Let us take you on a quick trip around the world via these four selected books that are currently on our shelves here at Stanfords:
by Han Fan, translated by Jeremy Tiang
£13.99
Set in: Malaysia
From 1976 to 1989, Hai Fan was part of the guerrilla forces of the Malayan Communist Party. These short stories are inspired by his experiences during his thirteen years in the rainforest.
Continue reading Around the World in 4 BooksLast week we hosted a wonderful launch event where we heard from writer and filmmaker Kae Bahar who introduced his fascinating novel The Good, The Bad and The Gringo, a captivating tale of a young Kurdish man growing up in Iraq, confused about his gender and Saddam’s cruel terror.
Finding Solace from Saddam’s terror in the world of Cinema.
Growing up as a Kurd in Saddam’s Iraq, Merywan feels he doesn’t belong to this twisted society, but finds inspiration and comfort in the magic world of cinema.
He secretly writes letters to his hero, Clint Eastwood, whom he calls Gringo, begging him to help him escape to America. As his plans are disrupted, Merywan is drawn deeper into a roller – coaster ride of savagery, passion, betrayal and heroism, which makes the movies he adores almost seem trivial by comparison.
Continue reading Author Talk: The Good the Bad and the Gringo by Kae BaharUnder the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024 takes us on a beautiful journey through the British countryside, drawn from The Guardian’s beloved Country Diary. With an introduction by Ian McMillan, and illustrations by Clifford Harper.
For over a century, The Guardian’s Country Diary has published the nation’s most celebrated writers of natural history as they capture the essence of the British countryside.
From Yorkshire to Belfast, Orkney to Cumbria, and Gwynedd to the Scottish Highlands, exquisitely written and softly observed snapshots emerge – of fishes lurking in dusky pools, of age-old trees beneath deep blue skies, of lives being lived alongside the ebbs and flows of the natural world.
Bringing together the finest contributions to the column from recent years, Under the Changing Skies is an essential companion for all those with a deep love for the British countryside, charting its subtle changes over the course of the seasons.
With contributions from Cal Flyn, Mark Cocker, Josie George, Nicola Chester, Lev Parikian, Amy-Jane Beer, Kate Bradbury, Andrea Meanwell and many others.
Here is an extract:
Continue reading Extract- Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024Thank you to everyone who attended the British Cartographic Society Conference #carto24 networking event at Stanfords on Wednesday night. A special thank you to Matthew Teller who came to talk about his books and the maps included in them.
His new paperback Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture is out in October but we have signed copies available now.
Here are six new titles that we have been enjoying during our summer holidays:
by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle
£12.99
Set in: Argentina
Fifteen years after killing her husband’s lover, Ines is fresh out of prison and trying to put together a new life. Her old friend Manca is out now too, and they’ve started a business – FFF, or Females, Fumigation, and Flies – dedicated to pest control and private investigation, by women, for women. But Senora Bonar, one of their clients, wants Ines to do more than kill bugs – she wants her expertise, and her criminal past, to help her kill her husband’s lover, too.
This is Pineiro at her wry, earthy best, alive to all the ways we shape ourselves to be understandable, to be understood, by family and love and other hostile forces.
Continue reading New Fiction we’ve been readingLet us take you on a quick trip around the world via these five selected books of fiction with a sense of place that are currently on our shelves here at Stanfords:
by Chukwuebuka Ibeh
£14.99
Set in: Nigeria
When Obiefuna’s father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family’s apprentice, newly arrived from the nearby village, he banishes Obiefuna to a Christian boarding school marked by strict hierarchy and routine, devastating violence. Utterly alienated from the people he loves, Obiefuna begins a journey of self-discovery and blossoming desire, while his mother Uzoamaka grapples to hold onto her favourite son, her truest friend.
Interweaving the perspectives of Obiefuna and his mother Uzoamaka, as they reach towards a future that will hold them both, BLESSINGS is an elegant and exquisitely moving story of love and loneliness. Asking how we can live freely when politics reaches into our hearts and lives, as well as deep into our consciousness, it is a stunning, searing debut.
Continue reading Around the World in 5 BooksTo commemorate Earth Day, seven members of our Stanfords team have picked one thought-provoking book that celebrates the environmental global movement and highlights the importance of protecting our planet.
Faye picked:
by Isabel Losada
£12.99
“This book was immensely liberating for me. It was the first time I felt like knowledge is power. I am excited to spread the word of Isabel Losada.”
Continue reading Stanfords Staff Selects: Books for Earth DayWe spend more on travel than on any other leisure activity. But Ash Bhardwaj believes that we can make travel more fulfilling by thinking about our motivations for doing it. He explores this in his book, Why We Travel, through a blend of travelogue, memoir, research, and advice.
Because of my work, people often ask me for travel recommendations. But as I wrote and researched Why We Travel, I realised that destinations are the wrong place to start our travel-plans, because different places suit different motivations at different times.
Continue reading Can we travel better?
Last week at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese won the Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place Award.
Such is the nature of our business, it’s no surprise that often the winning authors are travelling or not based in London so are unable to attend the event. Luckily Abraham’s globe trophy was accepted on behalf of him by his publisher, but he did send these words;
Continue reading The Covenant of Water, Winner of the Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place AwardOur first Book of the Month for 2024 is Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness by the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award winning author Alastair Humphreys.
Escape into the overlooked adventures and insights from one man’s year of deeply exploring a 20km map of suburban England.
What surprises might you uncover in your own neighbourhood if you set aside assumptions and paid closer attention? After two decades of grand expeditions spanning the globe, Adventurer Alastair Humphreys embarked on a project to get to know his uninspiring corner of England through undertaking weekly microadventures within one local map.
Continue reading Book of the Month: Local
