7th November Newsletter
What’s On At Veranda
Welcome, welcome! The Veranda team seems to have music on its mind this week. New albums to talk about, some great musical memoirs on the shelves, and the playlist poppin’ with all our favourite tunes. As big readers, we’re all fascinated by the lyrics, but we’re also intrigued by the creative process and by artists’ lives. Some of this has made it into this week’s newsletter, but there’s so much more to discover – call into the shop and see for yourself!
Shop News
In the mood for culture…?
Head downstairs – we urge you! – to discover a section dedicated to the arts, to creativity, the imagination and to inspiration. Whatever you’re into – music, film, photography, art, language – you’ll find something here. Read about the lives of artists and musicians, colour theory, or hip-hop culture in the UK.
There’s even a shelf full of reference books, music mags and literary criticism: take a seat and take your time to breathe it all in. Oh, and you can’t miss it – Alison’s strung her beloved fairy lights around it, so it’s all lit up like a starlet’s boudoir. We hope you’ll love it as much as we do.
Think you know how to read?
A fantastic crowd assembled on Thursday night at the shop to celebrate the launch of Ann Morgan’s new book Relearning to Read: Adventures in Not-Knowing. We approached Ann in the early days of Veranda as her astounding/bonkers blog A Year of Reading the World caught our eye. Ann spent 12 months doing just that (196 books, if you don’t mind!), and since then has established herself as an aficionado of international literature. Relearning to Read explores the barriers we face when reading beyond our usual frame of reference – politics, humour and experience are some of the issues she raises. We all love this book; it’s an excellent companion piece to the translated fiction we champion at Veranda. Written with warmth and wisdom, we have some signed copies at the shop – and we’d also encourage you to look at Ann’s website (click the link below)
Now Booking
The Stories That Make Us - at Halcyon International School
We’re very proud to announce our collaboration with Halcyon International School, one of our neighbours here on Seymour Place, on their inaugural literary festival later this month. The overarching theme is the power of storytelling – which raised the questions, ‘Which stories don’t get told? Whose voices don’t we hear?’ State censorship, suppression, the vagaries of the publishing industry – just a few of the many factors resulting in ‘missing voices’. We’ve worked with Halcyon to assemble a panel of speakers with exceptional insight into this issue. Will Forrester (English PEN), Kim Trân Thùy Thiên (Major Books), and Justin Scheck (New York Times), will discuss Missing Voices, and answer questions. As part of the festival, we’re delighted to host an evening with Bibliotherapist Bijal Shah, discussing the healing power of books with Sarah Fletcher. Bijal’s most recent book Bibliotherapy is a fascinating account of her work in this field.
Missing Voices Panel Discussion, 26th November 6.30-8 (Halcyon International)
Bibliotherapy with Bijal Shah, 27th November 6-7.30pm (Veranda Books)
Our Recommended Reads
Bread of Angels by Patti Smith
Leo has been reading Patti Smith’s new memoir, Bread of Angels. her most widely-ranging book to date, it spans her romantically threadbare childhood to the present day, with the New York era in the late 70s the most seductive section. It’s her lyrical meditations on loss and grief in the final chapters, however, that moved him so deeply. This is a beautiful book about being faithful to your dreams, love and loss.
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
Alison was immediately struck, upon reading this, by the realisation that we don’t often get to read about the US experience of WW2 – the husbands and sons lost at sea, or devastated by experiences too foreign for loved ones to comprehend. Against this dramatic backdrop, the lives of two families in suburban Ohio unfurl. Hidden truths and human mistakes populate a beautifully-told story full of complex, credible characters. A really wonderful read.
What we’re loving this week…
Emily has been loving Layla’s, a boujis new bakery which has recently opened up in Acton. She’s been frequenting it every morning! Particular highligh includes the pistachio cardamom bow ties.
She also managed to catch the Traitors final on Thursday night. Alan Carr is such a legend! He’s also been a guest judge on Emily’s other fave TV show this week, the new series of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Camp, feel-good joy feeding her soul. “Can I get an amen??”
Leo has had Lily Allen’s new album West End Girl, on loop this week, and has been contemplating that blurred line between art and real life – and the consequences that come from processing this is such close proximity to the tumultuous series of events this record chronicles. We are all fans of autofiction in the shop (novel or memoir; reader, you decide), and perhaps this is the first manifestation of musical autofiction.
Alison has been loving another new album, the wildly ambitious Lux by creative powerhouse Rosalía. Harnessing the diverse power of the London Symphony Orchestra and maverick musician, Yves Tumour, Rosalía sings in multiple languages, evoking the lives of female saints via her trademark stunning vocals. Original and moving, a real one-off.
She’s also been going to her local Triyoga for sound baths, an immersive experience in which singing bowls and gongs induce a state of deep relaxation. Good vibrations!
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