{"title":"September Staff Picks","description":"\u003cp\u003eEvery month, each of our team members recommends a title they love and want to share.\u003cspan\u003e If you're ever looking for recommendations for yourself or a family member, please get in touch - we love to help our customers find the perfect book!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere are our picks for September...\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"signed-indie-exclusive-john-of-john-pre-order-for-21-5-26","title":"John of John","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003eCal is a young man returning home to his father and grandmother in a small village in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003ethe Outer Hebrides. He has graduated and is out of money, and his father needs him. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003eBut when he returns, he will also be drawn back into a world of suppressed emotion \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003eand terrible secrecy that not only destroys his father but looks set to determine the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003erelationship between father and son. For both Cal and John, keeping their sexuality \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003esecret threatens both their relationship and their own lives. The world is that of the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003eweavers of the island - isolated, intense and intimate and wild.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"col1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/span\u003eHardback (416 pages)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Pan Macmillan\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eImprint\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Picador\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e9781035086955\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublished\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e21 May 2026\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296718434677,"sku":"9781035086955","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/files\/9781035086955_98a123dc-bdc7-4f8c-bfab-f13a43e98db0.jpg?v=1773067276"},{"product_id":"9780241814307","title":"The Things We Never Say","description":"\u003cp\u003e Author(s): Strout, Elizabeth \u003cbr\u003e Binding: Hardback, \u003cbr\u003e Date of Publication: 07\/05\/2026,\u003cbr\u003e Pagination: 224 pages,\u003cbr\u003e ISBN13\\EAN\\SKU: 9780241814307,\u003cbr\u003e Description: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFROM THE PULITZER-WINNING, BOOKER-SHORTLISTED ELIZABETH STROUT COMES A STUNNING STANDALONE NOVEL OF LOVE, LONELINESS AND NEW BEGINNINGSArtie Dam is a man with a secret. He spends his days teaching history to high schoolers, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbours, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his mind: how is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith exquisite prose and profound insight, Elizabeth Strout captures the way grief reverberates through decades, the comfort found in deep friendships and the freedom that comes when we break free of our secrets. The Things We Never Say is a stunning new novel from one of our most acclaimed observers of the human heart. ***PRAISE FOR ELIZABETH STROUT:'A terrific writer' ZADIE SMITH'A superbly gifted storyteller' HILARY MANTEL'Elizabeth Strout is one of my very favourite writers' ANN PATCHETT'Strout's ability to reveal wonder in unrecorded lives continues to astonish' TELEGRAPH'She gets better with each book' MAGGIE O'FARRELL'A beautiful read' OPRAH WINFREY'Strout is, as ever, wonderfully attentive life's escapable cruelties and woes' SUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56718175764853,"sku":"9780241814307","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/files\/9780241814307_b241a516-44e8-4792-b760-f9e969ee61e7.jpg?v=1770631414"},{"product_id":"9781529967128","title":"The Big Hop : The first flight across the Atlantic and the ordinary heroes who risked their lives for it","description":"\u003cp\u003e Author(s): Rooney, David \u003cbr\u003e Binding: Paperback, \u003cbr\u003e Date of Publication: 11\/06\/2026,\u003cbr\u003e Pagination: 336 pages,\u003cbr\u003e ISBN13\\EAN\\SKU: 9781529967128,\u003cbr\u003e Description: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Vivid and compelling’ John Lancaster‘A delectable serving of escapist nostalgia’ The Times, Book of the Week A non-stop flight across the Atlantic might seem routine today. But it is only possible because of those who went first.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNewfoundland, 1919. Buffeted by winds, an unwieldy aircraft – made mainly from wood and stiff linen – struggled to take off from the North American island’s rocky slopes. Cramped side by side in its open cockpit were two men, freezing cold and barely able to move, but resolute. They had a dream: to be the first in human history to fly, non-stop, across the Atlantic Ocean. But there were three other teams competing against them, and as the waves raged a few miles below, memories of wartime crashes resurfaced . