July 20, 2021
by Team Riverside
Hardback, Pan Macmillan, £12.99, out now
Rosa has so many interesting questions that her dad suggests they visit the library to get the answers. But the library is closed and boarded up, because it’s going to be knocked down and replaced by a restaurant. There will be no library to provide answers.
In this striking picture book, Rosa and her family do their best to protest against the closure by reminding people of how useful and important libraries are. But no one seems to listen, as people are either too busy or think that the protest is beneath their notice.
But it turns out that more people care about the library than only Rosa’s family, and that all together they can make a difference.
We Want Our Books is a love letter to libraries and a believable story about the highs and lows of grassroots protest.
I still get a rush of joy whenever I walk into a public library, when I remember that I can find a book that might change my life and that I can borrow it for free. And if you need a reminder of how lovely libraries can be, treat yourself to a look here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/epic-libraries-around-the-world. Libraries need our support – support yours!
Review by Bethan
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July 20, 2021
by Team Riverside
Brit Bennett – The Vanishing Half
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Notes on Grief
Richard Osman – The Thursday Murder Club
Mary Ann Sieghart – The Authority Gap
Rutger Bregman – Humankind
Lisa Taddeo – Animal
Douglas Stuart – Shuggie Bain
Jennifer Makumbi – The First Woman
Olga Ravn – The Employees
Elizabeth Jenner – What to Look For in Summer
DVSA – Official DVSA Theory Test
Avni Doshi – Burnt Sugar
Aldous Huxley – Brave New World
Chris Riddell – Ottoline Goes to School
David Peace – Tokyo Redux
Kazuo Ishiguro – Klara and the Sun
Margaret Kennedy – The Feast
Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet
Natalie Haynes – Pandora’s Jar
Marion Billet – There are 101 Things to Find in London
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July 14, 2021
by Team Riverside
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Notes on Grief
Rutger Bregman – Humankind: a Hopeful History
Various – Murder Takes a Holiday
Sarah Moss – Summerwater
Matt Haig – The Comfort Book
Elena Ferrante – The Lying Life of Adults
Janice Hallett – The Appeal
Natasha Brown – Assembly
Peppa’s London Day Out Sticker Book
Roald Dahl – Matilda’s How to be Brave
Brit Bennett – The Vanishing Half
Andrew O’Hagan – Mayflies
Sally Rooney – Conversations with Friends
Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet
Mieko Kawakami – Breasts and Eggs
Matt Haig – The Midnight Library
Yun Ko-Eun – The Disaster Tourist
Riku Onda – The Aosawa Murders
John Christopher – The Death of Grass
Adam Kay – Kay’s Anatomy
Review by Bethan
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July 12, 2021
by Team Riverside
Paperback, Hoxton Mini Press, £9.95, out now
After a year of intermittent lockdowns, when I was lucky enough to have a lively local park near me and to be able to visit it, I am very ready to try out some new London green spots. London Green Spaces is one of a gorgeous new series of small London guidebooks, and this book makes it fun to start a day-out wishlist. Even looking at the photos cheered me up.
I thought I knew most of the cool parks and green bits in London, but there were several in here I’d never heard of. London Green Spaces offers an enticing reminder of the big places too, the ones that you know about but haven’t visited for a while, like Richmond Park or Epping Forest. Useful cover maps and suggested walks would help make a day of it.
The Red Cross Garden in London Bridge features, and I can vouch for its sanctuary-like feel as a respite from the Borough Market crowds at the weekend (https://www.bost.org.uk/). The book is good on these small places as well as the grand sweeping ones. I’d add the Crossbones Graveyard, just round the corner from the Red Cross Garden, though you always need to check the opening hours (https://crossbones.org.uk/).
Other craveable titles in the series include Vegan London, London Pubs, and Independent London. You’re in London (maybe)… it’s summer (sort of)… if you’re able to get out and about these books will help you lively up your plans.
