Dorset, Somerset &amp; Bristol


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n-1000x1000.jpg" alt="hunting raven books" class="wp-image-85554" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n-525x525.jpg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n-500x500.jpg 500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n-1100x1100.jpg 1100w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-hunting-raven-books-27213641_1540886319781647_5646036709934291992_n.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p><a href="https://shop.winstonebooks.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Winstone&#8217;s Hunting Raven Books</a> is Frome&#8217;s award-winning and much-loved independent bookshop. Named best indie bookshop in the South West at the 2020 British Book Awards, they can get almost any book in print in over night and love recommending titles to their lovely customers. And so what are they recommending today?  This little lot: some adult fiction and non-fiction, books for kids – with some local authors and settings thrown into the mix.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="749" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-books-1-1000x749.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-85545" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-books-1-1000x749.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-books-1-800x599.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-books-1-400x300.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-books-1-768x575.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-books-1-701x525.jpg 701w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/00-books-1.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trust-by-hernan-diaz"><em>Trust</em> by Hernan Diaz</h2>



<p>Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this is an accomplished &#8216;puzzle box&#8217; novel set against the turbulent and dazzling backdrop of 1920s New York City: where fortunes are made, dynasties are built, and excess is everything. But when a novelist threatens to reveal the inside secrets of a glittering society marriage, the foundations of this fantasy world begins to crumble. In the end it all comes to down to the truth &#8211; but whose truth to trust? </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Amy &amp; Lan </em>by Sadie Jones</h2>



<p>When Amy Connell and Lan Honey&#8217;s families make the move from city to country, the children find themselves granted almost limitless freedoms. But it is not the danger of the high barn roofs, or fast flowing streams that threaten to bring the whole rural idyll down. A beautiful, funny, and ultimately heart-rending slice of rural life. How did the good life go so wrong?</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="749" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-2-1000x749.jpg" alt="July books" class="wp-image-85544" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-2-1000x749.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-2-800x599.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-2-400x300.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-2-768x575.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-2-701x525.jpg 701w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-2.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</em><strong>  by Gabrielle Zevin</strong></h2>



<p>I am stupidly excited for this to be released in paperback as I can now press it into as many hands as possible. I had been reticent about reading this due to the story revolving around a group of computer-game-designer friends. I have zero interest in gaming. That didn&#8217;t matter a jot. What this really is is a heartrending examination of love; love between friends, between lovers and love for one&#8217;s work. It resonated with me so strongly. The 1990s and modern day settings are perfection. It&#8217;s easily as satisfying as Hanya Yanagihara&#8217;s <em>A Little Life</em> (but without the gratuitous trauma!).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>The Square of Sevens</em> by Laura Shepherd-Robinson</h2>



<p>This is such a perfect recommendation, from an author with very strong connections to the South West. Red&#8217;s life is rooted in fortune-telling – from her early life on the road in Cornwall with her father using the powerful &#8216;Square of Sevens&#8217; method – to her ultimate rise to the high society of Georgian Bath under a wealthy gentleman guardian. But Red&#8217;s powers bring with them grave danger, and her desperate search for the truth of who she really is will lead her down a perilous path. The novel&#8217;s locations of Cornwall, Devon, London and Bath will delight Muddy readers!</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="749" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-3-1000x749.jpg" alt="july books" class="wp-image-85546" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-3-1000x749.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-3-800x599.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-3-400x300.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-3-768x575.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-3-701x525.jpg 701w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-3.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Flatlands</em> by Sue Hubbard</h2>



<p>Sue Hubbard is an award-winning poet, novelist, and distinguished art critic with strong ties to Frome, in Somerset. In this novel, artist and conscientious objector Philip lives in a remote lighthouse on the shores of the Wash. Sensing an affinity, Freda (a 12-year-old evacuee from the East End) is drawn to Philip and the two form a bond that will change the course of both of their lives.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Stalking the Atomic City</em> by Markiyan Kamysh</h2>



<p>What an exhilarating and wild read this is! Quite unlike anything I have ever read before. It crackles with radioactive energy and nihilistic verve, and is by turns shocking and thrilling. Markiyan is an adventure tourist. His playground? The wrecked and desolate remains of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. He, and others like him, make repeated compulsive pilgrimages to the forbidden wastelands of this nuclear disaster site &#8211; throwing all caution to the wind. It is an extraordinary story, extraordinarily told.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="749" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-4-1000x749.jpg" alt="July books" class="wp-image-85547" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-4-1000x749.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-4-800x599.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-4-400x300.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-4-768x575.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-4-701x525.jpg 701w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-4.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Rental Person Who Does Nothing </em>by Shoji Morimoto</h2>



<p>Sick of being constantly upbraided for &#8216;doing nothing&#8217; and showing &#8216;no initiative&#8217;, Shoji Morimoto decides to flip things and, with a single tweet, turns his biggest skill into his vocation by renting himself out&#8230; to do nothing. He provides a dependable, non-judgemental presence to people in all sorts of situations (from undergoing surgery to visiting a favourite restaurant post-divorce). The book is a sweet and surprising window into loneliness and connection.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>A Hero Like Me </em>by Angela Joy and Jen Reid (ill. by Leira Salaberria)</h2>



<p>A brilliant, bold and beautiful picture book based on the toppling of the Colston statue in Bristol in 2020. The book is co-authored by Jen Reid, who was at the protest and became iconic for standing atop the empty plinth with her fist raised in the air. This is an intelligent, timely and well-handled text about what it really means to be a hero, and about who we choose to celebrate.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="749" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-5-1000x749.jpg" alt="July books" class="wp-image-85548" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-5-1000x749.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-5-800x599.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-5-400x300.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-5-768x575.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-5-701x525.jpg 701w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Collage_Fotor-5.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>The Housetrap</em> by Emma Read</h2>



<p>A truly homegrown recommendation from a Bath-based children&#8217;s author, published by Frome-based Chicken House. When Claude&#8217;s little sister disappears, he and his two friends set off to find her. The trio is drawn through the doors of a mysterious mansion, which rearranges itself like a Rubik&#8217;s Cube around them. Chicken House described it as &#8216;an edge-of-your-seat adventure packed full of puzzles, spooks and mystery&#8217;. They&#8217;re not wrong!</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Five Survive</em> by Holly Jackson</h2>



<p>A gripping and tense psychological thriller for older teen readers from super bestselling YA author Holly Jackson. In high spirits, on a road trip to the coast, a group of five friends are plunged into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a hidden sniper who blows their tyre, and is intent on taking one of them out. But whose hidden secrets are worth being assassinated for? One thing is deadly clear. They won&#8217;t all be getting out alive&#8230;</p>



<p></p>



<p><em><a href="https://shop.winstonebooks.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Winstone&#8217;s Hunting Raven Books,</a> 10 Cheap Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1BN. </em></p>


Your July booklist: 10 summer reads chosen by Frome’s brilliant bookshop

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