Book News

A regular look at books about Manchester available in Manchester Libraries.

New fiction – crime is always a favourite and recent new additions are the Generation Killer by Adam Simcox, part of his Dying Squad series featuring cops solving crimes from the after life.  Karen Woods writes gritty crime dramas set on Manchester estates and her latest title is The Con. A more unusual topic is short stories, derived from real people in the census, in Simon Mawer’s Ancestry. Nick Udall’s Time for a Change has a real local flavour, being set in 1960s Ardwick.

Football – books about Manchester City and Manchester United are abundant but more unusual approaches are taken in Simon Lloyd’s United with Dad and Nouruddean Choudry’s Inshallah United.  The former is a reflection of a son’s relationship with his Dad though their shared visits to Manchester United.  The latter is an account of a Pakistani Muslim growing up in the 1980s/90s and his support of Manchester United.

Blackley History And Stories by Philip Simpson is a welcome new history of the area.  Another new notable title is The Lost Rivers of Manchester by Geoffrey Ainsworth published December 2023. Originally published in 1987 this new edition has new material looking at hidden rivers and brooks such as the River Tib, Corn Brook and Strangeways Brooks. Leading historian Alan Kidd has also added to his “Manchester titles” with The Origins of Manchester: from Roman Conquest to the Industrial Revolution.

This is just a selection of the new Manchester books we have added recently.  All lending copies can be reserved online with a valid library card.  Reference copies need to be viewed in the library (please note any that are in Special Collections at Central Library need to be booked in advance).