 HIPPY DINNERS - ABBIE ROSS Thursday 5th June 2014, 6.00pm (for 6.30pm start) at Booka Join us on Thursday 5th June for an evening full of 70′s nostalgia as Abbie Ross talks about her new book, Hippy Dinners: A Memoir of a Rural Childhood. So funny and pitch perfect in every way – you’ll love it! In 1972 Abbie Ross’s cosmopolitan parents move the family from London to rural North Wales, exchanging a town house in Islington for a remote farmhouse on a hill. Abbie’s Liverpudlian grandparents – dedicated followers of Liberace, sleek in scented mohair and patent leather – are sure they’ve lost their minds. For Abbie, though, the only cloud on the horizon is the nearby hippy commune and its inhabitants. There are worrying signs that this is the sort of ‘better life’ that her parents have in mind. Brilliantly evoking a particular time and place, Abbie’s memoir re-creates a world of dens and pineapple chunks, of John Craven’s Newsround and fishing for sticklebacks – and the joy but also the burning powerlessness of being a child. Disgusted by her father’s ‘yogic flying’ and her mother’s taste for brown bread and billowing cheesecloth (with no bra), Abbie is desperate not to be different. Far better, she thinks, to fit in with shouting, pathologically nosy Sara across the fields,or stay close to Philip next door – paralysingly shy and with a preference for orange food and no trousers (‘nice to have a bit of air’) … Rich with detail that reveals a whole world, Hippy Dinners is very funny and full of heart. It is also a delicate and astute portrait of the brutal realities of ‘a simple life’. Date: Thursday 5th June – 6.00pm (for a 6.30pm start) Venue: Booka Tickets: £5 (redeemable against book purchase) Refreshments (70′s inspired) included! Please book in advance - for tickets, call in at the shop, or purchase online via our Eventbrite page If you are unable to attend the event but would like a signed and dedicated copy of Hippy Dinners, please contact us. |  Matthew Dennison - Remarkable Women Thursday 26th June 2104, 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) at Booka Join journalist and biographer Matthew Dennison as he talks about the lives of some ‘Remarkable Women’ and what makes them so fascinating to write about. With a fresh, witty, accessible style, Matthew Dennison has brought biographical insight into the lives of some remarkable women. His acclaimed works include: ‘The Last Princess: The Devoted Life of Queen Victoria’s Youngest Daughter’, ‘Empress of Rome: The Life of Livia’, and ‘Queen Victoria: A Life of Contradictions’ (published in paperback on 5th June). ‘Vita’ his biography of the extraordinary life of Vita Sackville-West is published in September 2014. Described in The Independent as ‘one of those rare marvels, a historical biographer whose work has reached the bestseller lists’, Matthew is also a regular contributor to Country Life, Telegraph Magazine, The Times and Majesty. Date: Thursday 26th June – 7.00pm (for a 7.30pm start) Venue: Booka Tickets: £5 (£3 redeemable against book purchase) Refreshments included. Please book in advance - for tickets, call in at the shop, or purchase online via our Eventbrite page | |  HERBACEOUS - PAUL EVANS Thursday 19th June 2014, 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) at Booka
Join us on Thursday 19th June as Guardian columnist and BBC broadcaster, Paul Evans, talks about his new book, Herbaceous. Herbaceous is a series of prose poems which combines botany with autobiography to look anew at our relationship with plants. Published by Little Toller and illustrated by Kurt Jackson, it is the first in a new series of books celebrating the very best in contemporary nature writing. Climate change is eroding the familiar pattern of the seasons, so we turn instinctively to the life cycle of herbaceous plants to guide us through the year. The growing, flowering, seeding and dying back to earth of wild flowers, weeds, herbs and and garden perennials sustain and enrich our everyday lives with food, metaphor, joy, anxiety, medicine, stories, beauty and enchantment. Above all, by enabling us to read the changing seasons, plants help us navigate our way in the world. Herbaceous is a journey which follows the colour pulse of plants throughout the year, searching for new rhythms in a changing world. It begins with yellow: the pulse of early insects and the symbol of the returning sun. It is followed by spring’s vernal whites and the hedonist, spirited pinks of summer. Gradually, the strange and melancholy blues of early autumn are replaced by the ripple of seed-setting and a return to the browns of our subterranean winter dreams. You can see a clip of Paul talking about Herbaceous here Date: Thursday 19th June - 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) Venue: Booka Tickets: £5 (redeemable against book purchase) Refreshments included.
Please book in advance - for tickets, call in at the shop, or purchase online via our Eventbrite page If you are unable to attend the event but would like a signed and dedicated copy of Herbaceous, please contact us.
|  Independent Booksellers Week Independent Booksellers Week 2014 takes place between 28th June and 5th July We're currently finalising our plans for a week of activities to celebrate books and independent bookshops, which will include: - Kipper Storytime with Kipper
- Launch of new Food Lovers Bookclub
- Author Events (TBC)
- Summer Party & Quiz
- IBW Exclusives
- Special Offers & Promotions
We'll let you know more in our June Newsletter. | |
