Book recommendations for Christmas & the New Year

Book recommendations for Christmas & the New Year

By Simon Church of Book Stop, Tavistock

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 

What is our purpose? Where is true happiness to be found? These big questions are at the heart of this hugely enjoyable gothic fantasy from the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and winner of this year's Women's Prize for Fiction.

Piranesi, shells in his hair, wanders the great halls of his world admiring the magnificent statues, gathering fish and seaweed from the waters of the lower halls and tending to the 13 known dead. He has one living companion, ‘the Other’, an other-worldly individual who will grant him an occasional audience, and if needs must provide him with a new pair of shoes, and then disappear to who knows where. But Piranesi is content. The Other is his friend, the Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite. But is he missing something? What do the strange long-forgotten entries in his early diaries mean? Where does the Prophet appear from? And who, really, is the Other?  

Publisher: Bloomsbury, £8.99

More recommended reads from Book Stop for Christmas:

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

Cosy crime at its best from the author of The Thursday Murder Club, £18.99

Journeys to Impossible Places by Simon Reeve

Tales from a Dartmoor-based traveller extraordinaire, £20

Pam Ayres on Animals

Brand new volume of illustrated poetry from this national treasure, £16.99

Private Eye Annual 2021, £9.99

When Fishes Flew - The Story of Elena's War by Michael Morpurgo

Latest from the Devon-based children's favourite, £12.99