Newsletter
October 07
A message
from The Book Monkey
We have
two
great launch parties
coming up which involve FREE food and drink, so come on down and help us celebrate. We also have
some very original ideas for Christmas gifts and vouchers such as
Mr B's Reading Spa Treatments,
for the ultimate in bookish indulgence. Intrigued?
Click here to find out
more.
The Book
Monkey's Special News: I am officially in print! The
delightful Marion Boyars have published a book called "A
Bookaholics' Guide to Book Blogs" in which
my blog is extensively quoted. Much
to my amusement, Mr B's blog is nowhere to be seen and you should have
seen the look he gave when I pointed this out. I'm going to rattle his
cage even more by asking to do a signing at Mr B's!
I'd also
like to say a big congratulations to Gill & John McLay, the
organisers of Bath's inaugural Children's Literature Festival. It was a massive
success and we look forward to next year's. I am particularly grateful
as it gave Mr B an
inordinate amount of work to do and kept him off my back for a while.
Just click one of the links below, or scroll down to your section of
choice.
Events
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Reviews
~
Independent
Publisher of the Month
~
Mr B's Reading Spa Treatments
~ Quirky Quiz ~
Noticeboard
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Events
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Thursday 1st November, 6.30 - 8.30pm - Free Party! with wine &
nibbles |
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Co-author of "A History
of Bath",
Graham Davis
celebrates the launch of
Bath Exposed! Essays on the Social History of Bath 1775 - 1945
Graham Davis is a local historian and professor at
Bath Spa University. Last year he wrote the splendid and very popular "History
of Bath" along with Penny Bonsall and is considered a true authority
on local history.
The essays in Bath Exposed!,
edited by Graham Davis,
reveal concealments and denials in Bath's history in the context
of protecting its reputation in the interests of attracting
visitors to the city. Negative publicity was, then as now,
thought to have a disastrous effect on the business or vested
interests in Bath - hence the propensity for concealment and
denial, rather than public exposure and accountability.
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Thursday 6th December, 6.30 - 8.30pm
Free party! with wine
& nibbles as we celebrate the launch of two great new poetry
collections
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Kevin Bailey "Surviving Love"
In
Surviving Love, two poets – a man and a woman – share their
impressions of life, love, and the world. The man lives now, but
the woman has been dust for nearly two and a half thousand
years…
Kevin ran Bath Live Poets for many years as well as
running HQ magazine. He also used to know Agatha Christie, is a
friend of Patrick Moore's and once has his knee felt by Noel
Coward!
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Michael Paul Hogan "American Voodoo"
This debut
collection of poetry is strongly coloured by Hogan's perpetual
travel and need to see, smell, hear and generally experience all
of the world’s flowers.
Michael is an eternal traveller. When not on the move, he
works and lives in China so we're lucky to be able to snap him
up on a short trip back to the UK.
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Reviews
Many more reviews to follow in our delightful Christmas catalogue
coming up soon...
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Snakehead (Alex Rider)
by Anthony Horowitz - SIGNED
COPIES!
Hot! Hot! off the press -
this is the very latest (No. 7) in the phenomenally successful
Alex Rider series by the biggest name in contemporary children's
literature.
SPECIAL OFFER - We have a limited number of signed
copies which we are offering at £2 off
for this week only so reserve yours quick!
Ages 8+
Hardback - Walker Books - £12.99 -
Click here to buy online
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What Was Lost by
Catherine O'Flynn
This fabulous debut novel deftly combines
humour and sadness. The novel begins by following ten-year old
Kate who spends her spare time working as a self-professed
private detective. Now Kate might have a rather over-active
imagination but the reader soon learns to trust her judgment
when she appoints a monkey (stuffed) by the name of Mickey as
her deputy in observing suspicious characters at the Green Oaks
shopping centre.
In a brave and unusual move the author then
switches the action away from Mickey the monkey and forward 20
years to focus on the entertainingly depressing lives of Green
Oaks’ store manager Lisa and security guard Kurt. The latter
plot roams towards its inevitable connection with the first and
on the way contains brilliant descriptions of middle-England,
the sterility of the out-of-town retail environment and the
comic dramas of life on either side of the shop counter!
