I received a press release over the weekend and have been dying to share it with you all! LJ Ross, yes that LJ Ross, has launched an initiative to support the North East through these difficult times and into the future. Celebrating and recognising the area as a culturally important region. In this initiative there …
Book Corner, Saltburn
The Book Corner has a beautiful new website where you can now buy books online from them. Our next shop is the wonderful Book Corner in Saltburn where I got some translated works which were hard reading but well worth it, ran and owned by Jenna who is so nice and friendly. It also has …
Browse a Bookshop
After having a lovely response for our Bookshop Advent where 24 bookshops sent us answers to some Christmas related questions I thought I could expand it into a questionnaire/interview format and ask bookshops to talk about themselves. After thinking a wee bit, chatting with some bookshops and putting together some questions I decided to go …
Murder Most Unladylike
Just before Christmas (a couple of years back) we found out that Robin Stevens was coming to one of our local schools to talk to the pupils about her books and writing mysteries, have to say I jumped at the chance to organise something to support the schools librarian and the school (but also to …
Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain
Before I started working as a bookseller for Waterstones I would never have contemplated reading a book such as Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain. I would have looked at the blurb and thought ‘why would I want to read a story about real lives intertwining?’ I was far more interested in magic, dragons, …
Still Water: The Deep Life of the Pond
I was given Still Water: The Deep Life of the Pond as it is well known that I love a well written book on nature and the idea of rewilding. I had previously read Meadowland by the same author and really enjoyed the style of John Lewis-Stempel’s writing, so relaxed and almost poetic in his …
Amelia Fang and the Lost Yeti Treasures
I really love these books from Laura Ellen Anderson and think I look forward to a new adventure as much as the children in the shop (maybe even more). Amelia Fang and the Lost Yeti Treasures sees the gang visiting the Yeti Pits to celebrate Grand-yeti’s 350th birthday party. This is very exciting in itself …
Mudlarking
I’ve always been fascinated by finding things on the shoreline whether they be old things discarded by humans, natural objects shaped by the sea, or evidence of past life in the form of fossils. When the opportunity came along to get a copy of Mudlarking I jumped at it. I’ve heard the name a lot …
My Sister, the Serial Killer
I’m not usually a thriller/crime reader but I was persuaded to read this as I was told the audiobook was excellent and since I was walking a lot right now during furlough why not give it a try? I used the library service to download it, RB Digital, and the system was really easy to …
punkgirldiaries zine
I was sent the third edition of punkgirldiaries zine to have a look at and see what I thought (me being an old punk and all that). I’ve always loved zines as a format and have been involved with a few in the 70s and 80s, the compactness, DIY-ethos, and the focus on a small, …
14 Golden and Autumnal picture books
I love this time of year, I love that definite signing of the changes of the seasons. I do love Spring as well, that freshness, that boundless potential, all that growth… But I’m a real September baby! Over on Twitter I asked people for their recommendations for beautiful autumnal picture books and got a great …
August update
This month has been a good month for reading including actually enjoying audiobooks for the first time, it’s also been a good month for my blogging in general. At the start of the month I decided to do some blog consolidation and have now ended up with just four blogs: Big Bearded Bookseller – my …