Mr B's Blog of Bloggy Delights

Marvellous Monday Book Group 19th Sep: The Prestige

2011-09-26T16:29:00.004+01:00

Although this has been published under the SF Masterworks banner, ChrisopherPriest's book is rather lacking in sci fidetails. In fact, as MM Book grouperChris pointed out, there is really justone sentence that you can stamp the 'sci fi'label on. As a tale of warring magicians - one naturally gifted (Borden), one financially in a position to buy elaborate equipment (Angiers), it is pretty

What's the technical term for half a Booker Shortlist?

2011-09-12T20:30:00.013+01:00

A small diversion. I have now read three of the six Booker Shortlisted titles and I believe that even on this sample, the judges have made a rod for their own backs. All utterly different, all utterly brilliant in their own way. It's like comparing apples with Azerbaijan. How on earth are they going to decide? Here's my twopenn'orth to muddy the waters a bit more... 1) The Sense of an Ending by

Ulysses Support Group: Oxen of the Sun

2011-09-05T15:23:00.002+01:00

Thank goodness we had the foresight to organise some sustenance for this meeting (thanks to James at The Salamander) - this was one of the longest and widest ranging discussions thus far. Not surprising really, given that even Joyce himself describes this section as the most difficult episode (although characteristically, he leaves it ambiguous as to whether he is talking about the subject matter

Kate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books 15-19

2011-08-19T14:56:00.009+01:00

OK, I admit it; I may have gone a little off course with my reading year, having just read eight fiction titles in a row (oops!). I promise I’ll get back on track soon; in the mean-time here are my latest reads. No. 15. “The Best of Everything” by Rona Jaffe (Penguin Books, 2011) With a cast resembling the Sex and the City girls (maybe a little less racy) and a set-up that mirrors that of the

Marvellous Monday Book Group: Travels with my Aunt

2011-08-13T11:32:00.008+01:00

Lots of willing travelling companions for Grahame Greene's unconventional Aunt Augusta - so many turned up for this one that we had to split the group in two. So, this post will only be able to cover half the meeting! For those of you who were in the upstairs group, feel free to chip in. I should also mention that Chris provided some excellent cake, which meant that despite us not being prepared

Ulysses Support Group: Nausicaa

2011-08-06T20:30:00.002+01:00

Any sympathetic feelings for Bloom in the last section are tested here. Dirty old man or romantic fantasist? As a voyeur, watching three young Irish girls by the sea at dusk, Joyce spares us no details as to the desire felt by Bloom. Homer didn't quite have Odysseus messing his trousers, but there are strong parallels in this section again between his encounter with the beautiful women washing

Ulysses Support Group: Cyclops

2011-07-28T12:55:00.003+01:00

So, the unease of Bloom as an outsider in Dublin is suddenly unleashed as he confronts the bigotry (one eyed-ness) of the patrons of Barney Kiernan's bar. Anti-semitism is overtly articulated. Bloom finds himself no longer amongst intellectual 'betters' or his own peers. Now, he appears the most informed man in the room - which has it's advantages, since he can answer back and hold his own.

Ulysses Support Group: Sirens

2011-06-29T10:36:00.004+01:00

Big pats on the back all round as we realise we have a third of the book under our belts. This section produced some polarised opinions. Some felt it was unneccessarily inscrutable and that Joyce could have written something just as evocative but more accessible; others found that the onomatopeic style led to some innovative and telling descriptions. Claire wins the 'close reading award' for

Marvellous Monday Book Group: 27th June 2011

2011-06-28T10:15:00.007+01:00

In many ways, Italo Calvino'sCastle of Crossed Destinies isa perfect book group read. Thepremise is intriguing: in a nodto Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,travellers meet up at a castlebut find they have lost thepower of speech. Only a packof Tarot cards can help them communicate their stories. As the cards are laid upon the table, a matrix of stories is created. The cards take on different meanings

Ulysses Support Group Meeting:The Wandering Rocks

2011-06-15T10:01:00.003+01:00

Everyone agrees that given the diverse nature of each of the separate sections we have read so far, restricting ourselves to reading just one section works best. And this section was chock full of activity. Here is a confluence of characters and events that can be seen as the 'centre' of the novel. Myriad characters, all encroach on each others' stories - sometimes interacting, sometimes in the

Kate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books 12-14

2011-05-31T13:43:00.006+01:00

No.12 "How I Lost the War" by Filippo Bologna (Pushkin Press, 2011)In a rare B team read-off Nic and I decided to pick a novel and read it simultaneously. We both loved Pietro Grossi’s “Fists” (so much so we’ve invited him to be a special guest at one of our Book Lovers Unite! Events in July) and so when we spotted Pushkin had recently published another book by a young Italian author, “How I

Ulysses Support Group Meeting: Lestrygonians & Scylla and Charybdis

2011-05-25T10:47:00.003+01:00

An ambitious 'two section' session, which again highlights the range of styles that Joyce foists upon the reader in quick succession. Bloom's chatty, internal monologue as he decides where he will lunch, is full of digressions, unfinished thoughts and memories. By contrast, the section in the library with Stephen Dedalus holding court, is an academic 'showing off' session - which requires quite a

And the Award for The Independent Bookseller of the Year goes to... Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights! Hooray!

