Christmas Reading AUTUMN/WINTER 2020 - FROM FROM - Squarespace
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Christmas Reading
Christmas Reading
FROM
FROM
AUTUMN/WINTER 2020
Dear Friends, Welcome to Vellum Libraries’ Christmas Reading List 2020. This is our first ever list and I am delighted to be sending it out to friends and followers, old and new. It is by no means exhaustive. Instead, I have chosen my stand outs from an exceptional literary season. I hope you find it useful as you face your annual Christmas present shopping challenge. Of course, it’s been such a tough year for so many. In North Oxfordshire things have just about rolled along, with my highlight certainly being the launch and subsequent popularity of Lockdown Libraries. As a result, in the past eight months I have handpicked books for hundreds of readers around the world and it has been such a pleasure. So if you have bought one, thank you. Thank you for helping me to stay sane in 2020! And next year? Well, once I have emerged from under the pile of books in my office into 2021, I hope we will be back to curating and organising libraries. But I’m also pleased to say that Lockdown Libraries are very much here to stay. If you would like to order a Lockdown Library for Christmas, please do so early. Visit vellumlibraries.com/lockdown-libraries or just send me an email to clemmie@vellumlibraries.com. With Best Wishes Clemmie xxx
BI O G R AP H Y A N D M E M OI R Friends and Enemies: A Memoir Barbara Amiel Delicious 80s atmosphere from Conrad Black’s journalist wife £25 The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times Lionel Barber A fascinating insight into the Establishment from a great editor £25 Sybille Bedford: An Appetite for Life Selina Hastings The first biography of this life enhancing and much-loved writer £25 Being Betjeman(n) Jonathan Smith Charming, unusual and John Sandoe’s bookshop has a lovely exclusive hardback edition £20 The Bhutto Dynasty: The Struggle for Power in Pakistan Owen Bennet-Jones The tragic political dynasty laid bare by a real expert £20
The Secret Life of the Savoy: And the D’Oyly Carte Family
Olivia Williams
The impresarios behind this well-loved London institution
£20
The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story
Kate Summerscale
Summerscale is a genius at these stories. Not to be missed
£18.99
Russian Roulette: The Life and Times of Graham Greene
Richard Greene
The first biography of this complex man in a generation
£25
The Windsor Diaries: 1940-45
Alathea Fitzalan Howard
A perfect present for lovers of Anne Glenconner’s Lady in Waiting
£25
LO C K D O W N L I B R A R I E S
N e e d h e lp th is C h ristm as ?
O u r L o ck d o w n L ibr a ri es a re b e a utif ull y w r a pp e d c olle c ti on s
of f i ve b o ok s , ch osen t o s ui t th e re a d e r’s t ast e .
For m ore i nform ati on visi t
ve ll um libr a ri es . c om or em ail clem m i e @ ve ll um libr a ri es . c om
More Than A Woman Caitlin Moran Ten years on from How to be Woman - middle age and more £20 Morozov: The Story of a Family and a Lost Collection Natalya Semenova Art lovers alert. This follows her brilliant biography of Shchukin £25 A Promised Land Barack Obama Needs no introduction. Absolutely lives up to expectation £35 Tom Stoppard: A Life Hermione Lee The biography of a great, by a great £30 Diary of an MP’s Wife: Inside and Outside Power Sasha Swire Such. Good. Gossip. Behind the scenes in Westminster £20 The Wild Silence Raynor Winn This is a worthy follow-up to Winn’s The Salt Path £14.99 Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics Dolly Parton She is an extraodinary writer. Yet another reason to love her £35
H I S T O R Y , P O L I T I C S , C U R R E N T A F FA I R S Agent Sonya: Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy Ben MacIntyre The extraordinary story of ‘Mrs Burton’ aka Ursula Kuczynski, a secret Red Army colonel £25 The Story of China: A Portrait of A Civilisation and Its People Michael Wood A proper history through the ages £30 War: How Conflict Shaped Us Margaret Macmillan Is war an essential part of being human? And if so, why? £20 On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist Clarissa Ward The world-renown conflict reporter tells her remarkable story £20 Life on Our Planet David Attenborough Really, everyone should just get this for Christmas £20
Just Us: An American Conversation
Claudia Rankine
How to breach the divide within the USA. A prescient book for
current times
£25
News: And How to Use It
Alan Rusbridger
Ex-Guardian editor on how to survive the ‘information crisis’
£18.99
Caste: The Lies That Divide Us
Isabel Wilkerson
If there’s one book we should all read this year, it is probably this.