Review by Bethan
Posted in London, News, Non fiction |
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July 4, 2021
by Team Riverside
Our Bestsellers from 28th June to the 4th of July:
Brit Bennett- The Vanishing Half
Delia Owens- Where The Crawdads Sing
Maggie O’Farrell- Hamnet
Natalie Haynes- Pandora’s Jar
Jonathon Lee- The Great Mistake
Elena Ferrante- The Lying Life of Adults
Various Authors- Murder Takes A Holiday
James Hawes- The Shortest History of England
Peter Ackroyd- London: The Biography
Elif Shafak- 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
Richard Osman- The Thursday Murder Club
Sasha Swire- Diary of An MP’s Wife
Irvin and Marilyn Yalom- A Matter of Death and Life
Kazuo Ishiguro- Klara and The Sun
Kenneth Cukier- Framers
Clare Chambers- Small Pleasures
Susanna Clarke- Piranesi
Xialou Guo- A Lover’s Discourse
Meriel Schindler- The Lost Cafe Schindler
Tim Marshall- The Power of Geography
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June 28, 2021
by Team Riverside
Hardback, Picador, £14.99, out now
“…I loved the past of archives, but there was no era of the past I had any inclination to visit with my actual human body, being rather fond of it having at least minimal rights and protections”. Cassie, the narrator of the title novella in The Office of Historical Corrections, is an officer at the new US Institute for Public History. She goes out and about correcting historical inaccuracy in the Washington area, a new civil service style job. But what happens when there is a total subversion or avoidance of truth, and some bodies are clearly in the firing line?
This is the best collection of short stories I’ve read in ages. Every one is sharp and entertaining. Claire is called out by a college colleague for wearing a Confederate flag bikini, but doubles down, and doubles down again – why? Cecelia’s mother is determined to get recognition for her father’s wrongful imprisonment in Alcatraz, but a visit to the former prison with estranged family happens instead. The end of Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain is one of my favourite endings to a short story.
Roxane Gay calls Danielle Evans “the finest short story writer working today”, and I think she’s on to something. Race, gender and grief feature over and over. I think this collection will be read for years and years.
Review by Bethan
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June 28, 2021
by Team Riverside
We will be closed on the morning of Wednesday 30 June for our annual stocktake. Sorry for any inconvenience!
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June 9, 2021
by Team Riverside
Our bestsellers from 31 May to 8 June:
Brit Bennett – The Vanishing Half
Riku Onda – The Aosawa Murders
Richard Osman – The Thursday Murder Club
Matt Haig – The Midnight Library
Natasha Brown – Assembly
Sophie Mackintosh – Blue Ticket
Ali Smith – Summer
Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other
Rachel Joyce – Miss Benson’s Beetle
Sally Rooney – Conversations with Friends
Kazuo Ishiguro – Klara and the Sun
Cho Nam-Joo – Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
Naoise Dolan – Exciting Times
Clare Chambers – Small Pleasures
Benjamin Labatut – When We Cease to Understand the World
David Diop – At Night All Blood is Black
Caroline Criado Perez – Invisible Women
Nick Bradley – The Cat and the City
Alice Haworth-Booth – Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize 2020
Judith Kerr – Mog the Forgetful Cat
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June 7, 2021
by Team Riverside
Paperback, Faber and Faber, £6.99, out now
Joe is having a great time at the playground on his own, battling sharks and crocodiles. But a new kid comes along and says what new kids always say – “You’ve only got one leg!” and “What happened to you?”.
Joe is super fed up of always getting these questions, and as more kids turn up, more questions (and questionable theories) abound. But soon the kids discover that there is more interesting stuff they can be doing with Joe… and it involves battling sharks and crocodiles.
This fun and sensitive book provides a great way in to talking about disability with kids, and also has very helpful notes for adults on how to do this when “your child wants to know everything about every disabled person they see, all at once, at TOP VOLUME…”. Some really good advice follows – “…it’s still worth your child knowing that disabled people are just like anyone else, getting on with their busy day, not looking to be a teachable moment”. It reminded me of the very excellent blogs by Gem Turner on exactly this topic (https://gemturner.com/explaining-disability-to-children/).
What Happened to You? is a fun and enjoyable read, with lively and cheerful illustrations. Cracking!
