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Friday 30 September 2011

The Very Picture of You

The Very Picture of You
by Isabel Wolff
Paperback at £7.99

Though this is normally the sort of book I’d not pick up, when I received it as a proof, I decided to give it a go. I’ll confess that I quite enjoyed it.
  Young, very single, Ella is a portrait artist who has painted many famous figures and commands a large fee. However, it is a portrait for her sister that causes her the biggest problem. The two main themes are this painting (of her sister’s future husband) and the unexpected and unwanted contact with her father who apparently deserted the family when Ella was still a child.
Though the central love story was given away by the blurb (don’t do that people!) and the truth about Ella’s missing father was rather telegraphed, it was the atmosphere of the portrait sessions that made this book enjoyable for me. The painting sessions and the conversations between sitters and artist seemed very real and I suspect that the author paints or spent many hours observing an artist at work.
   A light, enjoyable, if predictable romance with a little more about it than some.

Thursday 29 September 2011

Downton Abbey Fans

There are books that I would expect to enjoy. High fantasy (anything with a dragon or two, a few Elves, at least one wizard, of course, and a large and well described landscape). Science fiction too, often a bit more of a challenge. As are crime and espionage novels (I never know what's going on but I enjoy them). History too, especially military. I'm a sucker for a well told children's book too.

However, well down the list should be sagas about downtrodden widows mixing it with the toffs but I'm not going to miss out on my Downton Abbey fix any more than you are.

So, with the dangers to miners sadly in the news lately, we come to Netherwood by Jane Sanderson and what I thought of it -

This, the first in a new series, is a tale of two very different Yorkshire families a century ago, one headed by a miner, the other by Lord Hoyland, the mine owner.
  Young, beautiful, Eve Williams, her devoted husband Arthur and their little family all spring to life from this book's earliest pages. Indeed, even the minor characters are solid, believable, well defined and great fun to meet.
  Arthur works in Lord Hoyland's mines and earns little for long hours and dangerous work. The atmosphere of day-to-day living and survival for even these comparatively well treated families is made clear and hardship and hunger are always close by.
   When Eve is widowed and faces ruin she finds that her skills as a baker are her salvation and, with a friend to help and encourage her, she soon finds her business catches the eye of more than just friends and neighbours.
   Though Eve holds centre-stage with her friends and family, Lord Hoyland and his also star and both strands of the plot are told equally well. There seems little to challenge Eve’s rise ever upward to success and new love so this is a happy read, though not all those around her wish her well.
   Light romance? Saga? Whatever. This should not really have been my cup of tea. However, it was, and good, Yorkshire tea at that.
   This is a perfect read for Downton Abbey fans (and a great number of other folk, too) and I honestly look forward to knowing what happens next.
  It's a paperback at only £6.99

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Lesley Cookman link

I mentioned Lesley Cookman's copy of Justin Thyme yesterday and then failed to point our followers to her site. It's at http://www.lesleycookman.co.uk/

All her books are listed, including the latest 'Libby Sarjeant' novel, Murder to Music and there's a map of 'Steeple Martin', Libby's home village.

Any fan of 'Agatha Raisin' who has read them all and is looking for something similar, give Lesley a try.

A neat and tidy murder or two, vivid characters, comedy, romance and a mysterious hint of the supernatural. What more could you want?

Monday 26 September 2011

VERY special copies of TRO

Panama Oxridge has recently announced that there are some very special copies of Thyme Running Out available.

See his blog http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/

As if a plain, regular, ordinary, common-or-garden, run-of-the-mill, everyday copy isn't special enough!

Nina spent most of today trying to use an Enigma Machine to decipher some of the clues and codes in her copy.

We hear that Lesley Cookman now uses hers as a talking point by leaving it in easy reach of guests.

A regular customer, today, saw a copy of Thyme Running Out on our desk and told us she thought Justin Thyme 'Brilliant!'.

Wait till she finishes TRO!

Thursday 22 September 2011

Samuel Lake - another view

You may remember me telling you what a very good book The Homecoming of Samuel Lake is.

Recently the author, Jenny Wingfield, kindly mailed us a little package containing signed book-plates. So, if you want one of these special book-plated editions, drop in, phone or mail us quickly. They won't last long.

