 Hannah Kent - Burial Rites Thursday 27th March 2014, 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) at Booka Join us for an evening with Hannah Kent as she talks about her gripping and highly acclaimed debut novel, Burial Rites. Northern Iceland, 1829. A woman condemned to death for murdering her lover. A family forced to take her in. A priest tasked with absolving her. But all is not as it seems, and time is running out: winter is coming, and with it the execution date. Only she can know the truth. This is Agnes’s story. Hannah Kent was born in Adelaide in 1985. As a teenager she travelled to Iceland on an exchange visit and first heard the story of Agnes Magnusdottir and was inspired to write Burial Rites. It was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2013. Burial Rites is a stunning book and we are delighted to be hosting this event. Date: Thursday 27th March 2014 – 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) Venue: Booka Tickets: £8 (£5 redeemable against book purchase on night). Refreshments provided. 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 Burial Rites, please contact us. |  John Connolly - The Wolf in Winter Thursday 10th April - 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) at Booka Join bestselling author John Connolly on publication day, as he returns with a thrilling new Charlie Parker novel – The Wolf in Winter. The community of Prosperous, Maine has always thrived when others have suffered. Its inhabitants are wealthy, its children’s future secure. It shuns outsiders. It guards its own. And at the heart of the Prosperous lie the ruins of an ancient church, transported stone by stone from England centuries earlier by the founders of the town . . . But the death of a homeless man and the disappearance of his daughter draw the haunted, lethal private investigator Charlie Parker to Prosperous. Parker is a dangerous man, driven by compassion, by rage, and by the desire for vengeance. In him the town and its protectors sense a threat graver than any they have faced in their long history, and in the comfortable, sheltered inhabitants of a small Maine town, Parker will encounter his most vicious opponents yet. Charlie Parker has been marked to die so that Prosperous may survive… John’s first novel, Every Dead Thing, was published in 1999 and introduced the character of Charlie Parker, a former Policeman hunting the killer of his wife and daughter. It swiftly launched him into the front rank of thriller writers. The Wolf in Winter is the twelfth Charlie Parker thriller. All the books in the series have gone on to be Sunday Times Bestsellers. Date: Thursday 10th April 2014 – 7.00pm for 7.30pm start Venue: Booka Tickets: £10 (redeemable against a signed hardback copy of The Wolf in Winter. Includes refreshments). 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 The Wolf in Winter, please contact us. |  Birds & Books Matt Sewell for Booka Bookshop
We've teamed with artist, Matt Sewell on a 'Birds & Books' collaboration. Based on original paintings by Matt commissioned by us, we've produced this set of 4 postcards. We have A4 prints, bone china mugs and book bags to follow in the coming weeks. Look out for them! | |  Rosie Thomas - The Illusionists
Thursday 3rd April - 7.00pm (for 7.30pm) start, at Booka Join bestselling author of The Kashmir Shawl, Rosie Thomas, as she talks about her new novel, The Illusionists, at Booka on Thursday 3rd April. London 1870. A terrifying place for a young, beautiful woman of limited means. But Eliza is modern before her time. Not for her the stifling if respectable conventionality of marriage, children, domestic drudgery. She longs for more. Through her work as an artist’s model, she meets the magnetic and irascible Devil – a born showman whose dream is to run his own theatre company. Devil’s right-hand man is the improbably-named Carlo Bonomi, an ill-tempered dwarf with an enormous talent for all things magic and illusion. Carlo and Devil clash at every opportunity and it constantly falls upon Eliza to broker an uneasy peace between them. And then there is Jasper Button. Mild-mannered, and a family man at heart, it is his gift as an artist which makes him the unlikely final member of the motley crew. Thrown together by a twist of fate, their lives are inextricably linked: the fortune of one depends on the fortune of the other. And as Eliza gets sucked into the seductive and dangerous world her strange companions inhabit, she risks not only her heart, but also her life… Watch a trailer for the Illusionists Rosie Thomas is the author of over 20 novels, including the bestsellers Sun at Midnight, Iris and Ruby, Constance and The Kashmir Shawl. Her intelligent writing and unforgettable storytelling resonate powerfully. Date: Thursday 3rd April – 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) Venue: Booka Tickets: £10 (redeemable against a signed hardback copy of The Illusionists. 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 The Illusionists, please contact us.
|  We're Going on a Bear Hunt - at Booka!
Saturday 12th April - 11.00am & 2.00pm at Booka
We're Going on a Bear Hunt, the much loved children's picture book written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, was first published 25 years ago. To celebrate, we will be holding two story time sessions at 11.00am and 2.00pm. Come along and listen to the story, join in the bear hunt and meet the bear - go on don't be scared!
Tickets £3 per child. Please book in advance as places at each session are limited.
|  Oswestry LitFest 2014 Last chance for tickets! Just a reminder - the fifth Oswestry Literary Festival takes place over a performance-filled eleven days from Friday 14th to Monday 24th March 2014. While a number of the events are now SOLD OUT, including the inaugural Wilfred Owen Lecture with Martin Bell, there's still time to get tickets to see Jon Ronson, The Bookshop Band, Carole Matthews, Paul Rees and The Jungle Book theatre production. See the FULL PROGRAMME of events on the LitFest website. Tickets for all events can be bought in person at Booka, or at Oswestry Library. They can be bought online via the LitFest Eventbrite page. | | | Booka News The Bookseller Industry Awards - Independent Bookshop of the Year
For the second year running we've made the regional shortlist (Midlands & Wales) for Independent Bookshop of the Year. We're up against some great indie bookshops but .... fingers crossed! Regional winners will be announced on 14th March. They will then go forward and compete for the overall prize, awarded in May.
Bookclubs
Booka Bookclub - Currently reading: Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer. Next meeting Wednesday 2nd April, 7.30pm at Booka
Book & a Beer Bookclub - Currently reading: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson. Next meeting Thursday 6th March, 7.30pm at Booka
Children's Bookclub - Currently reading: Wild Boy by Rob Lloyd Jones
Events in the Pipeline
We've got lots of events 'in the pipeline' including Clare Morrall (29th April), Sarah Hilary (1st May), Jim Crace (May TBC) Rachel Cooke (May TBC). Look out for our next Newsletter for more information on these.
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