Plans are afoot to list some of our second-hand stock on this website but here are the highlights for new books this month.

Young Romantics
We thoroughly enjoyed our launch party for Daisy Hay’s Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron and Other Tangled Lives (Hb, £20). Daisy dispels the myth of a poet struggling away in a lonely garret; these writers led wild and sociable lives. Well-researched yet highly readable, this book offers a unique insight into a fascinating period of literature where rivalry and passion combined to produce some of the greatest poetry ever written.

At Home
Bill Bryson’s new book At Home (Hb, £20) is published at the end of the month. In it he looks at the domestic side of history, rather than the grand events and devastating battles. He takes a journey round his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, wandering from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life came to be. From the spice trade to crinolines this book shows us that all our homes have a history that is fascinating, extraordinary – and even a little dangerous.

Puffin by Design
Another book we are eagerly awaiting at the end of the month is Puffin by Design by Phil Baines (Hb, £20). This celebrates the 70th anniversary of Puffins, the series that started as ‘Puffin Picture Books’ in 1940 and expanded into ‘Puffin Story Books’ in 1941 with the publication of Worzel Gummidge. With over 400 illustrations and details on the individual titles, this is a book that will transport you back to the very best bits of your childhood.

Plenty
Plenty is another collection from Yotam Ottolenghi of brilliantly do-able recipes (Hb, £25). Tomato and Potato Tatin, Crusted Pumpkin Wedges and Aubergine Croquettes are among the dishes that will tempt even the most hardened carnivore. We have already cooked and eaten from this book and cannot recommend it enough.

The Central European Classics Collection
Penguin have reissued an exciting collection of ten Central European classics (Pb, £9.99‒£12.99) including memoirs, essays and novels. They cover the twentieth century from the optimism preceding 1914 to the horrors of the Cold War. Karel Capek’s War with the Newts, Josef Skvorecky’s The Cowards and Ota Pavel’s How I Came to Know Fish are three we have enjoyed so far.