2011-05-18T12:46:00.012+01:00

Brimming with excitement and a little bleary-eyed, the Mr B's team have returned from the Book Industry Conference and Bookseller Industry Awards as the proud owners of the Independent Bookseller of the Year Award for 2011!The very glitzy awards took place at the Park Lane Hilton in London and were hosted by Danny Wallace (of "Yes Man" fame). We, the B Team (minus Lucinda and Ed who were much

Ulysses Support Group: Aeolus

2011-05-10T21:27:00.004+01:00

Books and food seem to be following me around...this evening's meeting at The Salamander was accompanied by some delicious bar food (thank you Rachel et al!) - and we probably needed the extra sustenance to tackle Joyce's unique presentation of the late morning exploits within the walls of the Freeman's Journal and Evening Telegraph offices. And if you think that was wordy, that's nothing to the

Marvellous Monday Book Group: 9th May

2011-05-10T14:13:00.005+01:00

A remarkably sunnyEaster holiday periodaccompanied by thegorgeous prose of J.L Carr...what couldpossibly be better?Not much, accordingto the MarvellousMonday group, whowere all beguiled byA Month in the Country. We completed our 'idyllic English summer' theme with some scones (made by me, courtesy of Oliver Peyton's utterly reliable British Baking) and an impressive Victoria Sponge (made by Chris

Ulysses Support Group Update: Meeting 3

2011-04-26T21:09:00.006+01:00

In Penny's absence,I thought I'd pen acouple of notesfollowing the latestmeeting of herUlysses SupportGroup...Well done to the 5 of us that eschewed chocolate chomping for literary chewiness and pitched up at The Salamander to discuss the next instalment of Joyce's epic.Pages 53 - 111 (of the OUP Edition text, available from Mr B's) were up for discussion. This is the bit where we meet Mr Leopold

Kate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books 8 - 11

2011-04-23T16:08:00.005+01:00

8. ? by ? (?, 2011)Book eight demands a rather enigmatic blog as I am not yet able to reveal exactly what it is, so instead, here's a few teasers...~ It is a psychological novella revolving around a group of four male friends.~ The writing is astute, descriptive and analytical.~ I thought it was excellent and I read the whole thing in a day.9. "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene (Vintage,

Marvellous Monday Book Group: 18th April 2011

2011-04-21T14:12:00.011+01:00

Good weather prevails atthe Marvellous Mondaybook group. Sunshinestreamed in throughthe windows -completelyat odds with the drizzly,bleak landscape ofGeorges Rodenbach'sBruges-La-Morte.This is a story of one man'sobsession with the memory of his dead wife and the novel explores deadness in many forms - including Bruges itself, the 'dead town entombed in its stone quais, with the arteries of its

Mr B's 2011 Reading Journey Book 6 (New Mexico) - The Blackbirder by Dorothy B. Hughes

2011-04-03T17:10:00.004+01:00

Moving Westwards again in my Reading Journey I've just hurtled through New Mexico in the hands of one of the queens of American suspense, Dorothy B. Hughes. Whilst Penguin have recently reissued her better known "In a Lonely Place" and Persephone Books have reissued her late novel "The Expendable Man" (even if Hughes does sit awkwardly alongside some of the Bloomsbury Group types that Persephone

Mr B's 2011 Reading Journey Book 5 (back to Texas again) - The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry

2011-04-03T15:23:00.005+01:00

Reading Larry McMurtry's "Roads" back in January (blogged about previously) left me wanting to read his magnus opus "Lonesome Dove", until I saw quite how Magnus it really is. After dismissing that 1000 page option I decided instead to read "The Last Picture Show" his classic American "coming-of-age" novel set in Thalia, Texas - a fictional version of his real home town Archer City, Texas. This

Mr B's 2011 Reading Journey Book 4 (Arkansas) - The Dog of the South by Charles Portis

2011-04-03T10:05:00.006+01:00

After my annual Bath Lit Fest and aftermath blogging hiatus I'm back to prove I haven't just stopped reading. From Texas, oddly, I decided to briefly go North to Arkansas, mainly because, with "True Grit" competing strongly in the Oscars, I really wanted to read Charles Portis' other novel in print in the UK, "The Dog of the South". It's not exactly evocative of Arkansas, but the plot description

Kate's Reading Challenge 2011: Book Seven

2011-03-29T17:51:00.002+01:00

7. "Just my Type" by Simon Garfield (Profile Books, 2010)Not just for font geeks or graphic designers, my second non-fiction read of the year "Just my Type" reveals the fascinating stories behind typefaces. Written with a healthy dose of sarcasm, Garfield describes how type has evolved over time, how our best-known fonts came into being and the role of typefaces in branding and advertising before

Lucinda's Reading Challenge: Now for the Science Bit...

2011-03-24T15:31:00.003Z

Obviously, ANYTHING on theMr B's science shelf is going tobe a good read, but I have tosay Michael Brooks' 13 ThingsThat Don't Make Sense is abit of a find. In addition to(paraphrasing DonaldRumsfeld) some 'knownunkowns': What's reallyout there in our universe?and What is the elusivedifference between kiving and dead matter? Michael Brooks also covers some intriguing 'unknown unknowns': Does cold

Marvellous Monday Book Group: 14th March

2011-03-16T10:35:00.010Z

The weather on Monday eveningwas disappointinglybenign. No rainlashed against the(single glazed) window panes of Mr B's,the wind was absent and thetemperature almostbalmy. We weregathered to discussCharlie Connelly's Attention All Shipping - a travelogue charting the mystical, poetic and remote place names of the Radio 4 institution that is The Shipping Forecast. The book is divided into segments

Kate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books Five and Six

2011-03-08T17:13:00.004Z

5. "The Howling Miller" by Arto Paasilinna (Canongate, 2007)“The Howling Miller” is a book that I’ve recommended to many people (based on Nic’s rave reviews) but one which has actually been sat on my “to read” shelf for an embarrassingly long time. So I finally decided to check out what all the fuss was about and I must say I wasn’t disappointed.Gunnar is a troubled miller, who moves to a small

Libby's reading year: a quick catch up!

