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Friday 29 July 2011

T-shirt Trio

Sorry to inflict this on the good folks of Moreton-in-Marsh but with nearly eight weeks still to go, the Cotswold Bookstore team are walking billboards for the new Panama Oxridge book, Thyme Running Out.

The date and Thyme for the book signing  are Saturday 10 September at 11am.

Before that though, we have the signing for James Aitcheson with his Sworn Sword on Saturday 13 August at 10.30 am.

There might even be some traditional Norman fare - honey cake and mead.

Thursday 28 July 2011

Sworn Sword missing

Finally, here's the castle where it was always intended to go.

However, we were going to have some copies of Sworn Sword, by James Aitcheson, with it.

I promise - they're on their way.  I'll take another photo then.

Also looking for a sword - anyone?

Don't forget. The signing is 10.30 am on 13 August.



Author's note -
“The Norman Conquest was a time of rapid change on a scale that’s difficult to imagine today, and I’ve been fascinated with it for many years. But while the tale of 1066, King Harold and Hastings has been recounted many times before, what happened in the years that followed is less well-known.

I wanted to capture a sense of what it must have been like to live through that turbulent age.”

Monday 25 July 2011

Jamie

Look, I know we have more dogs on our blog than books but we just love dogs, OK!

Jamie here was particularly loveable and reminded us of one of our favourites - Barney.

Both are rescue dogs and both are collie cross something.

And both like our biscuits!

Sunday 24 July 2011

Events

Gutter Bookshop pointed me to this piece '...on why bookshops & booksellers matter by '

Click here to see the whole thing.

I thought it a very interesting piece and homed in on this paragraph.

'Not all bookstores have gotten on board with the transition from being a place where books await customers to being a locale of social and cultural exchange, which happens to support itself in part by selling books. The brilliant Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has noted that the less a retail experience is focused on selling stuff and the more it is about something else -- an event, an occasion, a vision -- the more a store will sell.'


Well, we've got quite a few events coming up, haven't we.
13 August James Aitcheson with Sworn Sword
10 September Panama Oxridge with Thyme Running Out
17 September Rebecca Tope with her Thea Osborne Cotswold series
AND
Phil Rickman with The Secrets of Pain and his previous Merrily Watkins titles.

Saturday 23 July 2011

Beats TV

OK. So it's finished.

Very relaxing.

Like a 3D jigsaw with added glue.

I quite miss doing it.

A little most mornings and evenings.

Beats reality TV.

However, does anybody know what we're going to use it for yet?

Friday 22 July 2011

New Link - James Aitcheson



Because he's our next signing.

10 am Saturday 13th August!

More a launch really.

His first ever signing!

What did those Normans drink in those days?

Perhaps we'll lay some on.

Top Three

The big sellers at Cotswold Bookstore  are very different.

The Fort, Bernard Cornwell's tale of the American War of Independence centred on Fort George, is as popular as the 'Memoirs of the Youngest Mitford Sister', that is Wait for Me by Deborah Devonshire or, as she appears on the blurb, 'The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire - Debo to friends'.







Both are rushing ahead and I don't know which is in the lead.










Third place is definitely occupied by The Confessions of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn. 'The duties of a Queen. The secrets of a woman ...'





The one that surprises me is GCHQ by Richard J. Aldrich which is subtitled The uncensored story of Britain's most secret intelligence agency'.

The surprise is that, despite being almost on the doorstep of '...the successor to Bletchley Park' we have hardly sold any.

 To me, it looks the most interesting read of the four!

 Just read the back blurb and you'll see what I mean.

And it's £3.00 off!

Tuesday 19 July 2011

A Norman period

Oh! Here's that Norman castle again.

Why does that keep popping up?

Looks like it's nearing completion though.

Can't wait.

Is this a Norman period (.) ?

The Return of Jane Bailey

Delighted to hear that two rather special books by Cheltenham author, Jane Bailey, are to be back in print again soon, after a brief absence.


Tommy Glover's Sketch of Heaven and Mad Joy are both on order in their dozens and we will have them in stock as soon as they are released.

If you've not read either, then try one. I can almost guarantee that you'll return for the other.

