The joys of a book binge

I’VE HAD A HOLIDAY ROMANCE. His name is Lachlan Kite, and, like any good summer fling, there are so many ways in which he’s unsuitable. He’s married, for one, albeit somewhat unhappily. He’s a spy, with a flexible approach to the truth and a troubled past that keeps returning to haunt him. Oh, and he’s fictional. None of that has tempered my obsession.

As a reader, I tend to be promiscuous, hopping from author to author, alighting on whatever catches my eye. A meaty book about AI one week, a crime novel the next.

This is a helpful habit for a bookseller to cultivate. Customers are forever asking what I’ve been reading recently, and it’s useful to have something up my sleeve to recommend that suits that particular reader’s tastebuds. (I do have blind spots, such as fantasy, but luckily Darby, our bookshop manager, keeps me well supplied with excellent suggestions there.)

I think this approach means I read a greater quantity of books as well as a greater variety. I love history, but a chapter a night of a 500-page tome packed with statistics is probably quite enough. Useful, then, to be able to dip into a character-led work of literary fiction on the side.

Or sometimes I’ve read a few too many heavy novels in a row. Something short and sweet (The Fortnight in September by RC Sheriff, say, or A Month in the Country by JL Carr) serves as a palate cleanser to get me ready for the next course.

The last few weeks, though, I’ve rediscovered the joys of a binge. I took Icarus 17, the newly-released fourth instalment of Charles Cumming’s Lachlan Kite series, away with me, fully intending to dip into it before moving on to other proofs, mostly “worthier” literary fiction that I felt I really ought to read.

But Kite pulled me in and wouldn’t let me go. Having started at the end, I quickly raced back to the beginning, devouring Box 88 before gobbling down its sequels, Judas 62 and Kennedy 35. Colleagues raised their eyebrows as they saw yet another home delivery order coming into our website from me. Why was I having the next instalment sent up to me in Northumberland when I could have been combing through any manner of proofs for September that I’d taken with me?

Partly, it’s the writing. Thrillers are thrilling, and Cumming masterfully employs all the usual tricks. Short, pacy chapters abound, as do cliff-hangers and tantalising flashbacks. The premise – that Kite works for Box 88, an off-the-books joint venture between MI6 and the CIA, a secret world within a secret world – is neat.

So too is the way each book yo-yos between the present day and Kite’s early career, affording the reader a window into the birth and growth of a spy and Cumming plenty of scope to mine interesting moments of real-life history and politics for the plots.

But it’s also about how comforting it is to allow yourself to sink fully into a different world. A series immerses you, and holds you there, in a way that only the most exceptional standalone novel can match. In my case, I also felt the comfort of rediscovering an old friend: in my early twenties, I raced through the entire back catalogues of Robert Harris and John le Carre, but – until recently – have rarely read thrillers since.

So take this as permission, if you need it, to put that worthy book you feel guilty about not reading to one side and pick up something you truly fancy, perhaps re-embracing a genre you’ve left behind. (There’s lots to tempt you in our summer guide. And if it’s spy fiction you’re after, start with the first in Cumming’s series, Box 88.)

Just beware: you may be gone some time.

Whatever you choose, happy reading!

Tom

• 7th July, 7.30pm Alasdair Gill, Knives and Spoons Chef and writer Alasdair Gill talks to writer and broadcaster Octavia Bright about his memoir Knives and Spoons, a raw and honest look at the chaotic, and often toxic, world of professional kitchens.

• 13th July, 7.30pm Tuppence Middleton, Scorpions Actor Tuppence Middleton joins us to talk through her visceral, raw and darkly humorous memoir about living with obsessive compulsive disorder

• 14th July, 7.30pm Sudi Pigott, Consider the Anchovy The Balham-based food writer talks with chef and food writer Ben Tish about her passionate embrace of the anchovy.

• 21st July, 7.30pm Rupal Patel and Jack Leslie, Money: The Inside Story The Bank of England economists talk us through how money really works — and what happens when it doesn’t.

• 28th July, 7.30pm Antonia Hodgson, The Raven Scholar The author of The Raven Scholar will be delving into the world of epic fantasy novels in conversation with her fellow author Georgia Summers (The Bookshop Below, City of Stardust)

• 10th August, 2.15pm Jacqueline Wilson book signing The beloved children’s author will join us to sign copies of her latest book, Esme Pepper. Spots must be reserved in advance (no need to book a ticket for parents/guardians or siblings.)

• 1st September, 7.30pm Patrick Ryan, Buckeye This one was our Novel of the Year for 2025. We’re thrilled that Patrick is joining Darby, our bookshop manager, on paperback publication day.

• 2nd September, 7.30pm Cathy Rentzenbrink, The Agatha Christie Cure Finding herself feeling drained, novelist Cathy Rentzenbrink turns to Christie’s books for comfort and escape.

• 7th September, 7.30pm Jonn Elledge, 31 Inventions That Built Our World We’re thrilled to be joined once again by friend of Backstory Jonn Elledge, the bestselling author of A History of the World In 47 Borders, who has turned his trademark intelligence and wit to charting the most crucial inventions.

• 9th September, 7.30pm Hallie Rubenhold, Story of a Murder: The Wives, The Mistress and Dr Crippen The historian and bestselling author of The Five discusses the women in Dr Crippen’s story.

• 15th September, 7.30pm James Marriott, The New Dark Ages: The End of Reading and the Dawn of a Post-Literate Society We very much hope not! But can’t wait to chew over this meaty subject with the Times columnist and reviewer.

• 16th September, 7.30pm Frank Gardner, Ballistic The BBC’s Security Correspondent talks about his latest spy thriller, Ballistic, set in the Arctic.

• 22nd September, 7.30pm Joey D’Urso, More Than A Shirt: How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money and Power The Tim Marshall of sports chews through what he reckons 20 shirts can tell you about geopolitics, in conversation with Patrick Maguire of The Times.

• 23rd September, 7.30pm Victoria Hislop, The Wine-Dark Sea The bestselling author of The Island and The Figurine joins us to discuss her latest.

• 30th September, 7.30pm Michael Cragg, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head: In Search of Kylie The music journalist chats all things Kylie Minogue with journalist and podcaster Miranda Sawyer

• 17th October, 11am Robert Harris book signing The bestselling thriller writer will be signing copies of his latest, Agrippa

• 25th October, 2.30pm Caitlin Moran book signing The journalist and writer will sign copies of How To Be Hopeful, her examination of whether it is possible to stay in the same house, in the same neighbourhood, but feel better about the frantic modern world by making better days.