In case you're thinking I exaggerated the quality of this terrific read, have a look at another opinion -

 -

Hey! Here's a bundle more.

and -  
and - 
and -

I told you she was good! 
I was delighted with the comparison with To Kill a Mockingbird for that is what it most reminded me of.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Inside Pocket Beard

Inside Pocket has a nice shot of Justin Thyme author Panama Oxridge and the big prize winner, Josh, at the Thyme Running Out launch on 10th September.

See http://www.insidepocket.co.uk/blog/

The beard? He's just back from the Edwardian period when he's been for research purposes.

The only signed copies we have left now are the paperback Justin Thymes and they are going fast.

Our blog has been very busy for a month or so but there's a flurry of hits from across the world again now. Is this because your books are arriving? Let's hear from you.

Saturday 17 September 2011

Rebecca Tope and Phil Rickman

We were delighted to welcome two guests to Cotswold Bookstore today, the first time we'd had a double signing.
First Rebecca Tope arrived at 10.30 and she was soon meeting some of her fans, many of whom had come a long way to meet her.
She was kept busy signing both the paperback editiond of her Thea Osborne murder mystery series and also the latest hardback in the series, Deception in the Cotswolds.
The photographer from The Journal arrived just before twelve and only had a few minutes spare.
Luckily, Phil Rickman, the second of our guests, arrived in time to have his press photograph taken with Rebecca and some of their followers.


Here are the pair of them, old friends.









The good folk who first introduced us to the works of Phil Rickman, Joe and Lin, are seen here, being greeted by Phil's outsize recently permed Airdale called Fergus.











Later, Joe and Lin had a long and interesting chat with Phil.


Meanwhile, Rebecca was taken away to be treated to lunch by a couple of her biggest fans.






These two gentlemen had also travelled a long way to see Phil and, as well as having him sign a few books, they were keen autograph hunters too.



Finally, it was Fergus who had the last word, asking for just one more biscuit, while Phil's wife Carol looks on.


Thank you Rebecca, Thank you Phil, and thank you all those folk who came along to meet them both.

Enjoy all your books.


Here are Links to both web sites
http://www.rebeccatope.com/
http://www.philrickman.co.uk

Thursday 15 September 2011

Thyme Running Out Launch

For those of you who missed the Thyme Running Out launch, I can do no better than to refer you to the excellent and generous description to be found on Panama's own blog - http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/

Signed copies - Thyme Running Out

We regret we have no signed copies of Thyme Running Out left.

Also now gone - signed hardbacks of Justin Thyme.

We do have a few signed copies of Justin Thyme in paperback left.

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Signing or Singing?

We've all enjoyed the company of Lol Robinson and Hazey Jane II for the past three weeks and the songs have really grown on us.

Lol is a character in the unusual crime novels of Phil Rickman's.  How he gets to make a CD is beyond me. David and I are certainly going to buy the disc from Phil when he comes up for the signing this weekend. It's called A Message from the Morning and is well worth a listen (or three). Lol has also recorded Songs from Lucy's Cottage and I hope Phil will bring some of those too.
We've finally decided our special prices for the signing day. We have both Rebecca Tope and Phil Rickman coming on Saturday and anyone buying a paperback by each author will be able to have a third paperback half price.
Phil's photo book of the sites mentioned in the series, Merrily's Border, will be reduced by £2.00 and the latest hardbacks by each author (Secrets of Pain* by Phil and Grave in the Cotswolds and Deception in the Cotswolds by Rebecca) will be £5.00 off for the day.

(*There's a nice spooky video from Phil himself on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60NcX_Gmpsw )

Signing is from 11 am on Saturday 17 September but Phil has let us know he will not be able to arrive till around midday. (If the road works still continue, even later perhaps)

It's in the post


We've been busy lately (or rather Nina and David have) sending off great piles of parcels containing Tartan of Thyme books all across the world.

We do still have a few signed copies of all three.


That's Justin Thyme (hardback and paperback) and Thyme Running Out (hardback)

Monday 12 September 2011

Oscar and the Suitcase

We are very lucky that there are so many talented people who use us as their bookshop. We didn't know, however, that old friend Caroline Green was not only an artist, but also an author. She called in today to show us her delightful little children's story 'Oscar and The Suitcase'.

Do call in and give it a look now that we have them in stock. Caroline will be reading her story at the 'Creative Campden Weekend (The Old Silk Mill, Sheep Street) on 17th and 18th at 3pm.