Review by Bethan
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May 31, 2021
by Team Riverside
Our bestsellers from 24 to 30 May:
Brit Bennett – The Vanishing Half
Richard Osman – The Thursday Murder Club
Nick Bradley – The Cat and the City
Julia Donaldson and Sharon King-Chai – Animalphabet
Anna Jones – One: Pot, Pan, Planet
Rob Biddulph – Show and Tell
Emily M Danforth – Plain Bad Heroines
Ece Temelkuran – Together
Virginia Woolf – Mrs Dalloway
Raynor Winn – The Wild Silence
Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
Siobhan Dowd – The London Eye Mystery
Andrew Sean Greer – Less
Jackie Kay – Bessie Smith
Seth Rogen – Yearbook
Nora Ephron – I Feel Bad About My Neck
Diane Cook – The New Wilderness
Audre Lorde – Your Silence Will Not Protect You
Jon Klassen – I Want My Hat Back
Madeline Miller – Circe
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May 30, 2021
by Team Riverside
We will be open on bank holiday Monday 31 May from 11am to 5pm.
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May 25, 2021
by Team Riverside
Hardback, Borough Press, £14.99, out now
This is the most enjoyable book I have read for ages. It is a huge slab of gothic horror written with dash and spiky humour. Danforth’s own website describes the book like this, and it’s not wrong: “Picnic at Hanging Rock + The Blair Witch Project x lesbians = Plain Bad Heroines” (https://www.emilymdanforth.com/pbh).
In 1902, at the exclusive Brookhants School for Girls in Rhode Island, two girls are gruesomely stung to death by wasps. More deaths (inevitably) follow. Is this related to a book that some of the girls have become obsessed with, in which Mary MacLane sets out her desire to live life to the full?
In parallel, we follow the present-day story of three women involved in making a Hollywood film about the happenings at Brookhants.
The opening pages show you immediately what’s in store. There is a map which includes the Tricky Thicket and Spite Manor. Part One is called I Await the Devil’s Coming. There are unexpected footnotes and biting commentary from an unidentified narrator. Cousin Charles, who chases one of the girls into the wood where she gets stung to death, is unpopular with the narrator: “Maybe some of the girls had, in fact, later said that he looked rakish and fine, but for now let’s discount their certainly incorrect opinions”.
Anyone who spent their early teens reading hugely long hardback horror novels as I did (I’m looking at you, special edition of The Stand) may well get a nostalgic feeling while reading this epic. There are pleasing horror references for fans throughout, but they don’t detract from the unique atmosphere Danforth creates.
Plain Bad Heroines is pure escapism from page one. A strong array of memorable LGBTQ women rampage throughout. Excellent.
Review by Bethan
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May 24, 2021
by Team Riverside
Bestsellers from 17 to 23 May…
Richard Osman – The Thursday Murder Club
Matt Haig – The Midnight Library
Brit Bennett – The Vanishing Half
Francesca Wade – Square Haunting
Kazuo Ishiguro – Klara and the Sun
Rutger Bregman – Humankind
Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet
Clare Chambers – Small Pleasures
Nick Bradley – The Cat and the City
K L Kettle – The Boy I Am
Monique Roffey – The Mermaid of Black Conch
Riku Onda – The Aosawa Murders
Hilary Mantel – The Mirror and the Light
Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, Cass R Sunstein – Noise
David Baddiel – Jews Don’t Count
Deborah Levy – Real Estate
The Puffin Book of Funny Stories
John le Carré – Agent Running in the Field
Cressida Cowell – How to Train Your Dragon
Jhumpa Lahiri – Unaccustomed Earth
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May 15, 2021
by Team Riverside
Hardback, 4th Estate, £10, out now
“I finally understand why people get tattoos of those they have lost. The need to proclaim not merely the loss but the love, the continuity. I am my father’s daughter. It is an act of resistance and refusal: grief telling you it is over and your heart saying it is not; grief trying to shrink your love to the past and your heart saying it is present”.
