well, that was the most exhilarating ride I've had into work for sometime. Mind you as I was going down the 40mph plus hill (not at 40mph I hasten to add) into west Norwood I was thinking, rather wistfully, of Adam at Crockatt and Powell and the extra breaking capability of the fixed wheeled bicycle (I was also wondering which definition of 'waterproof' my jacket manufacturers were using- not one I know.)
Anyway- speaking, as we were, of audio books brings us nicely onto the subject of spoken word radio. Obviously the top dog is Radio 4 and one of the many jewels in it's crown is the glory that is Sunday morning- has a piece of scheduling ever so fitted it's day of the week (I guess at this point if you're not a fan of the Archers or Desert Island discs you would probably say no- but keep reading anyway) There is, however, a new(ish) kid on the block and their, early, Sunday morning is a thing of rare beauty. I've been listening to Oneword radio since getting my first DAB radio about a year ago- it's worth checking out as probably the best book orientated station available but it's only recently that I have been listening at 7.30 am on a Sunday, which is a shame as I have missed out. At this time you can hear the Classic serial- so far I've heard gems such as the Naxos Canterbury Tales and The Inferno at the moment it is Remembrance of Things Past. The cadences of Prousts sentences perfectly suit a Sunday morning (as well as blocking out the Transformers/power rangers/batman etc coming from the next room). I've never actually checked how long the programme goes on for- it seems to last for ages- but in a good way.
The true genius that is the Oneword Sunday is, however, only about to be revealed. What would you follow Proust , Dante or Chaucer with? I'm sure there are plenty of great suggestions but I'd bet none of you would think of following them with a Mills and Boon title. Oneword do and it works. The current one seems to be called 'Wife against her will' by Sarah Craven, in the space of a few weeks I have moved from incredulity and rushing for the preset buttons to quite looking forward to this piece of fluff.
Honestly Proust and pulp, it really is the best Sunday morning out there.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
p.s.
A pretty regular item on bookshop, and I guess most retailer, blogs is the strange customer enquiry.
My winner on the ‘What data were they possibly basing that question on’ scale is probably ‘do you sell hats?’ I like it best as, while not being spectacular, it is so wildly off the wall. The subject of this post, however, is slightly different and was bought to mind when I mentioned the Question of Upbringing audio yesterday.
The other day a customer came in and asked for a few books, they were for a mixture of fiction and non-fiction and were pretty good books, a customer to be proud of (that sounds really patronising but I’m just scene setting here)
Coming back from the politics section where we had just collected, I think, Looming Tower, we walked past the talking books section- at this point my customer stops and says something like ‘oh my God!.’ Now, I quite like my audio section I think it’s pretty good but even I know it has its limits and would never suspect that it could, quite literally, take someone’s breath away. As it turned out it was not the quality of the section that so impressed it was its very existence. My customer did not know that there were such things as books on tape and was quite delighted to find that there were. I explained that some were abridged, some- obviously I suppose, unabridged and some dramatised. The customer explained that she was ‘a bit behind the times.’
I in no way wish to say the customer was strange but this was one of the oddest exchanges I’ve had in a bookshop- it still seems inconceivable that someone who obviously knows their way around the book world did not know of the existence of books on tape.
I thought it best not to mention cd’s or mp3 players
My winner on the ‘What data were they possibly basing that question on’ scale is probably ‘do you sell hats?’ I like it best as, while not being spectacular, it is so wildly off the wall. The subject of this post, however, is slightly different and was bought to mind when I mentioned the Question of Upbringing audio yesterday.
The other day a customer came in and asked for a few books, they were for a mixture of fiction and non-fiction and were pretty good books, a customer to be proud of (that sounds really patronising but I’m just scene setting here)
Coming back from the politics section where we had just collected, I think, Looming Tower, we walked past the talking books section- at this point my customer stops and says something like ‘oh my God!.’ Now, I quite like my audio section I think it’s pretty good but even I know it has its limits and would never suspect that it could, quite literally, take someone’s breath away. As it turned out it was not the quality of the section that so impressed it was its very existence. My customer did not know that there were such things as books on tape and was quite delighted to find that there were. I explained that some were abridged, some- obviously I suppose, unabridged and some dramatised. The customer explained that she was ‘a bit behind the times.’
I in no way wish to say the customer was strange but this was one of the oddest exchanges I’ve had in a bookshop- it still seems inconceivable that someone who obviously knows their way around the book world did not know of the existence of books on tape.
I thought it best not to mention cd’s or mp3 players
Thursday, September 20, 2007
dance to the music of time
I've just sold, for the first time in a while, 'A Question of Upbringing', the first of the 'Dance to the Music of Time' novels. In fact, I've sold a few- a mixture of the customer asking for it and me recommending it. One of these recommends I'm particularly pleased with as it was to our most prolific buyer of modern fiction. Stuck for an idea- especially as this customer has read more 21st century novels than I, or indeed most booksellers, have, I decided to try suggesting something a bit different. I shouldn't have been worried as this customer likes good writing and Dance to the Music.. drips with quality prose but being the first in a 12 bock sequence about the life and times of narrator Nicholas Jenkins 'A Question of Upbringing' is a public school/campus novel (and, I think, one of the weakest in the series) and I was not at all sure that this would appeal to my customer. Also it has become fashionable to decry Powell as dated and just too posh, in my view neither accusation holds but when you hear something so often you wonder what other people may think, it is a tricky thing recommending books, after all someone is going to give over a few hours of their life to your suggestion- I take it seriously.
Anyway- said customer perused the book for a while, bought it and the next day two of her friends came in to pick up the next 3 in the sequence she loved it so much.
By coincidence my partner picked up a copy of the audio version read by Simon Callow. Even in this abridged form its quality stands out-a fairly random example, Jenkins on unexpectedly meeting someone from his old school
'....there was still a kind of exotic drabness about his appearance that seemed to mark him out from the rest of mankind.'
and
'He also retained his accusing manner, which seemed to suggest that he suspected people of trying to worm out of him important information which he was not, on the whole, prepared to divulge at so cheap a price as that offered.'
I haven't even mentioned richness of characters such as X. Trapnel the greatcoat wearing, sword stick carrying budding genius or Kenneth Widmerpool the subject of the above descriptions and one of the great malicious presences in English literature or that the 12 books become a history of London from about 1920 until 1970 and within these books are several excellent war novels.
So come on- having failed to ignite a moo min revolution, although someone did get me a very nice Moomin mouse mat from Finland- Let's start a Dance to the Music of Time revival.
Anyway- said customer perused the book for a while, bought it and the next day two of her friends came in to pick up the next 3 in the sequence she loved it so much.
By coincidence my partner picked up a copy of the audio version read by Simon Callow. Even in this abridged form its quality stands out-a fairly random example, Jenkins on unexpectedly meeting someone from his old school
'....there was still a kind of exotic drabness about his appearance that seemed to mark him out from the rest of mankind.'
and
'He also retained his accusing manner, which seemed to suggest that he suspected people of trying to worm out of him important information which he was not, on the whole, prepared to divulge at so cheap a price as that offered.'
I haven't even mentioned richness of characters such as X. Trapnel the greatcoat wearing, sword stick carrying budding genius or Kenneth Widmerpool the subject of the above descriptions and one of the great malicious presences in English literature or that the 12 books become a history of London from about 1920 until 1970 and within these books are several excellent war novels.
So come on- having failed to ignite a moo min revolution, although someone did get me a very nice Moomin mouse mat from Finland- Let's start a Dance to the Music of Time revival.
Monday, September 17, 2007
top 20
I've just sent off our current bestsellers to John who helps on our website- a slightly stalled project as we have managed to miss eachother over most of the summer, ho hum, anyway I thought I might as well post it here too.
Pan bestsellers Sunday 16th September
Top 20- no particular order
Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
A best seller for us partly because we sold the book at her launch but also because the story of how 2,000,000 women survived without men after the first world war is a fascinating one.
Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane
MacFarlane’s previous book, ‘Mountains of the Mind’ is a meditation on mountaineering - its history and literature. His new subject is more defined but no less challenging. In ‘The Wild Places’ Robert Macfarlane is searching for the wildness that remains in the British Isles. His writing is beautiful his subject fascinating but even without all that the book would probably be worth it for the suggested reading list alone!