She'll also be there at 10am but, of course, you'll be queueing to get in to our book signing then. Rebecca Tope and Phil Rickman will be at Cotswold Bookstore at 11 am on Saturday 17th Sept.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Signing - Rebecca Tope & Phil Rickman

NEXT WEEK
Saturday 17 September from 11 am (ish), both Rebecca Tope and Phil Rickman will be here signing and talking about their books.

Panama Oxridge Signing

A highly successful signing for Panama Oxridge with his second book in the Tartan of Thyme series selling hundreds of books.
(We believe he signed about 250 in total - not bad considering we were only able to contact a small number of customers who bought Justin Thyme.


First in the queue were Arthur and his sister Nia who arrived early to make sure of their special edition bookmarks, a beautiful design by Panama himself.
We believe Panama arrived fresh from a time-travel jaunt into Victorian times, hence the grand beard and moustache.

The competition winner was Josh.
Here he is with his specially illustrated copy of Thyme Running Out.


When the shop opened, those shelves behind him were full of spine out copies of the new book and of the paperback of the first in the series, Justin Thyme.

Notice that we couldn't keep our own 'Mrs Koff' out of the picture.
The banana and chocolate chip cake went rapidly but her clock-face cake was far too good looking to cut.


Not only was the day successful, but it was also very enjoyable, hopefully for everyone.

However, we do apologise for the long wait endure by many of those attending. 


Thank you for your patience.


Now we hope you all enjoy the new book.

Watch out for some very big surprises!!!

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Justin Thyme Parking.

If you are in a last minute rush, looking for the competition letters, just scroll down a bit to an earlier post.

Now, sorry folks -

Regrettably, though we could have foretold that the fair was due in town (it was here at last year's signing) we did not expect the main north/south road (A429) to be closed to traffic, north of the town, on the day of the signing.

Nor did we expect that the available parking space would be further reduced by the high street being resurfaced and therefore being a no-go area.

For those coming from a long way away, I'd suggest finding a spot further out of town and walking in.

Mrs Kof's banana and chocolate chip cake will make the effort worthwhile and there will be wine for the groans and soft drinks for the youngsters.

You may also be lucky enough to get a balloon!

Oh, yes. And there's an author signing his books.

Not at all sure who he is yet though but he has been before.

On his last visit, he signed over 550 copies and we already have about 230 advance orders!

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Fridge Magnets?

With only one day to go for the fabulous Justin Thyme competition, I have run completely out of 'Thyme' connections.

However, Panama Oxridge continually asserts that 'Everything is connected to everything else' so there must be a connection between time travel and a bunch of fridge magnets.

I leave you to work it out.

Meantime, start with the Tartan of Thyme blog at http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/ and good luck!


We've sharpened up the window a little more with the perfect clock-face for time-travel and people have already been coming in because of 'The Dali Clock'.

In case you may have forgotten the date and time of our signing, it is Saturday 10 September at 11 am. Those coming south on the A429, start early. 'THEY' are digging up the road through town so there is a lengthy diversion. Parking may be difficult too, because the fair is in town. Wouldn't you know it!

Monday 5 September 2011

Old Friends

While Eliza was eating the bananas shown in the previous post, she suddenly shot off to the end of the shop and demanded that the bookmarks should be placed among these cards.

Apparently some of these guys are old mates of hers.

Thyme IS Running Out for your competition entries so do get them sorted and sent off to Panama. Only two days to go.

It really is easy, even with a few letters missing, and Panama, the Judge, is being fairly lenient, I hear.

Simply go to http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/  and follow the instructions.

Thyme is also Running Out for those of you who wish us to post a signed copy of any of the books. We are getting busier every day with advance orders for paperbacks of Justin Thyme and hardbacks of both Justin Thyme and Thyme Running Out.

Phone us on 01608 652666 or e-mail cotsbookstore@tiscali.co.uk

If you are coming to the signing, start a little early. We've heard there are to be diversions north of the town, and parking restrictions because of the fair. (Yes, I know - we should have thought of that!)


Sunday 4 September 2011

Bookmarks and Bananas

I have had several e-mails from a disgruntled Eliza complaining that I have not yet included a banana in any of our Justin Thyme competition photos.

As bananas had already been used by Panama, I thought it old hat (there's a joke there somewhere) but Eliza is insistent.


So here you are, Bookmarks and Bananas.

