Newsletter
August 07
A message from The Book
Monkey
I got back
from a week's surfing with the Music Monkey only to find that in my
absence, Mr and Mrs B had roped another sucker onto their team. If
only I'd had chance to warn her first! Lucky for them too that I didn't
get a chance to warn her off because she's doing a sterling job and has
already become indispensable to Team B. Welcome on board Caroline! In honour of
Caroline's arrival and in return for my own constant humiliation at
the expense of Mr B, I have "simpsonized" the non-simian
members of Team B. Guess who's who? (No prizes, sorry)
   
Just click one of the links below, or scroll down to your section of
choice.
Events
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Bath Festival of Children's Literature
~ Reviews
~ Just Three Cornettos
Independent Publisher of
the Month
~
Quirky Quiz
~
Noticeboard
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Events
A. C. Grayling
~
Yann Martel
~
Kirsten Elliott & Andrew Swift
Caroline Kington
~
Tessa
Hadley
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Leading British philosopher
and author
A. C.
Grayling
introduces his new book
"Towards the
Light: The story of the struggles for liberty & rights that made the
modern West"
DATE CHANGE! Now on
Wednesday 12th September
6.30 p.m.
Elwin Room, BRLSI, 16-18
Queen Square, Bath
Tickets £4 in advance
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We are
honoured to be hosting Anthony Grayling, one of Britain's
leading contemporary philosophers who has written and edited
many books on philosophy.
His new
book, Towards the Light is
an inspirational history of ideas in action. He looks at the
rights we enjoy in the West today, from the basic right to vote
in elections to freedom of conscience, and how these were won in
a series of hard-fought struggles over 500 years.
The triumphs
and sacrifices of these hard-won victories should make us value
these precious rights even more highly, especially in an age
when, as Grayling shows, democratic governments under pressure
sometimes find it necessary to restrict rights in the name of
freedom. |
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Booker Prize-Winner
Yann Martel
introduces a beautiful new illustrated
special edition of "Life of Pi"
Monday 1st October
6.30 p.m.
Elwin Room, BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath
Tickets £4 in advance
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Mr B is
doing cartwheels he's so happy to be hosting
Yann Martel, author
of the “Life of Pi” to read and talk about his famous novel and to
celebrate the publication of a beautiful new illustrated special
edition of the book.
We are
particularly thrilled as Yann will be coming over from Canada
for just a handful of London and festival talks plus a visit to
us here in Bath - and as Yann continues to keep his fans waiting
for a follow-up to the Life of Pi that makes this a very rare
and exciting UK
public appearance.
The new, special illustrated edition of Life of Pi
Following
an international competition to find the illustrator of Life of
Pi, Croatian artist Tomislac Torjanac has created a work of rare
beauty.
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Launch Party
for two great new
local interest books
"Foul Deeds
and Suspicious Deaths in Bath"
by Kirsten Elliott
&
"Somerset Pubs"
by Kirsten Elliott &
Andrew Swift
Thursday 4th October 6.30 - 8.30p.m.
at Mr B's
FREE EVENT with wine & nibbles
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Foul Deeds and
Suspicious Deaths in Bath takes the reader on a sinister
journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy, meeting
villains of all sorts along the way - cut-throats and poisoners,
murderous lovers, assassins and suicides. There is no shortage
of harrowing - and revealing - incidents of evil to recount in
the long dark history of this supposedly respectable town. Kirsten
Elliott's fascinating book records crime and punishment in Bath
in all its shocking variety.
Grab a pint and
settle down to Somerset Pubs - a trip around,
unsurprisingly, the pubs of Somerset! With historical pictures and
narrative captions, over 150 pubs are featured, the earliest
dating from 1860s/1870s. Some have now changed beyond
recognition, some are long lost whilst others are practically
unchanged and ready and waiting for your order.
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Local author and Mr B's
favourite
Caroline Kington
celebrates the launch of her
second novel
"A
Summerstoke Affair"
with a LAUNCH PARTY at Mr
B's
Wednesday
10th October
6.30 p.m.- 8.30 p.m.
FREE EVENT with wine & nibbles
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One of the first
authors ever to do a reading at Mr B's is back again in October
to host a party here in honour of the launch of her second novel
- A Summerstoke Affair.