£20
Rage
Bob Woodward
If you haven’t seen enough already, Woodward’s 17 interviews
with Trump are eye-opening to say the least
£25
H A R DBAC K L O C K D O W N L I BR A R I ES
F i ve b o ok s h a n d pick e d t o s ui t th e re a d e r’s t ast e
F ic ti on - £ 95 | N on -F ic ti on B o ok s - £12 5
F ic ti on & N on -F ic ti on M i x - £11 5
F IC T ION Ghosts Dolly Alderton Debut from the High Low podcaster. It’s funny and perceptive £14.99 Inside Story Martin Amis A fictional portrait of his life that is possibly his best novel yet £20 Enchanted Night: Selected Tales Miklós Bánffy Newly translated from the author of the Transylvanian Trilogy £12.99 That Old Country Music Kevin Barry These are seeringly brilliant short stories from a wonderful writer £14.99 The Autumn of the Ace Louis de Bernières Escapist, nostalgic historical fiction for all these quiet nights in £17.99 Trio William Boyd The reviews have been tiptop for yet another Boyd bestseller £18.99
Daddy Emma Cline Disturbing, uncomfortable stories from the author of The Girls £14.99 Box 88 Charles Cumming Spies. Crime. Action. Your father will love this £14.99 The Silence Don DeLillo The master storyteller at his best in this profoundly moving novel £14.99 The Searcher Tana French Has been compared to Tartt’s The Secret History. Deservedly so £14.99 Troubled Blood Robert Galbraith Another page turner in JK Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series £20 Murder on Mustique Anne Glenconner And now a novel from our new favourite octogenarian £16.99 V2 Robert Harris Reliably gripping. The perfect book for your FIL £20
The Collected Stories of Shirley Hazzard Shirley Hazzard If you don’t yet love Shirley Hazzard, then this is your moment £16.99 Just Like You Nick Hornby Boy meets girl and the rest. Hurrah £16.99 The Glorious Guinness Girls Emily Hourican Society girls. Bright Young Things. Very Downton-esque £20 To Be A Man Nicole Krauss A lyrical and poised collection of stories from a wonderful writer £16.99 Reality. And Other Stories John Lanchester Chilling tales of strange technology and the horrors of modern life £12.99 Jack Marilynne Robinson Fans rejoice as Robinson returns to the world of Gilead £18.99 Olga Bernard Schlink From the author of The Reader, a bittersweet love affair £16.99
Jeeves and The Leap of Faith
Ben Schott
The perfect stocking-filler for fans of Wodehouse
£18.99
Islands of Mercy
Rose Tremain
An absorbing novel set in 1865 in the city of Bath
£18.99
E S SA Y S & I D E A S
Troy: Our Greatest Story Retold
Stephen Fry
Following on from his successful retellings of Mythos and Heroes
£20
Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread
Michiko Kakutani
Essays on fiction, poetry and non-fiction from the US critic
£16.99
The Gifts of Reading
Misc.
A lovely stocking filler for keen readers by writers including
Robert Macfarlane, William Boyd and Philip Pullman
£16.99There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less
Important Than Kindness
Carlo Rovelli
From the author of bestselling Seven Brief Lessons About Physics
£20
The Best of Me
David Sedaris
A self-proclaimed hall of fame from the very funny writer
£16.99
How Do we Know We’re Doing It Right?
