Sea Library

SUMMER

“Running with Pirates” by Kári Gíslason. Published by The University of Queensland Press in July 2024

A warm and engaging memoir about freedom, adventure, and fathers and sons, set against the sumptuous backdrop of Corfu.At the age of eighteen, Kári Gíslason arrives on the island of Corfu after a life-altering encounter with his father in Iceland. Looking for adventure, he decides to stay after meeting ‘the Pirate’, a mysterious Greek stranger who offers him work – only to find himself eventually fleeing the island, leaving behind a debt he promises to repay. Three decades later, as a father of two teenage sons, he returns to Corfu with his family. As he revisits his memories of the island, he begins to understand that this place has shaped the adult he has become, and that the inevitable letting go of his own children lies ahead. Full of the colour and vitality of the Greek islands, Running with Pirates traverses the joys and challenges of parenthood, the fearlessness of youth, the debts of our past, and the stories we tell ourselves and our children.

“Classic Stories of the Sea” edited by Harriet Sanders. Published by Macmillan Collector’s Library in July 2024

For centuries, writers have been inspired by the sea, pitting man against nature in stories and novels. The allure of the sea is mighty, and here is a collection of classic adventure stories from writers such as Daniel Defoe, Joseph Conrad and C. S. Forester, whose protagonists must pit their wits against fierce oceans, terrifying storms and creatures of the deep. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, cloth-bound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. A young Hornblower is tested in a rare short story by C. S. Forester, a ship’s captain is gripped by a fatal desire to stay on course in ‘Make Westing’ by Jack London and terrifying sea monsters rear their heads in Rudyard Kipling’s ‘A Matter of Fact’. An elderly captain saves the day in ‘The Captain’s Arm’ and ‘The Open Boat’ by Stephen Crane is an account of a nail-biting shipwreck. Many of the writers chosen here are experienced sailors and seafarers themselves, bringing authenticity and realism to their own gripping tales.

“Storm Pegs” by Jen Hadfield. Published by Picador in July 2024

From the winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Highland Book Prize. What if the answer to ‘Where am I?’ is ‘heaven’? In her late twenties, celebrated poet Jen Hadfield moved to the Shetland archipelago to make her life anew. A scattering of islands at the northernmost point of the United Kingdom, frequently cut off from the mainland by storms, Shetland is a place of Vikings and myths, of ancient languages and old customs, of breathtaking landscapes and violent weather. It has long fascinated travellers seeking the edge of the world. On these islands known for their isolation and drama, Hadfield found something more: a place teeming with life, where rare seabirds blow in on Atlantic gales, seals and dolphins visit its beaches, and wild folk festivals carry the residents through long, dark winters. She found a close-knit community, too, of neighbours always willing to lend a boat or build a creel, of women wild-swimming together in the star-spangled winter seas. Over seventeen years, as bright summer nights gave way to storm-lashed winters, she learned new ways to live. In prose as rich and magical as Shetland itself, Hadfield transports us to the islands as a local; introducing us to the remote and beautiful archipelago where she has made her home, and shows us new ways of living at the edge.

“Becoming Earth” by Ferris Jabr. Published by Picador in August 2024

A radically thought-provoking account of a major shift in how we understand our Earth, not simply as an inanimate planet on which life evolved, but rather as a planet that came to life. The notion of a living world is one of humanity’s oldest beliefs. Though once scorned by many scientists, the concept of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. Life not only adapts to its surroundings – it also shapes them in dramatic and enduring ways. Over billions of years, life transformed a lump of orbiting rock into our cosmic oasis, breathing oxygen into the atmosphere, concocting the modern oceans, and turning rock into fertile soil. Life is intertwined with Earth’s capacity to regulate its climate and maintain balance. Through compelling narrative, evocative descriptions, and lucid explanations, Ferris Jabr shows us how Earth became the world we’ve known, how it is rapidly becoming a very different world, and how we will determine what kind of Earth our descendants inherit for millennia to come.

“Tracks on the Ocean: A History of Trailblazing, Maps, and Maritime Travel” by Sara Caputo. Published by Profile Books in August 2024

An engaging look at ocean routes’ complicated beginnings and elusive impact. Sara Caputo’s Tracks on the Ocean is a sweeping history of how we have understood routes of travel over the ocean and how we came to represent that movement as a cartographical line. Focusing on the representation of sea journeys in the Western world from the early sixteenth century to the present, Caputo deftly argues that the depiction of these lines is inextricable from European imperialism, the rise of modernity, and attempts at mastery over nature. Caputo recounts the history of ocean tracks through an array of lively stories and characters, from the expeditions of Captain James Cook in the eighteenth century to tracks depicted in Moby Dick and popular culture of the nineteenth century to the use of navigational techniques by the British navy. She discusses how tracks evolved from tools of surveying into tools of surveillance and, eventually, into paths of environmental calamity. The impulse to record tracks on the ocean is, Caputo argues, reflective of an ongoing desire for order, schematization, and personal visibility, as well as occupation and permanent ownership—in this case over something that is unoccupiable and impossible to truly possess. Both beautifully written and deeply researched, Tracks on the Ocean shares how the lines drawn on maps tell the audacious and often tragic and violent stories of ocean voyages.

“Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean” by Mary Batten, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez. Published by Peachtree in August 2024

A dramatic overview of the deep-sea extremophiles that thrive in scalding water and permanent darkness at the bottom of the ocean

The scalding-hot water gushing from vents at the bottom of the ocean is one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Yet over millions of years, many organisms—from chemical-eating bacteria to eyeless crabs and iron-shelled snails—have evolved in amazing ways that enable them to thrive in this unlikely habitat. Scientists are hard at work to learn more about the complex ecosystems of the ocean depths.

Award-winning science writer Mary Batten and New York Times best-selling illustrator Thomas Gonzalez, the masterful duo that created Life in a Frozen World, team up again in this impressive overview of hydrothermal ocean vents. Her clear, informative text coupled with his unique and eerily realistic paintings of sights never seen on land—gushing “black smokers,” ghostly blind shrimp, red-plumed tube worms—will entice readers to learn more about this once-hidden world at the bottom of the sea.

“Coastal Trade and Maritime Communities in Elizabethan England” by Leanna T P Brinkley. Published by Boydell Press in August 2024

This book is the first modern analysis of the coasting trade in Elizabethan England. Drawing on a significant body of evidence, including evidence from the port books of Bristol, Southampton and Hull, as well as from a much broader array of early modern sources, it reconstructs both coastal trading patterns and the lives of the merchants, mariners and craftspeople that underpinned them. While Bristol, Hull and Southampton represent the primary case study ports, a much broader geographical range is explored, providing new insights into not just the trade routes, markets, commodities and ships on which this key element of England’s maritime economy rested, but also into the men (and few women) who plied coastal trade routes, exploring their socio-economic status, social and political networks, and maritime business strategies. It analyses the linkages between merchants, shipmasters, and ships, discusses merchants’ business practices, including their approach to risk, and shows how this shaped the early modern shipping industry. In presenting evidence in an engaging and easily digestible way, and making use of social network analysis, the book makes clear the complexities of coastal trader networks, and the business acumen of coastal traders. While scholarly work hitherto has focused overly on overseas traders, this book corrects the imbalance, revealing in detail the complex commercial and personal lives that coastal traders lived during this pivotal period in England’s maritime and commercial expansion. Leanna Brinkley completed her doctorate at the University of Southampton.

“The Ship in the Window” by Travis Jonker, illustrated by Matthew Cordell. Published by Viking Books for Young Readers in August 2024

Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell and librarian Travis Jonker have crafted a timeless tale of a little mouse and a big adventure. Mabel the mouse wants nothing more than to be a fearless sea captain traveling the world in search of adventure. Every night she watches a man carefully construct a model ship, as his son watches by her side. Mabel and the boy know the model ship is anything but a toy, but they both long to see if it can really float. So Mabel hatches a plan to make her seafaring dreams come true. Illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell and children’s librarian and reviewer Travis Jonker, “The Ship in the Window” celebrates the rewards of following your dreams and never losing the spirit of adventure.

“World More Beautiful: The Life and Art of Barbara Cooney” by Angela Burke Kunkel, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander. Published by Random House Studio in Augusts 2024

This stunning and lyrical picture book biography details the life and art of celebrated children’s book creator, Barbara Cooney. For every kid who loves art, here is the inspirational story of beloved illustrator and two-time Caldecott Medalist, Barbara Cooney. Barbara was born in a hotel in Brooklyn, with a view of the city and the sea. Her father loved numbers and money. But Barbara and her mother loved art, and color, and light. Barbara’s favorite days were when she stayed home sick in bed and got to paint and draw. In the summers, they left New York for Maine, where Barbara scrambled among the rocks, wind whipping her hair, light sparkling on the water. Summer was grey, and blue, and green, and free. When Barbara grew up, she ventured out into the world with an art portfolio—she thought she might like to illustrate books. And she did, creating classics like Miss Rumphius, Island Boy, and Hattie and the Waves. Her character Miss Rumphius said, you must do something to make the world more beautiful. And that is exactly what Barbara did. It’s a message that’s sure to inspire young readers and creators today.

“The Life Impossible” by Matt Haig. Published by Canongate in August 2024

The spectacular new book about hope and new beginnings from the number one Sunday Times bestselling author. When retired Maths teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan. Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the Balearics Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past. Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.

