This month, our friends at Gloucester Road Books share non-fiction they’re particularly excited about…
A note from the team: “Our primary aim is that the shop be a fascinating place to explore. We have a significant focus on titles published by small independent presses. There are lots of really brilliant small publishers putting out incredibly exciting books, and we want to help get these out into the world.”
Visit the website for more details on book launches, talks and other events at the shop. gloucesterroadbooks.co.uk; @gloucester_rd_books; 184 Gloucester Road, Bishopston, BS7 8NU.
Open Monday and Tuesday 9.30am-5pm; Wednesday to Saturday 9.30am-6pm
Led By Donkeys by Led By Donkeys, Thames and Hudson, out now
Driven by the desire to expose politicians’ lies and hypocrisies, the four political activists making up the group Led By Donkeys have gathered a huge following for the balance of humour and poignancy in their public stunts. From painting the road outside the Russian Embassy in Ukrainian blue and yellow to rebranding disgraced Tory Peer Michelle Mone’s yacht with ‘Pandemic Profiteer’, this book is a compelling account of the lengths the group has gone to in the name of justice and accountability.
The Starling: A Biography, by Stephen Moss, Vintage, out now
The latest edition in Stephen Moss’ Bird Biography series looks at the life and behaviour of the common starling. Highly readable and informative, Moss takes in the starling through illustrations, anecdotes, and historical records, as well as its current state within agriculture and the climate crisis. Moss also writes on the representation of the starling in culture, where the astounding performance of its murmurations has inspired figures such as Mozart and Shakespeare.
Our City: Community Activism in Bristol, edited by Suzanne Audrey, Tangent Books,
out now
A powerful collection of essays on the good fight of activists looking to protect and improve the quality of life for all of Bristol’s citizens. This book brings together the stories of community activists who fought on campaigns of city planning such as saving Bristol Zoo, promoting inclusion such as the use of public toilets, and a host of other issues such as saving Bristol’s urban trees.
The Place of Tides by James Rebanks, Penguin Books, out now
From the bestselling author of The Shepard’s Life comes an enigmatic true story of a remote Norwegian island and a curious friendship James Rebanks developed with a woman who lived and worked on its tiny, rocky shores. Along with her apprentice, the woman cared for the wild Eider ducks, reviving a small colony and still participating in the age-old trade of collecting their down for a dwindling industry. Rebanks became fascinated by these women and offers a beautiful and elliptical account of this other-wordly place at the edge of the Arctic.
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Penguin Books, out 19 November
A new illustrated essay from Robin Wall Kimmerer, whose previous bestselling work Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss reached wide audiences with her beautiful weaving together of scientific and indigenous wisdom. This new essay explores the concept of the gift economy through examining the seasonal offerings of the serviceberry, and how it might provide a model for grace and reciprocity in what we receive from the wider natural world.
