 We Are 9!
BOOKSHOP DAY Saturday 6th October
9.30pm - 5.30pm
Booka We opened our doors for the first time on 3rd October 2009 - can't believe that we are 9! Join us on Saturday 6th October as we celebrate Bookshop Day and our 9th Birthday!
There will be cake and fizz and we'll be offering 10% off all book & gift purchases.
You'll also be able to get your hands on this year's exclusive Peter Blake and Book of Dust 'Books Are My Bag' Book Bags, pick up our Christmas Catalogue, enter prize competitions and see all the latest titles published on 'Super Thursday'
Save the date - hope to see you! |  See & meet a cricketing superstar!
AN EVENING WITH SHANE WARNE Wednesday 10th October
7.30pm (doors 6.45pmpm)
Lion Quays Hotel, Oswestry
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE TO LION QUAYS HOTEL Booka Bookshop are thrilled to present an evening with Shane Warne, one of the greatest cricketers of the 20th Century, as he talks about his new autobiography No Spin. To many, Shane Warne is the greatest spinner, if not bowler of them all. From the start of his glittering career in 1992, to his official retirement from all formats of the game in 2013, he has long desired to tell his incredible story without compromise. No Spin is that very story. It offers a compelling intimate voice, true insight and a pitch-side seat to one of cricket's finest eras, making it one of the ultimate must-have sports autobiographies. Shane is not only one of the greatest living cricket legends: he is as close as the game has had since Botham to a maverick genius on the field and a true rebel spirit off it, who always gives audiences what they want. Despite being the talismanic thorn in England's side for nearly two decades of regular Ashes defeats, he was also much loved in the UK where he played cricket for Hampshire. He's also a much-admired figure in India and South Africa. Alongside his mesmerising genius as a bowler, Shane has often been a controversial figure, and in this book he's talk with brutal honesty about some of the most challenging times in his life as a player. Honest, thoughtful, fearless and loved by millions, Shane is always his own man and this book is a testament to his brilliant career. Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to see the man himself as he tells his story without the spin! Tickets: £25 (includes a signed copy of No Spin: My Autobiography). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee) here If you can't make the event but would like a signed and dedicated copy of the book, please let us know. |  Your starter for Ten!
BOBBY SEAGULL
The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers Wednesday 24th October
7.30pm (doors 7.00pm)
Booka Your Starter for Ten! – change how you see the world around you and join us for an evening with University Challenge Star and BBC Maths Guru Bobby Seagull as he shows us the life changing magic of numbers. Once you know how to see them, numbers are all around us – buried in the dimensions of buildings and encoding the data on our favourite gadgets. They're a beautiful system of patterns and codes, but also an essential tool that can guide our daily decisions, change our behaviour, and even predict the future-if we can just learn how to use them right. Long before his rise to cult fandom on University Challenge, Bobby Seagull was obsessed with numbers. They were the keys that unlocked of the randomness of football results, helped him organise his time, directed his social life and opened up the world of music. Told through stories from his life, Bobby illuminates the world of numbers and brings his infectious enthusiasm to everything from the mystery of magic numbers, the improbability of probability, the right number of friends to have, and how prime numbers control everything from credit card encryption to cicada hibernation habits. We look forward to welcoming Bobby to Oswestry for what should be a fun evening! Tickets: £5 (redeemable against a signed copy of The Life Changing Magic of Numbers). Includes a glass of wine or soft drink on arrival. Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online with booking fee here If you can't make the event but would like a signed and dedicated copy of the book, please let us know. |  MICHAEL PALIN
Erebus - Signed Copies While our event with Michael Palin on Wednesday 3rd October has long been SOLD OUT, you can still Pre-Order a signed copy of his forthcoming book, Erebus: The Story of A Ship, at the bookshop on online here |  KATE HUMBLE
Thinking on My Feet - Signed Copies Our event with Kate Humble on Tuesday 9th October is now SOLD OUT, but you can still Pre-Order a signed copy of Kate's forthcoming book, Thinking on My Feet, at the bookshop on online here |  Just announced!
AN EVENING WITH PRUE LEITH Wednesday 28th November
7.30pm (doors 7.00pm)
Wynnstay Hotel, Oswestry Join us for an evening with Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith as she talks about her life-long passion for food and her new cookbook 'Prue' featuring recipes from her own kitchen table. Prue Leith has been at the top of the British food scene for many years. She has seen huge success not only as founder of the renowned Leith's School of Food and Wine, but also as a caterer, restaurateur, teacher, TV cook, food journalist, novelist, and cookery book author. She's also been a leading figure in campaigns to improve food in schools, hospitals and in the home and is well known as a judge on The Great British Menu, and now The Great British Bake Off. This is Prue's first cookery book in twenty-five years, and she has woven intimate and witty stories from her life around many of the recipes, celebrating the food we all want to make at home. We're delighted to bring Prue Leith to Oswestry for what should be a hugely entertaining evening. Don't miss this chance to meet one of the nation's best loved cooks. Tickets: £10 without book (redeemable against a signed copy of Prue) or £25 with book (includes a signed copy of Prue). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee) here
If you can't make the event but would like a signed and dedicated copy of the book, please let us know. |  SIGNED COPIES
To Pre-Order We're taking pre-orders for signed First Edition copies of the following titles due to be published this Autumn. You can pre-order in the shop or online via our website: My Life in Football - Kevin Keegan No Spin: My Autobiography - Shane Warne Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Eric Idle Erebus: Story of a Ship - Michael Palin Thinking on My Feet - Kate Humble The Tour According to G - Geraint Thomas Darcey Bussell Evolved - Darcey Bussell One Hundred Lyrics & a Poem - Neil Tennant See our website for the full range of signed copies we have in stock |  Autumn Events for Kids Take a look at our Autumn Events for Kids!