Many gossiping
locals of Summerstoke, the fictional (if strangely familiar)
Somerset village that was also the setting for Caroline's 2006
debut, A Tangled Summer, again appear in this new
laughter-filled novel of rural intrigue. This time, as summer
turns to autumn, they have the affairs of some unlikely new
rural residents to occupy their minds. Caroline brilliantly
parodies real life again as she follows the wranglings of
wannabe country-folk Juliet Peters (soap star) and Isabelle
Garnett (neglected housewife and ex-artist) and their families,
as they try to fit into Somerset life. |
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Local author
Tessa Hadley
introduces her new book
"The Master
Bedroom"
Thursday 11th October
6.30 p.m.
at Mr B's
Tickets £3
in advance (includes a glass of wine and nibbles)
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We are delighted
to be welcoming Tessa Hadley to Mr B's to read from and talk
about her new novel The Master Bedroom.
Tessa is a Senior
Lecturer in literature and creative writing at Bath Spa
University and has written already two highly acclaimed novels,
"Accidents in the Home" (longlisted for the Guardian First Book
Award) and "Everything Will Be All Right" and a superb short
stories collection "Sunstroke".
Her new novel sees
a single woman becoming the object of two men's affections - a
father and his teenage son. The novel novel explores
the web of connections between parents and children, revealing
how each generation replays the stories of the one that came
before, in new and startling patterns.
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Bath Festival of Children's Literature
Friday 21st to Sunday 30th September 2007
Mr
B's is very
proud to be the official bookseller for the Schools Events at
the inaugural Bath Festival of Children's Literature. This is an
independently run festival with a huge and prestigious line-up of children's
authors, poets and illustrators. There will be ticketed events at
different venues around Bath and also author events at various
schools in the region and it's on the schools side of things that Mr
B's is involved.
If you would like more
information about whether your school has any events coming up or if
you would like your school to get involved for next year's festival,
just let us know and we will pass on details to the organisers.
We have lots of events
programs for the ticketed events in the shop too, so do pop in. We
will also be getting lots of stock signed so if you're looking to
pick up a signed copy for a present or for yourself but can't make
the event, just come and see us.
Here are two great authors coming to local schools during the event:
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Joanna Nadin
My So-called Life: The Tragically Normal Diary of Rachel Riley
A hilarious new book
by Bath-based author Joanna Nadin, this is a teenage
Bridget-Jones-style book about an everyday girl with everyday
worries - finding a boyfriend, i-pods, best friends, getting
Valentine’s Day Cards, watching the O.C and dealing with her
Jamie-Oliver-obsessed mum.
Jo Nadin will be
speaking at Downend School, Bristol on Thursday 27th September.
Ages 12+
Paperback -
Oxford University Press – £5.99 -
Click here to buy online
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Mary Hooper
At the House of
the Magician
Renowned author
Mary Hooper continues her historical fiction writing with the
first in a new series based in Elizabethan times. When Lucy
finds herself in the employment of Dr Dee, court magician and
consultant to Elizabeth I she can't believe her luck. However,
intrigued by the mysterious work of the doctor she can't resist
sticking her nose in but in doing so, discovers a terrible
secret....
Mary Hooper
will be speaking at Prior Park College on Tuesday 25th September
Ages 10-12
Paperback - Bloomsbury -
£5.99 -
Click here to buy online
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Reviews
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Gifted by
Nikita Lalwani
A brilliant debut
novel by a Bath Spa "Creative Writing MA" alumnus that
has been justifiably included in the long-list for the 2007 Man
Booker Prize. Rumi is a young second generation Indian living
with her family in Cardiff. She also happens to be a maths
prodigy who has a shot at getting into Oxford at the age of 14.
The novel follows Rumi as she courageously copes with the
pressures of her gift, her overbearing father and growing up
under the influence of two very different cultures.
A highly
entertaining read which is sometimes sad, sometimes funny and
which paints a vivid picture both of what it might be like to be
a young Indian growing up with traditional parents in 1980s
Britain and of what it might be like to cope with an exceptional
academic talent from a young age.
