With so much chaos in the world I feel it is time to stick up the garden umbrella and plant yourself in a comfy chair. Pour the tea, open the best biscuits, and escape to a good book. It is our remedy for too much information and too much time spent doomscrolling.
The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
It is very rare for me to love an adaptation, be it BBC or blockbuster but the recent offering of The Other Bennet Sister was a delight, and the book will only enhance your experience. Hadlow provides Mary Bennet with ‘agency and heart’, moving her from a self-sabotaging introvert to a confident woman while transforming her from a ‘plain’ middle child into a deeply sympathetic, three-dimensional protagonist. Read and feel life-affirmed.
Just For The Summer by Abby Jimenez
If you like Emily Henry you will love Abby Jimenez. With one of those covers that screams holiday read, Just For The Sumer may be giving Romance, but this book has depths worthy of literary fiction. A great combination of humour and emotional depth for those of you looking for a little more than boy meets girls…
Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kelly
I know what you are thinking – whaaaat is this? I make no apology for including it in your ‘what to read’ recommendations this month. It is enchanting, it will make you laugh and you can probably read it in an afternoon. Take a few hours off and feel like you just had a spa weekend with your besties with Highland views.
Delilah Greet Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
New York photographer Delilah Green reluctantly returns to her hometown to shoot her estranged step-sister's wedding. She falls for Claire, one of her sister's best friends, forcing her to confront her past and re-evaluate her relationships with her family. This book is so much more than a steamy queer romance, it takes a nose dive into the serious issues of abandonment, toxic relationships and messy family bonds but comes up for air with well portrayed solutions. Open the second tin of biscuits and get deep and emotional.
A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Stevens
This is an absolute masterpiece of angst, longing, and the kind of ‘messy’ love that stays with you long after the final page, or at least until that conversation around the water cooler. If you love friends-to-lovers stories with high emotional stakes and a heroine who feels deeply human, this book is a must-read. It’s raw, it’s poetic, and it captures the painful beauty of loving the right person at the wrong time.
I hope you find a little emotional uplift in our selection this month. Remember our world is a mysterious and uncertain place and sometimes the answers we seek are not always obvious. If you take a few deep breaths, switch off the tech, and open a book you might not find the answers, but you will find joy. As always we look forward to welcoming you to The Madhatter Bookshop in Burford and you can keep up with all our news and events at madhatterbookshop.co.uk Until then, happy reading...
Whatever you do this month, find time for yourself and pick up a good book.
The Madhatter Bookshop
122 High Street, Burford OX18 4QJ
01993 822539
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