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.

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...

Marginals, Mad Men and Adam Smith's Dinner - vote for books this General Election

Shortly before opening Mostly Books, another bookseller told us to always remember that “bookselling is a privilege”. Over the years I've spent a lot of time trying to work out exactly why that is.

Of course, books are wonderful, transformative gateways to other worlds and ways of thinking. Reading delivers so many benefits you sometimes wonder why it isn’t available on the NHS (perhaps it is?). But in terms of being a bookseller, I think the ‘privilege’ part comes from being the gatekeeper between customer and the entire book world. We are the people who talk to customers, try – sometimes socratically, often obliquely – to understand what they are looking for, coming up with suggestions that allow them to move beyond the obvious, the best-selling and the hyped.

It’s a great responsibility. And with great responsibility comes great power (I think that’s right?).

Power – and its pursuit – inevitably leads to the General Election, now less than a month away. Mostly Books finds itself in one of the most marginal constituencies in the country (Oxford West and Abingdon) which means campaigning will be fierce, and inevitably there will be a lot of political talk in the shop.

This year, on Tuesday April 14 at 6pm, we'll be chairing the Abingdon Chamber of Commerce Business Hustings at the Abingdon Guildhall (you'll need to email the Chamber if you want to attend).

So if you fancy grilling the candidates - or just informing yourself of the facts ahead of the vote - here is our pick of some of the best new political books. You may be surprised by some of our selections...we've tried to pick books that reflect the candidates standing and the conversations we've already had in the shop.

Last year we had a special selection of books ahead of the Scottish referendum vote, and after Nicola Sturgeon's solid performance in the election debates, let's start with 'The Dream That Shall Never Die' by Alex Salmond. This is the inside story of the IndyRef from Salmond's point of view (although your enjoyment of the book will probably align with your opinion of Salmond himself). Whatever you think about the referendum, or how the vote eventually went, the energy and engagement shown by the Scottish people is something we hope spills across the border into this year's General Election, so it's a fitting book to begin with.

Many people get infuriated with politics at the best of times, so the intensity of campaigning in Abingdon this year may require an escape valve. We recommend John Crace's satirical pop at the status quo in 'I Never Promised You a Rose Garden: A Short Guide to Modern Politics, the Coalition and the General Election'. Crace - better known for his 'digested reads' in the Guardian - hits the nail on the head of coalition politics by conjuring up some fly-on-the-wall imagined conversations that various politicians might have had. It works brilliantly and hilariously - but may actually soften harsh judgments about how certain parties 'sold out', and the realities and compromises that are inevitable in any coalition...

It's easy to be cynical about modern politics - and the 'they're all as bad as each other' approach is an easy response that let's you off the hook of any responsibility to get involved. The more difficult job of course is to actually bother to think about the issues, do some digging to discover who the good guys are - and give them your support...

In 'Honourable Friends?', Green MP Caroline Lucas explores the results of her own digging during her five years as an MP. This book - a heartfelt and passionate argument about wholesale political reform - rises above narrow party allegiances simply by dint of the high respect Lucas is held in by other MPs, and the wide-ranging experience she has had before her election to Westminster (she was a Green MEP - and she held an Oxfordshire County Council seat in the late 90s).

Lucas was awarded "MP of the Year" in the 'Women in Public Life' Awards in 2011 - but it's the role of women in economic life that is examined in Katrine Marcal's fantastically witty 'Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner?'. Arguing that it's women who are the 'missing mass' in failed economic systems (throughout history) this walks a perfect line between angry polemic and incisive argument. As Marcal states in the opening paragraph "Feminism has always been about economics. Virginia Woolf wanted a room of her own - and that costs money."

We have a very active Christian community in Abingdon, and in recent years - particularly following the appointment of Justin Welby as archbishop - the church has strongly reengaged with politics. Recent books such as John Sentamu's 'On Rock and Sand' have argued for more Christian values in politics, but we've plumped for Andy Flannagan's 'Those Who Show Up', which encourages those involved in religion to roll up their sleeves and get active - because it is often members of the church, through involvement with food banks and debt counselling, who end up helping the victims of society's failings. The title is a quote from Bart Simpson of all people - giving you a flavour of Flannagan's contemporary, humorous style.

After last year's close IndyRef, the possibility of a British exit from the European Union is a distinct possibility, and 'Brexit' by ex-Labour MP, and former Europe minister Denis MacShane provides a timely look at the UK's relationship with Europe - from Churchill to UKIP. MacShane is probably better known for his expense-fiddling (for which he was jailed in 2013) but this is a sobering look (from someone who 'was there') at the context of our relationship with Europe, the pros and cons of membership, and how Britain really is sleepwalking towards an EU exit.