2011-02-20T11:08:00.013Z

For someone so excited to write my first blog post I realise I have slipped under the radar recently but although I have not been blogging I have been reading as much as ever! This means I have three very different books to fill you in on.The House by the Thames: and the People Who Lived There by Gillian TindallIn my last post I promised that after reading The House By the Thames: and the People

All NF and no F makes Lucinda a Dull Girl

2011-02-13T16:53:00.004Z

Well, I'm poised to move onto the Scienceshelf at Mr B's and have a fascinating titlelined up: Michael Brooks' 13 Things That Don't Make Sense. Before I dive into thatmind-bending treat, I thought I'd pen afew thoughts on my final 'holiday read'.Everyone in the shop raves about spymaster Eric Ambler and has their ownfavourite - but Uncommon Danger isthe one title none of us has read yet,so I

Oh please, not that one again...a list for bored parents everywhere (by Mrs B)

2011-02-13T16:35:00.004Z

It would seem that organising bookselling at the Bath Lit Fest and bringing up a small child leaves little time for reading - at least not for reading books without rhyme, pictures or soggy-edged corners. The pitiful few pages I manage in a day mean my own reading plan is limping slowy along, awaiting the end of the festival. In the meantime I go to bed and dream of plum pie in the sun, tigers

Lucinda's Reading Challenge 2011: Psychology

2011-02-06T16:45:00.004Z

I'm fighting jet lag but just had to pen a couple of thoughts about Richard Sennett's ace bookThe Craftsman. Even the coveris fab (and drew the customofficial's eye when my bagswere searched at the airport!) The good news is that this is thefirst of a trilogy that Sennett iswriting about the philosophy ofmaterial culture. This first instalment is all about how weperceive craftsmanship and the

Lucinda's Reading Challenge: Philosophy Section

2011-01-28T15:09:00.006Z

I'm blogging from a secret holidaylocation and although poolside might not be the most appropriate place for a heavyweight piece ofpolitical philosophy, I can't deny that there are advantages to reading this book in an environmentisolated from media bombardment. John Gray's Black Mass is a thoughtprovoking and serious examination of historical (Bolshevik Revolution)and contemporary (War on Terror

Mr B's 2011 Reading Journey Book 3 (Texas) - End Zone by Don DeLillo

2011-01-26T23:14:00.006Z

As Chris Rea once said, "Warm winds blowing, Heating blue sky, And a road that goes on forever, I'm going to Texas". Aaah. What warming thoughts for a January evening with a violent and chilly wind blowing into Wiltshire fresh from the Russian steppe. Fans of high literature will be delighted to learn that I opted to go beyond the Road to Hell liner notes for my Texan read, instead going for an

Nic's 2011 Reading Journey - Book 2 (a first diversion)

2011-01-25T22:06:00.004Z

Having made the decision to head West in my Reading Year journey, from Tim Gautreaux's Louisiana into Texas, I then spent far too long mulling over an appropriate Texan read. While I was thinking about it, I made my first permitted diversion - to read a book about journeying. The way I see it, any time I fancy reading a book about journeying this year as an interlude to my round the world journey

Long Lost Friends

2011-01-22T11:11:00.009Z

When you spend a lot of your time recommending books, you tend to focus on recent books the may not yet have seen, or else you delve into your brain to recall great reads from the past. Inevitably though, I forget some of the fantastic books I read many moons ago. So last night I had a good rummage into the dustier corners of my bookshelves and pulled out a handful of old friends I never remember

Customer tip No.2 "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter" by Tom Franklin

2011-01-20T20:08:00.005Z

Well, so far, so very good with customer recommendations. This book is a gripping read and I have no nails left to prove it. It fits into the increasingly popular "literary crime fiction" genre - not one I am hugely familiar with, although I have read a few recently (my favourite so far being "Black Water Rising"). Set in deepest rural Mississippi, yall find it real hard to put down once you've

Lucinda's Reading Challenge: Short Detour

2011-01-19T22:32:00.010Z

Black Mass is dense enough to have itsown gravity field - which is my speak for"I'm having to read it s-l-o-w-l-y".I shall be reporting back shortly...butfor some lighter Philosophical relief, Ihave been dipping into Roland Barthes'Mythologies, a selection of essays writtenin the middle of the 20th century. Thespotlight is thrown onto a diverse selectionof icons, signs and behaviours

Kate's Reading Challenge 2011: Book Four

2011-01-19T11:51:00.003Z

4. "True Things About Me" by Deborah Kay Davies (Canongate, 2010)I can't honestly say that I enjoyed reading this book, but then I think you'd have to be a pretty strange person to enjoy a sickeningly up-close and personal account of an abusive relationship and consequentially a mental breakdown!This novel is told from the perspective of its unnamed protagonist, a girl who in terms of background

Vlashka picks out customer tip No.2.

