Coups de coeur
-
We Were Liars ; Now a major TV series on Amazon Prime!
Coup de coeurWhat our booksellers have to say...
What if you lost part of your memory and everyone around you started acting strange? This is what Cadence is going through and she decides to investigate this matter. This is a fast-paced mystery, ending in the greatest plot twist you could imagine. You might want to read this one twice to discover all the hints. Perfect for anyone wanting to dive into the thriller genre. (Mathilde)
Also available at smithandsonwest.com -
Waist Deep
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
A seductive midsummer novel about a group of old university friends reuniting for a week at a lake house in Denmark. Long days filled with sun, swimming, elderflowers, and fresh fruit slip into twilight evenings of Call Me by Your Name-style dinners and spirited debates. As the week unfolds, the friends confront the realities of each other’s lives—engagements, corporate jobs, suburban routines, and picture-perfect families. Old flames flicker back to life, new crushes spark, and tensions simmer to a beautiful climax. It’s indulgent, messy, gloriously queer, and irresistibly sexy—everything I want in a summer read. (Zoë)
-
What our booksellers have to say...
As long as the lemon trees grow follows Salama, an 18-year-old student whose life takes a major turn as the Syrian Revolution breaks out. She finds herself torn between her devotion to her country, and her desire to provide a safer life for her pregnant sister-in-law. But when she crosses path with Kenan, a young activist documenting the atrocities of war, her dilemma reaches its highest peak…
Based on contemporary historical events, this novel blends moments of crisis with Salama’s most blissful memories and inner wishes, reminding us that this novel is ultimately about resilience and hope. (Agathe) -
North and South
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Do you usually read on your commute, ten pages or so at a time? Why don’t you use your time off to read a classic while on holiday?
E. Gaskell’s North and South depicts life in a northern industrial city in the 1850s very accurately, without cynicism, and from various points of view: a young woman from southern England, a mill owner, and his workers. And it is romantic as well!
Pride and Prejudice meets Hard Times. (Helene) -
The Line of Beauty
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
This Saltburn-esque tale of beauty, desire, sex and money opens in 1983 against the backdrop of Thatcher's Britain and the growing threat of AIDS. Nick has graduated from Oxford and will begin a postgrad on Henry James in the autumn. But for now, it's summer, and he's spending it as a lodger at his friend Toby Fedden's in Kensington Gardens. Our innocent, inexperienced Nick rapidly embarks on a series of life-altering love affairs, while also being seduced by the Fedden's glamorous world of politics and privilege. (Zoë)
-
Helter Skelter ; The True Story of the Manson Murders
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
The great classic of true crime: the story of the Manson murders. The investigation of the prosecutor of the case that shocked American society in the late sixties. The importance of the book lies not only in the evidence of the facts but in the explanation of the context and the development of the trial. The characters of the drama are the victims and the direct perpetrators, but also or above all, the instigator of the crime. A story of manipulation, hatred and violence, without redemption. (Abel)
-
The Nutmeg's Curse ; Parables for a Planet in Crisis
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Amitav Ghosh retraces the origins of the nutmeg from the Banda Islands to the violence of western colonialism, and the geopolitical and environmental ramifications on the native population as well as the wider world. From this unassuming seed, the earth is disclosed as a site of endless collaboration and exchange where nothing occurs in a vacuum. (Lucy)
-
Alien Earths ; The Search for Life in the Cosmos
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
This book will invite you to wander off into the galaxy for the summer holidays. Lisa Kaltenegger's job is to observe how the appearance of life transforms the shapes and colours of our planet and how it can do the same in other parts of the universe. She is as passionate about life on Earth as she is about trying to find traces of it in the cosmos. An exciting read, full of new knowledge on space and evolution. (Oona)
-
The Gender of Sound
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Anne Carson invites us, with an exploration of voice that spans history, to reimagine our conceptions of human order through the way we experience sounds. This text presents society's instinct to moralize sound as a reflection of social domination of all that is feminine, an exercise in dividing and classifying characteristics into a binary system that seeks to stratify, judge, and repress.
This innovative essay treats us to Carson's dual voice as poet and scholar and is a philosophic gem. (Kate M.) -
The Secret Collector
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Alfred is a lonely widower who fills his whole house with collectibles. Kian is a troubled teenager on the brink of going to prison. When Kian throws a brick through the old man's window, the shock sends him to hospital. A twist of fate forces the two to work together to get his house back to a liveable state. Neither of them is happy about the arrangement, but as days go by they discover that they have more in common than they thought, and that the people around them can help them find hope again.
This debut novel is an uplifting story about friendship across generations. (Sylvie) -
What our booksellers have to say...
For her debut adult novel, Maggie Stiefvater remains in the magical realism genre, this time taking us to 1942 Virginia. We follow the staff of a luxury hotel forced to welcome Axis diplomates left in the United States. As usual, she weaves her story with a wonderfully eerie prose, leaving readers unsettled by her imaginative narratives. Whether you have read her young adult works or not, this is one of this summer's releases you should not miss. (Chloe)
-
The Midnight Feast
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
It’s the opening weekend at The Manor, a high-end hotel and spa by the sea. The weather is too hot for midsummer in Britain, everyone has dark secrets to hide, and the forest nearby is oozing with gloomy folklore. When a body is found at the bottom of the cliffs, it all unravels.