“Open Up” by Thomas Morris. Published by Faber & Faber in August 2024

The new collection from a literary star – five achingly tender, innovative and dazzling stories of (dis)connection. From Wales to Croatia to the depths of the ocean, these five achingly tender stories of (dis)connection are bursting with emotional vulnerability. A child attends his first football match, buoyed by secret magic; a young seahorse grapples with grief and loss; a troubled young man gets his birthday teeth. Strikingly original and wincingly humane, Open Up seeks to find grace, hope and benevolence in the churning tumult of self-discovery.

“The Secret of the Golden Island” by Natasha Farrant. Published by Faber & Faber in August 2024

What will two children risk to steal an island? From Costa-winning author of Voyage of the Sparrowhawk. Though Skylar’s old friends felt sorry for her, they were too afraid to talk to her. Yakov’s old friends were far away, blown across continents by war . . . Skylar is longing for the grandfather she had before his stroke and trying to survive the school bully when she meets Yakov. He is just desperate to go home. They recognise something in each other. A need for friendship, but something else fizzy beneath the surface. A refusal to accept the bad hand that life has dealt them. A reckless desire to change things up for the better. So when the island just off the coast of their town goes up for sale, it’s no surprise they want it. But how can two children possibly buy an island? And what will they risk to be able call it their own? Exquisitely told, with compassion and empathy, an unmissable, heart-wrenching, life-affirming novel from the inimitable Natasha Farrant.

“The Routledge Handbook of Literary Geographies” edited By Neal Alexander, David Cooper. Published by Routledge in August 2024

The Routledge Handbook of Literary Geographies provides a comprehensive overview of recent research and a range of innovative ways of thinking literature and geography together. It maps the history of literary geography and identifies key developments and debates in the field. Written by leading and emerging scholars from around the world, the 38 chapters are organised into six themed sections, which consider: differing critical methodologies; keywords and concepts; literary geography in the light of literary history; a variety of places, spaces, and landforms; the significance of literary forms and genres; and the role of literary geographies beyond the academy. Presenting the work of scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds, each section offers readers new angles from which to view the convergence of literary creativity and geographical thought. Collectively, the contributors also address some of the major issues of our time including the climate emergency, movement and migration, and the politics of place. Literary geography is a dynamic interdisciplinary field dedicated to exploring the complex relationships between geography and literature. This cutting-edge collection will be an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students in both Geography and Literary Studies, and scholars interested in the evolving interface between the two disciplines.

“DEEP” by Stephen Hogtun. Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in Augusts 2024

“Go my little one, swim free,” she whispered. “I’ll always be waiting here . . . When a tiny whale calf is born, his mother raises him to the surface to take his first breath. She guides him as he grows, until he is strong enough to swim at her side, and they set off together on a great journey across the oceans. One day, the time will come for the grown calf to set out on his own . . . but wherever he goes and whatever he does, his mother will be waiting for him and sending her song of love across the oceans. Filled with beautiful, luminous artwork, this stunning picture book tells a universal story about love and family that’s perfect for readers young and old.

“The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean” by Susan Casey. Published by Hutchinson Heinemann in August 2024

For all of human history, the deep ocean has been a source of wonder and terror, an unknown realm that evoked a singular, compelling question: What’s down there? Unable to answer this for centuries, people believed the deep was a sinister realm of fiendish creatures and deadly peril. But now, cutting-edge technologies allow scientists and explorers to dive miles beneath the surface, and we are beginning to understand this strange and exotic underworld:  A place of soaring mountains, smoldering volcanoes, and valleys 7,000 feet deeper than Everest is high, where tectonic plates collide and separate, and extraordinary life forms operate under different rules. Far from a dark void, the deep is a vibrant realm that’s home to pink gelatinous predators and shimmering creatures a hundred feet long and ancient animals with glass skeletons and sharks that live for half a millennium—among countless other marvels. Susan Casey is our premiere chronicler of the aquatic world. For The Underworld she traversed the globe, joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet, interviewing the marine geologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers who are searching for knowledge in this vast unseen realm. She takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of deep-sea exploration, from the myths and legends of the ancient world to storied shipwrecks we can now reach on the bottom, to the first intrepid bathysphere pilots, to the scientists who are just beginning to understand the mind-blowing complexity and ecological importance of the quadrillions of creatures who live in realms long thought to be devoid of life. Throughout this journey, she learned how vital the deep is to the future of the planet, and how urgent it is that we understand it in a time of increasing threats from climate change, industrial fishing, pollution, and the mining companies that are also exploring its depths. The Underworld is Susan Casey’s most beautiful and thrilling book yet, a gorgeous evocation of the natural world and a powerful call to arms.