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMining letters, diaries and evocative unpublished photographs, David Rooney’s deeply researched account of this audacious contest shows how it was the airmen’s thrilling wartime experiences that ultimately led them to the ‘Big Hop’, and brought old friends together for one more daring adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘An excellent book… The Big Hop consists of colourful biographical sketches of the aviators who took part in the competition and thrilling accounts of their efforts’ Daily Mail‘The Big Hop is a glorious romp through an overlooked part of aviation history, stuffed full of intriguing characters and white-knuckle courage’ Sunday Times\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57005384073589,"sku":"9781529967128","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/files\/9781529967128.jpg?v=1774690340"},{"product_id":"9781035090785","title":"Writers \u0026 Lovers","description":"\u003cp\u003e Author(s): King, Lily \u003cbr\u003e Binding: Paperback, \u003cbr\u003e Date of Publication: 09\/10\/2025,\u003cbr\u003e Pagination: 336 pages,\u003cbr\u003e ISBN13\\EAN\\SKU: 9781035090785,\u003cbr\u003e Description: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow you've read Heart the Lover, it's time to go back to the original . . . The New York Times bestseller from the author of Heart the Lover. Funny and heartbreaking, Writers \u0026amp; Lovers is Lily King's bitingly clever modern classic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A novel with the broad embrace of a 1990s Richard Curtis film’ – The Sunday Times‘Funny and immensely clever’ – Tessa Hadley'Gorgeous' - Elizabeth Strout'Writers \u0026amp; Lovers made me happy . . . suffused with hopefulness and kindness' - Ann Patchett'I loved this book from the first paragraph' - Curtis SittenfeldCasey is lost. She is mourning the death of her mother, the novel she has been writing for six years isn’t going anywhere, and her debt is soaring. Surely at thirty-one, when all her friends are getting married and having kids, she is too old for things to be this way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen she meets Silas. He is kind, handsome, interested. But only a few weeks later, Oscar – older, fascinating, complicated – walks into her life, his two boys in tow. Suddenly Casey finds herself at the point of a love triangle, torn between two very different futures . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Exquisite . . . A warm and buoyant romance’ – The Sunday Telegraph‘Captivating’ – Madeline Miller, author of Circe‘Delightful . . . Warm, funny and sharply observed’ – Daily Mail‘Infused with tenderness and wry wit’ – The Irish Times‘Romantic and funny . . . Wonderfully life-affirming’ – Daily Express‘Witty and affecting, Writers \u0026amp; Lovers explores where grit can get you, even when everything appears to be falling apart’ – i newspaper\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57005427884405,"sku":"9781035090785","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/files\/9781035090785.jpg?v=1774692652"},{"product_id":"9781911710332","title":"At The Edge of the Woods","description":"\u003cp\u003e Author(s): Bromwich, Kathryn \u003cbr\u003e Binding: Paperback, \u003cbr\u003e Date of Publication: 18\/06\/2026,\u003cbr\u003e Pagination: 220 pages,\u003cbr\u003e ISBN13\\EAN\\SKU: 9781911710332,\u003cbr\u003e Description: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193557655925,"sku":"9781911710332","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/files\/9781911710332.jpg?v=1778919873"},{"product_id":"9781526664006","title":"Sophie, Standing There : From the bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss - SIGNED COPY","description":"\u003cp\u003e Author(s): Mason, Meg \u003cbr\u003e Binding: Hardback, \u003cbr\u003e Date of Publication: 27\/08\/2026,\u003cbr\u003e Pagination: 352 pages,\u003cbr\u003e ISBN13\\EAN\\SKU: 9781526664006,\u003cbr\u003e Description: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA sharp, funny and achingly tender story of obsession and loneliness from the award-winning, bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss 'So smart, so funny, so moving. I absolutely loved it' BONNIE GARMUS'Heartbreaking, hilarious, and deeply hopeful. Mason is a dazzling talent' ANN PATCHETT'Mason is brilliant ... A witty story of infatuation set in the literary world' GUARDIANSophie Pattison is a lovely person – warm, kind, relentlessly positive. She's cherished by her brother Laurie, adored by her best friend Emma and valued by her colleagues. Sometimes, it’s true, one day in her life can feel like the entire month of January. It’s also true she can go an entire day without speaking. But she's fine really. She spends her time alone reading, finding comfort in the pages of the books she devours. Until one day she stumbles upon an author she hasn’t read in years. Her books, interviews and podcasts soon become a lifeline; every word is a solace, company she hasn't felt in so long. It's almost like love.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA lot like love. And Sophie would love to meet the author, although she never will obviously. In a way, thank goodness, because that would change everything. Sophie's entire life. Wouldn’t it? Hilariously candid and raw, Sophie, Standing There is a bittersweet story of love, loneliness and finding connection in the most unlikely of places.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Heartwarming, tender and so funny ... Wonderful' GILLIAN ANDERSON'I love Meg Mason’s brain and the strange, wonderful, funny stories she gives us' ANN NAPOLITANO\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57517927727477,"sku":"9781526664006","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/files\/9781526664006.jpg?v=1787389255"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/collections\/Copy_of_Shopify_home_page_icons_384478c8-8716-4964-9e38-e50bc2636636.png?v=1789380791","url":"https:\/\/www.griffinbooksonline.info\/collections\/staff-picks.oembed","provider":"Griffin Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}