2011-01-18T09:51:00.005Z

To add a little drama to my reading plan, here's how the choosing process worked. I picked out a bunch of dog biscuits, nominally gave them each a book title from those suggested by customers and lined them up on the floor in the lounge while Mr B kept hold of Vlashka in the next room. I called her through and after some initial hesitation, presumably not believing her eyes, she went straight for

Customer tip No.1 "All My Friends are Superheroes" by Andrew Kaufman

2011-01-16T19:56:00.007Z

So, thank you Mr R for your fantastic recommendation. I loved it. It made me smile. A lot. More of a novella at just over 100 pages, this is a quirky, funny, bonkers little book - perfect for a (shortish) train ride or a (longish) bath. An off-the-wall, uplifting (but not remotely slushy) tale of love. All of non-superhero Tom's friends are superheros, but not in the way you might think......you

Libby's Reading Challenge: Book One

2011-01-16T13:26:00.006Z

Well, it looks like its time for me to start blogging. This is very exciting for me, a so far blogging novice! Here is the first of many many blogs reviewing books from my reading year.I have decided to start what I like to call my reading digression. I’m intending on reading books that are related in some small way, whether it be a theme, setting or writing style; basically anything that

Well if everyone else has a 2011 Reading Challenge....here's Nic's

2011-01-13T21:54:00.007Z

As many of my regular customers know (and anyone else could figure out from the rather sporadic 2010 blog entries) my bid to read classics that everyone would have assumed a bookshop owner had already read lost all its momentum in mid-March at the hands of Wuthering Heights. Suffice to say, I was not a fan. This year I've gone for a reading challenge that has more flexibility in terms of book

Kate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books one, two and three

2011-01-13T17:07:00.005Z

This year all of the Mr B’s Team have taken on different reading challenges, so here’s my plan. For every four books that I read I will make sure that one is a non-fiction book, in a bid to address my deep-seated fear of factual reading. So without any hesitation here are my first three reads of the year… 1. The Concert Ticket by Olga Grushin (Penguin, 2010) If you missed Mr B’s gorgeous 2010

Kate’s Reading Challenge 2010: The Result

2011-01-13T15:19:00.012Z

Somewhere in the blur of bookselling summer I stopped blogging… but I didn’t stop reading, so here in a few of sentences are the rest of my reads from 2010:No.23. City of Thieves by David Benioff (Sceptre, 2009)This book sat on the shelves of Mr B’s for some time before I decided (based on rave reviews from some friends and family) that it might be worth a look. The story throws together a naïve

Lucinda's Reading Challenge: Book One

2011-01-12T22:40:00.004Z

OK, so 2011 is going to be a basement odyssey for me:I'm working my way clockwise round the lower groundfloor shelves of the shop, section by section.First up is The Case For God author Karen Armstrong'snew offering Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.This probably knocks most New Year's Resolutionsinto a cocked hat, given that it is a global call to er....whatever the opposite of 'arms' is.

And now Mr B gets off the mark for 2011

2011-01-12T22:09:00.004Z

Just finished my first book of the year but commenting on it is a tough task. The book is "The Missing" by Tim Gautreaux which has become a "Mr B's legend" over the last 12 months despite not being on the bestseller lists elsewhere. My colleague Ed read "The Missing" this time last year and began recommending it like mad. It was his favourite book of the year and various other members of Team B

Your Bookseller Needs You! Mrs B's 2011 Reading Plan

2011-01-08T22:45:00.005Z

Everyone at Mr B's has an exciting new reading plan for the year and I'm going to join in, even if I am at home looking after Baby B most of the time. My first day back in the New Year and a customer (Mr R) came in to collect a book he had ordered, a wee little book called "All My Friends are Superheros" by Andrew Kaufman. It had just arrived in a big delivery which we hadn't yet unpacked and as

Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras. A random read by Mrs B over Christmas

2011-01-03T20:48:00.004Z

We WILL all be better at blogging this year. We really will. And to kick start the year here are a few words on a thoughtful (and very well translated) novel I read over Christmas this year. Set in 1970’s Argentina, a young boy is whisked out of school by his parents fleeing to a safe house to escape the new military ruling power. I was expecting a high octane,

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 20-22

2010-08-06T12:01:00.004+01:00

No.20. "The Slap" by Christos Tsiolkas, (Atlantic Books, 2010)This is the book that everybody seems to be talking about and it's place on the Man Booker longlist will undoubtedly secure a fresh surge of interest. So let's begin by saying it's worthy of all this hype surrounding it...It begins at a barbecue, friends and family have gathered, too much food has been prepared and as the drink begins

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Whatever Happened to the Classics (episode 2)

2010-07-20T23:32:00.007+01:00

Zeitoun put me in the mood for some more page-turning reading so I went back to the classics but in "short-boys-classics" mode. Here were the next quick-fire three with very brief assessments:Book 5 - Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger - No idea, given my obsession with American fiction, how I managed not to read this until now. Still, judging by sales since Salinger's death, I'm not the only one

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Whatever Happened to the Classics (episode 1)

2010-07-20T22:44:00.004+01:00

Somewhere along the line I stopped blogging about my year of reading the classics that you'd have thought a bookshop owner had already read. I think it was shortly after I stopped reading them.Here's what happened......Episode 1. Still reeling from the miserable experience of reading the first half of Wuthering Heights, my fourth book of the year was a recent book instead of another classic. I

