Cliff 
A timely novel about truth and deception in our digital lives by the award winning author of Boy 87 which was a huge hit with young adult readers. Imagine a world where your only friends are virtual, and big tech companies control access to food, healthcare and leisure. This is Jess’s world but when she turns fourteen, Jess can go to school with other children for the first time. Most of them hate the ‘real’ world, but Jess begins … Read more
Shadowlands is an exploration of places in Britain which have disappeared – by plague, economic change and development and, most dramatically, by flood. Matthew Green tells the stories of well known examples such as Dunwich and St Kilda as well as lost places whose histories are less familiar. They are all poignant; ruins only become ‘romantic’ long after the people have left and losses in living memory are still felt deeply by those affected. Green writes vividly giving the … Read more
There’s something uniquely exciting about discovering an old novel which is revered but has been out of print, and is revived by publishers for a new generation to discover. The two recent rediscovered gems below are well worth picking up.
A welcome re-issue of an iconic classic of 1950s poetry. “It is easy to be beautiful; it is difficult to appear so. I admire you, beloved, for the trap you’ve set. It’s like a final chapter no one reads because the plot is over.” Made famous in recent years due to the TV series of both Mad Men and Normal People, Frank O’Hara’s beautiful collection survives the test of time as more than just a fashionable prop. The quiet, … Read more
Annette Shaw is a freelance journalist with 30 years of experience, and has a regular column in Devon Life, sharing her pick of brilliant books with Devon connections. Annette writes: “Books have been a lifelong passion. I was lucky with my early home life as we had bookshelves in every room as well as reading with mum and dad. As a teenager, when all my friends had Saturday jobs in clothes shops like Etam, I worked in the library. Bliss! … Read more
Westcountry-based nature writer Tom Cox’s first full-length novel is full of treats and surprises, and touches on the inter-connectedness of us all. Villager follows the history and fortunes of a fictional Devon village, spanning from its distant past to the near future. Seamlessly woven into the landscape and personalities is the influence of an obscure musician called RJ McKendree, whose talent permeates through the fabric of Underhill and resonates long after his death. Flavoured with the folklore, nature and … Read more
Tom Cox is a writer, journalist and broadcaster who has written many bestselling books such as 21st-Century Yokel, Help The Witch and Notebook. He lives near Dartmoor, wrangles a number of cats, and has just released his first full-length novel, Villager – You can read our review here. Question 1 – What book changed your life? My first instinct is to say something I’ve read as an adult which significantly changed my reading habits or my ideas about what I … Read more
An outstandingly powerful coming-of-age novel about chance encounters and how the choices we make create our future. The worlds of three 16 year olds, Chantelle, Jackson and Marc, collide when they witness the stabbing of 14 year-old Shaq outside of a busy shopping centre in Manchester. The three teenagers, from very different walks of life, are unexpectedly brought together when they’re the only ones who stop to help. In the aftermath they find themselves turning to each other for … Read more
More recommendations this month from staff and volunteers at The Bookery – a great mixed bag of fiction, non-fiction and children’s books to tempt you with!
Thank you to our friends at Penguin Random House for permission to reproduce this tribute to Shirley Hughes, one of our most beloved children’s authors, who died in February this year at the age of 94. Shirley was an award-winning author of more than 50 children’s books, and illustrator of some 200 more, with worldwide sales of more than 11m. In addition to her own work, Shirley championed the cause of illustrators and authors, serving on the management committees of … Read more
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