Hardens London
Zagat London
Two hardy perennials, constantly battling out year after year, vieing to suggest which restaurant you should visit- always amongst our bestsellers, much loved reference books of our customers. Hardens seems to be favoured by Brits, Zagats favoured by the Americans
Uncommon reader by Alan Bennett
I hate to use the phrase ‘much loved’ in consecutive capsule reviews but if I didn’t I’d have to use the phrase ‘national treasure’ which would be a greater sin. ‘Much loved’ he may be but Alan Bennett is a talented writer and this is meant to be one of his best- according to Geoffrey (our crime buyer so he should know) it has an ‘absolutely brilliant ending’
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Probably does not need me to say anything about it- one of the favourites to win the ManBooker this year, lovely cover- we’ve sold a lot of it
Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
It’s about Shakespeare, it’s by Bill Bryson, get your signed copies here.
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The author will probably hate this phrase but, the book of the film. Atonement sold loads when it first came out as a new hardback and loads more as a new paperback- sadly, reading, is a minority interest- a point driven home each time even a successful book is made into a popular film and sales rise accordingly.
Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The long awaited second novel from the author of ‘The Kite Runner.’ A recent trade blog pointed out the importance of independent bookshops in the world of booksales- i.e. not much- about 5% of some, unnamed bestseller. Trade legend (albeit one promulgated by small shops) has it that we are still vital as a ground for breaking new authors and the Kite Runner is often cited as an example of this- it would be interesting to know if the figures bore this out. Certainly I got the impression that when we were stocking it in 10’s and 20’s (it’s been our bestselling book of the last few years) the chains were barely keeping it face out but that said, they still may have shifted an awful lot more copies than us.
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley
We have signed copies and if you know the Pan Bookshop you will know why we were very excited to see this published and why it is in our window. If you do not know the Pan Bookshop this is one type of book that defines us – although there are many others.
Jamie at home by Jamie Oliver
We do not, normally, do terribly well with television related titles but cookery books seem to flout this particular rule and here is the latest exception.. I have not really kept up with his most recent books but certainly the recipes in the early ones all worked and he seems a nice bloke- not something that can be said of all cookery books and writers (and before anyone thinks that’s a pop at Ramsey- his recipes are meant to be amongst the best and he’s always been as nice as pie whenever I’ve met him.) I also like the fact he grows his climbing beans over an arch- as we do at home (mind you, we do it through lack of space but I’m sure the effect is just the same)
Exit Music by Ian Rankin
The final Rebus novel. I don’t want to say anything really as whatever I put down might be construed as giving the ending away. I’ll just say I finished it at about 2.00am in the morning with Hawkwind on as background music (yes, you read that correctly) and a nice glass of red wine.
Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book
Does what it says on the cover. Another of our annual favourites.
Blair Years by Alastair Campbell
This has been in our window since publication, by allrights it should be out by now but, firstly, we have to have somewhere to put the signed stock (we got a lot signed but it was worth it) and, secondly, judging from the sales our customers are not bored with it yet so neither should we be. And this from the safest Conservative seat in the country.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Another ManBooker contender- we also have a sneaking liking for this one as we sold the books at this launch party too, plus, everyone I know who’s read it thinks it’s fab.
The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls by Rosemary Davidson and Sarah Vine
The controversial reply to the hugely successful Dangerous Book for Boys. Many people have complained about it being too girly but it does have tips on how to fall out of a tree so it can’t be all bad.
Restless by William Boyd
Some, many, of our customers think that William Boyd is the best storyteller of his generation. ‘Restless’ is set in Paris, 1939, features a beautiful 28 year-old Russian émigré and should provide the perfect setting for Boyd’s talents.
Hotel de Dream by Edmund White
Edmund White is best known for his non-fiction and his autobiographical novels so this is a sort of departure although a real person, the author Stephen Crane, is at its centre. In Hotel de Dream the imagined author is dictating a new story to his wife, leading White’s publishers to describe the book as ‘a deftly layered novel of longing, both gay and straight.’
Dancing with the Bear: A Serial Entrepreneur goes East by Roger Shashoua
Where a local author of ours (at least he said he was- reading how he promoted his previous book in the opening chapter of this one I’m not sure I really want to test the veracity of this claim) gives us the ‘inside track to making mega-millions in Russia.’ I only took the book as we had done so well with his brothers (at least he said he was…) and I wanted to stay in with him- I also said that although the cover was fine for ‘mass market shops’ it would not go down well here- anyway, we’ve had it 5 weeks and it’s been in our bestsellers for the last 4.
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
Extremely successful in the Arab world this novel had quite a reputation to live up to when translated into English. Set in a grand old building on a street whose glories were some time ago ‘The Yacoubian Building’ seeks to portray all the social strata of modern Cairo. Pitched somewhere between the Tales of the City and A Fine Balance (now, if you know me you’ll know these are pretty important novels for me) it lacks the sheer playfulness and outrageous use of coincidence to remove any plot obstacle of the former and, I’m afraid it has to be said, brilliance of the latter but retains both novels compelling description of what it is to like live in a modern city. Very fascinating, very enjoyable.
Pan bestsellers Sunday 16th September
Top 20- no particular order
Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
A best seller for us partly because we sold the book at her launch but also because the story of how 2,000,000 women survived without men after the first world war is a fascinating one.
Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane
MacFarlane’s previous book, ‘Mountains of the Mind’ is a meditation on mountaineering - its history and literature. His new subject is more defined but no less challenging. In ‘The Wild Places’ Robert Macfarlane is searching for the wildness that remains in the British Isles. His writing is beautiful his subject fascinating but even without all that the book would probably be worth it for the suggested reading list alone!
Hardens London
Zagat London
Two hardy perennials, constantly battling out year after year, vieing to suggest which restaurant you should visit- always amongst our bestsellers, much loved reference books of our customers. Hardens seems to be favoured by Brits, Zagats favoured by the Americans
Uncommon reader by Alan Bennett
I hate to use the phrase ‘much loved’ in consecutive capsule reviews but if I didn’t I’d have to use the phrase ‘national treasure’ which would be a greater sin. ‘Much loved’ he may be but Alan Bennett is a talented writer and this is meant to be one of his best- according to Geoffrey (our crime buyer so he should know) it has an ‘absolutely brilliant ending’
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Probably does not need me to say anything about it- one of the favourites to win the ManBooker this year, lovely cover- we’ve sold a lot of it
Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
It’s about Shakespeare, it’s by Bill Bryson, get your signed copies here.
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The author will probably hate this phrase but, the book of the film. Atonement sold loads when it first came out as a new hardback and loads more as a new paperback- sadly, reading, is a minority interest- a point driven home each time even a successful book is made into a popular film and sales rise accordingly.
Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The long awaited second novel from the author of ‘The Kite Runner.’ A recent trade blog pointed out the importance of independent bookshops in the world of booksales- i.e. not much- about 5% of some, unnamed bestseller. Trade legend (albeit one promulgated by small shops) has it that we are still vital as a ground for breaking new authors and the Kite Runner is often cited as an example of this- it would be interesting to know if the figures bore this out. Certainly I got the impression that when we were stocking it in 10’s and 20’s (it’s been our bestselling book of the last few years) the chains were barely keeping it face out but that said, they still may have shifted an awful lot more copies than us.
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley
We have signed copies and if you know the Pan Bookshop you will know why we were very excited to see this published and why it is in our window. If you do not know the Pan Bookshop this is one type of book that defines us – although there are many others.
Jamie at home by Jamie Oliver
We do not, normally, do terribly well with television related titles but cookery books seem to flout this particular rule and here is the latest exception.. I have not really kept up with his most recent books but certainly the recipes in the early ones all worked and he seems a nice bloke- not something that can be said of all cookery books and writers (and before anyone thinks that’s a pop at Ramsey- his recipes are meant to be amongst the best and he’s always been as nice as pie whenever I’ve met him.) I also like the fact he grows his climbing beans over an arch- as we do at home (mind you, we do it through lack of space but I’m sure the effect is just the same)
Exit Music by Ian Rankin
The final Rebus novel. I don’t want to say anything really as whatever I put down might be construed as giving the ending away. I’ll just say I finished it at about 2.00am in the morning with Hawkwind on as background music (yes, you read that correctly) and a nice glass of red wine.
Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book
Does what it says on the cover. Another of our annual favourites.
Blair Years by Alastair Campbell
This has been in our window since publication, by allrights it should be out by now but, firstly, we have to have somewhere to put the signed stock (we got a lot signed but it was worth it) and, secondly, judging from the sales our customers are not bored with it yet so neither should we be. And this from the safest Conservative seat in the country.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Another ManBooker contender- we also have a sneaking liking for this one as we sold the books at this launch party too, plus, everyone I know who’s read it thinks it’s fab.