Join us on Thursday 4th October to celebrate National Poetry Day with a free Story-time, Poetry Treasure Hunt and the opportunity to add a poem to our 'Poe -tree' created by Becca.
We are launching a regular programme of 'Sunday Crafternoons' with Becca. A great idea for families as the weather turns colder - come and enjoy a Sunday story-time and related craft activity. There will be limited places so booking is recommended.
'Books & Buggies' (starting on Friday 12th October), is a great opportunity for parents to enjoy a story-time session with their little ones and find out about all the latest new titles we have at Booka. This is a free event so just come along.
The amazing Hannah Butler returns with 'Little Bookworms' on Thursday 18th October. Hannah is a qualified Early Years teacher and provides a multi-sensory story-telling and activity session for parents and pre-schoolers. This is aimed at 2-4 year olds and tickets include the session, a copy of the book and a drink for accompanying adult. Tickets: £12
Lots of fun to be had at Booka this Autumn, particularly during 'Half-Term'. On Tuesday 30th October, we have a 'Cardboard Box Workshop' for children aged 7+. They will create a large scale model from cardboard boxes. Tickets: £3 (redeemable against any children's book purchase on the day). Places limited so booking is essential.
On Wednesday 31 October we have a Story-time and craft activity session, themed around the fab and funny new picture book 'Daddy Hair-Do' by Francis Martin and Claire Powell. Tickets: £3 (redeemable against any children's book purchase on the day). Places limited so booking is essential.
Call into Booka or telephone for further details. | |  See & meet a true football icon!
AN EVENING WITH KEVIN KEEGAN Monday 1st October
7.00pm (doors 6.15pm)
Lion Quays Hotel, Oswestry Booka Bookshop are thrilled to present an evening with football legend Kevin Keegan as he tells the story of a remarkable career which saw him rise to become one of the superstars of the sport. Kevin Keegan is one of the greatest players in English football history. Throughout his career as a player and manager he was famed for his style on the pitch and the passion for the game, which he shared with his fans. In My Life in Football, Keegan tells the story of his life, from the streets of Doncaster to signing for Liverpool under Bill Shankly where he won three First Division titles, two UEFA Cups, a European Cup and the FA Cup before moving to Hamburg where he won the Bundasliga as well as the Ballon d'Or twice. After retiring, Keegan enjoyed a legendary five-year spell as manager at Newcastle United during which the club was promoted to the Premier League and then finished runners up in the top flight, not once but twice. In My Life in Football, Keegan tells the full story of the glorious highs, but also the pain of managing England and his unhappy return to Newcastle for a short-lived second tenure. Brilliant, funny, passionate, deeply moving and incredibly honest, My Life in Football is the full story of an incredible journey from miner's son to being crowned 'King Kev' by his adoring fans. Don't miss this opportunity to see and meet one of football's true icons!
Tickets: £25 (includes a signed copy of My Life in Football). Tickets available from the bookshop, or purchase online (with booking fee) here
If you can't make the event but would like a signed copy of the book, please let us know. |  Wilfred Owen Festival
ALLAN MALLINSON
Fight to the Finish Tuesday 16th October 7.30pm (doors 7.00pm) Booka As part of the Wilfred Owen Festival being held in Oswestry to remember and commemorate the centenary of Wilfred Owen's death and Armistice Day, Booka Bookshop are delighted to welcome Allan Mallinson to talk about his new book Fight to the Finish: The First Word War Month by Month. From the opening shots to the signing of the armistice, the First World War lasted almost 52 months. It was fought on, or in the waters of, six of the seven continents, and in all of the Seven Seas. For the first time, the fighting was on land, sea and in the air. It became industrial, and unrestricted: poison gas, aerial bombing of cities, and the sinking without warning of merchantmen and passenger ships by submarines. Military and civilian casualties probably exceeded 40 million. Four empires collapsed during the course of the war – the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman. In all its military, political, geographical, economic, scientific, technological and above all human complexity, the First World War is almost impossible to comprehend. Few historians are as well placed as Allan Mallinson is to write a comprehensive account of the First World War. A soldier for thirty-five years, serving first with the infantry and then the cavalry, he began writing while still serving. His first book was a history of four regiments of British light dragoons, one of whose descendant regiments he commanded. The Making of the British Army was shortlisted for several prizes, while Mallinson's centenary history, 1914: Fight the Good Fight – Britain, the Army and the Coming of the First World War won the British Army's Book of the Year Award. With Fight to the Finish, Allan Mallinson offers a new and original portrait month by month on "The War to End War," in which complexities are never lost or sacrificed for the sake of simplicity and the sense of time is preserved in a single volume history.