Both set in The Cotswolds, both with wartime as a background, both highly amusing and moving by turns, yet each totally different.

If you would like to hear Jane talking about her books, try http://www.meettheauthor.com/bookbites/579.html

On her own site at http://www.jane-bailey.co.uk/ there is a short film of her at Cotswold Bookstore.

Sunday 17 July 2011

Adrian Magson signing

 Adrian Magson and his wife Ann, who acts as driver/photographer/advertising-hoarding, were very welcome guests yesterday.

Adrian was there to promote the first book in the 'Inspector Lucas Rocco' series and promote it he did.

He handed out bookmarks and introduced himself to customers for about 5 hours non-stop.

We're just sorry that the weather ruined the first part of the day thus reducing the sales of Death on the Marais.

Despite this, a good number were sold and customers received a £5.00 off voucher for the next in the series, Death on the Rive Nord.

We still have a few signed copies of Death on the Marais and, for a limited time, they will contain those £5.00 off vouchers.

Adrian also sold a fair few copies of his earlier spy novels, Tracers and Red Station.



He gave us the news on a new venture too. For some years Adrian has written articles for 'Writing Magazine' and has now developed these into a book called Write On - The Writer's Help Book.


Write On contains advice for beginners on the complete writing/publishing process from 'Where do I start?' to 'How do I submit my manuscript?'.

It's published soon and we will have it in stock.

As well as all this sales and publicity, this lovely couple brought French wine and biscuits to go with the atmosphere of the book. Perhaps the photo shows the result. Tony has an empty glass and David is half asleep.

Adrian, Ann, thanks for a great day!

Saturday 16 July 2011

What's it all about - Alfie?


So what is it all about - Alfie?

Anything to do with Adrian Magson's visit today?

He's here to sign his first Lucas Rocco mystery/thriller, Death on the Marais, this morning at 10.30.










But no, it's nothing to do with that.

It's coming on though, isn't it?

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Lady

We have a lot of dog friends who run into the shop for a biscuit but this little lady is the only one to have her own transport.

Actually, this 'lady' is a Lady - that's her name.

She took her biscuit in a very lady-like way.

(Anyone tell me how to get rid of that 'White-eye'?)

Saturday 9 July 2011

Onions - The window

Nina and Marilyn are on duty this morning so why was David upstairs printing French flags and why was Tony tarting up the window?

We've got a signing, of course!

Adrian Magson will be here from 10.30 am, a week from today (that's Sat 16 July) to sign the first in his new series of Lucas Rocco crime novels, Death on the Marais.

Note the six paperbacks across the centre of the window are blue, white and red. How subtle can you get!

Dunno what those onions are doing there though.

There's a special £5.00 off voucher with each copy sold on the day for use when Adrian's follow up, Death on the Rive Nord, arrives in August

What's going on here then?

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Homecoming now in

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake is now in stock and, for a while, is £3.00 off the published price of £12.99.

Sunday 3 July 2011

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake

The latest 'Booktime' magazine has arrived and I was very pleased to see THREE positive reviews in it for The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield.

Wonderful book!

We've talked about it in the July issue of the Moreton/Bourton/Stow times and in our recent 'Book News' leaflet.

There's a review on the blog too. (Just click 'Reviews' on the right hand side)

If you're passing, call in for a copy of 'Booktime'.

Meg and Nina

This is another Meg.

The fluffy one, I mean.

The other on is the extraordinary Nina.

We did try for a photo of Meg meeting Alfie but found it impossible to keep them both in shot at the same time without nailing their tails to the floor.

We'd run out of nails.

Saturday 2 July 2011

Thanks Johnners

Who better than Jonathan Agnew to write 'An affectionate tribute to a broadcasting legend', meaning, of course, Brian Johnston. Thanks, Johnners is much more than a simple recounting of all the gaffes (deliberate or otherwise) and practical jokes that originated with the much loved Johnners. (I was amazed to read that the 'Leg over' incident took place not long after Johnners and Aggers started working together!) The Daily Telegraph view, 'So good that I felt as if I was listening to Test Match Special' says it all. This delightful book, (if you are not a cricket lover, this might convert you) is now in paperback at £8.99