Paperback
- Tindal Street Press - £8.99 -
Click here to buy online
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The Raw Shark Texts
by
Steven Hall
If you’re looking
for a novel that’s very different to the last one you read –
then this is it! A brilliantly inventive debut that propels you
on a high-octane labyrinthine mystery from the very first line.
Eric Sanderson tries to piece together the traumas of his past
that his mind is suppressing, using the clues left behind by the
previous Eric Sandersons. Follow Eric and Ian the cat in their
search for answers and their race against the mind sharks
pursuing them! Go on, read page 1 and I defy you not to want to
know what’s going on.
Paperback
– Canongate - £7.99 - Click here to buy online
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Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty (Author) and David
Roberts (Illustrator)
“When Iggy was three, his parents could see his unusual passion
would stay. He built churches and chapels from peaches and
apples and temples from modelling clay....”
A quirky, original
new book with very funny illustrations and rhyming text. Iggy
Peck's passion is building. From the age of two he'll build out
of anything he can get his hands on - even if that's dirty
nappies. His parents are immensely proud but at school, his
teacher is not at all happy. Due to a very scary incident in her
youth she frowns on architecture and school becomes dull, dull,
dull with nothing ever to build - until a fateful school trip
lets him show the world his true talent.
Ages 4+
Hardback - Harry Abams Inc - £7.95 -
Click here to buy online
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Answering Back: Living poets reply to the poetry of the past by Carol Ann Duffy
One of Britain's
best and most accessible contemporary poets brings us a very
unique poetry anthology, in a small-hardback-format astutely
designed as the perfect gift book for Christmas! She has asked
some of the best poets living today to choose a poem which is
meaningful to them and then asked them to write a response to
it. It's a very unusual idea and we rather like it. It certainly
makes for a meaningful anthology - It also introduces you to
some talented modern poets you might not otherwise have come
across whilst allowing you the luxury of sinking into some
gorgeous familiar poems you can never get enough of.
Small Hardback – Picador - £12.99
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Click here to buy online.
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Recycled Home by
Mark and Sally Bailey
Most people think
monkeys don't care about interior design but it's simply not
true. I am a particular fan of the recycled-approach/shabby chic
look as I am paid so poorly that I can't afford anything new.
So, I was very interested in this latest book which will fill
you with inspiration on how to reclaim, recycle & rescue. It
full of ideas on how to mix these reclaimed objects with more
modern furnishings to create something very unique. Mark and
Sally Bailey have great imagination, whether it's combining
clean new lines with paint-chipped surfaces, mixing old and new
fabrics or just giving a new lease of life to the things you
really wouldn't ever have thought twice about chucking
away and how to use or display them to get the best out of them.
They look at storage, lighting, architectural details, as well
as furnishings and display. Put together by a quality publisher,
this has great photos too.
Hardback
- Ryland Peters & Small - £19.99 -
Click here to buy online
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Independent
Publisher of the Month
Europa Editions
Whilst mooching around
Rome last month, Mr & Mrs B had a hunt for some excellent translated Italian fiction and were rather taken with
the books of Europa Editions.
It was set up two years ago by the founders of one of Europe's most
prestigious independent publishers (Edizioni e/o). In Europa Editions,
they wanted to bring fresh voices to the American and European market
and provide quality English editions by enlisting some of the very best
translators. They have a fairly broad range of international fiction and
non-fiction, with a particularly strong list of great Italian writers,
given their Rome-based background.
Here are a little taster
for you. We will be featuring lots more in the shop window and on "The
Book Monkey's Favourites" shelf in the shop so pop in and take a look!
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The Worst Intentions
by Alessandro Piperno (Translated by Ann Goldstein)
Set in the opulent
neighbourhoods of contemporary Rome, this has been called "a dangerous
novel" by Italian press which has compared it to the works of Saul
Bellow and Philip Roth.
Daniel, a young heir to a
wealthy Jewish-Italian family, has inherited his grandfather's
passionate and extravagant nature and is immersed in the excesses of his
social class. He falls victim to a dangerous infatuation with Gaia,
fountainhead of his erotic fantasies and fetishes. It's an audacious
novel about excess, ritual and liberty, love and war, sex and betrayal.
Paperback - Europa
Editions - £8.99 -
Click here to buy online
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Indulge yourself or
treat someone special to the ultimate bookish experience...
