The North Recommends: Truman Books
Truman Books is a brand new bookshop that opened in Farsley, West Leeds in June 2021. It has always been a dream of mine to open a bookshop, and when the pandemic came along and called a halt on my career in travel, it seemed like an opportunity to be bold, and take a chance on following a dream.
We are a general bookshop, with a small café area serving coffee and cake. It is such a joy having people in the shop browsing, chatting, and meeting friends old and new. The local community has welcomed us with open arms, and we are looking forward to running author events, book clubs, story times, and shopping evenings.
It’s been really fascinating to see the range of books that have been popular with the people of West Leeds. Sport is obviously a key interest, with Phil Hay’s examination of Marcelo Bielsa’s impact on Leeds United, And It Was Beautiful, flying off the shelves. Also hugely popular is Rob Burrow’s moving account of his inspirational career, and his battle with motor neurone disease, Too Many Reasons to Live.
Some of the books we are excited to have on the shelves this autumn are:
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa – Anyone involved in the preservation of books is a hero to us, but this is also a beautiful book with a gorgeous heart-warming story about finding courage, caring for others – and the tremendous power of books.
Killing The Horses by John Newman – Set on the outskirts of Bradford over the course of a single day, Killing The Horses follows Ryan and Liam, teenagers skiving off school in the woods at the edge of the city. But the woods hold secrets. Dark Secrets. And the landscape aches with the violence of all that has been done there. This debut novel is rooted in the landscape and dialect of West Yorkshire and fuses realism with the mythical, and brings the macabre and darkly-religious world of the American Southern Gothic to the north of England.
Manifesto by Bernadine Evaristo – I love Bernadine Evaristo’s writing, and Girl, Woman, Other is a popular choice in our shop. This is her intimate and inspirational, no-holds-barred account of how she blazed the trail to become the first Black woman Booker prize-winner, refusing to let any barriers stand in her way. She charts her creative rebellion against the mainstream and her life-long commitment to the imaginative exploration of ‘untold’ stories. And drawing deeply on her own experiences, she offers a vital contribution to current conversations around social issues such as race, class, feminism, sexuality and aging.
Visit Truman Books’ website, and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.