Hardback
- Viking - £16.99 -
Click here to buy online
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On Purpose
by
Nick Laird
Nick Laird
became a favourite of Mr B's with his novel "Utterly Monkey"
(for obvious reasons) and now we are very impressed with his new
poetry collection. Laird must feel somewhat daunted by his Irish
forerunners – Heaney, Mahon or Muldoon for example – but his
latest collection of poetry, ‘On Purpose’, shows that he is
determined to make his own mark on the poetic scene. Infused to
an extent by the troubled Ireland he grew up in, these poems
make compulsive reading. Drawing from everyday sources for his
inspiration, Laird's lyricism and style to his poems is
wonderful. His exploration of the complexity and subtlety of
human relationships within this collection is in some ways a
continuation of what he started in his first collection, ‘To a
Fault’, published in 2005 to critical acclaim.
Paperback
– Faber and Faber - £9.99 - Click here to buy online
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Imagine This by Sade Adeniran
You're unlikely to
have heard of this new talented author but we're sure you will
soon be hearing lots of word-of-mouth recommendations about this
book. Lola Ogunwole is forced to leave behind everything she
knows in London to move to a village with her extended family in
Nigeria. Her diary entries invite us into her pretty harrowing
world as she learns to adjust and deal with tough conditions,
physically and emotionally. It's great, vibrant writing with
meaty characters and is an amazing achievement for a debut.
So steer yourself
away from the Richard and Judy list and try something a little
different this autumn (that's right, I said autumn -
would you believe it already!).
Paperback - SW Books - £7.99 -
Click here to buy online
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Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori
You've most
certainly heard of the Book Monkey and may even have come across
a Sock Monkey or two but have you ever met Sock Fish? Or Sock
Zebra?, Glove Pig & Glove Mouse? It's about time you did.
Cute does not do
justice to this book by Japanese crafter Kanamori. It will
appeal to anyone who has an iota of creative spirit in their body.
You even get instructions on making dresses, hats and trousers
for your sock menagerie, should
they wish to accessorise!
Paperback – Weidenfeld & Nicolson - £9.99
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Click here to buy online.
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Summer in
February
by Jonathan Smith
Time for a hidden
gem! Set just before the
outbreak of the First World War, the artists and models at the centre of
this book are based on real life characters and the events on a true
story. It’s a very human story of loyalty, friendship and love tested in
a classic love triangle.
The central
character is Sir Alfred Munnings, a well-known painter of rural scenes
at the beginning of the 20th century, whose friendship with
Gilbert Evans and the consequences of their meeting with a beautiful and
enigmatic woman constitute the backbone of the novel. Much of the detail
for the story was drawn from the diary entries of Gilbert Evans himself,
which were discovered by his son on Gilbert’s death. I won’t give any
more of the plot away apart from these tantalizing hints…. Suffice it to
say that this book is very enjoyable reading and a good introduction to
an author you may not yet have come across who is, in my view, worth
giving a try!
Paperback -
Abacus
-
£8.99 -
Click here to buy online
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Just
Three Literary Cornettos
It seems monkeys are not alone in
their love of Italy. Mr B's customers are also crazy about the place
and are forever picking our brains on all things Italian. So we
thought we'd highlight a few new treats to digest with your chianti
and quattro fromaggi. As hot, hot, hot as the sun in Sienna,
feast your eyes on these.
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Italian Joy by Carla Coulson
This is a feast of
all things Florentine. Carla Coulson did what many of us only
dream of....give up a well-paying job to go and try to find some
passion and excitement in Italy. Falling in love with Florence,
she settled there and this book is a celebration of the streets,
bars, food and people which gave her a new joy in life. A very
funky design of book, with lots of grainy photos of
gesticulating Italians and sumptuous architectural detail.
Hardback - Penguin Lantern - £24.99
- Click here to buy online
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Delizia! The Epic history of the Italians and their Food
by John Dickie
The author of "Cosa
Nostra" takes a revelatory historical journey through the
flavours of Italy's cities, from Medieval Milan to the stinking
alleyways of nineteenth century Naples. Far from the peaceful
olive groves and vineyards, we are shown how the magnetic draw
of Italy's cities went to making the world's favourite cuisine.
Hardback - Sceptre
- £20
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Click here to buy
online
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Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind
by Beppe Severgnini
A hilarious tour
of modern Italy going behind its seductive face, finding the
places where the Italians reveal themselves in all their
authentic glory. What is it about Italy that makes you fume one
minute and purr the next. Find out in Beppe's brilliant new
book.
Hardback - Hodder
& Stoughton - £16.99
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Click here to buy online
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Independent
Publisher of the Month
Archipelago Books
We've recently unearthed this remarkable not-for-profit
literary press based in Brooklyn, NY which aims to publish worthy works
of both classic and contemporary literature that are often otherwise
difficult to obtain.