The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls by Rosemary Davidson and Sarah Vine
The controversial reply to the hugely successful Dangerous Book for Boys. Many people have complained about it being too girly but it does have tips on how to fall out of a tree so it can’t be all bad.
Restless by William Boyd
Some, many, of our customers think that William Boyd is the best storyteller of his generation. ‘Restless’ is set in Paris, 1939, features a beautiful 28 year-old Russian émigré and should provide the perfect setting for Boyd’s talents.
Hotel de Dream by Edmund White
Edmund White is best known for his non-fiction and his autobiographical novels so this is a sort of departure although a real person, the author Stephen Crane, is at its centre. In Hotel de Dream the imagined author is dictating a new story to his wife, leading White’s publishers to describe the book as ‘a deftly layered novel of longing, both gay and straight.’
Dancing with the Bear: A Serial Entrepreneur goes East by Roger Shashoua
Where a local author of ours (at least he said he was- reading how he promoted his previous book in the opening chapter of this one I’m not sure I really want to test the veracity of this claim) gives us the ‘inside track to making mega-millions in Russia.’ I only took the book as we had done so well with his brothers (at least he said he was…) and I wanted to stay in with him- I also said that although the cover was fine for ‘mass market shops’ it would not go down well here- anyway, we’ve had it 5 weeks and it’s been in our bestsellers for the last 4.
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
Extremely successful in the Arab world this novel had quite a reputation to live up to when translated into English. Set in a grand old building on a street whose glories were some time ago ‘The Yacoubian Building’ seeks to portray all the social strata of modern Cairo. Pitched somewhere between the Tales of the City and A Fine Balance (now, if you know me you’ll know these are pretty important novels for me) it lacks the sheer playfulness and outrageous use of coincidence to remove any plot obstacle of the former and, I’m afraid it has to be said, brilliance of the latter but retains both novels compelling description of what it is to like live in a modern city. Very fascinating, very enjoyable.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
things you probably shouldn't do coming back from holiday
first day back from hols- a late shift, here at the Pan Bookshop that means 2.00pm till 10.00pm- this was my choice as it would provide a lie-in after the holiday and a gentle easing in back to work. I'm generally home by 11.00 - 11.15pm sometimes in bed by 12.00. Other times I'm not too tired but am very hungry as I was this Monday- also, as straight off my bike, not really in the mood to read- tele seemed a good idea- there wasn't anything on so I hunt around my dvd's and video's and for some bizarre reason decide that the documentary about the making of L.A. Confidential that comes with the video would be perfect- it would have been if I'd left it there but, of course, I couldn't. The film and making of bit run to over 2 hours, I'd started watching it at 11.45.
Trouble is due to illness I end up double-shifting on Tuesday. Get home at 11.15pm but decide that after a 13 hour day what I really need to do is read the new Rebus novel for 2 hours then fall asleep on the sofa but only until my son wakes me at about 1.45am.
Stupidly I am on a late again on Wednesday so miss the football, the only place for me to see the goals is the sky sports channel on Freeview- they don't show it straight away- when they do I'm out of the room and miss one of the goals- I decide to hang on as it will soon be around again- I wake up at about 2.00am on the sofa.
Now, I'm not complaining this was all my own work and a good film, a new book and some fine football are great reasons for staying up till you drop but what you probably shouldn't do coming back from holiday, aside from averaging 4.5 hours sleep per night, is forget that, no longer being on holiday, your partners parents are also no longer with you. If you have kids- you'll know what I mean.
(I should say that kirsty was, very sensibly, asleep by about 11.30 each evening.)
Trouble is due to illness I end up double-shifting on Tuesday. Get home at 11.15pm but decide that after a 13 hour day what I really need to do is read the new Rebus novel for 2 hours then fall asleep on the sofa but only until my son wakes me at about 1.45am.
Stupidly I am on a late again on Wednesday so miss the football, the only place for me to see the goals is the sky sports channel on Freeview- they don't show it straight away- when they do I'm out of the room and miss one of the goals- I decide to hang on as it will soon be around again- I wake up at about 2.00am on the sofa.
Now, I'm not complaining this was all my own work and a good film, a new book and some fine football are great reasons for staying up till you drop but what you probably shouldn't do coming back from holiday, aside from averaging 4.5 hours sleep per night, is forget that, no longer being on holiday, your partners parents are also no longer with you. If you have kids- you'll know what I mean.
(I should say that kirsty was, very sensibly, asleep by about 11.30 each evening.)
Thursday, September 06, 2007
belgium is a foreign country, they do things differently there ...part 2
for vast swathes of my working life 'would you like a bag?' has been a rhetorical question. It has now become a moral dilemma- I can see some of my customers squirm as they feel they are being put to some kind of test. Not asking or assuming one way or the other is often just as bad- not wanting to put my customers through such hoops- what should a poor bookseller do?
Well, at my local Bruges supermarket it is all sorted out- no dilemma, no squirming- just no bags. You're not offered them, you can't ask for them- they're not there.
Our need for asking for bags was, anyway, almost redundant for two reasons- firstly, we took a rucksack (11 out of 10 smug points) and, secondly, (and this is where Bruges really has turned out to be surprisingly different to beloved old blighty) this pretty small, local supermarket took no cheques and no credit cards except AMERICAN EXPRESS how weird is that (if you're a retailer-pretty weird, if you're not- it may not interest you so much!) and we only just scraped the cash together.
;
Well, at my local Bruges supermarket it is all sorted out- no dilemma, no squirming- just no bags. You're not offered them, you can't ask for them- they're not there.
Our need for asking for bags was, anyway, almost redundant for two reasons- firstly, we took a rucksack (11 out of 10 smug points) and, secondly, (and this is where Bruges really has turned out to be surprisingly different to beloved old blighty) this pretty small, local supermarket took no cheques and no credit cards except AMERICAN EXPRESS how weird is that (if you're a retailer-pretty weird, if you're not- it may not interest you so much!) and we only just scraped the cash together.
;
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
holiday reading........
Hah!
my last holiday- only a short while ago, one week in Maldon in Essex- consisted of get up around 6.00-6.30 explain to Arran - (4 years old and knows what he wants)-that no, there is no television set here. The next couple of hours are spent playing with him having the family breakfast then going to the swing park, water park, bouncy castles, giant pirate ship climbing frame, really big swing park, walking along the river, giant sand pit etc etc (Maldon does have a shed load of things for a 4 year old to do!). Then lunch before Lara (one year old- doesn't know what she wants unless it is food, drink, clean nappy or, and this is quite cute, a hug) implodes/explodes. Then we're back to the swing park/water park etc etc then tea, then kids to bed, then cook our tea, talk about the day then read until fall asleep- approx 25 minutes! It was a great holiday but I've realised holiday reading as I knew it left my life pretty much when the second child entered it.
I had been pretty pleased that I'd actually finished the Harry Potter (which I enjoyed, and thought she'd made a pretty good fist of ending the series in a satisfying way, a not especially common occurrance in books or tv) and Damned United by David Peace (highly recommended- almost like James Ellroy died and almost went to football heaven but landed in Leeds circa 1974 and this is his report back) but reading other bookshop holiday blogs I now hang my head in shame.
Anyway- the second part of our holidays begin tomorrow- a week in Bruge but this time the Grandparents are coming, so with babysitters on tap I'm going to tempt fate and take 3 books- although I may have to take/buy a forth as I've done that dumb thing where I'm 3/4 through a book (Jason Goodwin's The Janissary Tree- absolutely brilliant depiction of 19th cent. Istanbul but I'm not to sure about the 'whodunnit' aspect, which is pretty much what the reviews had led me to believe so hurrah for them) so it's going to be dead weight after my first bath/escape to coffee house(did I say coffee house-I think I meant bar)/ lie-in etc but is too good to leave behind. I'm also taking the book that's rapidly turning into book of the year- Catherine O'Flynn 'What was lost' partly as I dipped into it and it looks fab and partly as it's setting- a shopping mall, is- I guess- the antithesis of Bruge (like most people I always used to take something that had a relationship to my destination but I've gone the other way- partly after carrying Perfect Storm to a house on the coast of Arran for Christmas, on the boat crossing to Ibizia, a desolate stretch of Suffolk shoreline and the Cape of Good Hope and still never reading the bleeding thing- I don't expect I will now). Also Storm and Conquest by Stephan Taylor about the battle for the Indian Ocean 1809- it may not be everyone's cup of tea but if you're a Patrick O'Brian fan- and I am- the Mauritius campaign was the setting for one of his best books.
wish me luck
my last holiday- only a short while ago, one week in Maldon in Essex- consisted of get up around 6.00-6.30 explain to Arran - (4 years old and knows what he wants)-that no, there is no television set here. The next couple of hours are spent playing with him having the family breakfast then going to the swing park, water park, bouncy castles, giant pirate ship climbing frame, really big swing park, walking along the river, giant sand pit etc etc (Maldon does have a shed load of things for a 4 year old to do!). Then lunch before Lara (one year old- doesn't know what she wants unless it is food, drink, clean nappy or, and this is quite cute, a hug) implodes/explodes. Then we're back to the swing park/water park etc etc then tea, then kids to bed, then cook our tea, talk about the day then read until fall asleep- approx 25 minutes! It was a great holiday but I've realised holiday reading as I knew it left my life pretty much when the second child entered it.
