Book News

from our favourite local book shop, The Book Case

Friday, 2 July 2010

TOP TEN: June's bestsellers at The Book Case

1. I Know My Own Heart - Anne Lister, ed. Helena Whitbread (£15.99)
There was universal interest in Anne Lister following the broadcast of "The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister" starring Maxine Peake at the end of May which brought a lot of orders for local author Helena Whitbread’s book based on the diaries through our website.

2. Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver (£7.99)
Again in second place, this chunky novel from the author of Poisonwood Bible about a man torn between the warm heart of Mexico and the cold embrace of 1950s McCarthyite America. Making himself useful in the household of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and Trotsky, he inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution.

3. Hebden Bridge: a short history of the area - Peter Thomas (£5.99)
Back near the top is Peter Thomas’s account of the history of our area. Our own Royd Press publication.

3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (£8.99)
The Booker-winning story of Thomas Cromwell - political genius, briber, charmer and bully - as Henry VIII’s pursuit of Anne Boleyn shakes the kingdom. The audio version is our current CD of the Month.

5. The Pennine Way - Paddy Dillon (£12.95)
A new guide with a detailed description of the official route, photographs throughout the seasons and OS map extracts with full information about accommodation, public transport and other facilities available en route.

6. Halifax and Calder Valley Memories (£12.99)
From True North in Halifax, photographs and descriptions of scenes in Halifax, Elland, Brighouse, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden from Edwardian times on, covering events, street scenes, the war years, royal visits, the shops, leisure and transport.

7. Beautiful Cows - Valerie Porter (£12.99)
Photographic portraits of the best in bovine beauties. Beautiful Pigs and Beautiful Sheep are also available.

8. Memories of Ted Hughes 1952-1963 - Daniel Huws (£5.99)
This little book about Ted Hughes in his Cambridge years, and his friendship with Sylvia Plath continues to sell well.

9. Yorkshire Dales Textile Mills - George Ingle (£9.99)
An illustrated Royd Press publication about the many - now mostly forgotten - textile mills there used to be in the Dales.

10. Change of Climate - Hilary Mantel (£8.99)
By this year’s Booker winner, a novel from 1994 described as both a first rate thriller and a literary family saga - from the violent townships of South Africa to the windswept countryside of Norfolk.

NEWS

Local Interest

West Yorkshire Folk Tales - John Billingsley, £12.99
Whether hailing from the open Pennine hills or the close-knit neighbourhoods of the industrial towns, the people of West Yorkshire have always been fond of a good story. Well-known local historian John Billingsley's latest book includes cautionary tales, amusing anecdotes, age-old legends and fantastical myths. Line drawings by a local artist.

Waterside Walks in West Yorkshire - Peter Young (£7.99)
Ranges over the whole of West Yorkshire, including rivers, canals, lakes and reservoirs, and has Todmorden, Hardcastle Crags and Ryburn as the most local, as well as Bronte Country.

Helen of Four Gates - Ethel Carnie Holdsworth (£18.95)
A facsimile reprint of the 1917 novel about hard times in the Pennines, the 1920 silent film of which was shot around Hebden Bridge and recently shown to a capacity audience at the cinema.

Local Authors

Reflections - Rob Ward (£45)
From the locally-based international artist and sculptor, a beautiful big yellow new book illustrating over 30 years of his work. Now in stock! More info here.

All for Poor Jack - Steve Tilston (£7.99)
From the well-known folk musician now based in Hebden Bridge - and also a keen archer! - a gripping historical novel set in 1485. While the merchants of Bristol await the outcome of the Battle of Bosworth, the surviving crew of their exploration ship Swallow are force-marched into the hinterland of the New World by native tribes.

Don't Wear It On Your Head, Don't Stick It Down Your Pants: Poems for Young People - John Siddique (£6.99)
From the well-known Hebden Bridge-based poet, a new version of his popular book of poems for young people. "This book is a celebration of who we are; the good stuff, our amazing senses, language, love, gossip and cheese. John Siddique's poems blast off the page into real life or they can melt as gently as a snowflake on your tongue. Many of the poems in this book were conceived in primary schools, so John has added special bonus material to help you enjoy reading and writing more, and also included is an exclusive interview about what it is to be a poet." Shortlisted for the CLPE Award. We hope to have John doing some children's poetry readings at The Book Case over the summer! Watch this space!