Tickets: £6 (redeemable against a signed copy of Fight to the Finish). Includes a glass of wine / soft drink on arrival. Tickets available from the bookshop, or purchase online (with booking fee) here. If you can't make the event but would like a signed and dedicated copy of the book, please let us know.
|  UK Book Tour!
JODI PICOULT
A Spark of Light Monday 29th October
12.30pm (doors 12 noon)
Wynnstay Hotel, Oswestry
Join international bestselling author Jodi Picoult at this lunchtime event as she talks about her latest book A Spark of Light, a powerful and provocative novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart stopping crisis. As one of the world's most popular writers of contemporary fiction with over 25 million books sold across 35 countries, Jodi Picoult is renowned for tackling some of the most pressing and hotly debated issues of modern society. In her last novel, Small Great Things, Jodi took on the subject of race and prejudice. This October she returns with A Spark of Light, looking at reproductive rights from all angles. A Spark of Light begins with a gunman opening fire in a women's reproductive health clinic. Each successive chapter then moves backwards hour by hour showing the lives of the medical center staff, the female patients, the shooter, and a hostage negotiator outside the building — and the complicated ways their lives intersect. We're thrilled to be bringing Jodi Picoult to Oswestry when she tours the UK this Autumn. Don't miss this chance to see and meet her! Tickets: Tickets: £17 (With book - includes a signed copy of A Spark of Light). Tickets available from the bookshop, or purchase online (with booking fee) here
If you can't make the event but would like a signed and dedicated copy of the book, please let us know. |  UK Book Tour
MARKUS ZUSAK
Bridge of Clay Wednesday 31st October
7.30pm (doors 7.00pm)
Wynnstay Hotel, Oswestry
Join us for an evening with Markus Zusak, the internationally acclaimed, prize-winning, bestselling author of The Book Thief as he talks about his highly anticipated new novel Bridge of Clay. The five Dunbar brothers are living – fighting, dreaming, loving – in the perfect squalor of a house without grown-ups. Today, the father who abandoned them is about to walk back in. But why has he returned, and who have the boys become since he left? At the helm is Matthew, cynical, poetic; Rory, forever truanting; Henry, the money-spinner; and young Tommy, the pet collector who has colonized the house with dysfunctional pets, including Achilles the mule and Rosy the Border collie. And then there's Clay, the quiet one, his whole young life haunted by an unspeakable act. From the tale of their grandfather, whose passion for the ancient Greeks still colours their lives, to the mother and father who met over a mislaid piano, to the present day, where five sons dwell in a house with no rules, Bridge of Clay is an epic tale of a ramshackle family and the unburying on one boy's tragic secret. The Book Thief enjoyed universal acclaim selling over one million copies in the UK and 16 million copies worldwide having been translated into over 40 languages. Now, 10 years later comes Bridge of Clay another brilliant, ambitious and inspiring novel from a master storyteller. We are thrilled to bring Markus Zusak to Oswestry for what should be a memorable event – don't miss this opportunity to see and meet him and pick up your signed copy of a very special book! Tickets: £10 (Admits One - fully redeemable against a signed copy of Bridge of Clay) or £19 (Admits One & includes a signed copy of Bridge of Clay). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee) here
If you can't make the event but would like a signed and dedicated copy of the book, please let us know.
|  See & meet the History Guy!
AN EVENING WITH DAN SNOW Tuesday 20th November
7.30pm (doors 6.15pm)
Lion Quays Hotel, Oswestry Booka Bookshop are thrilled to present an evening with historian and BAFTA winning broadcaster and TV presenter Dan Snow as he talks about his new book, On This Day in History. In 'On This Day in History' Dan Snow tells the story of an important event that happened on each day of the year. From the signing of the Armistice treaty at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 to Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat on 1 December 1955, our past is full of all kinds of fascinating turning points. Dan lives and breathes history and this book offers a refreshingly direct way into his vast knowledge. With 365 carefully picked entries it provides a short, vivid, personal history of the world. And by explaining the past, Dan Snow helps us better understand our present — and future. There is no such thing as a day on which nothing happened! 'In a world of fake news, cuts to history education and politicians spouting fiction, there has never been a more important time to tell the true history of the world. This is why I want to engage a new generation of enthusiasts with this book.' – Dan Snow Don't miss this chance to see and meet Britain's favourite historian! Tickets: £15 (Admits One - with signed book) or £25 (Admits Two - with one signed book). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee) here If you can't make the event but would like a signed and dedicated
copy of the book, please let us know. |  Matthew Dennison Eternal Boy
Friday 2nd November
7.00pm (doors 6.30pm)
Pleased to be able to offer FREE tickets to this event at Moreton Hall as Matthew Dennison talks about Eternal Boy, his new biography of Kenneth Grahame.
Call into the shop or give us a call to book your place! | |
