A History of Women in 100 Objects by Maggie Andrews and Janis Lomas
Delve into the history of fifty percent of the world’s population, told through 100 evocative, poignant and sometimes disturbing objects. The rich, the poor, the fashionable, working women, LGBTQ+ women, women of colour: all contribute to a kaleidoscopic picture of women up to the modern day.
Feel Free by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith is back with a second unmissable collection of essays. Feel Free reaches out in all directions and draws back a rich feast of ideas. Pop culture, high culture, social change and political debate are dissected with razor-sharp intellect, set brilliantly against the context of the contemporary and considered with a deep humanity and compassion.
A Lab of One’s Own by Patricia Fara
This book commemorates a double centenary – the end of the First World War and women winning the vote. It tells the stories of female scientists, doctors and engineers and their impact on science, medicine and the First World War.
Rise Up, Women! by Diane Atkinson
This book celebrates the lives of the women who answered the call to ‘Rise Up’ one hundred years ago. It brings together a wealth of women’s voices to produce a biography of the suffrage movement.
Hearts and Minds by Jane Robinson
In 1913 hundreds of women suffragists embark on a six week protest march called the Great Pilgrimage. This march transformed the personal and political lives of women in Britain forever. The author tells the inside story of the march using letters, diaries and unpublished accounts.
Deeds not Words by Helen Pankhurst
This book charts how women’s lives have changed over the last one hundred years. The author combines historical insight with inspiring argument to see how far women have come since the suffragettes, how far we still have to go and how we might get there. She looks at how we can better understand and strengthen future feminist campaigning.
The Century Girls by Tessa Dunlop
This features six women born in 1918 or before who have witnessed and lived the changes in the last century. They provide a personal account of British history over the last one hundred years. Edna, 102, was a domestic servant. Helena, 101, is of Welsh farming stock. Olive, 102, from British Guiana migrated to England after the war. Ann, 103 was a bohemian. Phyllis, 100 who was part of the British Raj and finally Joyce, still working at 99.
Owl Sense by Miriam Darlington
This is a book about the wild in nature and the unpredictable course of human lives. The author’s fieldwork begins in the UK on Owl walks she takes with her son. She then makes a journey through other countries to identify every European owl species. Her son becomes sick and her owl quest becomes entangled with the search for his cure.
Somebody I Used to Know by Wendy Mitchell
Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 58 and had to say goodbye to the woman that she used to be. This left her with profound questions about life and identity. This memoir is a tribute to the woman she once was and the woman she has become.
No Place to Lay One’s Head by Francoise Frenkel
In 1921, Frenkel, a Jewish woman from Poland opens Berlin’s first French bookshop. It attracts artist, diplomats, celebrities and poets. Her dream ends after Kristallnacht and she flees to France weeks before the war breaks out. Moving from Paris to Nice she goes into hiding and survives because strangers risk their lives to protect her. A tale of human cruelty and kindness.
Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
A book about a search for identity and the everyday racism that plagues British society. Hirsch explores a nation in denial about our past and our present. It is a personal and provocative investigation and an urgent call for change.
The Revolution Handbook by Alice Skinner
Artist and activist Skinner encourages you to start a revolution with this guided journal. The prompts will stop you yelling at your news feed and start you planning your resistance. Set out your arguments, plan your protests and catalogue your heroes.
Secret Pigeon Service by Gordon Corera
Corera uses declassified documents and extensive research to tell the story of MI14(d) for the first time. Between 1941 and 1944 sixteen thousand homing pigeons were dropped in an arc from Bordeaux to Copenhagen to bring back intelligence from those living under Nazi occupation. This is a powerful and tragic tale of wartime espionage.
12 Rules for Life by Jordan B Peterson
This book provides twelve profound and practical principle for how to live a meaningful life. Peterson draws on vivid examples from his clinical practice as a psychologist, his personal life, lessons from myths and stories and psychology and philosophy to take the reader on a journey. This book is an antidote to the chaos in our lives.
How to be Human by Ruby Wax
This book is written in conjunction with a monk who explains how the mind works and provides some mindfulness exercises and a neuroscientist who explains the parts of the brain. It answers questions about evolution, thoughts, emotions, the body, addictions, relationships, kids, the future and compassion. A manual to help you upgrade your mind.
The Debatable Land by Graham Robb
The Debatable Land was an independent territory which used to exist between Scotland and England. It was the bloodiest region in Great Britain, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James V. It was the last part of the country to come under the control of the state. Robb moved to the area and began a journey on foot and by bicycle and into the past to discover more about this area.
Eat Up by Ruby Tandoh
At a time when eating feels more confusing and conflicted than ever before Tandoh’s radical manifesto is here to put pleasure back on the plate.Offering practical advice and pep talks and exploring the wondrous world of food this book will make you laugh, think and fall back in love with food.
Buddha Bowls
Grain + green + protein = over fifty ideas for putting together your own perfectly balanced bowls for breakfast, dinner and tea as well as takeaway alternatives and protein rich bowls for post work out recovery. Recipes include bang bang holloumi, piri piri tofu and beetroot falafel.
In Search of Mary Shelley by Fiona Sampson
Published for the two hundredth anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein this is a major new work. Sampson sifts through letters, diaries and records to find out the real story of Mary Shelley. She discovers a complex and generous character trying to fulfil her commitment to writing at a time when being a woman writer was a costly anomaly.
Yorkshire by Richard Morris
Yorkshire is a region where mountain, plain, coast, downs, fen and heath lie close by. By weaving history, family stories, travelogue and ecology Morris reveals how Yorkshire took shape as a landscape and in literature, legend and popular regard. A wide ranging and lyrical narrative.
