This is the third chapter of our reading adventure where our lovely friends at the Tandem Collective have curated some wee literary gems we can enjoy with our brews over the next few months.

And so you know we love all you tea drinkers out there too, we’ve included some tea recommendations this month as well as the sacred bean recommendations

The Atlas of Improbably Places, by Travis Elborough

Travis Elborough goes in search of the obscure and bizarre, the beautiful and arcane. His unique atlas shows you the modern world from surprising new vantage points. The truths and myths behind these hidden lairs, forgotten cities and improbable wonders are as varied as the destinations themselves. These curious places are not just extraordinary sights but reflections on our relationship with the world around us. Acclaimed author and social commentator, Travis Elborough, is a marvellous travel guide to the world’s most unusual corners.

I want to read this book!

The perfect tea companion for “Atlas of Improbably Places” would be Russian Caravan – even the name sounds exotic

The Disaster Tourist, by Yun Ko-eun

An extraordinary literary thriller that speaks volumes about the human and environmental costs of unsustainable tourism. Yona has been stuck behind a desk for years working as a programming coordinator for Jungle, a travel company specialising in package holidays to destinations ravaged by disaster. When a senior colleague touches her inappropriately she tries to complain, and in an attempt to bury her allegations, the company make her an attractive proposition: a free ticket for one of their most sought-after trips, to the desert island of Mui. She accepts the offer and travels to the remote island, where the major attraction is a supposedly-dramatic sinkhole. When the customers who’ve paid a premium for the trip begin to get frustrated, Yona realises that the company has dangerous plans to fabricate an environmental catastrophe to make the trip more interesting, but when she tries to raise the alarm, she discovers she has put her own life in danger.

I want to read this book

The perfect coffee companion for “The Disaster Tourist” would be the Indonesian Sumatra Ache Gayo

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler

Rosemary’s young, just at college, and she’s decided not to tell anyone a thing about her family. So we’re not going to tell you too much either: you’ll have to find out for yourselves what it is that makes her unhappy family unlike any other. Rosemary is now an only child, but she used to have a sister the same age as her, and an older brother. Both are now gone – vanished from her life. There’s something unique about Rosemary’s sister, Fern. And it was this decision, made by her parents, to give Rosemary a sister like no other, that began all of Rosemary’s trouble. So now she’s telling her story: full of hilarious asides and brilliantly spiky lines, it’s a looping narrative that begins towards the end, and then goes back to the beginning. Twice. It’s funny, clever, intimate, honest, analytical and swirling with ideas that will come back to bite you.

I want to read this book

The coffee we’d have alongise “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” is the Paradox – quiry and clever

Here is the Beehive, by Sarah Crossan

What would you do if you lost someone the world never knew was yours? For three years, Ana has been consumed by an affair with Connor, a client at her law firm. Their love has been consigned to hotel rooms and dark corners of pubs, keeping their relationship hidden from the world. So the morning that Ana’s company receives a call to say that Connor is dead, her secret grief has nowhere to go. Desperate for an outlet, Ana seeks out the shadowy figure who has always stood just beyond her reach – Connor’s wife Rebecca…

I want to read this book!

The perfect tea companion for “Here is the Beehive”: is the Chai – refreshing and comforting at the same time

The Sweetness of Water, by Nathan Harris

In the dying days of the American Civil War, newly freed brothers Landry and Prentiss find themselves cast into the world without a penny to their names. Forced to hide out in the woods near their former Georgia plantation, they’re soon discovered by the land’s owner, George Walker, a man still reeling from the loss of his son in the war. When the brothers begin to live and work on George’s farm, the tentative bonds of trust and union begin to blossom between the strangers. But this sanctuary survives on a knife’s edge, and it isn’t long before the inhabitants of the nearby town of Old Ox react with fury at the alliances being formed only a few miles away. Conjuring a world fraught by tragedy and violence yet threaded through with hope, The Sweetness of Water is a debut novel unique in its power to move and enthral.

I want to read this book!

We couldn’t decide if the brew for “The Sweetness of Water”: was tea or coffee, so here’s both (- not recommended in the same cup!

For tea lovers – go for the Orange Blossom Oolong And for Coffee officianados, we’ say go for the medium-roasted Yirgacheffe

Hope you found some interesting ideas for your August reading. We’ll have more for you soon