famous might just be Edmund De Waal. The potter, ceramicist and - thanks to his book 'The Hare with the Amber Eyes' - bestselling author has just published his latest book, a history of the fragile perfection along 'The White Road', a personal history of porcelain manufacture.

'The Hare with the Amber Eyes' was that rarest of things; a book that worked on almost every level, mixing beautiful writing, heartbreaking family history, art and philosophy. In 'The White Road', De Waal starts off with his beloved 'Netsuke' and follows the history of porcelain manufacture from ancient China through Dresden, Venice and Versailles, via Cornwall and Dachau. De Waal's passion and deep love of pottery sweeps you up in an at-times dark tale of our pursuit of perfection in white objects.

And our final choice is the fragility of the human heart - and really learning to love again. Since being published in 2002, author Jojo Moyes has rapidly grown to become one of our favourite romantic novelists. Her book 'Me Before You' catapulted her to the big time, and 'After You' - the eagerly awaited sequel - was published yesterday. With a film of 'Me Before You' planned for 2016, we're very excited to have signed copies of Jojo's new book in the shop.

Set shortly after the last book ends, Louisa Clark (Lou) has to pick her self up and move on in the aftermath of her relationship with Will Traynor. Moyes' writes character perfection, with a story you can really get lost in. I think readers sometimes make too big a deal about the amount of crying and laughter that a book elicits (as if you can measure the quality of a book in millilitres of tears). But Moyes effortlessly moves the reader emotionally with the grace of a dancer and the skill of a Jujitsu Black Belt. Just brilliant...

3 4 Friday - the joy of strips, or how we embraced graphic novels

When I was a teenager, I spent an awful lot of time reading comics: mostly a British comic called 2000AD. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but I was reading stories by authors and illustrators who would go on to be some of our best-known and loved tellers of stories, such as Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

As I got more into Science Fiction, I stumbled across a different kind of comic - 'Watchmen'. The book was a revelation: sophisticated, not (as with other comics) to be enjoyed in one sitting, and with characterisation and plot as rich and thrilling as any novel I'd read.

The Graphic Novel had arrived. And people have being arguing over the difference between comics, graphic novels and literature ever since...

We've carried Graphic Novels in the shop for some time - but this week we expanded our Science Fiction space to accommodate a broader range - and we've taken the (controversial?) decision to include a few comic books in there as well.

Independent Bookshops are not so hidebound to stick to 'traditional' categories anyway - but like more things we try in the shop, rapid evolution based on customer feedback is the order of the day...

Here's a few of the titles we have on the shelf to give you a bit of an idea of what we're trying to do...

Firstly, I've recommended and ordered this book for may customers over the year - but 'Pride of Baghdad' has now got a space on the shelves. Written by Brian Vaughan and illustrated by Niko Henrichon, it's based on the true story of four African lions who escaped Baghdad Zoo after its bombing during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

As a metaphor for the rights and wrongs of the war, it works well, but as a thrilling and hugely moving story in its own right, it's storytelling perfection. It also happens to be a great introduction to concepts such as war, freedom and liberty for teen readers.

Straight comic books have languished for many years, until the arrive of the DFC (short for the 'David Fickling Comic') in 2008. When the DFC closed, it was replaced by The Phoenix Comic in 2012 - still going strong.

We know the team at David Fickling well, and we're big supporters of the newly-independent publishing company, with favourite recent titles including 'Shadow of the Wolf', 'The Murdstone Trilogy' and 'Thirteen Chairs'. Within Fickling, we're rather known as 'the independent bookshop that stopped stocking The Phoenix' but actually we were so passionate about it, that I think we actually got everyone signed up to a subscription...

But the DFC Library gives us a great opportunity to relive some of the best strips from the DFC - and jostling for position amongst 'Bunny versus Monkey' is the genius that is 'Corpse Talk'. Anyone who likes 'Chatty Deaths' on Horrible Histories will understand the idea, but the format and pacing of the comic strip really allows the subjects to (no pub intended) 'come alive', and there's a surprising amount of history packed in there . And some truly awful jokes...brilliant.

We're into Season 2 now - I wonder what Guy Fawkes thinks about the current crop of MPs?

Finally, you'll notice Emma Chichester Clark's 'Plumdog' in there. Any review we do could not do justice to 'Read It Daddy''s brilliant analysis - so we'll hand over to him for why this is so brilliant.

But we are keen to learn. What other graphic novels should we get? What is a graphic novel anyway? We'd love to hear from you...