As I’ve mentioned before, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to make the most of London by exploring some of the city’s interesting places and events. So when I received an e-mail advertising discounted tickets for Shakespeare’s Complete Works (abridged), I thought: Perfect! I will be exploring London’s theatre scene, and also nurturing my […]
This week has seen some cosmic element pulling all manner of Nordic things into my life. I discovered COS (Collection of Style) on Regent Street, the new sister store of Swedish chain H&M (full of sleek, classic but modern styles that don’t break the budget); every interior of a house I’ve seen (and loved) in […]
As A&B’s resident foodie, it’s perhaps not surprising that I’ve discovered a lovely new blog The Gossip Bowl which celebrates vintage recipes (with a dose of the literary…) As they proudly highlight themselves on their site, Virginia Woolf wrote: ‘One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.’ Too true. […]
The new theatre production of Bill Naughton’s most celebrated novel, Alfie, will be touring theatres across the country until the end of April.
I am in the process of culling the number of books in my house as a cathartic (and sensible) clearout before moving flat. And amongst my sagging bookshelves I found a copy of Little Bird, by Camilla Way – which I remember picking up many years ago when HarperCollins was having their own clearout of […]
As I picked up the most recent issue of The Bookseller I was greeted on the front cover by this charming, spectacled fellow. As I fondly remember squinting over various editions of Wally’s adventures, I was delighted to see that Wally has been popping up here, there and everywhere in unusual and crowded settings for […]
For me, January is the month of cinema trips, as a) there’s nothing much else to do, b) it’s cold and I want to sit in a warm darkened room for a couple of hours, and c) it’s Oscar season, so all the good films are out! Last year I remember seeing some of the […]
As Chiara mentioned in the first blog post of 2012, I have some very wordy/worthy books on my current reading list. I haven’t finished Just My Type yet, though it’s so eminently dip-in-able that I could probably get two books going in tandem. If you haven’t come across this book yet and have any kind […]
Ah, January. The month of hiding under the duvet, missing the twinkly lights of Christmas, and giving up on New Year’s resolutions. My resolutions this year include the standard ‘get more exercise’ and ‘eat less junk food’…even I’m betting they don’t last long. There is one resolution, however, which I might be able to prolong […]
As Chiara mentioned in her blog yesterday one of my Christmas books (a wee pressie to myself for being such a good girl all year) was The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal. The book has been a genuine word-of-mouth success and that should surprise no-one once they start to read it – […]
And so we are back! The feasting and festivities are over and whilst we could dwell on the end of the holidays, the extra pounds we’ve gained, and the fact that we’ve been greeted by a wet and windy January, let’s focus on more positive things and the inevitable questions: What books did you all […]
And so, here we find ourselves again – at the end of another year. In 2011 we’ve welcomed some wonderful new authors to our list, introducing you to a whole new array of reading choices. For our crime-fiction lovers we brought you inter-war mysteries from Jacqueline Winspear, Swedish police procedural from Kjell Eriksson, and medieval […]
Ever since I wrote a blog confessing that I just didn’t understand the acclaim for Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (which, by the way, my brother was scandalised at – it’s his favourite novel), the author seems to be haunting me. First there was the news story about the discovery of a lost Kerouac book, […]
So the wind is howling, the office has collective sniffles and the economy has moved beyond the toilet bowl to somewhere around the u-bend, but still, there are still some nice Christmassy sights, sounds and even smells to enjoy. Here’s my recent tally. 1. Twinkly Lights. It doesn’t have to be Oxford Street’s, my own […]
Robert Barnard, veteran crime-writer and winner of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger, an award in recognition of a lifetime’s achievement in crime writing, has now been included in the American “Great Reads from Booksellers You Trust”, nominated by indie booksellers.
Today our printer starting acting strange. Sara was printing off a manuscript and rather than printing the whole 420 pages in one go (as per usual) it started printing off 20 pages or so at a time. It would spit out one set of 20 pages, then stop and pause for a few minutes, and […]
I recently had the great pleasure of visiting Skoob, the massive second-hand bookstore in London that not even Oxford’s traditional charity bookshops can compete with. After two hours of feverishly scouring the shelves for the best bargains, I triumphantly presented my winnings – five pounds for ten tattered, ancient, dust-cloth books. These are the kind […]
For this, our last Wednesday Cover Story for 2011, I thought I would leave you with the discovery of another website-cum-blog that devotes, not just Wednesday’s, but Any Day to the subject that is The Book Cover. And so, to ensure that over the festive holidays you still get your fill of cover stories, I present […]
Ah, the joys of Christmas shopping. Whether it’s the cut and thrust of elbows on Oxford Street or the anxiety over curiously delayed internet purchases, nothing quite raises the blood-pressure like it. And in an effort to distract me from my far-from-complete list, I’ve compiled something of a Christmas shopping list for aspiring writers out […]
Come and meet Cassandra Clark, author of the acclaimed medieval mystery series featuring Abbess Hildegard of Meaux on Sunday 18th December, from 11am to 4pm at Waterstone’s in Windsor.
It’s the last full week in the office before the Christmas holidays begin, and I’ve started to consider what festive things I’ll be doing this year. I’ll be heading home to Wales for a family Christmas, so of course there will be lots of eating, getting too competitive playing charades, and watching my little nephew […]