SEPTEMBER

“Playground” by Richard Powers. Published by Hutchinson Heinemann in September 2024. Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2024

A powerful new novel from the Pulitzer prize-winning and Booker-shortlisted author of the overstory and bewilderment. Rafi and Todd are two polar opposites at an elite high school where they bond over a three-thousand-year-old board game. It sets them up for life: Rafi will get lost in literature, while Todd’s work will lead to a startling AI breakthrough. Elsewhere, Evie Beaulieu sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool in Montreal strapped to one of the world’s first aqualungs; Ina Aroita grows up in naval bases across the Pacific with art as her only home. All of these people meet on the history-scarred island of Makatea in French Polynesia, marked for humanity’s next great adventure: a plan to send floating, autonomous cities out into the open sea. As the seasteaders close in, how will Evie play the ever-unfolding oceanic game? Will Ina engage in acts of destruction? Todd and Rafi, now estranged, still find themselves in competition: Todd unravels while working on an idea to redraw the boundaries of human immortality, while Rafi and the residents must decide if they will greenlight the new project on their shores and change their home forever. Set in the world’s largest ocean, “Playground” explores that last wild place we have yet to colonize and interweaves profound themes of technology and the environment, and a deep exploration of our shared humanity in a way only Richard Powers can.

“Zong!” as told to the author m. nourbeSe philip by Setaey Adamu Boateng. Published by Graywolf Press in September 2024

Zong! is a haunting lifeline between archive and memory, law and poetry. In November 1781, the captain of the slave ship Zong ordered that some 150 Africans be murdered by drowning so that the ship’s owners could collect insurance monies. Relying entirely on the words of the legal decision Gregson v. Gilbert—the only extant public document related to the massacre—Zong! tells the story that cannot be told yet must be told. Equal parts song, moan, shout, oath, ululation, curse, and chant, Zong! excavates the legal text. Memory, history, and law collide and metamorphose into the poetics of the fragment. Through the innovative use of fugal and counterpointed repetition, Zong! becomes an anti-narrative lament that stretches the boundaries of the poetic form, haunting the spaces of forgetting and mourning the forgotten. This fifteenth-anniversary edition features a new preface by the author and new essays by Saidiya Hartman and Katherine McKittrick. Widely regarded as one of the most influential and revered works of twenty-first-century literature, this new edition of Zong! will ensure this staggering work’s enduring legacy.

“Somewhere Beyond the Sea” by TJ Klune. Published by Tor in September 2024

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything. This is the hugely-anticipated sequel to TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, a cosy-fantasy triumph and a New York Times bestseller. Arthur Parnassus has built a good life on the ashes of a bad one. He’s headmaster at an orphanage for magical children, on a peculiar island, assisted by love-of-his-life Linus Baker. And together, they’ll do anything to protect their extraordinary and powerful charges. However, when Arthur is forced to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself fighting for those under his care. It’s also a fight for the better future that all magical people deserve. Then when a new magical child joins their island home, Arthur knows they’ve reached breaking point. The child finds power in calling himself a monster, a name Arthur has tried so hard to banish to protect his children. Challenged from within and without, their volatile family might grow stronger. Or everything Arthur loves could fall apart. “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.

“Lost Wonders” by Tom Lathan. Illustrated by Claire Kohda. Published by Picador in September 2024

In “Lost Wonders” Tom Lathan tells ten powerful stories of species that have lived, died out and been declared extinct since the turn of the twenty-first century. Many scientists believe that we are currently living through the Earth’s sixth mass extinction, with species disappearing at a rate not seen for tens of millions of years – a trend that will only accelerate as climate change and other pressures intensify. What does it mean to live in such a time? And what exactly do we lose when a species goes extinct? In a series of fascinating encounters with subjects that are now nowhere to be found on Earth – from giant tortoises to minuscule snails the size of sesame seeds, from ocean-hopping trees to fish that wag their tails like puppies – Tom Lathan brings these lost wonders briefly back to life and gives us a tantalising glimpse of what we have lost within our own lifetime. Drawing on the personal recollections of the people who studied these species, as well as those who tried but ultimately failed to save them, and with beautiful illustrations, Lost Wonders is an intimate portrait of the species that have only recently vanished from our world and an urgent warning to hold on all the more tightly to those now slipping from our grasp.