A Useful Punctuation Handbook for Adults - Catherine Taylor (£5.99)
Another helpful book from the Norland-based author and teacher, with lots of useful exercises.

Lookbook: colour and design jewellery - Wendy Wright (£3.99)
Start by colouring in the necklaces in the pictures, and end up designing jewellery from the shapes illustrated! Local author from over the county border.

Local Events

Hebden Bridge Arts Festival

We're midway through the festival and the literary events are proving very popular! - John Morrison reminded us of the mockable side of Hebden Bridge, Martin Parr talked about his time at the Albert Street Workshop in the 1970's and Louis de Bernieres and Mavis Cheek talked about their work to a large audience in Mytholmroyd. Martin Parr's photos of everyday life in the Upper Calder Valley continues at the Festival office.

Still to come:

Saturday 3 July: Long Nose Puppets present Penguin at Little Theatre, Hebden Bridge, 11.00-11.45am. We're stocking the book Penguin by Polly Dunbar.

Sunday 4 July: Going the Distance: Novel Writing Workshops with Anna Chilvers at Hebden Bridge Library, 10am-12.30pm, 2.00-4.30pm. We stock Anna's successful novel Falling through Clouds.

Monday 5 July: Alison Weir and Suzannah Dunn: In Search of Henry's Women at Little Theatre, Hebden Bridge, 8pm-10pm. Two historical novelists (Alison Weir is also a popular historian) renowned for their work about the Tudors discuss Henry VIII's hapless wives.

Sunday 11 July: Trinidadian poet, artist and cook John Lyons returns to Hebden Bridge for a Cook Up in the Trades Club Kitchen, Hebden Bridge Trades Club, 12.30-2pm. Janet Oosthuysen will be supplying a 3-course meal from John's Trinidadian recipes - and we have Cook-Up in a Trini Kitchen and his latest poetry book No Apples in Eden in stock.

Sunday 4 July - Sunday 15 August: Paula Rego Recent Prints Exhibition at Artsmill, Wed-Sun., 11am-5pm.

And "Berringden Brow" author Jill Robinson will be appearing on the Festival Bus with her latest book "A Place like This" on 4th July and 10 July. We stock Jill's humorous trilogy about life in a town not too far from Hebden Bridge.

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED BOOKS

We highlight every month books we think are of particular interest: from adult fiction and non-fiction, a children's book and a CD.

Adult fiction: Travelling Light - Tove Janssen (£7.99). This newly translated collection of stories brilliantly evokes the shifting scenes and restlessness of summer. A professor arrives in a beautiful Spanish village only to find that her host has left and she must cope with fractious neighbours alone; a holiday on a Finnish Island is thrown into disarray when a disconcerting young boy arrives; an artist returns to an old flat to discover that her life has been eerily usurped.

Adult non-fiction: Plot: A Biography of an English Acre - Madeleine Bunting (£8.99). After "Guardian" columnist Madeleine Bunting’s deeply conservative father’s death, in an attempt to understand him better, she began to explore his passionate, lifelong attachment to a small plot of land in North Yorkshire, and uncovered traces of its Neolithic inhabitants and of the Cistercian monks. The result sheds a fascinating light on what a contested, layered place England is, and on what belonging to a place might mean to all of us.

Children's book: Eating Things on Sticks - Anne Fine (£5.99). Harry is in trouble. He's burned down the family kitchen so now has to spend a week of his summer hols with his uncle Tristram - who's heading off to stay with a new girlfriend - Morning Glory - on a tiny British island. Harry doesn't expect it to be a lot of fun - with just a wacky competition at the end of the week to look forward to. Ages 8 -12yrs

CD: Venice by Jan Morris, Read by Sebastian Comberti - Naxos CDs (£16.99). To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first publication of one of the finest travel books on the world's most famous tourist destination! "To be heard on the way to Venice, whilst there, and on return."

See Book News 8 (6 June 2010)
See Book News 7 (1 April 2010)
See Book News 6 (2 March 2010)
See Book News 5 (4 Jan 2010)
See Book News 4 (3rd Dec 09)
See Book News 3 (3rd Nov 09)
See Book News 2 (10th Oct 09)
See Book News 1 (2nd Oct 09)

See more at The Book Case

Or on HebWeb books