I had been pretty pleased that I'd actually finished the Harry Potter (which I enjoyed, and thought she'd made a pretty good fist of ending the series in a satisfying way, a not especially common occurrance in books or tv) and Damned United by David Peace (highly recommended- almost like James Ellroy died and almost went to football heaven but landed in Leeds circa 1974 and this is his report back) but reading other bookshop holiday blogs I now hang my head in shame.
Anyway- the second part of our holidays begin tomorrow- a week in Bruge but this time the Grandparents are coming, so with babysitters on tap I'm going to tempt fate and take 3 books- although I may have to take/buy a forth as I've done that dumb thing where I'm 3/4 through a book (Jason Goodwin's The Janissary Tree- absolutely brilliant depiction of 19th cent. Istanbul but I'm not to sure about the 'whodunnit' aspect, which is pretty much what the reviews had led me to believe so hurrah for them) so it's going to be dead weight after my first bath/escape to coffee house(did I say coffee house-I think I meant bar)/ lie-in etc but is too good to leave behind. I'm also taking the book that's rapidly turning into book of the year- Catherine O'Flynn 'What was lost' partly as I dipped into it and it looks fab and partly as it's setting- a shopping mall, is- I guess- the antithesis of Bruge (like most people I always used to take something that had a relationship to my destination but I've gone the other way- partly after carrying Perfect Storm to a house on the coast of Arran for Christmas, on the boat crossing to Ibizia, a desolate stretch of Suffolk shoreline and the Cape of Good Hope and still never reading the bleeding thing- I don't expect I will now). Also Storm and Conquest by Stephan Taylor about the battle for the Indian Ocean 1809- it may not be everyone's cup of tea but if you're a Patrick O'Brian fan- and I am- the Mauritius campaign was the setting for one of his best books.
wish me luck
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
feeling lucky
bizarrely I find as I get older I'm getting more superstitious. I, rather stupidly when on a bike, salute magpies, I don't tend to walk under ladders, I never open an umbrella indoors nor put shoes on a table and I don't much like the new isbn configuration (international standard book number, the figures by the bar code that uniquely identifies any book- has now added a further 3 numbers to it's previous 10!), it's odd, however, that on days when I do come by train I don't really mind travelling on the one that best suits getting me here for 2.00pm- the 13.13)
Anyway, the weirdest manifestation of all this was herons. Now, I'm a fan of herons and over the last few years I've got into the habit of taking a 'longcut' into work so that I can cycle through Battersea Park or along the embankment, I slow right down and just enjoy the view and the proximity to trees and water but what always makes me happiest (as I've said before) is seeing herons. This being happy at seeing herons gradually worked its way to becoming - Hah, I've seen a heron- it's going to be a good day' which then even more disfunctionally morphed into 'oh no, I didn't see a heron today - it's going to be a bad day' this led to ridiculous interior monologues over whether certain routes could reasonably be expected to provide a view of a heron and therefore counted.
Although it could, quite reasonably, be taken that all this is proof that I am going mad I chose to take it as a sign of an overactive imagination and mind that had got bored cycling down the south circular for the 1,000th time and resolved to think about other stuff instead- or, even better, to pay more attention the road.
despite all that, however, I was very pleased to see 3 herons looking especially fine in the early morning sun, along the Thames embankment on my way to work this morning- I don't think it will make my day any luckier but it makes my morning much richer.
julian
Anyway, the weirdest manifestation of all this was herons. Now, I'm a fan of herons and over the last few years I've got into the habit of taking a 'longcut' into work so that I can cycle through Battersea Park or along the embankment, I slow right down and just enjoy the view and the proximity to trees and water but what always makes me happiest (as I've said before) is seeing herons. This being happy at seeing herons gradually worked its way to becoming - Hah, I've seen a heron- it's going to be a good day' which then even more disfunctionally morphed into 'oh no, I didn't see a heron today - it's going to be a bad day' this led to ridiculous interior monologues over whether certain routes could reasonably be expected to provide a view of a heron and therefore counted.
Although it could, quite reasonably, be taken that all this is proof that I am going mad I chose to take it as a sign of an overactive imagination and mind that had got bored cycling down the south circular for the 1,000th time and resolved to think about other stuff instead- or, even better, to pay more attention the road.
despite all that, however, I was very pleased to see 3 herons looking especially fine in the early morning sun, along the Thames embankment on my way to work this morning- I don't think it will make my day any luckier but it makes my morning much richer.
julian
Friday, August 24, 2007
sense of proportion
I know this post is a tad late but I think the point still holds...this was posted on the Richard Charkin blog just after the Harry Potter 7 launch- the author is Seth Godin ('holds an MBA from Stanford, and was called "the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" by Business Week.'- actually, he does have the credentials and sales records to back this up)
'By now, the Harry Potter hype machine has told you all about the pre-shipped copies, the scanned book and the spoilers. No doubt it'll sell a few copies, and no doubt the reported $20 million on security (not to mention fedex expense) was both useful and ineffective.
The interesting thing for me is how the Net changes what it means for something to be a secret. Five hundred year old technology (books) is just too slow for the Net. The act of printing, storing and shipping millions of books takes too long for a secret to ever be in a book again.
My solution? A hybrid. Publish the first edition of the book without the last three chapters. Take your time, save the $20 million. Every purchaser then gets access (hey, everyone gets access) to the last three chapters on launch day.
Books are souvenirs. No one is going to read Potter online, even if it's free. Holding and owning the book, remembering when and how you got it... that's what you're paying for. Books are great at holding memories. They're lousy at keeping secrets.'
now, I finished it by, about the Wednesday after publication- during that time I listened to a fair number of news programes and went to 2 children's parties where a lot of adults were standing around desperate to have something to talk about- my partner finished it by the following Wednesday- she is a civil servant and is glued to her computer most of the day and for a ridiculously large amount of her time at home as she does extra work, my neighbour, a teacher read it by the Wednesday too, my friend, a Psychology professor was also reading it the last time I spoke to him, two colleagues are reading it at the moment, one works in two different book stores and the other works three days a week but listens to the radio a great deal and reads the guardian everyday. A large number of my customers have also or are in the process of reading it.
and what do we all have in common
none of us, absolutelty none of us, knew the ending.
I'm not trying to sound like a Luddite here- just keepng that sense of proportion- if you did not go directly looking for the ending it was pretty easy to avoid (and if you were looking for the ending- why not just open the end of the book)
I admit I got caught out on The Half-Blood Prince but that was because some idiot (who shall remain nameless but is an ex-member of staff, currently resides in Bath and has just done a guest spot on this blog!) followed a link saying it would tell you who dies in the next Harry Potter duh! not content with this being the solitary activity it should have been he called my name as I was passing and I could not fail to see the image on the screen and it did spoil my enjoyment of the book but it was exceptional circumstances and could have been avoided.
Anyway, I guess my point is that yes the future is arriving like an express train etc etc but when it come to wants rather than needs and we are talking about, for want of a better word, hobbies- what you do to fill up your spare time as opposed to work or just the retrieving of information (important, I know) then just about anything you do is a minority pursuit. I like the idea of books being repositries of memories but they can still hold their secrets too.
(ps I know a recent survey said 75% of adults use facebook or another social networking site, now, I heard this on the Today programme and if there is anything Today is poor at it is giving an idea of the questions asked or samples used for 'a survey'- the last time I heard them give this information it was just after they told us that, something like, 95% of nurses were dissattisdfied with their job but the question was, again-, something like, 'could anything be done to improve your job?' Well the only surprise there is that some people did answer in the negative. Ok now I sound like a holocaust or global warming denier(which i am not) but I think, as said at the top of the page, the point stands.