“Island” by Julian Hanna. Published by Bloomsbury in Object Lessons series in September 2024

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Darwin called the Galápagos archipelago “a little world within itself,” unaffected by humans and set on its own evolutionary path – strange, diverse, and unique. Islands are repositories of unique cultures and ways of living, seed banks built up in relative isolation. Island is an archipelago of ideas, drawing from research and first-hand experience living, working, and traveling to islands as far afield as Madeira and Cape Verde, Orkney and Svalbard, the Aran Islands and the Gulf Islands, Hong Kong and Manhattan. Islands have long been viewed as both paradise and prison – we project onto them our deepest desires for freedom and escape, but also our greatest fears of forced isolation. This book asks: what can islands teach us about living sustainably, being alone or coexisting with others, coping with uncertainty, and making do? Island explores these and other questions and ideas, but is constructed above all from the stories and experiences gathered during a lifetime of island hopping. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

“Beneath the Wild Fig Tree” by Fiona Preston. Published by Wild Mind Publishing in September 2024

On a Bass Strait island, across Hobart, Sydney and Adelaide, a family drama unfolds. A decision must be made – to forgive or to nurture a grudge. A traveller obsessed with the ocean. A conflicted archaeologist. A girl who thinks parents should never be trusted. Beneath the Wild Fig Tree interweaves 1984 and the year 2000 into a vibrant story about coming of age, betrayal and self-discovery, grief and happiness, and the luminosity of the natural world. An Australian novel by a new voice, this will appeal to readers who enjoy complex characters, a twist of mystery, the tang of the ocean and a strong sense of place.

“Turtle Moon” by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold. Published by HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks in September 2024

Journey to the heart of the jungle in this unforgettable adventure from the author of bestselling and prize-winning The Last Bear. Beautifully illustrated by Levi Pinfold, this is perfect for readers 8+. Silver Trevelon’s parents aren’t happy. They haven’t been happy since the nursery they decorated started gathering cobwebs, waiting for the baby brother or sister that never came. So when Silver’s dad is invited to paint at a turtle rescue centre in Costa Rica, she hopes it’ll be just the adventure the family needs. Under the hot tropical sun, Silver settles into life at the animal centre. She even witnesses a rare sighting of a leatherback turtle nesting on the beach. But when the turtle’s eggs are stolen, events take a dark and dangerous turn. Can Silver and her new friends track them down before it’s too late? It’ll mean journeying into the heart of the jungle and uncovering long-buried secrets . . .

“Boats: Steamers, Icebreakers, and Ghost Ships” by Jan van der Veken. Published by Prestel Junior in September 2024

Set sail on a delightfully detailed and richly illustrated voyage into the world of ships and shipping that introduces young readers to an oceanic array of naval phenomena. Readers of every age will find something to dive into in this wonderfully diverse and in-depth exploration of the maritime world. As in his previous book, Planes, Jan van der Veken takes a kaleidoscopic approach to his subject. Deftly weaving history, science, and culture, he looks at a fascinating array of subjects–historic vessels, amazing voyages, extraordinary figures, technical details, and cultural phenomena. Throughout the book, van der Veken ’s vibrantly colored, retro-futurist illustrations are as beautiful as they are informative. Readers will learn: Why seas have streets; Which bodies of water are considered cursed; How a ship stays afloat; How to use a sextant; How lighthouses work. Certain to provide hours of entertainment, this is the perfect book for naval enthusiasts of every age.

“Herman Melville and Neurodiversity, or Why Hunt Difference with Harpoons? A Primitivist Phenomenology” by Pilar Martinez Benedi and Ralph James Savarese. Published by Bloomsbury Academic in September 2024

Focusing on the difference between lower-level perceptual processes in the “neural unconscious” and higher-order thought in the frontal lobes, this open access book shows how Herman Melville sought to reclaim the fluid world of the sensory, with its precategorical and radically egalitarian impulses. By studying this previously underexamined facet of Melville’s work, this book offers an essential corrective to the “pathology paradigm,” which demonizes departures from a neurological norm and feasts on pejorative categorization. The neurodiversity movement arose precisely as a response to how so-called “mental disorders” have been described, understood, and treated. Unlike standard neuroscientific or psychiatric investigation, Melville’s work doesn’t strive to explain typical functioning through the negative and, in the process, to shore up a regime of normalcy. To the contrary, it exploits the lack of congealed diagnoses in the 19th Century, much more neutrally asking the question: what can an atypical body-mind do? Steeped in current studies about autism, Alzheimer’s, Capgras and Fregoli syndromes, Mirror-touch synesthesia, phantom limb syndrome, stuttering, and tinnitus, and fully conversant with Melville scholarship, Phenomenological Primitives demonstrates what the humanities can contribute to the sciences and what the sciences can contribute to the humanities. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded in part by Grinnell College.

“A Biography of Daphne” edited by Mihnea Mircan and Helen Hughes. Published by Spector Books OHG in September 2024

This anthology revisits the classical myth of Daphne as the starting point for an investigation of trauma and metamorphosis, symbiosis and entanglement. Daphne, the nymph who turned into a tree to evade the assault of the god Apollo, is a figure in, and of, crisis, here re-cast as a dynamic model for the ruptures between the “figures” and “grounds” of today’s visual, social, and ecological environments. Commissioned essays and artist pages explore the integrity and vulnerability of bodies, their performative or prosthetic extensions, and the alliances they enter into, across species or symbolic registers. Tangling brutality and emancipation, power and refusal, self and place, Daphne’s becoming tree—and becoming image—is reimagined as a cipher for contemporary predicaments, illuminating the perils and potentials of a profound transformation of the human. Mihnea Mircan is a writer and the curator of Plan B Foundation, which will open in Cluj, Romania in 2025. Helen Hughes is deputy head of the Fine Art department and a senior lecturer in art history, theory, and curatorial practice at Monash University, Melbourne.