Most of us are born in it, die in it, and spend considerable amounts of time in it during our lives. It directly employs 720,000 people, and we spend 9.4% of our GDP on it (less than the EU average of 10.2%, interestingly). With an ageing population and an obesity epidemic, it is no wonder few subject stir passions as strongly as the NHS. But what about our own personal relationship with this behemoth? Dr Phil Hammond - author, comedian and doctor - has written 'Staying Alive: How to get the best from the NHS' which not only does what it says on the front, but contains a lot of sensible advice on how to improve the NHS written from someone on the front line. Dr Phil visited Abingdon in 2009 - and he is a passionate, intelligent, trusted and highly entertaining guide to the realities of 21st century healthcare. Highly recommended for both personal and political reasons.

We're going to be subjected to a lot of propaganda via the media and advertising hoardings over the next month, so get the low-down on politicians and their relationship with advertisers and the press with the following two books.

'Mad Men and Bad Men: What Happened When British Politics Met Advertising' by Sam Delaney, starts with the well-known history of Saatchi et al in the 1980s, and tells you what happened next. The anecdotes are at times genuinely shocking and frequently hilarious, with Delaney talking to many of the key players. A brilliantly entertaining (if slightly sinister) history of political advertising.

'Beyond Contempt' by Peter Jukes is (we feel) the best account of the phone hacking trial. To be read with Owen Jones' 'The Establishment', it's a remarkable look at how power operates in this country. Ultimately depressing but thoroughly recommended.

A lot of people feel extremely patriotic during an election, and there really can be nothing more patriotic than recalling the plucky individuals that helped us to defeat the axis powers in World War Two. Zia Chaudhry's 'Just Your Average Muslim' recalls the 400,000 muslims that did just that - and if you are passionate about returning to a time when Britain stood up to the world, this book works hard to dispel some of the more modern, lazy stereotypes of muslims in British society - and encourages us to work harder to reflect on our similarities, not our differences.

No matter who you vote for, the government always seems to get in, eh? Political education needs to start young, so we're going to recommend DK's 'Who's In Charge?'. With a foreward by Andrew Marr, this is the perfect introduction to power and politics for the young. There are big challenges to our continued existence on the planet - it's the youth who are going to be resolving them. Start them young!

P.S. Feeling politically awakened? Want to support something that every major political leader has called for? We recommend voting for books, with the 'Read On. Get On' manifesto for reading.

P.P.S. The bookseller who offered us that 'privilege' advice nearly ten years ago? Anna Dreda of Wenlock Books, still going strong and definitely a bookshop you must visit…

The Lure of the Signed Copy

When booksellers get together they talk about many things - how their shops are doing, bookish discoveries they have made, that sort of thing. But perhaps the best anecdotes - reserved for late evenings in the bar at conferences - involve author events, brushes with celebrities...and the pursuit of the signed copy.

We've had some great encounters over the years with authors (the knitted Alan Titchmarsh dolls presented to him by a huge fan being a particular highlight). From other booksellers, Bookseller Crow's profanity-laden Adrian Edmundson signed copy (warning: hugely offensive) is also a stand-out, and there's a fabulous tale of a big-name cricketer from the 80s doing a very grumpy (and hung-over) signing in Manchester - but the bookseller (and cricketer) must remain nameless...

But there's no mistaking the lure of the signed copy. Dedications are great, but where this isn't possible a signed copy makes a wonderful gift. Booksellers themselves are not immune - when last year we got a few signed copies of astronaut Chris Hadfield's book a few days before Christmas, one of them mysteriously ended up in my stocking, and boy was a I chuffed.

We've become aficionados of the author signature over the years. Some signatures are a work of art (Hilary Mantel's - above - springs to mind), some have obviously evolved after many years of signing thousands of books (Take a look at Derek Landy's signature - but as the Skulduggery Pleasant books are so awesome, we're not complaining!).

Chris Bradford's signature has morphed in the years we've been doing an event with him into something approaching a sword (very appropriate) and I particularly like the addition of a 'stamp' or two - our recent event with Megan Rix saw the odd paw print making its way across the page...

For insane amounts of effort for every single signature, it would be hard to beat Raymond Blanc. We watched him sit for nearly four hours signing hundreds of autographs until his kitchen-hardened hands almost went into spasm.

There are definitely health and safety issues. For some authors, repeated signing can definitely take it's toll (Jodi Picoult sported an elbow heat pack when she visited us a few years back).

Anyway, for today's 3 4 Friday #FridayReads here are three signed copies we're particularly pleased to have in the shop at the moment...

A new addition to CJ Sansom’s ‘Shardlake’ series is always a great event for fans, and the stories of the hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake during the reign of Henry VIII have already become classics. ‘Lamentation’ sees Shardlake again plunged into the deadly mix of plots, persecution and momentous history, investigating another mystery, this time set against the backdrop of an ailing Henry. We have a few signed copies – so please let us know if we can reserve one for you.

