Water by John Boyne.
Doubleday, hardback £12.99
Irish novelist and master storyteller John Boyne has published 14 novels for adults and 6 for children, including the global bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.  Water is to be the first in a quartet of novellas themed around the Elements, and is a short but reflective, thought-provoking novel which really packs a punch!
In exile from grief and trauma, Vanessa moves to an isolated Irish island, changing her name and shaving her head, intending to live a quiet life, cut off from social media and TV. But can she really escape her past? Gradually, through her interactions with the small-minded islanders and the Nigerian priest, the reasons for her exile are revealed. She must confront her role in her family’s trauma and reflect on whether her inaction made her complicit before she can heal and move on. Beautifully written, concise, shocking, yet shot through with dark humour, this is sublime storytelling. Gill maintains it is a MUST-READ!

Isle of Dogs by Clare Balding.
Ebury Press, hardback £22
As the presenter of Crufts for almost two decades, Clare Balding is something of an expert on dogs – and admits that as a child, growing up in a busy racing yard, her first playmate and arguably, main carer, was a Boxer called Candy!  
Isle of Dogs is a delightfully chatty and readable exploration of the bond between the British and their dogs, looking at the history and changing patterns of dog ownership over the years. While the book is well-researched and contains many fascinating nuggets of canine trivia, from the history of the Kennel Club to the canine companions of the Royal Family, it is also an entertaining travelogue of sorts. Clare and her partner Alice travel the country meeting owners of niche or forgotten breeds, unusual working dogs, and looking at quirky dog events, the surge in doggy day-cares, and visiting dog rescue centres along the way.

A great read for any dog-lover!

Clare Balding will tell us more about the book at our event with her on Thursday 30th November at Steyning Grammar School Drama Hall. Tickets are £22 and include a copy of the book. If you’d like to get a copy signed by Clare but can’t make it to the event, give us a shout to pre-order a copy to be signed by Clare and picked up later.

The Ice Children by MG Leonard
Macmillan Childrens Books, hardback £12.99
A sparkly winter delight for ages 8-11 by the best-selling and very talented Brighton-based author of Beetle Boy, Twitch, and the Adventures on Trains series. A modern, ecologically-aware take on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, gorgeously illustrated throughout.
At the stroke of midnight on the first day of December, 4-year-old Finn Albedo is found frozen solid standing on a pedestal of ice, in the city park. His heart is beating, he is smiling serenely, but he cannot be woken. Finn’s big sister, Bianca, suspects that the sparkling silver book Finn got from the library the day before is linked to his frosty fate.  And what about the mysterious top-hatted stranger in the long dark coat who has been spotted in the vicinity? Every day, more children are found frozen, and Bianca knows that time is running out for her to rescue her brother and discover the truth. Exciting, magical, modern and funny.

100 Tales from the Ghost Café by Julian Sedgwick and Chie Kutsuwada.
Guppy Books, paperback £10.99
Julian Sedgwick and Chie Kutsuwada are the authors of the award-winning YA novel Tsunami Girl, a breath-takingly original novel told in a blend of prose and manga. Now they are back with a moving  story about a lost boy called Akira who must make a long journey to remote Northern Japan to find his family, and save his little sister. Along the way he enters the Otherworld and encounters a host of both terrifying and comical ‘yokai’ (monsters) and ghosts from ancient Japanese folklore, and these stories are interspersed with the main narrative throughout the book. Chie Kutsuwada’s illustrations are evocative and perfectly capture the rickety buildings and landscapes of Japan, and the weird and wonderful world of yokai!