OCTOBER

“Moomins and the Great Flood” by Tove Jansson. Published by Sort of Books in October 2024

In the run-up to Moomins eightieth anniversary (2025) the spotlight is on The Moomins and The Great Flood and the first glimpse it offers of Moomin Valley. Tove Jansson wrote this first ever Moomin story in 1945, in the wake of World War II, and although a children’s tale, it vividly evokes the displacement of refugees throughout Europe at the time. A global Moomin.com campaign will celebrate the eighty years of the Moomins with the slogan ‘the door is always open’, emphasising Jansson’s timely message of kindness and inclusiveness towards those forced to flee to safety. This new format edition includes an introduction by much loved author Frank Cottrell-Boyce and a full colour fold-out ‘Moomin history’ poster.

“Chasing Fog: Finding Enchantment in a Cloud” by Laura Pashby
Published by Simon & Schuster in October 2024

Liminal, transformative and increasingly elusive – far from a simple cloud of water droplets, fog is a state of mind. As mist drifted through a copse of trees, turning a familiar place strange and otherworldly, Laura Pashby snapped a photograph and an obsession began. Pashby hunts for fog, walks and swims in it, explores its often pivotal role in literature, mythology and history, as well as its environmental significance. There has been a 50 per cent drop in ‘fog events’ in the past fifty years, fog is drifting away without us noticing and the ecological impact could be calamitous. As she journeys to the foggiest places she can find, Pashby immerses herself in Dartmoor’s dangerous fog, searches for the Scottish haar, experiences Venice’s magical mist, tell us the myths behind the River Severn’s fog and the shipwrecks it hides. It’s easy to get lost in fog, but sometimes it’s where imperceptible things can be found, including in ourselves. “Chasing Fog” is a captivating meditation on fog and mist, a love song to weather and nature’s power to transform.

“Amazing Jellyfish: Mysterious Dweller of the Deep” by Michael Stavarič. Published by Pushkin Press in October 2024

Dive beneath the waves and explore the amazing world of the jellyfish with this fact-filled book for middle grade readers who can’t get enough about marine animals! Filled with fascinating jellyfish facts, activities, and plenty of jokes, this second book in the Amazing Ocean series is the perfect follow-up to “Amazing Octopus”. The second title in the “Amazing Ocean” series is just as mind-blowing, inspiring and full of irreverent fun as the first. Children will learn about the astonishing variety of species, including some extremely dangerous ones, some types with truly amazing abilities, how scientists have been inspired by these mysterious dwellers of the deep in developing new technology, and much more… Along the way there is also plenty of opportunity for entertaining and mind-expanding digressions into other topics, including astrophysics, immortality and ancient mythology. This isn’t just a book to teach children about jellyfish, but one to fill them with wonder and curiosity for the natural world. All this is stunningly illustrated by Michele Ganser, in b&w and sepia original artwork throughout, packed in a textured self cover hardback with foil areas on the cover. Both text and artwork are also highlighted with colored ink to highlight important elenents. Each chapter ends with interactive summaries of the topics addressed, including games and creative exercises, to keep kids engaged and entertained as they learn. These interactive elements are also available as a printable pdf version for those that prefer to keep their copy pristine.

“The Drowned” by John Banville. Published by Faber & Faber in October 2024

The richly atmospheric new Strafford and Quirke murder mystery, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Snow. He had seen drowned people. A sight not to be forgotten. 1950s, rural Ireland. A loner comes across a mysteriously empty car in a field. Knowing he shouldn’t approach, but unable to hold back, he soon finds himself embroiled in a troubling missing person’s case, as a husband claims his wife may have thrown herself into the sea. Called in from Dublin to investigate is Detective Inspector Strafford, who soon turns to his old ally – the flawed but brilliant pathologist Quirke – a man he is linked to in increasingly complicated ways.

“Tove and the Island with no Address” by Lauren Soloy. Published by Tundra in October 2024

A gorgeous picture book homage to celebrated Moomin author Tove Jansson. Tove and her family go to the island with no address every summer. After checking to make sure that everything in the cabin is exactly as it should be, young Tove sets off on an adventure. She finds some interesting salvage on the beach, she visits the grotto and she offers to babysit her strange little friend’s five wild daughters. But when the weather takes a turn, Tove finds this task is more than she bargained for . . . Through Lauren Soloy’s brilliant art and storytelling, this imagined day on the island with no address pays tribute to Tove Jansson’s wild and beautiful imagination and explores both the exhilaration of adventure and the comfort of coming home.