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 18 and 19

2010-07-01T17:14:00.003+01:00

I've just read a couple of absolute stunners! No.18. "The Financial Lives of the Poets" by Jess Walter (Penguin, 2010) First up a proof copy of this debut novel due out in August this year. This is very funny and genuinely moving account of an ordinary guy struggling to protect his family and his finances during the recent economic crisis. When Matt Prior's idea for a publication combining

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 15 - 17

2010-06-22T13:50:00.009+01:00

I've gotten a little behind with my blogging (and more to the point with my reading year - yikes!) so here are my latest three reads:No.15. "The News Where you Are" by Catherine O'Flynn (Penguin, 2010)I absolutely loved "What was Lost" (Catherine's debut, Costa Award-winning novel) so I was so excited about Catherine's new book due out in July this year and I'm pleased to say that I wasn't

The Big One - England v. USA

2010-06-14T10:50:00.008+01:00

But what you really want to know is who we choose to represent England and USA - certainly the two World Cup Nations offering us the widest choice of potential bookish representatives. With the luxury of choice we added a criterion to our decision-making - we tried to pick not just a slim excellent novel but a slim excellent novel with a sporty undertone.With that, the English choice made

Mr B's World Cup of Books: Day 2

2010-06-14T09:48:00.009+01:00

Day 2 brought the World Cup fever to England, but before we took centre stage, up stepped Greece and South Korea.Representing Greece for our version of things is one of their leading contemporary novelists Panos Karnezis with his latest translated release "The Convent" (set, confusingly, in a delapidated and remote convent in the Spanish sierra).Up against him for South Korea, our first bit of

Mr B's World Cup of Books:Day 1

2010-06-12T10:43:00.014+01:00

The vuvuzelas blared, a continent united in joy, the World Cup finally reaches African soil, and as the dust settles, two key players line up in the tunnel for the first Mr B's World Cup of Books match-up: For South Africa, a new literary light taking his place as South Africa's representative ahead of maestros such as Coetzee and Gordimer. Damon Galgut with "The Impostor"And his opposition

Mr B's World Cup of Books

2010-06-11T17:37:00.006+01:00

Four years ago Mr B's opened its doors, sorry "door" for the very first time. The country was in the midst of a baking hot June of World Cup fever.We decided against displaying the same old football biographies and picture books and instead went for the far more complicated and approach of tracking down a great book from each of the nations competing in the World Cup. And thus the Mr B's World

Kate's Reading Challenge: Book Fourteen

2010-05-25T15:33:00.003+01:00

No.14. "The Quickening Maze" by Adam Foulds (Vintage, 2010)I've always been a big fan of English poet John Clare (I even made a short film about him at University) so this has been on my 'must read' list for some time now."The Quickening Maze" depicts a portion of the time that Clare spent at High Beach Asylum in Essex where he was incarcenated for four years before walking all the way home to

Kates Reading Challenge: Book Thirteen

2010-05-05T15:56:00.003+01:00

No.13 "The Rehearsal" by Eleanor Catton (Granta, 2010)OK so back to contemporary reads for my latest read. This is a fabulous debut novel from Eleanor Catton, proving her worthy of her place on the Shortlist for the Guardian First Book Award."The Rehearsal" tells two overlapping stories; one of an affair between a student and a teacher at a high school, and the second of a group of drama

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Twelve

2010-04-24T15:45:00.004+01:00

No.12. 'Brighton Rock' by Graham Greene (Penguin: Viking, 2004)After a brief affair with new Ian McEwan, 'Solar' (I'll come back to this one at a later date I think!) I've turned my attentions to something a little more classic yet again (oops!) - my first Graham Greene.This took me an embarrassingly long time to read but it was fabulous! Set in seedy 30's Brighton Fred Hale is the vulnerable

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Eleven

2010-03-31T10:40:00.002+01:00

No.11: 'The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim' by Jonathan Coe (Penguin:Viking, 2010)Due out at the end of May this year, Jonathan Coe's latest novel is a book to look forward to; funny and refreshing ' The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim' is very much a novel of our era. We meet Maxwell Sim - a recently-divorced, slightly dippy salesman - in a very reflective mood, as he observes a beautiful

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Ten

2010-03-30T11:28:00.005+01:00

No.10: 'The Unnamed' by Joshua Ferris (Penguin - Viking, 2010)Fans of Joshua Ferris's wonderful ' Then we Came to the End' will be surprised by 'The Unnamed.' Ferris's new novel is also split between the office life (this time a law office) and the home life of it's characters, but here is where the similarities between the two books end.'The Unnamed' is the very surreal story of Tim Farnsworth,

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Book 3 - Withering Lows by Emily Bronte

2010-03-24T17:54:00.004Z

Now if a few lovers of Oscar Wilde might disapprove of me feeling underwhelmed by "The Picture of Dorian Gray", then I'm sure a few more will disapprove of me being unable (for the time being) to finish "Wuthering Heights". Disclaimer first - this was the book I was reading during and just before the Bath Lit Fest which meant the only time I really had to read it was very late at night for about

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Book 2 - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

2010-03-24T17:28:00.004Z

So my own slackness at blogging my year of reading the "books that you'd expect a bookshop owner to have already read" has been pitiful. I plead only two things (a) the behemoth of a time-swallower that is the Bath Literature Festival and (b) the ploddiness of my third book of the year, about which more shortly. Before I get onto moaning about Book 3, I should quickly comment on Dorian Gray which

