Fiction
Bookseller’s choice
The Salt Almanac
Mara Avery
M&Q
A reading room on Hartwell Lane
Forty-six years of selling the books we believe in — and, since 1991, printing a few of our own. Come for a title, stay for the argument about it.
Sorted by hand, not by algorithm. Filter by the room you’d find them in.
No. 02 — From the front desk
“A book about a lighthouse keeper that is somehow really about every conversation you meant to have and didn’t. Avery writes weather the way other people write grief. I’ve hand-sold thirty copies and reread it twice — start it on a grey afternoon and let it ruin your evening, in the best way.”
Short runs, sewn bindings, regional voices. Everything edited above the till and printed within a county of it.
Our poetry chapbooks are still composed on a 1962 Heidelberg in the basement. You can hear it through the floor on Thursdays, which is press day.
We publish deliberately, never more than a dozen books a season — fiction, verse, and the occasional stubborn essay nobody else would take a chance on.
Reading windows open each spring and autumn. We answer every envelope by hand — sometimes slowly, always honestly.
Readings, signings, and the long-running Thursday book club. Seats are free; arrive early for the good chairs.
An evening reading and conversation, followed by a signing. Wine from the corner shop, as ever.
7:00 pm · The back room · Free, no ticketOur long-suffering monthly circle. Newcomers always welcome; opinions encouraged, civility appreciated.
6:30 pm · Window seats · Bring the bookIris Calloway launches her debut collection, printed downstairs. Letterpress broadsides for sale.
7:30 pm · Whole shop · FreePicture books read aloud, plus a treasure hunt through the shelves. Hot chocolate at the back.
10:30 am · Children’s nook · All ages