Pandora Sykes
How to navigate modern life and its multitude of choices
£14.99
Edmund De Waal: Library of Exile
Hartwig Fischer, Elif Shafak & Edmund de Waal
Accompanies De Waal’s Library of Exile at the British Museum
£10
PAP E R BAC K LO C K D O W N L I BR A R I E S
F i ve b o ok s h a n d pick e d t o s ui t th e re a d e r’s t ast e
F ic ti on - £ 5 5 | N on -F ic ti on B o ok s - £ 5 9. 5 0
F ic ti on & N on -F ic ti on M i x - £ 5 9. 5 0T RAV EL Magdalena: River of Dreams Wade Davis Journey into the heart and history of Colombia via its great river £25 Himalaya: A Human History Ed Douglas The first major history of these great mountains and its people £25 Eat the Buddha: The Story of Modern Tibet Through the People of One Town Barbara Demick A riveting portrait of 21st century life in Tibet £18.99 The Virago Book of Women Travellers Mary Morris ed. To inspire us all in these stay-at-home days £14.99 (reissue) The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Divided Nation Declan Walsh An arresting account of a troubled nation £20 Venice: The Lion, The City and the Water Cees Nooteboom An homage to the floating city and a companion for all who visit £20
AR T & DESIGN Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto Miren Arzalluz ed. The birth and evolution of Chanel’s iconic and timeless style £45 John Nash: The Landscape of Love and Solace Andy Friend A long overdue biography that is hugely compelling and intimate £30 The Bloomsbury Look Wendy Hitchmough An indepth study of this self-styled group of aesthetes and artists £30 A Year in the Art World Matthew Israel An insider asks what do people in the art world actually do? £19.95 Rattan: A World of Elegance and Charm Lulu Lyttle The revival of this timeless classic by the founder of Soane £50 The Lives of Others: Sublime Interiors of Extraordinary People Simon Watson The very best homes by the famous interiors photographer £50
GA R D E N S , N A T U R E & S C I E N C E Kinfolk Garden: How to Live With Nature John Burns The latest in the Kinfolk collection on how to live creatively £30 My Garden World: The Natural Year Monty Don A personal journey through the seasons £20 Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon Linda Holden & Thomas Lloyd The garden book Mrs Mellon wanted, but never managed, to write £22.50 Tokachi Millenium Forest: Pioneering a New Way of Gardening With Nature Dan Pearson & Midori Shintani The Hokkaido garden Pearson has spent 20 years creating £40 The Wild Life of the Fox John Lewis-Stempel To both love and loathe the fox is a British condition £9.99 English Pastoral: An Inheritance James Rebanks The follow on to his wonderful first book The Shepherd’s Life £20
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change our
Minds and Shape Our Future
Merlin Sheldrake
One of the surprise success stories of the year
£20
The Pattern Seekers: A New Theory of Human Invention
Simon Baron-Cohen
The renown autism scientist argues our ability to invent lies in
our capacity to see patterns
£20
Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain
David Eagleman
The cutting edge of neuroscience brilliantly translated
£20
W E A L S O C H O OS E B O OK S F O R C H I L D R EN!
N o t s u re wh ich b o ok s t o g i ve g o d ch il d ren , g r a n d ch il d ren ,
ni e c es a n d n e ph e ws ? A llo w V e ll um t o h e lp .
S e n d a L o ck d o w n L ibr a r y a n d w e will ch ose th e p e rfe c t
b o ok s t o s ui t th e i r ag e , st ag e a n d i nt e rests .
F i n d m ore i nfo at ve ll um libr a ri es . c omF O OD & C O O K E R Y Cook, Eat, Repeat: Ingredients, Recipes and Stories Nigella Lawson Recipes and essays as featured in Guardian Weekend Magazine £26 The Joy of Food Rory O’Connell Celebrating the best ingredients. Beautifully illustrated £22.99 Ottolenghi Flavour Yotam Ottolenghi & Ixta Belfrage Low effort, high impact recipes for weeknights £27 Towpath: Recipes and Stories Lori de Mori & Laura Jackson A charming reminder of all that is good in life £27 Mary Berry’s Simple Comforts Mary Berry She remains the queen of cookery books £26 A Table for Friends: The Art of Cooking for Two or Twenty Skye McAlpine Published in the summer this would be a lovely Christmas present £26
SP OR T The Commonwealth of Cricket Ramachandra Guha Memoir of a love affair with cricket by one of India’s finest writers £20 The Mountains According to G Geraint Thomas A secret how-to manual of two-wheeled climbs. Perfect for the lycra-clad £16.99 Klopp: My Liverpool Romance Anthony Quinn A portrait of the Reds’ manager by novelist and lifelong fan £12.99 Running The World: My World Record Adventure to Run a Marathon in Every Country Nick Butter 196 marathons later he tells his extraordinary story £14.99
To order a Lockdown Library or find out
more about our various literary endeavours
Email: clemmie@vellumlibraries.com
Phone: + 44 (0)7737 696843
Online: vellumlibraries.com/lockdown-librariesYou can also read