Adichie’s much-loved father died in June 2020, and this tender and anguished short book contains her reflections on her grief. Best known for her modern classic novels, including Half of a Yellow Sun, and essays including We Should All Be Feminists, this is written in her usual fluid style despite the pain it conveys.
The pandemic complicates everything. Family members are on different continents and flights are cancelled. Arrangements have to be made on Zoom, where weeks before routine family chats including her father had been filled with laughter and everyday chat.
It is about loss, but it is also about the deep love she has for her father. Many people have been hit with unexpected and devastating bereavement over the last year. This relatable and timely book might end up being a life raft for some.
Review by Bethan
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May 12, 2021
by Team Riverside
Bestsellers from 4 May to today…
Richard Osman – The Thursday Murder Club
Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet
Matt Haig – The Midnight Library
Riku Onda – The Aosawa Murders
Zadie Smith, Nick Laird, Magenta Fox – Weirdo
Emma Dabiri – What White People Can Do Next
Naoise Dolan – Exciting Times
Douglas Stuart – Shuggie Bain
Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other
Emily St John Mandel – The Glass Hotel
Olivia Laing – Funny Weather
Eric Vuillard – The War of the Poor
Tim Marshall – The Power of Geography
Rebecca Tamás – Strangers
Emily M Danforth – Plain Bad Heroines
David Omand – How Spies Think
Jonas Jonasson – Sweet Sweet Revenge
David Walliams – The Beast of Buckingham Palace
Sathnam Sanghera – Empireland
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris – The Lost Spells
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April 24, 2021
by Team Riverside
Hardback, Walker Books, £12.99, out now
This excellent picture book has possibly my top back cover text ever: “There is a spot. It is the perfect spot to stand. But somewhere above there is also a rock. A rock from the sky”.
The Rock from the Sky is new from Jon Klassen, author of Riverside all-time-favourite the Hat Trilogy (https://riversidebookshop.co.uk/2016/11/30/we-found-a-hat-by-jon-klassen/). There really is a rock from the sky with dramatic consequences (Chekhov’s rock, perhaps). Some characters will be familiar… I think this is one of the turtles from We Found a Hat. Although it may be a different turtle in a similar hat. It is hard to say.
There are shades of Wes Anderson in the title cards for each section. It is also stuffed with very quotable lines. The turtle picks a spot to stand in. “What do you think of my spot?” “Actually I have a bad feeling about it”. “A bad feeling?”. “Yes”.
Funny, relatable, memorable. I love it.
Review by Bethan
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April 20, 2021
by Team Riverside
Hardback, Penguin, £12.99, out now
Maud the guinea pig loves judo. She’s only just arrived at Kit’s house, as a surprise birthday present. But Kit’s other pets aren’t impressed – they’ve got a schedule to stick to and it doesn’t include her. One of them calls her a weirdo … but what is a weirdo, and is she one?
Luckily Maud happens upon the very cheerful Emily Brookstein, who tells her that “life’s too short not to be a weirdo”.
This excellent picture book has wonderful illustrations, colourful and joyous, by Magenta Fox. Zadie Smith is best known as a ground-breaking novelist and essayist (her book of essays, Intimations, has been one of our bestsellers of the last year). Nick Laird is a novelist and poet, also usually writing for adults.
A kind and ultimately happy book about embracing your differences and life being much more interesting for everyone as a result. Just lovely.
Review by Bethan
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April 13, 2021
by Team Riverside
Visit us in London Bridge for new signed copies:
Kazuo Ishiguro – Klara and the Sun
Yaa Gyasi – Transcendent Kingdom
Zadie Smith and Nick Laird – Weirdo
Megan Nolan – Acts of Desperation
Dolly Alderton – Ghosts
Prue Leith and Peta Leith – Vegetarian Kitchen
James Rebanks – English Pastoral
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris – The Lost Words
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April 12, 2021
by Team Riverside
We are delighted to be open again, and we are looking forward to helping folks find books, cards and Moleskines here in London Bridge.