'By now, the Harry Potter hype machine has told you all about the pre-shipped copies, the scanned book and the spoilers. No doubt it'll sell a few copies, and no doubt the reported $20 million on security (not to mention fedex expense) was both useful and ineffective.
The interesting thing for me is how the Net changes what it means for something to be a secret. Five hundred year old technology (books) is just too slow for the Net. The act of printing, storing and shipping millions of books takes too long for a secret to ever be in a book again.
My solution? A hybrid. Publish the first edition of the book without the last three chapters. Take your time, save the $20 million. Every purchaser then gets access (hey, everyone gets access) to the last three chapters on launch day.
Books are souvenirs. No one is going to read Potter online, even if it's free. Holding and owning the book, remembering when and how you got it... that's what you're paying for. Books are great at holding memories. They're lousy at keeping secrets.'
now, I finished it by, about the Wednesday after publication- during that time I listened to a fair number of news programes and went to 2 children's parties where a lot of adults were standing around desperate to have something to talk about- my partner finished it by the following Wednesday- she is a civil servant and is glued to her computer most of the day and for a ridiculously large amount of her time at home as she does extra work, my neighbour, a teacher read it by the Wednesday too, my friend, a Psychology professor was also reading it the last time I spoke to him, two colleagues are reading it at the moment, one works in two different book stores and the other works three days a week but listens to the radio a great deal and reads the guardian everyday. A large number of my customers have also or are in the process of reading it.
and what do we all have in common
none of us, absolutelty none of us, knew the ending.
I'm not trying to sound like a Luddite here- just keepng that sense of proportion- if you did not go directly looking for the ending it was pretty easy to avoid (and if you were looking for the ending- why not just open the end of the book)
I admit I got caught out on The Half-Blood Prince but that was because some idiot (who shall remain nameless but is an ex-member of staff, currently resides in Bath and has just done a guest spot on this blog!) followed a link saying it would tell you who dies in the next Harry Potter duh! not content with this being the solitary activity it should have been he called my name as I was passing and I could not fail to see the image on the screen and it did spoil my enjoyment of the book but it was exceptional circumstances and could have been avoided.
Anyway, I guess my point is that yes the future is arriving like an express train etc etc but when it come to wants rather than needs and we are talking about, for want of a better word, hobbies- what you do to fill up your spare time as opposed to work or just the retrieving of information (important, I know) then just about anything you do is a minority pursuit. I like the idea of books being repositries of memories but they can still hold their secrets too.
(ps I know a recent survey said 75% of adults use facebook or another social networking site, now, I heard this on the Today programme and if there is anything Today is poor at it is giving an idea of the questions asked or samples used for 'a survey'- the last time I heard them give this information it was just after they told us that, something like, 95% of nurses were dissattisdfied with their job but the question was, again-, something like, 'could anything be done to improve your job?' Well the only surprise there is that some people did answer in the negative. Ok now I sound like a holocaust or global warming denier(which i am not) but I think, as said at the top of the page, the point stands.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
another tony wilson memory
This is probably the second, sort of, obituary in the last five posts- what's going on!
but Tony Wilson was important to me for a few reasons- so bear with me- I'll do Harry Potter and holiday reading tomorrow.
Tony Wilson was the biggest single reason I left Billericay, Essex and the south of England and went to Manchester- (although the fact the university -almost uniquely- didn't require an O level in a foreign language to do do an English degree helped enormously too)
why, because So It Goes was the best music programme I'd ever seen- in a whole list of great moments I think I finally decided I wanted to be Mancunian after Wilson, walking towards the camera says something like- I'm often asked what punk will sound like in 20 years and I play them this- and Magazine came on doing Shot by both Sides (although it could have been motorcade- this was a long time ago)- and how prescient was that?
I also love the fact that everything involved with Factory records had a catalog number- so while the mighty Temptation is Fac63, Fac61 is the lawsuit with the equally brilliant and important Martin Hannett
Tony Wilson also got me to read Proust- after the Alain de Botton event for How Proust can change your Life at the shop I was at Tony Wilson was in the staffroom telling anyone who would listen- which I think was only me at that point- he was being quite loud- that everyone should read Proust and that actually it was very funny in places. It was, and as in so many other things Tony was right and my tribute to Anthony H Wilson will be to, finally, finish it!!
but Tony Wilson was important to me for a few reasons- so bear with me- I'll do Harry Potter and holiday reading tomorrow.
Tony Wilson was the biggest single reason I left Billericay, Essex and the south of England and went to Manchester- (although the fact the university -almost uniquely- didn't require an O level in a foreign language to do do an English degree helped enormously too)
why, because So It Goes was the best music programme I'd ever seen- in a whole list of great moments I think I finally decided I wanted to be Mancunian after Wilson, walking towards the camera says something like- I'm often asked what punk will sound like in 20 years and I play them this- and Magazine came on doing Shot by both Sides (although it could have been motorcade- this was a long time ago)- and how prescient was that?
I also love the fact that everything involved with Factory records had a catalog number- so while the mighty Temptation is Fac63, Fac61 is the lawsuit with the equally brilliant and important Martin Hannett
Tony Wilson also got me to read Proust- after the Alain de Botton event for How Proust can change your Life at the shop I was at Tony Wilson was in the staffroom telling anyone who would listen- which I think was only me at that point- he was being quite loud- that everyone should read Proust and that actually it was very funny in places. It was, and as in so many other things Tony was right and my tribute to Anthony H Wilson will be to, finally, finish it!!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
View from Bath
I've been meaning to blog all week...
Mix together laziness, procrastination and generally having little or no spare time to do all the things I'm meant to be doing - and that it took me two days to remember how to log in - has meant that I've left this till the last possible minute. And I also don't think that I've got anything interesting to say...
It's just over four months ago that I left Pan to work at the Topping Bookshop in Bath. The shop opened just over three months ago. It has been incredibly hard work, and I think that we still have quite a way to go. But yesterday felt like a turning poing : we were busy, we had nice customers and I felt - for the first time - that everything was sort of coming together. We had books that customers wanted; the customers themselves were all really nice. I suppose I had that rare feeling of happiness.
This is not to say that things are perfect. Far from it. But it doesn't feel like the uphill struggle that it did four months ago. This may be connected to the fact that I also no longer have an hour's walk uphill at the end of the day (having moved to five minutes away from the shop).
My colleagues - Kathleen, Vincent, Mark, Robert, Robert & Louise are also nice people to work with. I suppose that's true of most booksellers anyway. We're all vaguely like-minded souls who aren't exactly doing this for the wealth of Midas.
And it's exciting to be at the start of something. Sebastian Faulks did the first reading here, and in a way opened the shop. And we have a great line-up of authors for the autumn, including:
Alan Bennett
Ian Botham
Jonathan Coe
Sophie Dahl
Germaine Greer
Robert Harris
Terry Pratchett
Ian Rankin
And that's just for the Bath bookshop. The Ely bookshop has Robert MacFarlane, Alexander McCall Smith, Paul Merton...
To see the whole list, have a gander at our website :
Until next time...
Saber
Sunday, July 22, 2007
it's a god awful small affair...
this was always going to be the title of this blog- as I'm going on holiday and have managed to secure the services of a guest blogger- his identity was to remain a mystery but I was going to tell you that the title of his blog would be 'Life on Bath' and then ask 'can you guess who it is yet?' good joke eh? even though it's one I've used before.
Sadly the title of this blog much more accurately refers to the Pan Bookshop Summer Extravaganza. probably the best event I've ever put on- with better marketing and better PR than we've ever done before but sadly also probably the worst attended event I've ever organized. The authors outnumbered the staff- good but the staff outnumbered the customers- bad.
Why it went so catastrophically wrong I'm not too sure- maybe it was the weather, certainly we were heading to our worst Friday of the year before the Harry Potter sales and so was the cafe next door.
I don't know- I don't want to give up on doing readings but I think I'll go back to just the one or two authors and charge for tickets- at least you're forewarned of impending disaster!!
the Harry Potter event went quite well although I don't think I'd have people partying inside the store again- it's more fun, and easier to control and run the competitions with everyone outside- plus not everyone got to hear the competitions and there were some good haiku's which I rather stupidly overlooked to write down and 3 good Wyrd Sisters songs- the winner singing 'goodbye Dumbledore' to the tune of, you've guessed it. It was a shame, after all their work and nerve, the competitors deserved a bigger audience and more of their attention.