“Water in World History” by Ellen F. Arnold. Published by Routledge in October 2024

This book takes a thematic approach to the global history of water, covering a wide range of human interactions with water and the ways in which it carries both life and death. Water is one of the most common and valuable natural resources for the survival of individual people and civilizations. As the Anthropocene brings the unpredictable challenges of climate change, population growth, and global industrialization and urbanism, issues of water scarcity and availability will be ever-growing, and both the presence and absence of water can be sources of far-reaching disaster. The book argues that a deeper understanding of water’s history is essential for navigating these changes. The chapters discuss water and religion, floods and disasters, water engineering and waterpower, the history of drinking water, water parks and leisure, the history of underwater exploration, and the history of drought and water scarcity. Each chapter is global in scope and is told over a broad chronology, with complementary case studies. “Water in World History” is an accessible introduction to water history and is an ideal resource for undergraduate students in environmental history and world history courses.

“A Dream of White horses” by Paul Scraton. Published by Bluemoose Books in October 2024

Ben travels through the night from London to a Baltic island. On the journey he listens to voice messages his friend Pascal has made to accompany photographs he began taking at fourteen of every room he ever slept in. The messages tell the story of a family, of migration, exile and the search for home in a fractured world.

“A Pirate’s Life for Tea” by Rebecca Thorne. Published by Tor in October 2024

The heart-warming sequel to Rebecca Thorne’s instant Sunday Times bestseller, Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea. For fans of Bookshops & Bonedust and Our Flag Means Death. Queer pirates will discover if enemies actually can become lovers. Kianthe and Reyna are hunting for dragon eggs to save their hometown. To secure their prize, they must strike a deal with the local lord – who in turn wants Serina, notorious river pirate, and scourge of his supply chains. Surely, they can handle one small abduction in the name of justice Begrudgingly, the couple join forces with Bobbie, one of the lord’s constables. Bobbie is determined to capture Serina, but lawmaker and lawbreaker have a complicated history – and it might jeopardize everything. As Bobbie and Serina become reacquainted, Kianthe and Reyna watch this relationship-wreck from afar. Luckily, matchmaking is Reyna’s favourite pastime. The dragon eggs may just have to wait. Take a break with this gloriously cosy sapphic fantasy rife with mischief and steeped in fun.

“Juice” by Tim Winton. Published by Picador in October 2024

Survival is only the beginning. Two fugitives, a man and a child, drive across a stony desert. As dawn breaks, they roll into an abandoned mine site. They’re exhausted, traumatized, desperate now, and this is a forsaken place, but as a refuge it’s the most promising they’ve seen. The child peers at the field of desolation. The man thinks to himself, this could work. Problem is, they’re not alone . . . So begins a searing, epic journey through a life where the challenge is not only to survive; it’s keeping your humanity if you do. Juice is a stunning novel for fans of Station Eleven and The Road, from twice Booker-shortlisted author Tim Winton.

“Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic” by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Deena So’Oteh. Published by Anne Schwartz Books in October 2024

Venture to the Arctic Ocean and discover real life underwater unicorns–narwhals–in this stunningly illustrated nonfiction picture book. When winter ice covers the Arctic Ocean, a narwhal pokes his head through a patch of open water, his tusk–a six-foot long tooth–pointed to the sky. Join this mammal as he jousts with another narwhal, floats with his pod, and uses echolocation to find his prey. When warmer weather arrives, he will migrate towards summer ground. But he must be careful! Predators–orcas and polar bears–will be hungry and looking for a meal…. How will the narwhal escape? Will he be able to return to the winter bay? Paired with atmospheric illustrations by debut illustrator Deena So’Oteh, nonfiction master Candace Fleming delivers a picture book, uniquely told in second person, that expertly explores the mysterious and fascinating unicorn of the Arctic.

“The Thames and Tide Club: The Ghost Pirates” by Katya Balen. Illustrated by Rachael Dean. Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in October 2024

When the mudlarking gang find a mysterious cutlass on the banks of the Thames, they immediately know that something fishy is afoot. When the cutlass vanishes, and Mrs Drummonds disappears too, it’s down to Clem and the gang to find them. The mystery leads them to a band of ghost pirates, who will stop at nothing to find their long-lost treasure. With the help from their friends in the Undercity, the gang must set sail on the seven seas, solve riddles and save the day! This is the third instalment in the critically acclaimed series from award-winning author Katya Balen.

