BOOKMARK February 2024 Book recommendations
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February Titles
All books are available from Waterstones in Perth and Adventure Into Books in Blairgowrie.
The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina
(Bonnier Books, 2025)
Fiction
Newly published is The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina (ISBN: 9781786583116, hardback). Set on the Japanese island of Teshima, this is a gentle story of loss, loneliness and forging new bonds between Shuichi, a forty-year-old illustrator, whose mother has just died, and eight-year-old Kenta, a child who wanders like a shadow around Shuichi's house.
Cuddy by Benjamin Myres
(Bloomsbury, 2024)
Historical Fiction
Due out in February is the paperback of Cuddy by Benjamin Myers (ISBN: 9781526631466), which retells the story of St. Cuthbert through a combination of poetry, prose, diary and historical account. Straddling time, from the Viking raids to life in modern day North-East England, the story centres on the lives of those who have lived, worked and visited Durham Cathedral.
The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
(Hutchinson Heinemann, 2024)
Fiction
The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey (ISBN: 9781529153293, hardback, Hutchinson Heinemann, 2024). Set in Yorkshire in 1979 at the time of the Ripper murders, young Miv is facing the prospect of her dad moving the family down south. She can’t bear the idea of leaving her best friend and sets out to solve the case of the disappearing women, starting with a list of all the suspicious people and things going on their street. It is a story of crime, secrets and truth, but most of all it is a story of family and community.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
(Penguin Classics, 2023)
Classics
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen tops many a romance leader board (ISBN: 9780141439518, paperback). The mores and manners are of a different time, but the characters are deliciously and sharply drawn, wires are truly crossed, intentions are (nearly) thwarted and romantic tensions abound – glorious and worth re-reading.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Marquez
(Penguin Classics, 2007)
Classics
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Marquez (ISBN: 9780141189208, paperback), which charts the love of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza across the years. Parted by parental disapproval, they live separate lives, until one day, fifty-one years later, Fermina’s husband dies, and they have an opportunity to rekindle their love.
Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love by Joanne Ellas Parsons
(British Library Publishing, 2024)
Fiction
Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love, edited by Joanne Ellas Parsons (ISBN: 9780712355551, paperback). This book contains twelve stories of dark, seductive romance hailing from Victorian to modern day, including stories by Wilkie Collins, Mary Shelley and V. Castro. All I can say, is beware excessive gyrations on a dancefloor: you might be surprised to find out who you are dancing with.
Orange and Other Poems by Wendy Cope
(Faber, 2025)
Poetry
Wendy Cope: Orange and Other Poems (ISBN: 9780571389513, hardback, Faber, 2024). Wonderfully down to earth, it has poems about oranges and flowers, and bananas and wine, all of which made me smile and nod my head in recognition. Perhaps most appropriate for this month would be to share the opening lines from Valentine: My heart has made its mind up And I’m afraid it’s you.