Anyway for holiday reading Damned United, Harry Potter (oops there's my literary pants showing) and The Officer's Prey, a historical crime novel set during Napoleon's march to Moscow and translated from the French, which I've been looking forward to reading for some time and expect it to be big at the Pan Bookshop. Mind you- I thought that about the Summer Extravaganza....
enjoy the mystery blogger
Sadly the title of this blog much more accurately refers to the Pan Bookshop Summer Extravaganza. probably the best event I've ever put on- with better marketing and better PR than we've ever done before but sadly also probably the worst attended event I've ever organized. The authors outnumbered the staff- good but the staff outnumbered the customers- bad.
Why it went so catastrophically wrong I'm not too sure- maybe it was the weather, certainly we were heading to our worst Friday of the year before the Harry Potter sales and so was the cafe next door.
I don't know- I don't want to give up on doing readings but I think I'll go back to just the one or two authors and charge for tickets- at least you're forewarned of impending disaster!!
the Harry Potter event went quite well although I don't think I'd have people partying inside the store again- it's more fun, and easier to control and run the competitions with everyone outside- plus not everyone got to hear the competitions and there were some good haiku's which I rather stupidly overlooked to write down and 3 good Wyrd Sisters songs- the winner singing 'goodbye Dumbledore' to the tune of, you've guessed it. It was a shame, after all their work and nerve, the competitors deserved a bigger audience and more of their attention.
Anyway for holiday reading Damned United, Harry Potter (oops there's my literary pants showing) and The Officer's Prey, a historical crime novel set during Napoleon's march to Moscow and translated from the French, which I've been looking forward to reading for some time and expect it to be big at the Pan Bookshop. Mind you- I thought that about the Summer Extravaganza....
enjoy the mystery blogger
Friday, July 20, 2007
friday the big day part 4 of 4
OK- even I, someone who spent 18 years of their life in Manchester and has 'done' rain, am impressed by what's going on outside. That is rain.
Anyway all the afternoon activities as previewed in yesterdays blog will still be going on- so brave that rain and come on down. Also- as mentioned yesterday- simon sebag montifore cannot make 7.00pm anymore but will still be here from 6.00pm until about 7.15. The rest of the evening really gets underway around 7.00pm with a galaxy of eminent historians, Michael Cady with advice on how to get published, Isabel Losada who can talk about anything and, change of plan again, Judy Krey from the New Kadampa Tradition will be here to chat with anyone about being Buddhist.
this all winds up around 9.00pm and we get the store ready for our Pre potter Party- guests, entertainment, competitions and fun from 10.00m onwards- first come, first served though we can fit quite a few people in the shop but with this rain we may all have to squeeze up a bit!
See you all here.
On a different note and one that adds some perspective to the day, Chris Dunn died last week. I don't suppose any of you have heard of Chris Dunn but he would have described himself as an author, although, in truth, he could probably more accurately be described in a Anthony Powell kind of way as 'something in the city.'
The first time I met Chris he managed to wind me up to an absolutely exceptional level. We were having a library reading group comes to the bookstore day. Chris came, was obviously not a member but when he announced he was a published author the effect was electrifying- everyone wanted to know what he did, his life style and when he said he had sold 100's of books around here (Old Brompton road) everyone wanted to see them. My stock as bookshop manager plummeted as it was apparent that not only did we not have any of these books in but i'd obviously not heard of such a successful local author- how could that be. Chris then mentioned the name of his publisher- it was a vanity publisher. To this day I still think it is to my credit (and to his detriment!) that neither of us mentioned that Chris was only a published author because he had paid for them to be published.
Anyway- years pass and our paths cross again and we get on pretty well- I read one of these books, the first in a series of 12- guess what it's good, not really my genre but I enjoyed it and could guarantee that it was better than many action/thrillers that come out each month. I gave a copy to one of my reps who I knew liked thrillers- he thought it was great- he's now read 7 of them. We tried to get editors at publishers interested, after all between the rep and I we had over 50 years experience in bookselling- i don't think we even managed to get an editor to read it.
Over several, very enjoyable, lunches Chris would keep me informed about how near his books were to being made into series but I never knew whether to believe him, there was always more than a touch of the Walter Mitty's about Chris. I'm not saying these books are great literature and neither would Chris, actually, that's proably not true- Chris would claim they were great literature and I think they may have been his biggest love. He never doubted them and never doubted that if he could just get that one lucky break they'd have been huge. I tend to agree. But there you go- that's the world of books and he accepted that.
But I wish he could have lived to have seen them published by a major publisher and, better yet, with a TV tie-in jacket.
There's no real point to this entry but just to say goodbye to Chris- I and the Pan bookshop will miss him.
Anyway all the afternoon activities as previewed in yesterdays blog will still be going on- so brave that rain and come on down. Also- as mentioned yesterday- simon sebag montifore cannot make 7.00pm anymore but will still be here from 6.00pm until about 7.15. The rest of the evening really gets underway around 7.00pm with a galaxy of eminent historians, Michael Cady with advice on how to get published, Isabel Losada who can talk about anything and, change of plan again, Judy Krey from the New Kadampa Tradition will be here to chat with anyone about being Buddhist.
this all winds up around 9.00pm and we get the store ready for our Pre potter Party- guests, entertainment, competitions and fun from 10.00m onwards- first come, first served though we can fit quite a few people in the shop but with this rain we may all have to squeeze up a bit!
See you all here.
On a different note and one that adds some perspective to the day, Chris Dunn died last week. I don't suppose any of you have heard of Chris Dunn but he would have described himself as an author, although, in truth, he could probably more accurately be described in a Anthony Powell kind of way as 'something in the city.'
The first time I met Chris he managed to wind me up to an absolutely exceptional level. We were having a library reading group comes to the bookstore day. Chris came, was obviously not a member but when he announced he was a published author the effect was electrifying- everyone wanted to know what he did, his life style and when he said he had sold 100's of books around here (Old Brompton road) everyone wanted to see them. My stock as bookshop manager plummeted as it was apparent that not only did we not have any of these books in but i'd obviously not heard of such a successful local author- how could that be. Chris then mentioned the name of his publisher- it was a vanity publisher. To this day I still think it is to my credit (and to his detriment!) that neither of us mentioned that Chris was only a published author because he had paid for them to be published.
Anyway- years pass and our paths cross again and we get on pretty well- I read one of these books, the first in a series of 12- guess what it's good, not really my genre but I enjoyed it and could guarantee that it was better than many action/thrillers that come out each month. I gave a copy to one of my reps who I knew liked thrillers- he thought it was great- he's now read 7 of them. We tried to get editors at publishers interested, after all between the rep and I we had over 50 years experience in bookselling- i don't think we even managed to get an editor to read it.
Over several, very enjoyable, lunches Chris would keep me informed about how near his books were to being made into series but I never knew whether to believe him, there was always more than a touch of the Walter Mitty's about Chris. I'm not saying these books are great literature and neither would Chris, actually, that's proably not true- Chris would claim they were great literature and I think they may have been his biggest love. He never doubted them and never doubted that if he could just get that one lucky break they'd have been huge. I tend to agree. But there you go- that's the world of books and he accepted that.
But I wish he could have lived to have seen them published by a major publisher and, better yet, with a TV tie-in jacket.
There's no real point to this entry but just to say goodbye to Chris- I and the Pan bookshop will miss him.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
friday the big day parts 2&3 of 4
oops-
I really should have kept up-to-date here but it has been very frantic.
it turns out we are to be the venue of choice for the sky news Pre Potter party- now, I think this is a good thing, and at the very least anyone coming to buy the Harry Potter here (i.e my customers) will now get even more fun, food and frolics than they were going to before and, believe me the fun, food and frolics was going to be pretty tip top anyway. But as someone almost entirely made up of cliches I have to say 'he who sups with the devil should use a long spoon-(I can also say 'he who forgets history is destined to repeat it,' ' never assume it just makes an ass of u and me'- I could go on) and I don't just mean sky here but all TV. Then a big chunk of me says, just grow up, stop being such a cynic, relax and have fun. And this is what I intend to do- please come along and join me.
so..........
in the afternoon childrens stories for under 5's including Emma Chichester-Clarke
5.00pm Caroline Lawrence, who always does a fantastic reading of her ancient Roman mysteries including props and costumns.
5.30pm Dianne Hofmeyr- from Rome we go to Egypt but I think Dianne is unsure about the costumn bit!
