Byron's Letters and Journals: A New Selection
Ed. Richard Lansdown
£25 (OUP)
You can’t beat a bit of Byron. Our own local, crazed Lord packed so much into his short life it’s amazing he actually got round to writing anything, let alone letters. But write he did, and prolifically. Which is ace for us, as this collection ably demonstrates what a complex character he was beyond the usual madness, badness and dangerous to know-ness. From his needy, lonely childhood to his eventual death in Greece, the collection is finely introduced and annotated. Not just for the Byron scholars among us either; the casual reader will easily snout up truffles of delight in here: a detailed report on witnessing a battle between a rampant elephant; the City of Venice and, ultimately, a cannonball, is one such gem that the lad from Newstead brings to life so well. Matt Turpin
Soppy
Philippa Rice
£10.99 (Square Peg)
After several wonderful books created in collage, Philippa Rice has released this; a collection of vignettes about love drawn entirely in black and red. The cliché romantic moments in a relationship are spurned entirely for the tiny, vital shared experiences that happen every day. Contemplating cakes in a window display, negotiating who makes the tea and who orders the pizza, snuggling on the sofa and asking the all-important question at the heart of any meaningful relationship, “If I got zombied, would you shoot me?” Based on her relationship with another fine artist, Luke Pearson, Rice has created a silly, sentimental and utterly beguiling portrait of a couple in love. The art is charm itself, and the book is full of moments that will make you “Aw” out loud, as if you’d seen a kitten chasing dandelion fluff. Soppy is possibly the single most adorable thing I have ever seen. But sadly, the last time we can review Rice’s work as she’s boggered off to Bristol. Robin Lewis
The A-Z of Curious Nottinghamshire
Frank Earp
£12.99 (History Press)
Frank Earp has spent the last forty years uncovering various oddities and eccentric behaviour in Nottingham. This kind of book has been done plenty of times before, such as Polly Howat’s Tales of Old Nottinghamshire. But Earp always digs a little deeper, offering contextual and historical information to accompany his quirky and entertaining tales. We discover that the earliest recorded name for Nottingham was Tigguacobauc, that a girl called Kitty Hudson once lived off a diet of pins, and a 1970s boozer in Beeston had a very unique punter called Ben - a real bear who supped at the bar. Hoffmeister, eat yer heart out. From UFO sightings to biblical sandstone carvings hidden in caves, there’s plenty of charm to keep you turning the page. But the biggest mystery is how the Topper is still going, the paper in which many of these entertaining tales were first published. James Walker
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