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 6-9

2010-03-10T12:17:00.008Z

I've been rather tardy with my blog updating with all of the madness of the Bath Literature Festival 2010 so here's a brief update of my four most recent reads....No.6: 'Foreign Affairs' by Alison Lurie (Random House, 2006)Alison Lurie is the author of one of my favourite books 'The Nowhere City', (which is horribly out of print - but of course Mr B's can track down a second hand copy for anyone

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Five

2010-02-18T15:30:00.002Z

No.5. 'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much' by Allison Hoover Bartlett(Riverhead Books, 2009)My first non-fiction read of the year was this biography of shameless book thief John Gilkey, who drove many a rare book dealer to distraction with his love for books that he couldn't afford. As such Gilkey saw it as his right to take the titles he so dearly wanted from book fairs, and dealers across

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Four

2010-02-09T15:54:00.003Z

No. 4. 'Trespass' by Rose Tremain(Chatto & Windus, 2010)One of the many perks of working at Mr B's is the abundance of shiny proofs that we receive before books officially hit the shelves. As the brilliant 'Restoration' is one of my favourite books, I was particularly excited to spot the new Rose Tremain amongst the latest arrivals.Tremain's latest is set amongst the mysterious winding landscapes

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 1-3

2010-02-04T15:44:00.012Z

So far I've managed to read a measly three books this year... No.1. 'All the Names' by Jose Saramago(Harvill Press,1999)Not the most contemporary start, but I've had my eye on this one on the shelves at Mr B's for some time now, and it was worth the wait. 'All the Names' is the wonderfully quirky story of a clerk at the central registry who delights in checking the mundane details of minor local

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: The Grand Plan

2010-02-04T15:03:00.005Z

Last year I set myself the fairly meaty task of reading 40 new books in twelve months. The books ranged from the so-amazing-I'd-rather-read-than-sleep variety (e.g. 'Prep' by Curtis Sittenfeld and Colm Toibin's 'Brooklyn') to utterly terrible ('Dreams from the Endz' by Fazia Guene). Somehow I succeeded on my mission... but only by the skin of my teeth. So this year I've decided to up the ante

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Book 1 - Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

2010-02-02T20:54:00.003Z

I told you there were some biggies I hadn't read. You ain't seen nothin' yet.So I began the year with Madame Bovary. Not only had I not read it, this was also a perfect starting point as I'd somehow managed to avoid any detailed plot knowledge beyond the fact that Emma was supposedly no angel.I read the Everyman translation, not for some sensible reason such as recommendation of the translation

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - An Amnesty - The Rules

2010-02-02T20:32:00.003Z

This year I'm going to read the books that you'd have thought someone who sets up their own bookshop would (should?) have already read.As far as possible I'm going to stick to the biggies. The recognised masterpieces (or a recognised masterpiece) by authors that I've either never read at all or have read very little. The list is shamefully long. I have read lots of classics but because of large

Event Preview: Interview with Mari Strachan

2009-08-24T14:56:00.009+01:00

We liked Mari Strachan's debut novel, 'The Earth Hums in B Flat' so much that we've invited her to come and talk about it at Mr B's on 16th September (www.mrbsemporium.com/events.htm). We're so excited about her impending visit that we've asked her a few taster questions. Here's what she had to say.....Mr B: One of the things I loved about the 'The Earth Hums in B Flat' were the smaller

Event Preview: Interview with Sophie Hannah

2009-08-24T12:35:00.006+01:00

In anticipation of the fabulously multi-talented Sophie Hannah's upcoming visit to Mr B's (www.mrbsemporium.com/events.htm) we asked the poet and short story/thriller writer a few warm-up questions... Mr B: You’ve written many different genres including poetry, short story collections and of course thrillers such as “The Other Half Lives”. Does your writing process differ greatly from genre to

Twitter and Shelfari and Leah

2009-08-02T11:30:00.004+01:00

Embarassing lack of blogs recently on this so-called blog of bloggy delights. Blog of not much going on more like. Well we've got an excuse or two:Here's the main one. That's Leah B, now 2 months old and already finished 4 of the 6 Jane Austen novels of course. Although she found them a bit fussy and intends to try something Another one is that we've been playing a bit on twitter. If you're not

World's Second Best Book Shop

2009-05-06T18:44:00.006+01:00

One of our customers went on hols to Buenos Aires and we told her that we'd heard about a fab bookshop in an old theatre over there. So she sought it out and brought us back some great photos of it. Thanks Emma!

Ask the Author - Marie Phillips

2009-04-22T19:49:00.004+01:00

Ask the Author - Marie PhillipsMr B's Tremendous Tuesday Book Group recently discussed "God's Behaving Badly" by debut novelist Marie Phillips. We put together a few questions based on the lively discussion that was enjoyed by all present and put them to Marie by e-mail. Here's what she had to say: Mr B - Some of our book group members wondered whether Terry Pratchett’s book Small Gods provided

That's all, folks

2009-03-08T19:53:00.006Z

Right. Sunday done. Nine days of Festival fun been and gone in a flash. So what was the best bit? Who's the best person to ask? If you're looking for a bit of insider knowledge, who you gonna call?You could start by leafing through somebody's diary for starters. Or, ask Frances Wilson, author of The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth, who has done the leafing for us.Ms Wilson doesn't think Dorothy