For those well-loved characters who outlive their authors though, death is not necessarily the end. In recent years, it’s become increasingly common for a well-loved character – Bond, Jeeves and Wooster, Philip Marlowe – to be resurrected by a current author, and can be fraught with controversy and risk. Sophie Hannah has just performed the incredible feat of bringing back Agatha Christie’s ‘Poirot’ in ‘The Monogram Murders’. When the book was announced, fans of both authors held their breath – but everyone can relax. Christie ueber-fan Hannah is the perfect person to resurrect the well-loved Belgian, as he investigates a triple-murder at a plush London hotel in 1929. Infused with the things that make Christie and Hannah so appealing – skilful plotting, psychological depth and not a small amount of wicked humour – this is pure enjoyment. We have fond memories of when Sophie came to a literary dinner we held in Abingdon a few years ago, so we’re delighted that she has signed copies for us – and beautiful they are too!

Finally, a big favourite with both staff and customers is Susan Hill, and a lovingly-produced hardback ghost story from Susan has almost become a Christmas tradition. This year ‘Printer’s Devil Court’ sees a truly unsettling ghost story set in Edwardian London. With echoes of Frankenstein, this tale of dark experiments involving four medical students is quick enough to read in a single sitting, but stays with you long after you finish. Signed copies of a beautifully produced edition available from us now.

We've other authors in stock - Hilary Mantel, and Bone Clocks author David Mitchell - so pop in and take a look. We're also taking pre-orders for our sold-out event with comedian David Mitchell on Nov 13. And if you want something really rare and collectible - take a look here...

Steady thy laden head: The Bone Clocks, The Secret Place and The Paying Guests

You may think 'the warm days will never cease' (although if you've been holidaying in the UK recently, this won't be uppermost in your mind) but the hints of Autumn and early September can only mean one thing - some of the biggest books of the year are arriving in bookshops, and front tables groan like harvest festival altars.

Picking three books from this cornucopia is a tad tricky, but here are three books we wholeheartedly recommend you make time to read.

It's been five years (yes, I had to double-check that) since 'The Little Stranger' so a new title from Sarah Waters is both an event and a celebration. 'The Paying Guests' is a tale set in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, with its backdrop of bewildering social change, faded elegance and missing men.

Frances and her mother are forced to take in paying guests to make ends meet, and so Lil and Len enter their lives: different class, different mores. At first Frances gains only glimpses of their lives through open doors, and sounds snatched through walls of the solid old house. But as time goes on, these barriers start to break down with increasingly dark and dramatic consequences. Waters' fans will love it, and it's going to introduce her to a whole new readership. Incidentally, amidst all the focus on sacrifice, duty and the physical fighting, the book is a welcome reminder of the devastating social consequences of the war.

In terms of suspense, we don't think anything can match the Tana French's 'The Secret Place', a journey into the dark heart of loyalties, rivalries and secrets of the intense emotional landscape of teenage lives.

A murder at an exclusive girls school gives Stephen Moran the chance for his big break - and an open door into the murder squad. But the suspects he has to crack are a bunch of close-knit girls, to whom friendship is more important than playing by any other rules. Trying to get teenagers to talk is about as impossible as enjoying working with Detective Antoinette Conway - tough, prickly, an outsider - with a background that couldn't be less like the suspects they are trying to win over. Both have a lot at stake and
watching them in action is really compelling, particularly in the claustrophobic school setting as they move painfully closer to the truth. A really different, original piece of crime fiction.

Finally - and we are going to unashamedly go slightly over the top about this one - you must, must, read 'The Bone Clocks' by David Mitchell.

Having received an early copy a few weeks ago, it is one of the most brilliantly original, bold and quality pieces of writing we’ve enjoyed in what has been an extremely strong year for great writing. The Booker judges have also agreed, placing it on their longlist of the best books of the year.

Starting in 1984, when a young Holly Sykes runs away from home in the aftermath of a disastrous teen romance, ‘The Bone Clocks’ unfolds in leaps and bounds, to the present day and then into the future, as a cast of misfits, misanthropes, writers and war heroes entwine themselves into Holly’s life – and she unwittingly gets caught up in a global battle for power that has been going on for centuries. Themes and deep truths swirl like snowflakes, but at its heart is an extended, wonderful and breaktaking riff on the true nature of our own mortality.

We don't often do this - no book can appeal to everyone - but we really urge you to read this. Mitchell has taken big risks with this story. Quirkiness abounds, at times you get the feeling you are reading a YA thriller, with dystopian and supernatural elements, sometimes it is laugh-out-loud funny. Characters from David’s previous novels rear their heads at various parts of the narrative. For some people, it'll be too much. But, blimey, this is such good writing...

So what we’re saying is: take a risk. We loved it so much, we've sweet-talked the publisher into securing some signed first-editions, so email us if you would like us to reserve a copy.

There you go - three books from many, many others we could have chosen. That's our favourites - what are yours? Come in and find out...