Recommendations

They are caught between two of Glasgow's housing estates, where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation. They should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the doocot that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo must work hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold.

The hauntingly atmospheric English-language début from the acclaimed Welsh author: a love story between a young Welsh woman and a Syrian mapmaker, rich with magic, mystery and the wonder of the sea.

The Philosophy of Modern Song is Bob Dylan's first book of new writing since 2004's Chronicles: Volume One - and since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.

Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his extraordinary insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over 60 essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyses what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan's unique prose. They are mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny. And while they are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human condition. Running throughout the book are nearly 150 carefully curated photos as well as a series of dream-like riffs that, taken together, resemble an epic poem and add to the work's transcendence.



In 2020, with the release of his outstanding album Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan became the first artist to have an album hit the Billboard Top 40 in each decade since the 1960s. The Philosophy of Modern Song contains much of what he has learned about his craft in all those years and, like everything that Dylan does, it is a momentous artistic achievement.

Visual culture has long been a vital component in the creation and dissemination of this prevalent national brand. The Art of Music describes the visualisation of Welsh music and musicians both in the context of the evolution of the self-image of the Welsh people, and of its influence on outside perceptions of Welshness within Britain and the wider world.

Red Dragons covers the story of Welsh football since its earliest days in the 19th century. It looks at the characters, controversies and developments of the country's clubs, players, and most importantly, the national team. New updated edition for 2022.

'An incredibly important book . . . a beautifully crafted, compelling story . . . which will undoubtedly break your heart but also make it sing' - Mike Gayle

Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a secret.

1907: Twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of his time locked in an attic room of a large house by the sea. Taken from his homeland and treated as an unpaid servant, he dreams of his family in Africa even if, as the years pass, he struggles to remember his mother's face, and sometimes his real name . . .

Decades later, Lowra, a young orphan girl born into wealth and privilege, will find herself banished to the same attic. Lying under the floorboards of the room is an old porcelain doll, an unusual beaded claw necklace and, most curiously, a sentence etched on the wall behind an old cupboard, written in an unidentifiable language. Artefacts that will offer her a strange kind of comfort, and lead her to believe that she was not the first child to be imprisoned there . . .

Lola Jaye has created a hauntingly powerful, emotionally charged and unique dual-narrative novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging, seen through the lens of Black British History in The Attic Child.

'This is important storytelling about issues of race and privilege . . . that will stay with me for a long time' - Tracy Chevalier

'Just brilliant' - Dorothy Koomson

'Powerful and emotional' - Lisa Jewell

Over 15 years ago, The Big Issue began to ask well-known figures from the worlds of entertainment, politics, literature, business and more, one simple question:

If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would it say?

This collection of 70 inspiring, moving and honest interviews includes Billie Piper on feeling burnt out, Monica Ali on self-belief, Mica Paris on sudden loss, Nancy Sinatra on marrying young, Fearne Cotton on battling imposter syndrome, Alesha Dixon on risk-taking and so much more.

ALL ROYALTIES FROM SALES OF THIS BOOK GO TO THE BIG ISSUE.

My name is Gary. I'm a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.



Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn't catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.



And so begins Gary's quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life...



A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.

'A rare and magical book. I didn't want it to end.' Bill Bryson

'A witty, intoxicating paean to Earth's wondrous creatures.' Observer

'A total miracle.' Max Porter

'Rundell's pen is gold-tipped.' Sunday Times

'I love everything about this book: it is a rare little treasure.' Joanna Lumley



** SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES AND FOYLES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS **



The world is more astonishing, more miraculous and more wonderful than our wildest imaginings. In this passionately persuasive and sharply funny book, Katherine Rundell tells us how and why.



A lavishly illustrated collection of the lives of some of the Earth's most astounding animals, The Golden Mole is a chance to be awestruck and lovestruck - to reckon with the beauty of the world, its fragility, and its strangeness.



A swift flies two million kilometres in its lifetime. That's far enough to get to the moon and back twice over - and then once more to the moon. A pangolin keeps its tongue furled in a pouch by its hip. A Greenland shark can live five hundred years. A wombat once inspired a love poem.

Before It Ends with Us, it started with Atlas. Colleen Hoover tells fan favourite Atlas' side of the story and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel to the #1 Sunday Times bestseller It Ends with Us.

Follow in the footsteps of some of the world's most famous authors on the journeys which inspired their greatest works in this beautiful illustrated atlas.



Some truly remarkable works of literature have been inspired by writers spending time away from their typical surroundings. From epic road trips and arduous treks into remote territories to cultural tours and sojourns in the finest hotels, this book explores 35 influential journeys taken by literary greats and reveals the repercussions of those travels on the authors' personal lives and the broader literary landscape.



Award-winning author Travis Elborough brings each of these trips to life with fascinating insights into the stories behind the creation of some of the world's most famous literary creations, including Dracula, Moby Dick, Murder on the Orient Express, Madame Bovary, The Talented Mr Ripley and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.



From Herman Melville's first whaling voyage in 1841, from New York to Liverpool, to Jack Kerouac's on-the-road Odyssey, which is now an iconic drive, discover how these journeys imprinted themselves on some of the greatest literary minds of all time.



Complete with navigational notes, colour photographs and commissioned maps, the fresh insights within tell readers something new about the places, work and personalities of some of the world's greatest minds.

A masterpiece in storytelling from the global bestselling author of Unsheltered and Flight Behaviour.



WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

THE MULTI-MILLION COPY SELLING AUTHOR

BOOK AT BEDTIME ON BBC RADIO 4

AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK



'Extraordinary.' OPRAH

'Electrifying. . . Every sentence here sizzles.' Daily Mail

'It's EPIC. Righteously angry, DEEPLY moving and exquisitely written.' MARIAN KEYES

'A true highlight of 2022 fiction.' Independent

'A fantastic read.' EMILY MAITLIS

'Book of the Month' Women & Home

'A masterclass.' RICHARD POWERS

'A powerful tale.' Good Housekeeping

'[Kingsolver] means to save us by telling us stories. . . She comes closer than anyone else I know.' ANN PATCHETT



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Demon Copperhead is a once-in-a-generation novel that breaks and mends your heart in the way only the best fiction can.



Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.



In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster care. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he's willing to travel to try and get there.



Suffused with truth, anger and compassion, Demon Copperhead is an epic tale of love, loss and everything in between.



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What readers are saying:



***** 'An amazing, beautifully written story I cannot wait to recommend to everyone I know.'



***** 'Powerful and brilliant. To immerse yourself in a Kingsolver novel is to put yourself in the hands of a master.'



***** 'A must read and heart-opening book.'



***** 'Raw, angry, starkly beautiful. . . Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read.'



***** 'Amazingly complex. . . [Kingsolver] is, by far, one of the greatest living authors'