Blogs of Inexperience: A Retrospective

2009-03-08T09:41:00.004Z

It is a Sunday morning in the year 2109. The last day of the Bath LitFest. Coffee cup in one hand, croissant in the other, you're stumbling dozily out into the morning air. You're hung over. You may have had a one too many tots of Highland Park last night. You're late for a reading. You're writing a blog for the official booksellers of the Fest and need some material for today's post. It's just

Think global, drink local

2009-03-07T16:25:00.012Z

I've had goose-pimples twice already today. Perhaps a literature festival wouldn't be an instant thought for thrill-seekers but two talks today really got my blood flowing. Firstly, a talk with Justin Marozzi and John Gimlette, chaired by local travel writer (is that an oxymoron?) and lecturer Joe Roberts. Both writers have documented their experiences with interesting travelling. An encounter

Fambly

2009-03-06T18:19:00.005Z

More queue-based gossip for you, fellow book-worms. Young actor, writer and all-round good-egg Ben Crystal caused a bit of a stir at book-signing time. His energetic, interactive talk was so poular that theme-park style queues quickly formed. It's been a bit of a week for dynasties. It's something writers will often, understandably, distance themselves from to prove their own worth but, just for

Longest Line in Guildhall History (and still time for some family advice)

2009-03-06T08:18:00.004Z

Mr B dropping in to report that the signing line for Alexander McCall-Smith was eventually completed with every customer trotting into the night gleefully clasping their new signed books. The longest signing line in Guildhall History I overheard one official saying, but the incredibly charming Mr McCall-Smith still had time and energy to sign a mighty pile of them for the Mr B's festival shop

Blooming heck!

2009-03-06T00:08:00.007Z

Today's tenuous link: green. The Festival's palette; the seats at the Guildhall; my ill-advised cords-and-wool-shirt combo today (cor, what a scorcher!); the fingers of the British.Andrea Wulf (favourite flowers - lupin? Ho ho) presented from her book The Brother Gardeners, adding to the Festival's richly global fare. So far, amongst others, we've had a Pakistani talking about America, we've had

Who wouldn't want to come back?

2009-03-04T22:39:00.004Z

Former child-soldier, writer and rapper Emmanuel Jal told me he'll be back. Bath has clearly made a good impression. Between sell-out readings at the Fest he was at City of Bath College doing some fine work with music students there and he enjoyed himself so much he vowed he'd return.Meanwhile, Sun Shuyun gave a Chinese view of Tibet free of jingoism, free of the Party line, free of hippy cliches

Wednesday

2009-03-04T08:45:00.004Z

Morning all.On Monday at the Festival I bumped into Frances Ann King, a recent graduate from the BA Creative Writing at Bath Spa. She's already making waves as a poet in her own right - see, for example, Editor's choice this month in Rialto magazine. Excellent stuff. If you fancy catching up with what the current crop from the MA Creative Writing are up to, check out New Writing at 8.30pm at the

Funny weather we're having

2009-03-03T21:19:00.009Z

Have you braved the weather then? You brave things! What did you see tonight? That's not a hypothetical question - let's get some conversation going here. It's strangely quiet, but I know you're out there in the darkness. Don't let me hog all the limelight. I know there were people left itching for the microphone earlier tonight. Bronwen Maddox, Ziauddin Sardar and Scott Lucas engaged in a

A rose by any other name

2009-03-03T07:18:00.006Z

Ah. The breath of the morning. The sparrow's croak. Breakfast. On Radio 4, UniversityChallengeGate rages on. Ah. How are you feeling today? Last night whispers were circulating around the Festival about authors (who will remain anonymous) suffering from Repetitive Signature Injuries. One signed a book to the wrong person, one signed a book to himself... Well. Sometimes a name just slips out of

A story I'm not allowed to tell

2009-03-02T23:25:00.010Z

Day Three. Ron Jonson tells a story that I'm not allowed to write. He's promised his son it won't ever be published. It's a funny, funny story.Here's my own little kitchen sink drama for you instead then. I'm sitting in the front row of a small auditorium with my pen and my notepad. I'm not a real journalist, and as a volunteer I'm not even a proper employee of Mr B's and, by extension, the

Jika Jika. That's coffee to you or me.

2009-03-02T13:51:00.004Z

Thanks, Mr B.Sam Reader here, back on the digital ivories. Just a swift tinkle before I post my concerto later tonight.It's time for a snackerel, I reckon. If you like your coffee, it's worth checking out Jika Jika in the Festival Hub run by Bath's very own Matt Stevens. As a precursor to the grand opening of the cafe in late Spring 09 (Stevens and business partner Lee Mears are awaiting the

Northern Roots in a Southern Green Room

2009-03-02T08:17:00.002Z

Mr B here, invading Sam 'The Uncommon' Reader's rightful blogging place, to report on desperate scenes from the Lit Fest Green Room on Sunday evening. Leaving Team B (in the lurch) to bench-press stacks of Gerald Scarfe's absolutely colossal books into happy customer's bags, I took a rare opportunity on Sunday evening to pop down to the Green Room - that happy refuge of incoming and outgoing