Written with multiple points of view and three different timelines, this clever murder mystery will have you hooked after a few pages. It’s a perfect holiday book for the readers of The Paris Apartment. (Helene) -
What our booksellers have to say...
A sweet second chance, cowboy romance. The last one of the Rebel Blue Ranch series. The one where we learn about Cam and Dusty and how a high school romance can become a lifelong romance even after fifteen years apart.
This is a happy and satisfying conclusion to the Rebel Blue Ranch series where we enjoy getting to see characters from the other books and how naturally they fit into this story as well. It is helpful to read the other books but not necessary. (Amelie) -
What our booksellers have to say...
For me summertime means thriller books.
Set in beautiful Scotland, this is the story of a family and also a tragedy. Seven-year-old Rory disappears on the beach, no one knows what happened. Their lives don't fall apart immediately. While there's still hope, they dig deep and try to carry on.
But as desperation mounts, arms around shoulders become pointed fingers - at friends, family, strangers, each other. Without any answers, only questions remain. Who can they trust? How far will they go to find out what happened to Rory? (Gaelle) -
Mary Jane ; A Novel
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Take a trip back to the summer of 1975 with 14-year-old Mary Jane’s coming-of-age story. Raised by conservative parents in Baltimore, her world shifts when she starts babysitting for her unconventional neighbours.
Seeing this young woman getting to know herself, learning to express her feelings and spending time with people she truly resonates with makes it a heartwarming read. A great book to look back on your teenage years with fondness. (Chloe) -
Perfection
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Meet Anna and Tom, a millennial couple living an ideal life in Berlin... Or perhaps living the illusion of it? Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection is a perfect rendering of a generation caught in a specific time and place. As we learn more about them, we witness the latent decline of their everyday life. Life as it is and life as it seems: read it without hesitation! (Timothé)
No-one can deny that millennial expat couple Tom and Anna are living the dream in Berlin. Their immaculate photos of a life well lived are all the proof you need. But in exploring what perfection really looks like, this novel will make you question if a picture-perfect instagrammable life is truly enough. (Abi)
-
Clear
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Set in the mid-19th century on a remote Scottish island, Clear is a tale of unlikely friendship between John Ferguson, a poor rebel church minister sent on a mission, and Ivar, the sole occupant of the island.
Beautiful landscapes, loneliness and the power of language are at the heart of this little gem of a novel.
The perfect book to take with you to Scotland! (Marianne) -
The Iliac Crest
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
This book begins with an encounter that warps reality into a fever dream of deconstructive discussions about sexual, racial, gender, cultural identity. The narrative utilises dialogue and characterisation to grapple with the limits of predetermined boundaries, whether physical, social or geographical. The novel’s untethered qualities make it a perfect read for the curious and wandering souls. (Lucy)
-
What our booksellers have to say...
This book is an ode to sisterhood. Written like a fairytale with whimsical prose, this book feels like one of those endless summer afternoons that are filled with possibilities. The imaginative freedom with which Amal El-Mohtar weaves this tale is breathtaking. As external forces seemingly rip two sisters apart, this story teaches us that the depth of sisterly love serves like a beacon, leading you home. (Lucy)
-
The Second Chance Convenience Store
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
In Seoul, a homeless man who has lost his memory helps an elderly lady recover her purse. In turn she offers him a meal and a job in the convenience store she owns.
Little by little he earns a place in the heart of the customers, staff and neighbours, by listening to their problems and aspirations.
This Korean bestseller is a moving and realistic story about solidarity and the way to recovery. (Sylvie) -
Butter
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Crime fiction title? Food, gender and power are the full-fat ingredients in Yuzuki's novel. Two opposite women: Rika, a young ambitious journalist versus Kajii, an older unattractive and overweight woman accused of three murders and imprisoned. To obtain information from Kajii, Rika will have to obey her and cook a list of recipes in the right order from cooked rice with salted butter and soy sauce, to bœuf bourguignon, French patisserie, chicken braised in butter.
A book about female bodily liberation and the status of women in Japan today. (Gaelle) -
What our booksellers have to say...
Dealing with obsessive love and missed connections, Room on the Sea immerses us in a warm New York summer, where Catherine and Paul — both in their sixties and respectively married — meet by chance. They embark on a complicated relationship that challenges the routines of marriage and age norms… If you enjoyed the atmosphere, and elegant writing of Call Me by Your Name, this novel is a must-add to your summer reading list! (Agathe)
-
What our booksellers have to say...
One summer, two enemies, one wall apart… Elle is currently stuck on her script and desperate times call for desperate measures. She needs to go back to this city she hates in order to fix her writing. What she doesn’t plan is the fact that she’ll have to live next door to her absolute nemesis. But what if they could help each other in a way none of them had planned? Full with adorable characters, steaming tension, this one is the perfect summer romance. (Mathilde)
-
The City and the World
Coup de coeur
What our booksellers have to say...
Fitzcarraldo publishes exciting and innovative texts by exceptional authors and I'm really looking forward to The City and the World.
Part travel literature and autobiography, part essay, it explores the phenomenon of the contemporary city, how we perceive it and how it perceives us.
It should be a delight for anyone with a passion for travelling, for cities, but also for literature and philosophy. (Marianne)