The beautifully produced range covers translated
poetry and literary fiction titles from all around the world, with a
particular emphasis on continental European authors and a number of
parallel-text editions. Pop in to see the full range and hear more!
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Are
you a pre-order boarder?
Take a look above the
counter at Mr B's and you will be delighted to see a new "pre-order
board". Each month we pick some new hardback titles which you can
pre-order and get 10% off!
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Coming up in Hardback -
* 10% off *
if you pre-order at Mr B's |
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The Quiet Girl by Peter Hoeg
A long
awaited new novel from the author of Miss Smilla's Feeling for
Snow. Set in modern Denmark it centres around a world-renowned
circus clown with a deep love of Bach and a deep gambling debt
who is drafted into the service of a mysterious order of nuns -
a fast-paced philosophical thriller.
Hardback - Harvill Secker - £16.99
Pre-order and get 10% off!
- Just email or call. |
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The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia by
Orlando Figes
A gripping
and moving account of how Russians tried to endure life under
Stalin, conveying the reality of their terrible choices by a
great historian.
Hardback -
Allen Lane - £25
Pre-order and get 10% off! -
Just email or call.
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The Ghost by Robert Harris
The latest
compelling story by the best-selling author of Enigma and
Imperium, this tells of a ghostwriter flown to Martha's Vineyard
to work on the memoirs of a former British prime minister - what
seems like an ideal job turn out to be terrible nightmare.
Hardback -
Hutchison - £18.99
Pre-order and get 10% off! -
Just email or call.
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Mad, Bad
and Dangerous to Know by Sir Ranulph Fiennes
In direct
contrast to the plethora of autobiographies by 21 year olds who
have done nothing of note or value in their short lives, Ranulph
Fiennes' list of achievements is astonishingly long -
adventurer, explorer, author, soldier....an inspirational book.
Hardback -
Hodder & Stoughton - £20
Pre-order and get 10% off! -
Just email or call. |
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The Book Monkey's Quirky Quiz
So...who
won July's quirky quiz ?!
With no hesitation
whatsoever,
Vlashka gobbled down Elizabeth Powell's biscuit first so she gets £5 off
her next purchase at Mr B's. Well done!
This month though,
no pie for Vlashka! Tee hee. See below...
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QUIRKY QUIZ QUESTION
Email us on
books@mrbsemporium.com:
Keep Your Eyes on the Pi
How many words of
four letters or more can you find within "Yann
Martel"? No proper nouns (so you can't have "Yann" for
example!!). The person who comes up with the most
will win two tickets
to Yann
Martel's reading event (or have their ticket price refunded if
they've already got tickets).
So the winner can
make sure their diary is clear - get your answers to us by 14th
September for this one.
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Answers to
July's Quirky Quiz
Question:
Rearrange Mr B's July special guest author "Patrick Gale" to
give what sounds like a handy place to hang a young hog (1,6,4)
Answer: A
Piglet Rack
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Noticeboard
Don’t miss out on some of the great things our friends and neighbours
are getting up to …
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Bath Festival of Children's
Literature
Friday 21st September - Sunday
30th September 2007
A host of ticketed
events at various venues around Bath and lots of author events at
schools around the region.
For more information,
go to
www.bathkidslitfest.co.uk or
pop into Mr B's for a free events program
Concerts
Bath Recital Artists'
Trust - Tom Clarke's 57th Birthday Concert
Hiroaki Takenouchi
(Piano) & Simon Callaghan (Piano) - Brahms: Variations on a theme by
Schumann and Delius: Eventyr, Dance rhapsody no.1 In a summer garden
and works by Schubert and Bizet
Sunday 23rd
September - 8pm - Pump Rooms -
boxoffice@bathfestivals.org.uk
Exhibitions
"Swill and
Friends" - An exhibition by South West Children's Illustrators - Bath
Library
22-30th
September at Bath Library
Cinema Under the
Stars 2007 - The Holburne Museum of Art
Open air
screenings in the museum garden. Admission FREE! but by ticket only
- Bath Festival Box Office. Open 7.30pm for 9pm start.
Some Like It Hot
- Friday 31st August
Night at the
Museum - Saturday 1st September
See what's on at the Little Theatre Cinema in Bath -
Click here to go to website.
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