“Bunker Archeology” by Paul Virilo. New edition published by Spector Books OHG in October 2024

The reputation as an auteur that Paul Virilio (1932–2018) enjoys today derives from the work he did for his Bunker Archeology. When, in the second half of the 1950s, he began photographing abandoned Second World War bunkers along France´s Atlantic coast, he was working with glass as an artistic medium. In 1966, he presented his photographs to the public for the first time in the magazine architecture principe, which he co-edited. At the time, he was particularly interested in the architectural aspects of these wartime installations. He saw the bunkers as harbingers of a new architecture , which he sought to capture in the term cryptic architecture . The first exhibition of Virilio´s Bunker Archeology was staged at the Centre Pompidou in 1975, while the museum was still in the process of being established. His seminal book was published in conjunction with this. It laid out all the motifs of his philosophical thinking: military space and communications warfare, camouflage and acceleration, a scrupulous reading of the present coupled with a desire for philosophical speculation. Although it is almost fifty years since the work was first published, Bunker Archeology is still full of connections to the present. To coincide with an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, a new edition of the book is being published in French, English, and German.Paul Virilio (1932-2018), French philosopher, urbanist and critic of the media society. His most important works include War and Cinema: The Logistics of Perception (1984) und Polar Inertia (1990).

“When Water Flows” by Aida Salazar, illustrated by Caribay M. Benavides. Published by Rise x Penguin Workshop in October 2024

Derived from Mexican Indigenous wisdom, this is the second title in a series of poetic board books centering around establishing an authentic, heartfelt connection with nature. Using Mexican concepts, this poignantly lyrical series invites young children to pay witness to nature, to value it, and to become a steward of the planet. Water is essential to all life on earth—it helps us grow, it feeds us, it cleanses us, and it heals us. Its fluidity touches and gives life to every being, showcasing the power of universal interconnectedness. Acclaimed middle-grade author Aida Salazar lovingly turns her attention to the youngest readers, bringing her signature lyrical text – in English with a few Spanish words interwoven. With vibrant, mystical art, this book is a truly meaningful and formative experience for all young readers.

NOVEMBER

“Beyond the Sea: The Hidden Life in Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands” by David Strayer. Published by John Hopkins University Press in November 2024

An exciting foray into Earth’s inland waters, the remarkable species they contain, and the conservation challenges of protecting them. When we call Earth “the blue planet” we immediately envision the vast oceans that cover most of its surface. But seas aren’t the only bodies of water that make Earth special. Millions of diverse inland waters rush, meander, and seep throughout the planet, teeming with life. These streams, lakes, wetlands, and groundwaters are home to countless thousands of species, many of which are extraordinary and some of which are critically endangered. In “Beyond the Sea”, ecologist David Strayer introduces readers to the world’s most remarkable and varied inland waters, including massive lakes that fill only once a century, groundwaters miles beneath our feet that host unique microbes, volcanic lakes more corrosive than battery acid, and catastrophic floods that carry ten times more water than the Amazon River. Strayer also shares stories of the myriad fascinating species supported by these crucial ecosystems, featuring mussels that seduce fish, tiny tardigrades that cheat death, animals that photosynthesize, and plants that eat meat. Because humans have used—and abused—inland waters so intensively for everything from drinking water and fly-fishing to sewage disposal, many species around the world that depend on them are in desperate peril. Strayer explains the damage that humans have caused and offers the solutions that are needed to sustain and restore inland-water ecosystems and their inhabitants. Proving that the sea isn’t the only aqueous realm of mystery and wonder, this book illuminates the secrets, science, and amazing denizens of the overlooked waters in our backyards.

“Taiwan Travelogue” by Yáng Shuang-zi. Published by Graywolf Press in November 2024

May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She’s been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear. Soon a Taiwanese woman—who is younger even than she is, and who shares the characters of her name—is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true. The charming, erudite, meticulous Chizuru arranges Chizuko’s travels all over the Land of the South and also proves to be an exceptional cook. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, lively banter and winter melon tea, Chizuko grows infatuated with her companion and intent on drawing her closer. But something causes Chizuru to keep her distance. It’s only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko begins to grasp what the “something” is. Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, this novel was a sensation on its first publication in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan’s highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award. Taiwan Travelogue unburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships.

“The Heart of a Whale” by Anna Pignataro, illustrated by Anna Pignataro. Published as a board book by Philomel Books in November 2024

In this beautiful story of kindness and empathy, loneliness and love, one creature finds that the help he needs is just a song and a sigh away. Now available as a board book–a perfect new baby gift! Whale’s beautiful song winds its way through the ocean, reaching the farthest of faraways. His song is one of happiness and hope, magic and wonder–and Whale’s fellow sea creatures are calmed, cheered, and lulled by it. But though Whale sings his tender song day after day, night after night, he wonders why he has no song to fill his empty heart. So when he lets out a mournful sigh, the ocean carries it like a wish through its fathoms, bringing it to just the right place. Filled with stunning art and poetic text, this poignant story reminds us that being kind and helping a friend in need are sometimes the most beautiful things of all.