The Staff Shelf: Heffers Bookshop

When we walk into a bookstore, the first place we go is the staff recommendation shelves—it’s how you get a quick sense of the personality of the store. The very best bookstores are merely a reflection of the eclectic, deeply felt opinions of the book-lovers who work there. As part of our Interview with a Bookstore, we asked the staff at Heffers Bookshop what they recommend.

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SLIDESHOW: Heffers Bookshop Staff Shelf

: DAVID RECOMMENDS: I’ve read it a hundred times and still love this story that deals with some of the very biggest questions with dignity, humanity and originality. The author also writes children’s books and this deceptively simple tale could spark many interesting debates with people of all ages.

: SARAH RECOMMENDS: A highly entertaining read of the quirkiest nature! The story of Veblen and her fiancé, Paul; both the products of highly dysfunctional families and both with differing views on Veblen’s attraction to squirrels!

: KATE RECOMMENDS: Gorgeously descriptive prose that brings to life the world at sea with its ever-changing light and moods; the vivid, sometimes grotesque imagery of the circus and its performers with glitter for blood, and the lives of the privileged people still living on the islands that were left after the waters rose. If you like magic realism and works by writers such as Angela Carter, I thoroughly recommend The Gracekeepers.

: CAROLINE RECOMMENDS: A brilliantly conceived book about the classic year of music, through an amazing variety of rock and pop albums. Hepworth maintains that young people now are still listening to great songs from 1971, which haven’t lost their raw appeal.. A book to read in one sitting, and then dip into time & time again – see how many of the albums you own (or used to!)

: MATT RECOMMENDS: A superb children’s picture book that challenges the notion of the tough male stereotype by showing that even the likes of superheroes, cowboys and ninjas can steel feel lonely, sad or afraid. Bold and colourful illustrations help to convey the book’s important message.

: BRUCE RECOMMENDS: Newly opened archives allow for a fascinating new portrait of the intense friendship between two of the 1960’s most iconic figures and adds a new dimension to our understanding of the era.

: BRUCE RECOMMENDS: Jumbo jet pilot Mark Vanhoenacker explores the spiritual and romantic aspects of flight in a book which would make the perfect gift for a nervous flier.

: RICHARD RECOMMENDS: Mrs Creasy has disappeared from her home on a housing estate, resulting in two ten-year-old girls seeking her whereabouts. Set during the hot summer of 1976, with neighbours harbouring secrets a-plenty – especially a hushed ‘happening’ from the mid-1960s. This is a brilliantly observed treat of a debut.

: RICHARD RECOMMENDS: A clutch of Biblio-mysteries and first degree Cambridge murder with three stories partly set in Heffers bookshop. Published in honour of Heffers and independent bookshops everywhere. Chase down the criminals in new stories by Simon Brett, Alison Bruce, Chris Ewan and Ruth Dudley Edwards. Uncover further misdeeds, with enticing offerings from Kate Charles, Ann Cleeves, Judith Cutler, Ruth Downie, Stella Duffy, Martin Edwards, Christopher Fowler, Michael Gregorio, Susanna Gregory & Simon Beaufort, Elly Griffiths, Jenna Hawkins, Suzette A Hill, Peter Lovesey, Michelle Spring, Andrew Taylor and L C Tyler. Their works, collectively, feature every crime in the book.