Rose George puts the 'log' in 'blog' - A Sunday Summary

2009-03-01T20:09:00.005Z

Okay. No more Mr 'Sports-fans'. If you'd wanted a celebration of Middlesbrough's exploits you'd be reading the Tees Mouth blog. Today is all about the books and the lovely sunny festival vibes. Also on a point of style, Mr B (here B stands for Boss) kindly advises me that yesterday's post was 'macro'. In response, here's a mere snippet of my Sunday best.Firstly, the most sprightly of speakers

Sunday yummy Sunday

2009-03-01T11:17:00.002Z

In my rush to get on with more pressing matters last night (empty a bottle of wine in front of the footer) I forgot to mention what a large amount of shoulder rubbing and chin wagging I did yesterday. My upper body aches. I did more networking in an hour than a BT engineer gets to in a year (other telecommunication suppliers are available). Upper and foremost was bright young thing Tracey Wall,

No more sleeps

2009-02-28T22:55:00.011Z

Good evening, sports fans. And what a balmy evening it was. The skies cleared, the air thickened and you dear Bathonians swarmed like happy mozzies to the Guildhall to feast on literary veins. A-hem.Yes, today was a treat. Despite an inevitable draw on the cards in the Windies, England have at least produced a batting performance worthy of a national team. Liverpool, bless them, all but gave up

Two more sleeps until the Bath Literature Festival 2009!

2009-02-26T17:26:00.017Z

Now boys and girls, I'm sure you're as excited as I am in knowing that this year's Literature Festival is nearly upon us. As of this Saturday, we'll be keeping you up to date DAILY with a super-dooper blog written lovingly by our very own friend Sam, so keep-a-readin' to make sure you're on top of it all. It's mayhem here at the Emporium; we're printing, carting, reading, writing, drawing,

Mr & Mrs B's Battle of the Classics

2009-02-10T13:56:00.009Z

Mr & Mrs B's Battle of the Translated Classics - Andric vs Alain-FournierComing up with a reading strategy is always fun in the New Year but when you are a bookshop owner it presents a real challenge. Where to start with book group books, advance reading copies, brand new, fab looking titles, kids' books etc....and by the end of the year we never seem to have read enough of the classics. So this

Ask the Author - James Long

2008-10-29T11:13:00.002Z

Mr B's Marvellous Monday Book Group was packed out at the last meeting to discuss the intriguing "Ferney". The author James Long was then kind enough to take time out of writing the sequel (you heard it here first!) to answer some of our group's questions. Thank you, James.Mr B - Many book group members didn’t find the character Ferney particularly likeable. Some people thought that maybe he

Team B Reads the Bookers - Part 2: Child 44

2008-09-01T17:14:00.005+01:00

I wasn't sure about this book at first - it's a little gruesome to start with - but by the end I found it unputdownable. The plot is cleverly constructed to give you tantalising glimpses of the denouement, never quite enough to allow you (or me, at any rate!) to guess what's going to happen but enough to keep you reading.Set in the Soviet Union in the 1950s, the novel focusses on an agent in the

Team B Reads the Bookers - Part 1: Netherland

2008-08-22T15:38:00.002+01:00

Hello, hello. As some of us here at Team B are dipping our reading toes into the Booker Prize long list we thought we'd share our views on the contenders here on the Blog of Bloggy Delights. There's no way we'll get through them all before the long list becomes the short list early next month, but what we do read, we'll write about here. I finished Netherland by Joseph O'Neill last week. Early

Ask the Author - Bethan Roberts

2008-08-20T19:26:00.005+01:00

Mr B's Marvellous Monday Book Group read Bethan Roberts' "The Pools" in July. Bethan was then kind enough to have an e-chat with Mr B to answer some of the questions/comments that were made by book group members. Heaps of thanks to Bethan for giving us some great answers. You can see what she says below and if you'd like to hear more from her about The Pools and her brand new book "The Good Plain

Watch the Ball

2008-06-03T22:09:00.005+01:00

Watch the video carefully to count how many times the white team passes the ball. Watch the vid NOW before you scroll down to the spoiler below the video screen.Don't Sneaky PeekDon't Sneaky PeekDon't Sneaky PeekDon't Sneaky PeekDon't Sneaky PeekDon't Sneaky PeekDon't Sneaky PeekOkay, nearly time to Sneaky PeakOkay, here's the answer -So, how many did you count? It doesn't really matter. What

Socks!

2008-05-22T15:58:00.004+01:00

Meet Socks - a Christmas-Sock-Monkey and Wodehouse fan purchased from Mr B's by a good customer of ours, Regina. He has kindly taken time out from reading to send his congrats to us from his laptop.Thanks Socks although isn't it time to take off the scarf and party hat - it's nearly summer!

Mr B's wins Independent Bookshop of the Year 2008!!

2008-05-16T16:37:00.013+01:00

Woooohooo! We won 2008 Independent Bookshop of the Year at this year’s British Book Awards in Brighton last Tuesday night. The award is based on a mix of the votes of our wonderful customers, secret shopper scores and our submission document requiring us to explain every aspect of our business in 1000 words and was then judged by a panel of industry experts including Jacqueline Wilson. As we

Ask The Author - A.L.Kennedy (Day)

2008-04-25T10:14:00.005+01:00

Mr B's Tremendous Tuesday Book Group read A.L.Kennedy's "Day" shortly after it had won the 2007 Costa Book of the Year Award. Mr B had an e-chat with the author to get her answers to some questions posed during the book group discussion. Everyone at Mr B's would like to thank Alison for answering the questions for us and Chloë at Random House for making this interview possible:Mr B - Alfred is