by Gudrun Bowers | 10, Oct 2016
Fiona Maddocks
On Thursday 13th October at 7.30 pm we welcome the Observer Classical Music Critic, Fiona Maddock, to the lovely Gluck Studios in Elm Grove Lane.
Fiona will be in conversation with former opera singer Sue Churchill, about her new book ‘Music for Life, 100 Works to Carry You Through’.
In the book, Fiona asks ‘ How does music reflect the key moments in our lives? How do we choose the works that inspire, delight, comfort or console?’ and selects 100 classical works from across nine centuries, arguing passionately, persuasively and at times obstinately for their inclusion, putting each work in its cultural and musical context, discussing omissions, suggesting alternatives and always putting the music first.
A fantastic event for classical music fans, the ticket price includes a glass of wine and a lovely hardback copy of ‘Music for Life’.
by Gudrun Bowers | 31, Aug 2016
There has been so much going on that we haven’t updated our news for a year!
Early 2016 saw author events with Catherine Chanter, Emily Gravett and Janet Ellis then in May and June the hustle and bustle of the 2016 Steyning Festival with the likes of Peter James, Frank Gardner, Cressida Cowell, the Hemsley sisters, Alison Weir, Sara Pascoe and Fergus Garrett coming to town! Then we celebrated Independent Booksellers Week in fine style with a talk by Ian Rankin, and a wonderful window display created by children’s illustrator Leigh Hodgkinson.
June also saw the 2nd Steyning Grammar School Brilliant Book Awards, where authors Eve Ainsworth, Sam Hepburn, Ali Sparkes and Matt Whyman were in attendance.
In August the lovely children’s author and illustrator Sam Lloyd came and entertained little ones with stories and buggy crafts, and some of us grabbed the odd weekend away, while others continued their tireless work of event planning and book supply….
Sam Lloyd in the bookshop garden
We had queues up the street for Julia Donaldson’s pre-publication signing for ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’, thanks to everyone who came for their patience – luckily the sun shone and Malcolm Donaldson entertained the throngs singing all our favourite jolly Julia songs.
Queues for Julia D!
Julia Donaldson meets young fans
by Gudrun Bowers | 31, Aug 2016
Saturday 17th September 2.30 pm at the Steyning Bookshop.
An amazing chance to meet Chris Riddell, the current children’s laureate, author and illustrator extraordinaire, as we celebrate the release of his new collaboration with Neil Gaiman, ‘Odd and the Frost Giants’.
Chris will entertain children aged 7 + with his incredible live drawing skills, play some interactive arty games, and answer questions from the audience.
He will also judge the entries to our DRAWING COMPETITION!
Drawing Competition
Can you imagine what a FROST GIANT might look like? Bring your drawing along to the bookshop on or before 17th September for your chance to win a bundle of signed Chris Riddell books.
ALL ENTRIES WILL RECEIVE A FREE ICECREAM / LOLLY!
Odd and the Frost Giants
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
A thoughtful, charming and moving children’s novel about friendship, grief, reincarnation and life as a dog.
When 12 year old Daisy is involved in a fatal car crash, she wakes up in a heavenly waiting-room, where she is allocated a new life, and finds herself back on earth…in the body of a dog. After escaping her owners she sets off on a mission to find her real family, pairing up with a friendly human runaway, Pip, who is searching for his father. Daisy’s gradual adjustment to her new canine senses, her fading memories of her old human life and her devotion to Pip are portrayed with gentle humour and sensitivity, and there is plenty of excitement along the way, as she and Pip evade capture and overcome disappointment on their quest.
Perfect for 8-12 year old readers.
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
We’re very excited about this one… Britain’s best-selling picture book author and local resident, the wonderful Julia Donaldson has chosen to collaborate with one of our favourite illustrators, Sara Ogilvie, to create a fantastic, fast-paced romp, The Detective Dog.
‘There once was a dog with a keen sense of smell. She was known far and wide as Detective Dog Nell.’
Nell can sniff out the solution to any mystery with her amazing nose, she solves any crime and also looks after her messy boy owner Peter, retrieving his belongings from the most unlikely places. That’s what she does Tuesday to Sunday, but on Mondays Nell has another very important job – she follows the smell of books and goes to school with Peter and listens to the children read.
When all the school’s books disappear, who better to sniff them out than Detective Dog Nell?
This an absolutely lovely story in praise of books and libraries and children and dogs, illuminated by Ogilvy’s fabulously expressive drawings.
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
Winner of the 2015 Desmond Elliott Prize for Fiction this is a striking and absorbing first novel inspired by the true life story of Robin van Helsum, a Dutch boy who walked out of a German forest in 2011 claiming to have survived there with his father
The novel opens with the young narrator Peggy, aged 17, finding herself back in London trying to resume a normal life with her mother and the younger brother she never knew she had, after living for nine years in remote German mountains with her increasingly unhinged survivalist father who abducted her when her mother, a distant and self-absorbed concert pianist, was away on tour.
Told in flashback the novel transports us from Peggy’s seemingly idyllic and comfortable childhood to the often gruesome realities of surviving in the wild, creating in the wilderness an atmosphere that is claustrophobic but also strangely liberating. The carefully crafted unsettling novel builds a tension that would be unbearable were it not for the fact that we know that the vulnerable child survives, albeit having lost her childhood.
A most impressive debut that lingers in the mind for some time.
The bookshop book group’s pick for August.
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
From the author of In Darkling Wood and The Girl Who Walked on Air comes an enjoyably creepy story inspired by the summer when Mary Shelley created Frankenstein. There is a growing body of young readers who are great fans of this writer, a former secondary school teacher who creates deftly plotted involving stories with believable characters and enough complexity to challenge without baffling.
Suitable for ages 9-12
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
Another book to contain a squirrel recipe, surely a first for the Bookshop reviews! This is renowned food writer Elisabeth Luard’s collection of stories of food from around the world. From bush-tucker in Australia, to snails in Crete, squirrel pot-pie from the grey squirrel’s native habitat of the forests of North America, to Ethiopian injeera, Elisabeth’s travels and encounters with food provide a collection of fascinating anecdotes, recipes and drawings. Charming and entertaining.
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
Following the purchase of a run-down Herefordshire farm, and encouraged by dreams of roast duck with wild mushroom sauce, as well as a combination of being utterly broke, with natural bounty around him, farmer John Lewis-Stempel, whose previous book Meadowland was a runaway success, decides to eat only wild food for a year. It must be hunted or foraged by himself from his own forty acres, and may not include food produced by agriculture. His wife bans him from using the freezer, so he also has to rely on traditional preservation techniques. This book is the story of his year, his (often monotonous) meals, and the methods he uses to procure them. A lot of rabbit, also squirrel, snails, pigeon and trout are consumed (but mainly rabbit), as well as what many people this of as weeds – chickweed, silverweed and dandelions. The long hours spent hunting for food, and even longer ones preparing it, ultimately hone his perceptions, his tastebuds, and draw him closer to the land and to himself. Fascinating.
Alice
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
This is the story of four ambitious, talented friends who meet at college, and then move to New York to make their way in the world. Malcolm is a diffident aspiring architect, JB paints acclaimed pictures of his friend, Willem waits tables and auditions for parts and brilliant, enigmatic Jude is working at the district attorney’s office. As their careers and relationships develop, Jude becomes the centre of the narrative, his past slowly and devastatingly revealed, the dark centre of the circle of friendship. This is outstanding book built in layers of quiet, subtle and heart-breaking detail.
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