6.00pm- a change of plan, Simon Sebag Montefiore has to go early but will be here from 6.00pm until 7.00- hopefully a little later otherwise I'll try and get Andrew Roberts to say something rude about him.
see you tomorrow
I really should have kept up-to-date here but it has been very frantic.
it turns out we are to be the venue of choice for the sky news Pre Potter party- now, I think this is a good thing, and at the very least anyone coming to buy the Harry Potter here (i.e my customers) will now get even more fun, food and frolics than they were going to before and, believe me the fun, food and frolics was going to be pretty tip top anyway. But as someone almost entirely made up of cliches I have to say 'he who sups with the devil should use a long spoon-(I can also say 'he who forgets history is destined to repeat it,' ' never assume it just makes an ass of u and me'- I could go on) and I don't just mean sky here but all TV. Then a big chunk of me says, just grow up, stop being such a cynic, relax and have fun. And this is what I intend to do- please come along and join me.
so..........
in the afternoon childrens stories for under 5's including Emma Chichester-Clarke
5.00pm Caroline Lawrence, who always does a fantastic reading of her ancient Roman mysteries including props and costumns.
5.30pm Dianne Hofmeyr- from Rome we go to Egypt but I think Dianne is unsure about the costumn bit!
6.00pm- a change of plan, Simon Sebag Montefiore has to go early but will be here from 6.00pm until 7.00- hopefully a little later otherwise I'll try and get Andrew Roberts to say something rude about him.
see you tomorrow
Monday, July 16, 2007
friday- the big day pt 1 of 4
only a few days to go and hey- we've got the biggest event the shop's seen for ages.
the first part of the day from about 10.00am to 11.30am is for the under fives and just for fun- fun with bubbles, fun with foam and fun with fabrics - if you don't know Klutz books come and have a look at some of the best and most original children's activity books around; if you do know them come and have a look anyway. There'll be sample and display packs to road test and you'll know it's all happening as I'll be outside blowing the biggest bubbles this side of Upton Park and disrupting the traffic (but in a hopefully innocent and charming fashion!).
p.s. on a completely different note can I just say that this is shaping up to be the best Tour de France for years- congratulations to Rasmussen for taking the last stage by the scruff of it's neck and taking the yellow jersey but Kloeden's pulling along of Vinokourov for the sake of the team and his it's leader but to the detriment of his own chances of winning will be one of the most remarkable moments in sport this year. if all you know of the tour is the colour and razzmatazz that passed through London last weekend well, that was fun but there is so much more to it. It's the closest event sport has to the unfolding of 'a good book'- plot, sub plot,false leads and strong lead characters, low deeds and high drama, only Test Match cricket comes close to providing an event so endlessly fascinating, if you haven't yet -immerse yourself now, you won't regret it.
the first part of the day from about 10.00am to 11.30am is for the under fives and just for fun- fun with bubbles, fun with foam and fun with fabrics - if you don't know Klutz books come and have a look at some of the best and most original children's activity books around; if you do know them come and have a look anyway. There'll be sample and display packs to road test and you'll know it's all happening as I'll be outside blowing the biggest bubbles this side of Upton Park and disrupting the traffic (but in a hopefully innocent and charming fashion!).
p.s. on a completely different note can I just say that this is shaping up to be the best Tour de France for years- congratulations to Rasmussen for taking the last stage by the scruff of it's neck and taking the yellow jersey but Kloeden's pulling along of Vinokourov for the sake of the team and his it's leader but to the detriment of his own chances of winning will be one of the most remarkable moments in sport this year. if all you know of the tour is the colour and razzmatazz that passed through London last weekend well, that was fun but there is so much more to it. It's the closest event sport has to the unfolding of 'a good book'- plot, sub plot,false leads and strong lead characters, low deeds and high drama, only Test Match cricket comes close to providing an event so endlessly fascinating, if you haven't yet -immerse yourself now, you won't regret it.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
new arrivals at the pan bookshop ball- well, fair, well party
ok, for most of my 20 or so years selling books I have spent the vast majority of them wishing to read more non-fiction. Indeed if I have ever had such a thing as a new years resolution it would have been to read more non-fiction. That's easy you say- just pick up a book and read it, except, I just could never get my head around it, whatever I picked up, however interesting never seemed as interesting as the next hot novel or classic I that I really wanted to read. Then about 4 years ago I came to the Pan Bookshop and Robert Topping, in his wisdom, gave me the History section as my fiefdom (this may seem strange- why would a manager give a section to someone to run who not only had read no books from that section but freely confessed to being actually unable to do so- this was not unprecedented when I joined the Topster in Manchester he put me in the language section even though I'm dyslexic- can barely manage my own tongue and was almost thrown out of university for not having an equivalent of a foreign language O level- an exam I finally passed but found infinitely more difficult than my English literature and Philosophy degree- I don't know how Robert has taught his children to swim but it would probably be better not to ask.)
Anyway, this seemed just the spur I needed and of I set off in my autodidactic way to read through the OUP history of Britain, all of it, starting at volume one (of about, I think, 19 all of which i have in hardback and a very impressive sight they make too.) four years later I am up to number 4 and making no clear headway- I'm afraid the good editors at Oxford did not really have readers like me in mind when assembling their great work- especially the one about the movement of pots.
I'm pretty middlebrow - I read Ballard rather than Burroughs and listen to Waits rather than Beefheart- what I needed was a filter. What I picked up was Rubicon; an absolutely brilliant history of Rome - one of the reviews claimed it as a 'history book for our times' i.e. readable and it does a fantastic job of telling the story of the fall of the Roman republic and was exactly what I needed. I didn't look back, Rifles, the history of the Normans in Sicily, histories of London all these went tumbling past my bedside table and I had been right all along- I do feel this is where I belong and now I find it difficult to choose to read a novel and quite soon I think I'll be ready to mount a major assault on the OUP history of Britain again- even the one about the movement of pots.
Anyway- I'm pleased to announce that Tom Holland will also be at our store on Friday 20th July to help celebrate History books in general and particularly how many fine ones have been written this year (and by local authors to boot.)
If you like stories of Rome or even just good storytelling be sure to be here for Caroline Lawrence. That she is one of our best children's writers is beyond doubt but take my word for it that age is no factor in enjoying her excellent series of adventures. Caroline Lawrence will be here at 5.00pm the same day reading from and asking questions about her Roman Mysteries series.
Anyway, this seemed just the spur I needed and of I set off in my autodidactic way to read through the OUP history of Britain, all of it, starting at volume one (of about, I think, 19 all of which i have in hardback and a very impressive sight they make too.) four years later I am up to number 4 and making no clear headway- I'm afraid the good editors at Oxford did not really have readers like me in mind when assembling their great work- especially the one about the movement of pots.
I'm pretty middlebrow - I read Ballard rather than Burroughs and listen to Waits rather than Beefheart- what I needed was a filter. What I picked up was Rubicon; an absolutely brilliant history of Rome - one of the reviews claimed it as a 'history book for our times' i.e. readable and it does a fantastic job of telling the story of the fall of the Roman republic and was exactly what I needed. I didn't look back, Rifles, the history of the Normans in Sicily, histories of London all these went tumbling past my bedside table and I had been right all along- I do feel this is where I belong and now I find it difficult to choose to read a novel and quite soon I think I'll be ready to mount a major assault on the OUP history of Britain again- even the one about the movement of pots.
Anyway- I'm pleased to announce that Tom Holland will also be at our store on Friday 20th July to help celebrate History books in general and particularly how many fine ones have been written this year (and by local authors to boot.)
If you like stories of Rome or even just good storytelling be sure to be here for Caroline Lawrence. That she is one of our best children's writers is beyond doubt but take my word for it that age is no factor in enjoying her excellent series of adventures. Caroline Lawrence will be here at 5.00pm the same day reading from and asking questions about her Roman Mysteries series.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
signed Alastair Campbell
just a quick note today, not, I'm afraid, very exciting unless you happpen to be interested in these two specific events but, hey, that may be excitement for two more demographic groups than usual.
Firstly we are getting signed Alastair Campbell stock but are not really sure how many- I'm holding out for 'a lot' but these things are not always in our hands. They will be available July 18th p.m. (sorry, couldn't resist). If you are interested it may be worth reserving a copy, any personalised messages would have to be paid for in advance.
secondly- I'm sorry but due to a clash of dates we will no longer be having a talk on being Buddhist by Tharpa books on July 20th but if you are interested in the subject do please still come as Isabel Losada is certainly worth talking to and has quite a lot to say on the subject especially her meeting with the Dalai Lama.
