Books from the Valley

Another Book Depository Sale 20th June

books from the valley — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:22:39 +0000

Always worth checking their competitions too.

Hello, here we are again

peabody — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 09:57:53 +0000

- back after a few holidays and a lot of reading, to the news that A M Homes has won the Prize Formerly Known As Orange, for her dark satire on American life, May We Be Forgiven. There was a very strong shortlist, which included Zadie Smith’s NW, Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life and of course, Bring Up the Bodies.

I haven’t read the Homes yet, but enjoyed her previous novel, This Book Will Save Your Life, which was sharp, witty and original, so I’m looking forward to it.

Of the books on the list which I have read (and putting aside the Mantel which is indisputably superb), I found Life After Life completely engrossing and satisfying. Some reviewers complained that they couldn’t suspend their disbelief, as the story of Ursula Todd is told and retold in dozens of different ways, exploring various possible outcomes at different stages of her life, but Atkinson’s easy, controlled prose and the reader’s instant absorption in Ursula’s vividly realised life, her family and the times she lives in carry the narrative swiftly along. This is terrific storytelling. As Helen Brown remarked, in the Daily Telegraph:

I became so addicted to seeing how Ursula’s different decisions and experiences shaped her family that I have no idea how Atkinson managed to stop herself writing…This is Atkinson’s best book to date..

Janet Maslin, writing in the New York Times, agreed that this book was Atkinson’s ‘very best’, and commented that it was:

an exceptionally captivating book with an engaging cast of characters. “Life After Life” is a big book that defies logic, chronology and even history in ways that underscore its author’s fully untethered imagination.

Book Art by Rosy Hammersley

books from the valley — Mon, 27 May 2013 08:29:50 +0000

for when you’ve finished reading ……

by Rosy Hammersley, The Folded Page

other work exhibited at

Bils and Rye Contemporary Art Gallery, Nunnington, York

The Healer by Antti Tuomainen and Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths

books from the valley — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:32:22 +0000

It still seems wrong to thoroughly enjoy crime novels !

Sarah at Crime Pieces (http://crimepieces.wordpress.com/) and Bernadette at Reactions to Reading (http://reactionstoreading.com/) are both responsible for drawing my attention to ‘The Healer’ by Antti Tuomainen. A Finnish writer, Tuomainen who has placed the story in the future, in an edgy world of environmental degradation and increasing lawlessness, has written an ‘unputdownable’ novel.

Then in a totally different way, but no less enjoyable, I’ve just finished reading ‘ Dying Fall’ by Elly Griffiths, the fifth in the Ruth Galloway Series. Again the book was a ‘cosy’ read. ‘Dying Fall’ takes place mainly in the north, Blackpool and Pendle areas and not along the north Norfolk coast where previous titles in the series have been placed, but even so, Elly has produced another interesting read. Woven around Cathbad the crazy Celt and moody Nelson of the north, Ruth is involved in investigating the death of a university friend from the past.

You read it here first…

peabody — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:03:17 +0000

A few weeks ago, during all the hoo-ha about the latest Granta Best of Young British Novelists List, the Guardian interviewed some of the judges who have been responsible for compiling the lists over the last 30 years. One paragraph stood out- A S Byatt (a judge in 1993) said:

You always worry about the writers who are – just – left off. We did commit one injustice about which I have worried ever since. Adam Thorpe’s name had been around our discussions from the very beginning as an obvious contender. But he wasn’t on our list. I think now we had all supposed that he would be at the top of other judges’ lists and given votes to less assured candidates. We decided that we had to stick to our careful decision – there was no one, by then, whom we wanted to displace. I think now we should just have added him to the 20 and made 21.

Reviewing Thorpe’s latest book, Flight, in the same newspaper, D J Taylor declared his long-held impression that Thorpe is one of the most underrated writers on the planet.

Read our article about Adam Thorpe , first written in 2010.

Book covers

peabody — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:46:40 +0000

There’s an excellent item in the press today. Author Maureen Johnson, tired of the stereotypically ‘girlie’ jacket designs imposed on her own books and those of other female writers, asked fans to redesign books by male authors, imagining them as by, and for, females. You can see some of the suggestions in today’s Guardian (the print version!), or follow the links from the online article.

Anyone Fancy Owning a Bookshop?

books from the valley — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:31:24 +0000

Loch Croispol Bookshop in the north of Scotland is for sale. The present owners Crowe and Long have built up a reputation as literary detectives, tracking down out-of-print books.

Loch Croispol Bookshop, Durness, Sutherland

Shropshire bookshops

peabody — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:24:27 +0000

Shropshire is a county which is managing to hang on to its independent bookshops, which include the Castle Bookshop and the wonderful Red Balloon in Ludlow, Burwash Books in Church Stretton, any number of shops in Shrewsbury and the splendid Yarborough House in Bishop’s Castle, home to a good selection of reasonably priced second-hand books, an enormous stock of new and second-hand classical CDs, a coffee shop and two delightful ginger cats…..

NAWG Open Festival of Writing

books from the valley — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:29:12 +0000

NAWG Open Festival of Writing –

Booking for 2013 now open

The festival this year will be held
30th August – 1st September 2013.

Booking form available here

also
at the end of May
Wentworth Writing Weekend

WENTWORTH CASTLE, SOUTH YORKSHIRE

31st May, 1st and 2nd June 2013

NAWG in partnership with Holmfirth Writers Group is holding another Open Writers Retreat.

I can fit in there

books from the valley — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:19:19 +0000

I can fit in there .. now to prove it