Hi everyone,
This month, I found it more challenging to carve out the time to write this newsletter. I’m testing out a new format in which I share several recommendations instead of one.
I hope you enjoy it!
mariana
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
This is the story of Esme, a girl who grows up in Oxford in 1886, surrounded by the lexicographers who craft the First Oxford English Dictionary. The story showcases both Esme’s life and the progress of the dictionary in parallel, alongside other cleverly injected world events like the suffragette movement. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narration. If you’re into historical fiction, you might enjoy this book too. I really recommend it, I couldn’t put it down!
The Last Migration by Charlotte McConaghy
In a dystopic future in which humanity has driven almost all creatures to extinction, Franny Stone has a clear goal: to follow the last Arctic Terns on earth on what could possibly be their last trip to Antarctica. However, as we start to follow her journey, bits about her past start to unravel and complicate the plot. The Last Migration is a captivating read that takes us through adventure, darkness, and hope. Through Franny’s character, we get a close look into the fascinating life of those who have a truly wild nature within them.
Sunset by Jessie Cave
A beautiful book about grief, anger, and hope. A warm and raw portrayal of sibling love. Sunset is the debut novel of Jessie Cave, whom you might recognise from her role in Harry Potter as Lavender Brown. She is an English actress, comedian, writer and artist. In 2019, Cave lost her brother in a tragic accident. She couldn’t find any books to help her deal with what she was feeling, so she decided to write one herself. If you’re into dark humour or wish to understand a bit more about those who are grieving, this might be a nice read for you. I found it absolutely moving and beautiful. I also really enjoyed the audiobook version, which is narrated by Cave’s sister.
Links to buy the book
Always try to support your local bookshop. If you’d like me to add any bookshops to the list, let me know. Thanks to those who keep sharing new bookshops with me.
UK
Spain
Mexico
Italy
US
Favourite quotes
//The purpose of this section is to share some of my favourite book bits, so you can come back to them when you finish a book, if you wish to do so. I’ve put in bold my favourite ones, in case you want to read a few (or all) ahead of the book.//
Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words
“I cannot overstate the benefits of a busy day for an anxious mind or a lonely heart.”
“Words define us, they explain us, and, on occasion, they serve to control or isolate us.”
“Some words are more than letters on a page, don't you think? They have shape and texture. They are like bullets, full of energy, and when you give one breath you can feel its sharp edge against your lip.”
“A vulgar word, well placed and said with just enough vigour, can express far more than its polite equivalent.”
“Some words are more important than others—I learned this, growing up in the Scriptorium. But it took me a long time to understand why.”
“Stay busy--I cannot overstate the benefits of a busy day for an anxious mind or a lonely heart.”
“Praise dulls the intellect.”
‘I think sometimes the proper words mustn’t be quite right, and so people make new words up, or use old words differently.’
‘Words are like stories, don’t you think, Mr Sweatman? They change as they are passed from mouth to mouth; their meanings stretch or truncate to fit what needs to be said.’
“Some words’ histories stretched so far back that our modern understanding of them was nothing more than an echo of the original, a distortion. I used to think that it was the other way around, that the misshapen words of the past were clumsy drafts of what they would become; that the words formed on our tongues, in our times, were true and complete. But I was realising that, in fact, everything that comes after that first utterance is a corruption.”
“How reassuring it must be to know how you should act: like having a definition of yourself written clearly in black type.”
The Last Migration
“It isn’t fair to be the kind of creature who is able to love but unable to stay.”
“A life's impact can be measured by what it gives and what it leaves behind, but it can also be measured by what it steals from the world.”
“But there won’t be any more journeys after this one, no more oceans explored. And maybe that’s why I am filled with calm. My life has been a migration without a destination, and that in itself is senseless. I leave for no reason, just to be moving, and it breaks my heart a thousand times, a million.”
“It’s not life I’m tired of, with its astonishing ocean currents and layers of ice and all the delicate feathers that make up a wing. It’s myself.”
“We are, all of us, given such a brief moment of time together, it hardly seems fair. But it’s precious, and maybe it’s enough, and maybe it’s right that our bodies dissolve into the earth, giving our energy back to it, feeding the little creatures in the ground and giving nutrients to the soil, and maybe it’s right that our consciousness rests. The thought is peaceful.”
“It’s impossible to control someone else’s capacity for forgiveness.”
“He said our lives mean nothing except as a cycle of regeneration, that we are incomprehensibly brief sparks, just as the animals are, that we are no more important than they are, no more worthy of life than any living creature. That in our self-importance, in our search for meaning, we have forgotten how to share the planet that gave us life.”
“We’re the only planet that has oceans. In all the known universe, we’re the only one sitting in the perfect spot for them, not too hot and not too cold, and it’s the only reason we’re alive, because it’s the ocean that creates the oxygen we need to breathe.”
“How lonely it will be here, when it's just us.”
“I think there is meaning, and it lives in nurturing, in making life sweeter for ourselves, and for those around us.”
“Then again, it’s a fool who tries to protect a creature from its own instincts.”
“The Arctic tern has the longest migration of any animal. It flies from the Arctic all the way to the Antarctic, and then back again within a year. This is an extraordinarily long flight for a bird its size. And because the terns live to be thirty or so, the distance they will travel over the course of their lives is the equivalent of flying to the moon and back three times.”
Important notes
For UK and US readers, Bookshop.org is a great option to support your local bookshop. You can read more about it here.
If you’re using Gmail and the newsletter keeps going to your Promotions tab, you can try the following:
Open Gmail on your computer or laptop (it doesn’t work on mobile phones), and then drag the email from the Promotions tab into the Primary tab.
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