To start the fantastic competition trail, go to the Tartan of Thyme blog at http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/ where you will find the easy-to-follow instructions.

If the letters are a little difficult to see, try clicking on the photo and, if that doesn't work, trawl back to an earlier post. Best of luck.

Our book signing for Panama Oxridge will be at 11 am this coming Saturday and Mrs Kof has kindly made us some banana and chocolate chip cake.
Do phone or e-mail us to book your copies or, if you cannot make it, to have one posted to you. First edition hardbacks of Thyme Running Out and paperbacks of Justin Thyme will be available for signing, as will hardback copies of Justin Thyme (Not firsts)
(The offer of posting applies to books, not the chocolate chip banana cake!)

Saturday 3 September 2011

Is it Thyme Castle?

 Hey. Isn't that the castle I built for the James Aitcheson signing? I think it is you know.
There are those towers I built and that tricky gateway I built and there, can you see it, that little well that I built.
Of course you may not have realised that it was the castle I built because of the overhead view. That's just so that you can see the Thyme Running Out bookmarks.

How are you getting on with the competition folks? Not difficult is it? Well, not as difficult as building a castle.
(If you can't quite make out the letters, go back to earlier posts)

In case this is your first try at this competition, here's where you start - the 'Tartan of Thyme' blog - 

And here are your instructions.


To celebrate the paperback release of JUSTIN THYME, the Tartan of Thyme Blog is running a competition with signed/doodled copies of both JUSTIN THYME and its forthcoming sequel THYME RUNNING OUT as the prize.
All readers have to do is visit the participating blogs, note down the letters and numbers on the Justin Thyme bookmarks (see photos), then rearrange the letters in numerical order. This spells a secret message (Justin’s description of himself). Visit the TOT blog to find links to all participating blogs, and to email your answer. The competition will close on September 7th, when a winner (picked at random from the correct entries) will be announced. 
If it IS all to much of a challenge, why not ask us to post you a signed copy of either the hardback of Justin Thyme or Thyme Running Out or the paperback of Justin Thyme. Thyme Running Out and Justin Thyme are both first editions. Just phone us on 01608 652666 or e-mail us on cotsbookstore@tiscali.co.uk

Friday 2 September 2011

Justin case you missed it

The competition is hotting up. Entries are flowing in from the far side of the world. These books are to beautiful to be allowed to leave the country. The should be in The National Gallery.
Here's our third picture (but the bookmarks and their numbers are the same)

And here are the instructions from Panama Oxridge again -

To celebrate the paperback release of JUSTIN THYME, the Tartan of Thyme Blog is running a competition with signed/doodled copies of both JUSTIN THYME and its forthcoming sequel THYME RUNNING OUT as the prize.
All readers have to do is visit the participating blogs, note down the letters and numbers on the Justin Thyme bookmarks (see photos), then rearrange the letters in numerical order. This spells a secret message (Justin’s description of himself). Visit the TOT blog to find links to all participating blogs, and to email your answer. The competition will close on September 7th, when a winner (picked at random from the correct entries) will be announced. 

Here's your starting point - the 'Tartan of Thyme blog - 

Don't forget - you can make sure of getting a signed copy of these great books by mailing us on cotsbookstore@tiscali.co.uk or phoning 01608 652666. We are posting these around the world.

Thursday 1 September 2011

Thyme Competion with hat

This is what a delivery of 50 copies of Justin Thyme paperbacks and 250 copies of Thyme Running Out looks like.

Just to be different, Cotswold Bookstore will be giving you a new photo for every day of the Thyme Competition. Here are Panama's instructions in case you joined us late. What larks!

To celebrate the paperback release of JUSTIN THYME, the Tartan of Thyme Blog is running a competition with signed/doodled copies of both JUSTIN THYME and its forthcoming sequel THYME RUNNING OUT as the prize.
All readers have to do is visit the participating blogs, note down the letters and numbers on the Justin Thyme bookmarks (see photos), then rearrange the letters in numerical order. This spells a secret message (Justin’s description of himself). Visit the TOT blog to find links to all participating blogs, and to email your answer. The competition will close on September 7th, when a winner (picked at random from the correct entries) will be announced. 

You will need to start at the 'Tartan of Thyme blog - 
http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/
Here's the new Photo and that's a Panama hat. It's also a Panama's hat.