Day’s sweetest moments are at dawn;
Refreshed by his long sleep, the Light
Kisses the languid lips of Night,
Ere she can rise and hasten on.
There’s been a conversation this week about the slight interruption through four days (including yesterday) of industrial action to the post and how we should approach it. The chat became a reminiscing about a time when buying by mail-order included the words ‘allow 28 days for delivery’ – handwritten forms had to be filled-in, postal orders were to be obtained (after queuing in the Post Office), envelopes sent off into the either and then …. nothing, just the wait. That delivery of an album from the Britannia Music Club or a book from Readers Digest – on reflection it was an eternity compared to today’s standards. But weirdly there was a lesson in there too – that old saying ‘patience is a virtue’ is the one which often gets used when things move slower than hoped for, but perhaps there’s another element which is equally important and it’s the ‘excitement of anticipation’ – immediacy can be necessary sometimes, but the pleasure from the wait can also add to joy when the Postie finally delivers. And our approach to the three remaining days of industrial action? – the postal service may not be perfect all the time, but it’s still a remarkable service and we’re lucky to have it, and whilst they sort their issues, a little patience just adds to the eventual joy!
These last few mornings have been cool and misty in these parts, the change is refreshing and beautiful – as one season comes to a close, another prepares to take over.
Dawn by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Day’s sweetest moments are at dawn;
Refreshed by his long sleep, the Light
Kisses the languid lips of Night,
Ere she can rise and hasten on.
All glowing from his dreamless rest
He holds her closely to his breast,
Warm lip to lip and limb to limb,
Until she dies for love of him.
The packing table has been busy this week with the Coles Signed Edition of Martin Ware’s ‘Electronically Yours’ – if you remember the Britannia Music Club, then you’ll remember Martin’s music with Heaven 17 and The Human League; the signed memoir from another musician, Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue, is available again and the man behind the scenes, Simon Williams, gives a peep into the world of running a record label in ‘PandaMonium’; a new novel from Robert Harris is always eagerly anticipated and ‘Act of Oblivion’ will be shipping this coming week (keep an eye for next weeks Newsletter for details of an event coming up with Robert Harris); Nadia Hussain and Sabrina Ghayour whisk up the magic whilst Inigo Bing explains how important judgement is to society; we’re in the saddle with Tim Moore in the paperback edition of the hilarious ‘Vuelta Skelter’ and James Acaster quits social media.
Our new Coles Signed Pre-Order titles this week include perhaps the biggest history title of this autumn, ‘Colditz’ by Ben MacIntyre; another journey into sound with Will Hodgkinson and the wonderfully calm world of Jay Blades.
September is the biggest month for publishing. All the new, juicy and exciting books are getting published at this time of year. We’ve cherry picked some of our favourites – from the big hitters like Mary Berry’s new cookbook, ‘Cook and Share’ to Kevin Bridges’ first novel ‘The Black Dog’ and Robert Galbraith’s new instalment of crime ‘The Ink Black Heart’; to more niche titles that might not have made themselves known to you yet, such as Dave Fendem’s adventures in the legal system: ‘Dirty Briefs’ and ‘The Last Colony from Phillipe Sands; these are times for thinking differently and books such as ‘What We Owe Each Other’ and ‘The Book of Hope’ from Jane Goodall – both inspiring, both with new ideas and ways of looking at life – both essential for times like these. We hope you find something in this selection that piques your interest as much as they do ours.
The full Newsletter can be found HERE