We have slightly revised opening hours for now:
Monday to Friday – 10am to 5pm
Saturday – 10am to 6pm
Sunday – 11am to 5pm
Please bear with us if we need to adjust these at short notice as we go forward. If you’re planning a special trip to London Bridge to see us, ring first.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us while we have been closed by sending lovely messages and buying from our storefront on bookshop.org. It has helped us stay cheerful and we hope to see you all in person soon.
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April 1, 2021
by Team Riverside
… and we look forward to seeing you all then.
Please check back here for news of revised opening times, as we may operate slightly shorter hours for a while.
With best wishes to all of our customers –
Team Riverside
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January 6, 2021
by Team Riverside
We will be closed until the end of lockdown, and we will not be able to do ‘click and collect’.
Many thanks to all those who have sent good wishes. If you’d like to support us while we are closed, please consider buying books through our page on Bookshop.org – https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/theriversidebookshop. We get a percentage of the sale price, and your books are delivered direct to you.
We wish all of you the very best, and look forward to seeing you again when we are able to re-open.
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December 21, 2020
by Team Riverside
We will be open for call/email and collect Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 December between 11am and 3pm.
If you have already ordered and paid for your items, you can turn up and collect at the door during these times.
If you want to buy items in stock in the shop you will need to call or email to check availability, then pay for them over the phone. You will then be able to collect them at the door during the times listed above. Please be patient if you have to wait at the door – we will get to you but you may have to wait while we finish dealing with another customer on the phone.
Thanks to everyone for your patience and kindness during this time. We have been so grateful for the good wishes and thoughts of our customers throughout this most difficult year. It’s helped us more than we can say.
Team Riverside
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December 20, 2020
by Team Riverside
Dear friends
thank you for your patience while we are closed today. The announcement of new restrictions in London means that we are not allowed to open to the public. We hope to provide an opportunity at least for customers to pick up orders during this week, and will post details here and on Instagram later, so please check back.
In the meantime, if you would like to check in about the status of an order you have made with us, or have any other queries, please do contact us on info@riversidebookshop.co.uk.
We wish every one of you all the best, and hope you stay as safe as you can.
Team Riverside
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December 2, 2020
by Team Riverside
We are so pleased to be open again!
Weekdays – 10am to 5pm
Saturday 10am to 6pm
Sunday 11am to 5pm
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October 24, 2020
by Team Riverside
Our bestsellers this week:
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osmon
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda
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October 14, 2020
by Team Riverside
We are delighted to have a bunch of lovely new Art Angels cards in store. Some offer great views of London, and others focus on the natural world. We particularly like these two local scenes.
Get them before they are gone!
Posted in London, News, Nice things |
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September 19, 2020
by Team Riverside
Our bestsellers this week:
Reni Eddo-Lodge – Why I’m no Longer Talking to White People About Race
Delia Owens – Where the Crawdads Sing
Phoebe Stuckes – Platinum Blonde
Zadie Smith – Intimations
Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other
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September 14, 2020
by Team Riverside
We’re very excited to have signed copies of Platinum Blonde by Phoebe Stuckes and published by Bloodaxe Books.
Order from us by phone or email and get free delivery within the UK.
Posted in News, Poetry, Signed Copies, Special Stuff |
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September 9, 2020
by Team Riverside
Paperback, Penguin, £6.99, out now
This is a cheerful picture book about a small girl’s mission to share her love of space. Rocket is a stargazer who lives in a town, and is determined that folks where she lives should come to the park to watch the meteor shower.
Rocket’s brother Jamal is lovely but he’s always looking down at his phone… like everyone else, he needs to look up!
With a shout out to the legendary Mae Jemison, Look Up! is a great way to show primary children how exciting space can be, and that it’s available to everyone. The enthusiasm in the book is infectious, helped by the lively and fun illustrations. I particularly liked the astronaut cat who appears on every page. I’ve already bought three copies as presents, and I’m pretty sure these won’t be the last.
Review by Bethan
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September 8, 2020
by Team Riverside
We’re very happy to have Luan Goldie’s new book Homecoming in stock – and thanks to Luan for dropping by to sign the paperback of her Nightingale Point!
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