Category: Non fiction
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Who is John Blanke?
By Michael I Ohajuru (editor) Hardback £35 John Blanke was a Black trumpeter at the Tudor court, present in archival documents including a letter asking for a pay rise, and in a striking image from a vellum roll showing the celebrations of the birth of a son to Henry VIII. I felt I had been…
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The Invisible Doctrine
George Monbiot, paperback, £10.99 Explosive and beautifully told … these truths can set us free’ – Danny Dorling’This book is dynamite – shining a spotlight on the evils of neoliberalism, shattering the myth that ‘there is no alternative’, and laying the foundations for a new politics’ – Caroline LucasHow can you fight something if you…
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The Trading Game
Gary Stevenson, paperback, £10.99 The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the whole city. A place where you could make more money than you’d ever imagined. Where your colleagues are dysfunctional maths geniuses, overfed public schoolboys and borderline psychopaths, yet they start to feel like family. Where soon…
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That Peckham Boy
by Kenny Imafidon Paperback, £10.99 ‘Kenny’s story shows us that we all have the potential to achieve extraordinary things. What a hero.’ Bear Grylls’If you are compelled by a hero’s journey, then Kenny Imafidon is a hero for this generation.’ Simon SinekFor fans of Poverty Safari and Skint Estate, That Peckham Boy is a real-life…
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The Years
By Annie Erneaux Paperback £13.99 I have read The Years to prepare for the play adaptation playing in the West End at the Harold Pinter theatre. I always try to read the book before I see any adaptation (whether it is a play or a film) and I am so glad I got to experience…
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Wintering
By Katherine May Paperback £12.99 Part autobiography, part nature writing, Wintering in its entirety is a beautiful poetic mediation on the importance of feeling one’s feelings. Katherine May is forced to rest when a family member suffers an illness and it leads to a time of seclusion and isolation. For fans of The Outrun or…
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Slow Travel Britain
I make no apology for not having finished this book before reviewing it. It’s designed to be taken slowly and savoured. In my case reading has been interspersed with many breaks for travel-related daydreaming and lazy planning. Have a look inside, to see what I mean. The subtitle, 22 mindful journeys across England, Scotland and…
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The Serviceberry: an Economy of Gifts and Abundance
by Robin Wall Kimmerer A thoughtful and engaging extended essay from the indigenous scientist author of one of my favourite books, Braiding Sweetgrass. Taking ideas of gifting and abundance and applying them to both ecology and economics, Wall Kimmerer left me feeling like a more equitable world is possible. She uses the plentiful fruiting of…
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A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
An indispensable guide to understanding the Israel–Palestine conflict, and how we might yet still find a way out of it. ‘Ilan Pappe is the most original, radical and hard-hitting of Israel’s “new historians”.’ Avi Shlaim, author of Three WorldsThe devastation of 7 October 2023 and the horrors that followed astounded the world. But the Israel–Palestine conflict…
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Spinning
by Tillie Walden Originally published in 2017 in the US and now republished in the UK, this graphic memoir follows Tillie throughout her teens as she moves from New Jersey to Texas, continues her intense figure skating training regimen and tries to figure out who she is. The minimalist illustration style and the gorgeous use…
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Meditations for Mortals
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Saving Time – Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock
By Jenny Odell £10.99 paperback This looks like a classic self-help book, one designed to help the reader prioritise, or perhaps to be more mindful. I did find it helpful, and it was much more radical in argument and approach than I was expecting. Odell explores the invention of time as much of the world…
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How Migration Really Works
By Hein de Haas Paperback, £10.99
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Cairn
By Kathleen Jamie Paperback, £10.99 Cairn is a collection of micro essays, poems and thoughts from the Scottish writer. As ever her focus on nature is acute, and her writing is beautiful. Lovely minimalist illustrations complement the text. More present here than in previous works, perhaps, is the climate emergency. Jamie captures the grief of…
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Notes from an Island
By Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä Paperback, £12.99 A short and beautiful memoir, as two women in their late 40s build their dream cabin on a remote island in the Gulf of Finland. They stayed every summer until they were less able to manage the rigorous physical work that living there required. Luckily for us…
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Rental Person Who Does Nothing
By Shoji Morimoto Paperback, £10.99 In this written account, Tokyoite Shoji Morimoto tells the story of why and how he stopped freelancing and started offering his services – for free! – as a “rental person who does nothing” on Twitter. Don’t let the quirky premise put you off. I spent my entire time reading it…
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Now Go: On Grief and Studio Ghibli
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Boy Friends
by Michael Pedersen In this soft and tender epistolary memoir, Scottish poet Michael Pedersen recounts his most impactful friendships, with at its core the one he shared with musician, singer and artist Scott Hutchison, abruptly cut off by Hutchison’s death in 2018. Pedersen takes us through the before – all the previous (friend) love stories…
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