Look at that- in two paragraphs and two days we've gone from Alastair Campbell to the Dalai Lama- bookselling eh? It's not dull you know.
Firstly we are getting signed Alastair Campbell stock but are not really sure how many- I'm holding out for 'a lot' but these things are not always in our hands. They will be available July 18th p.m. (sorry, couldn't resist). If you are interested it may be worth reserving a copy, any personalised messages would have to be paid for in advance.
secondly- I'm sorry but due to a clash of dates we will no longer be having a talk on being Buddhist by Tharpa books on July 20th but if you are interested in the subject do please still come as Isabel Losada is certainly worth talking to and has quite a lot to say on the subject especially her meeting with the Dalai Lama.
Look at that- in two paragraphs and two days we've gone from Alastair Campbell to the Dalai Lama- bookselling eh? It's not dull you know.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
a big thank you to liz hurley
Elizabeth Hurley was doing the 'My London' spot in the ES Magazine this week and in the 'home comforts' section she says she loves bath oils and books and that she goes to the The Pan Bookshop on Fulham Road!
I'm pretty happy about this as she also namechecks Luigi's, the italian deli acrosss the way and that's pretty cool company to keep.
thank you Liz.
p.s go to Jo Malones on Sloane Street for the bath oils
cheers
julian
I'm pretty happy about this as she also namechecks Luigi's, the italian deli acrosss the way and that's pretty cool company to keep.
thank you Liz.
p.s go to Jo Malones on Sloane Street for the bath oils
cheers
julian
Sunday, July 08, 2007
summer fair and harry potter day
Hi Everyone,
I know that most of you will, by now, know that the next and final Harry Potter goes on sale at various stores around the country at midnight Friday 20th July.
Well, I hope I see you all there as our queue has always been- and will be again- one of the most enjoyable to be in: competitions, refreshments and voting- yep, you all have to do some work but will be fun, I promise you. So reserve your copy and design your fancy dress, rehearse your song or intuit your haiku (see bottom of this e-mail for explanation).
Secondly, the reason, obviously, just about everyone knows this is because of the huge amount of coverage that a new Harry Potter generates- there will be more written about this book than any other this year but in the wake of that will be much that is about books and bookshops in general and we thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of this so the day of Friday 20th July has become a Pan Bookshop Summer Fair.
There will be events and activities throughout the day. For me the highlight is where we try to get the world record for how many history writers you can fit into a small corner of a bookshop, indeed we have so many eminent historians visiting us that a new collective noun has to be coined (do you coin a noun- or just a phrase? and there’s probably already one anyway) but this has been an extraordinarily good year for history books and I felt we should celebrate it,
Anyway, if you can, please come along to our summer fair, there really are some fantastic things to do and some excellent, eminent,informative and entertaining authors to meet.
This is the itinerary
THE PAN BOOKSHOP SUMMER BOOK FAIR
FRIDAY 20 JULY 2007
A summer extravaganza on the day of the Harry Potter Midnight Launch
A one day festival of, entertainment, education, fun, frolics and fancy dress
And the Best Harry Potter Queue in Town
9am: Shop opens
10am to 12noon: Play with the book fun for pre-school children with Klutz activities and Hodder Fairy Wings
2pm to 4pm: Hear the Book - pre school story time readers including Emma Chichester-Clarke
5pm to 6pm: Hear the Author - celebrate end of term with Diane Hofmeyer and Caroline Lawrence
7pm to 9pm: Meet the Author - eminent historians Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Andrew Roberts,
Kate Williams, Adam Zamoyski, Patrick Bishop, and Alison Weir will be discussing their
work, signing their books and celebrating 2007 as a vintage year for their literary genre
Being Buddhist - a short talk from Tharpa Books
How to Get Published - advice from Michael Cady (bring your first page and
covering letter)
Men, Being Buddhist, and Getting Published - Isabel Losada with advice on all three!
9pm to 10pm: Music - some light blues to finish the day [tbc]
10pm: Shop Closes
11.30pm: Harry Potter Queue - refreshments for all and 3 separate competitions
1 Fancy Dress
2 Harry Potter Haiku
3 Sing a Song of Weird Sisters - sing 4 - 8 lines of a song you think the Weird Sisters
might like to perform to any tune you choose, musical accompaniment at your discretion
Winners judged by the audience: bear in mind you have to parade that fancy dress, recite that haiku and sing that song before your fellow queue members
The Prizes - 1 prize for each competition - will be a deluxe copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows awarded by Hedwig - or, at least an owl that looks very much like him, although maybe a little taller.
Midnight: Pan Bookshop re-opens and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows goes on sale
(at full cover price)
Saturday 21 July: 9am to 10am Hedwig will deliver the book to those unable to make the midnight event
For further details please contact the store.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
venue: The Pan Bookshop times: 10 am to 10pm.... then 11.30PM to last customer standing!
158 Fulham Road
London SW10 9PR nearest tubes: South Kensington & Gloucester Road
buses: 14, 414, 211, 345
Contact: the manager Julian Rafot 020 7373 4997
thepanbookshop@yahoo.co.uk
I know that most of you will, by now, know that the next and final Harry Potter goes on sale at various stores around the country at midnight Friday 20th July.
Well, I hope I see you all there as our queue has always been- and will be again- one of the most enjoyable to be in: competitions, refreshments and voting- yep, you all have to do some work but will be fun, I promise you. So reserve your copy and design your fancy dress, rehearse your song or intuit your haiku (see bottom of this e-mail for explanation).
Secondly, the reason, obviously, just about everyone knows this is because of the huge amount of coverage that a new Harry Potter generates- there will be more written about this book than any other this year but in the wake of that will be much that is about books and bookshops in general and we thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of this so the day of Friday 20th July has become a Pan Bookshop Summer Fair.
There will be events and activities throughout the day. For me the highlight is where we try to get the world record for how many history writers you can fit into a small corner of a bookshop, indeed we have so many eminent historians visiting us that a new collective noun has to be coined (do you coin a noun- or just a phrase? and there’s probably already one anyway) but this has been an extraordinarily good year for history books and I felt we should celebrate it,
Anyway, if you can, please come along to our summer fair, there really are some fantastic things to do and some excellent, eminent,informative and entertaining authors to meet.
This is the itinerary
THE PAN BOOKSHOP SUMMER BOOK FAIR
FRIDAY 20 JULY 2007
A summer extravaganza on the day of the Harry Potter Midnight Launch
A one day festival of, entertainment, education, fun, frolics and fancy dress
And the Best Harry Potter Queue in Town
9am: Shop opens
10am to 12noon: Play with the book fun for pre-school children with Klutz activities and Hodder Fairy Wings
2pm to 4pm: Hear the Book - pre school story time readers including Emma Chichester-Clarke
5pm to 6pm: Hear the Author - celebrate end of term with Diane Hofmeyer and Caroline Lawrence
7pm to 9pm: Meet the Author - eminent historians Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Andrew Roberts,
Kate Williams, Adam Zamoyski, Patrick Bishop, and Alison Weir will be discussing their
work, signing their books and celebrating 2007 as a vintage year for their literary genre
Being Buddhist - a short talk from Tharpa Books
How to Get Published - advice from Michael Cady (bring your first page and
covering letter)
Men, Being Buddhist, and Getting Published - Isabel Losada with advice on all three!
9pm to 10pm: Music - some light blues to finish the day [tbc]
10pm: Shop Closes
11.30pm: Harry Potter Queue - refreshments for all and 3 separate competitions
1 Fancy Dress
2 Harry Potter Haiku
3 Sing a Song of Weird Sisters - sing 4 - 8 lines of a song you think the Weird Sisters
might like to perform to any tune you choose, musical accompaniment at your discretion
Winners judged by the audience: bear in mind you have to parade that fancy dress, recite that haiku and sing that song before your fellow queue members
The Prizes - 1 prize for each competition - will be a deluxe copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows awarded by Hedwig - or, at least an owl that looks very much like him, although maybe a little taller.
Midnight: Pan Bookshop re-opens and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows goes on sale
(at full cover price)
Saturday 21 July: 9am to 10am Hedwig will deliver the book to those unable to make the midnight event
For further details please contact the store.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
venue: The Pan Bookshop times: 10 am to 10pm.... then 11.30PM to last customer standing!
158 Fulham Road
London SW10 9PR nearest tubes: South Kensington & Gloucester Road
buses: 14, 414, 211, 345
Contact: the manager Julian Rafot 020 7373 4997
thepanbookshop@yahoo.co.uk
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