This week saw the return of Coles Book Club and what a joy it was …
To have an author back with us chatting with Coles customers in the informal, friendly and relaxing (and safe) atmosphere of the shop was like the scales lifting from the eyes.We have missed the joy that something as simple as Book Club brings, and it reinforces that we are a social species – we need to meet and share experiences with like-minded people – whether watching a football match, pogo-ing in a mosh-pit or just sitting and listening to an author, we are at our best when we do things together. Our next Coles Book Club is on 30th September with Rosa Rankin-Gee with her novel Dreamland – a tale of a future not too far from now and what happens when good people fail to do what is right – we’re sure it’ll be another great evening and we hope you can join us. We’re hosting another event at the shop on 10th September for our ‘Local Delivery’ friends the Bicester Bike Users Group (Bicester BUG) for the screening of the documentary ‘Motherload’, in which the cargo bicycle becomes a vehicle for exploring motherhood in this digital age of climate change. The film follows director and new mother Liz Canning on her quest to understand the increasing tension between modern life and our hunter-gatherer DNA.
One of the most anticipated books of this Autumn will be Paul McCartney’s ‘The Lyrics – 1956 to Present‘. This double volume tome at almost 1000 pages is a comprehensive reflection of one of the greatest songwriters of all time – it is Macca recounting his life as seen though the prism of his own songwriting. We have unsigned copies available for Pre-Order at the discounted price of £50 (that’s a little cheaper than a well known online bookshop that ends with ‘n’ and much cheaper than the published price of £75)
For our Coles Signed Editions this week, Vaseem Khan kindly signed copies of his paperback as well as the following novel, ‘The Dying Day’; elsewhere we have a proper pick ‘n’ mix of titles – from a childhood on the silver screen with Hayley Mills to life in the saddle with Moto GP star John Hopkins; from great fish suppers with Josh Niland to the dysfunctioning of a family in John Boyne’s novel ‘The Echo Chamber’; we delve into the ancient myths of Britain in the beautifully produced ‘Storyland’ by Amy Jeffs and then over the seas to the ancient Eastern Mediterranean with Pat Barker’s ‘Women of Troy’; from Wendy Holden’s re-telling of the story of Wallis Simpson to the footballing loyalty of Franny Benali; actor David Harewood bravely confronts a troubled past and Raymond Antrobus does the same through poetry; Celia Walden, Ken Follett, Alexander McCall Smith and Alan Johnson are our novelists this week; Joan Bakewell confronts change and singer Ellie Goulding takes her foot off the pedal and slows things down a little and finally, you can never be bored stiff of Monty Python! (we have more signed bookplates from the Pythons for the very funny ’50 Years of the Flying Circus’)