A Mr B's Reading Spa
Treatment
These spa treatments can be used
between January & June 2008
from Monday-Friday anytime between
9.30am and 6.30pm
(although we are happy to stay open
later if that's the only time that suits).
You will need to book a session
in advance.
You'll get a fancy personalised Mr
B's Spa Treatment Voucher (with its Very Own Shiny Silver Envelope!)
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Mr B's Delightful Reading Spa
Treatment - £65 |
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Includes:
Coffee/tea & cake
45 minutes book-chat with one of us
discussing your likes and dislikes, being shown the best of what's
new & special gems to suit your tastes
30 minutes reserved in our
super-comfy chair browsing through your choice of books
plus
£40 of books that you choose
during your spa treatment
plus
A "reading treats" doggy
bag (Vlashka's idea) including:
A complimentary Jazz Legends CD
( perfect to read by)
2 free tickets to a Mr B's literary
event of your choice
Yummy organic hot chocolate powder to
snuggle up with
A "Mr B's Rewrites the Classics"
Mug to drink your hot chocolate from
A Vlashka bookmark to mark your place
while you're stirring your hot chocolate |
Or
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Mr B's
Extravagant Reading Spa Treatment
- £100 |
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Includes
Coffee/tea & cake
60 minutes book-chat with one of us
discussing your likes and dislikes, being shown the best of what's
new & special gems to suit your tastes
60 minutes reserved in our
super-comfy chair browsing through your choice of books
plus
£70 of books that you choose
during your spa treatment
plus
A "reading treats" doggy
bag (Vlashka's idea) including
A complimentary Jazz Legends CD
( perfect to read by)
2 free tickets to a Mr B's literary
event of your choice
Luxurious bubble bath to indulge in
some heavenly reading time
Yummy organic hot chocolate powder to
snuggle up with
A "Mr B's Rewrites the Classics"
Mug to drink your hot chocolate from
A Vlashka bookmark to mark your place
while you're stirring your hot chocolate
A fully stamped Mr B's Loyalty card
giving £5 off your next purchase at Mr B's |
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The Book Monkey's Quirky Quiz
So...who
won September's quirky quiz ?!
Vlashka gobbled down
Penny Grist's
biscuit first so she gets £5 off her next purchase at Mr
B's. Well done!
This month it's
incredibly easy - in fact we're giving it away. We figure you need the
money off as you've got all that Christmas shopping to do at Mr B's!
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QUIRKY QUIZ QUESTION
Email us on
books@mrbsemporium.com:
Question: Which authors wrote the following books - The
Witches of Eastwick, The Pumpkin Eater, and Skeleton Crew?
If
you know the answer, email us on
books@mrbsemporium.com or pop into the shop.
The first ten people to answer correctly will be allocated a dog
biscuit in Vlashka’s dinner bowl. The first person’s biscuit to
be eaten will be the winner!
The lucky winner will be announced in next month’s newsletter
and will get £5 off their next purchase at Mr B’s shop in
Bath
or off an email book order.
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Answers to
September's Quirky Quiz
Question:
What
poem is this an extract from and who is the poet?
"Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off."
Answer:
"After Apple-Picking" by Robert Frost
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Noticeboard
Don’t miss out on some of the great things our friends and neighbours
are getting up to …
Bath Film Festival
1st - 11th November -
see
www.bathfilmfestival.org
Bath Spa Uni Poetry Evening
Thurs 15th
November - Duncan Room in BRLSI - 7:30 for 8pm
Poetry reading
by Glyn Maxwell and Tiffany Atkinson
Literary lunch at
Calcot Manor - with Santa Montefiore reading
Monday 5th
November
See
www.calcotmanor.co.uk
or ask at Mr B's for ticket details
Bristol Bach Choir - Bach’s Mass in B Minor
Saturday 10th
November - 7pm - Wells Cathedral
www.bristolbach.org.uk
Bath Choral Society - Handel’s Messiah
Friday 7th
& Saturday 8th December: Bath Abbey - 7:30 See
www.bath-choral-society.org.uk
The Naming of Names – a talk by Anna Pavord, author of The Tulip
Friday 23rd
November, BRLSI at 7:30. See
www.brlsi.org
See what's on at the Little Theatre Cinema in Bath -
Click here to go to website.
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