Booka Bookshop

Event News! We're excited to announce that we'll be hosting an event with Liverpool, Newcastle & England football legend Kevin Keegan for his forthcoming autobiography ' My Life in Football'. The event will take place on Monday 1st October (7.00pm) at Lion Quays Hotel, Oswestry. Full details on our website with tickets available from the bookshop and online via Eventbrite. Don't miss this opportunity to see and meet one of football's true icons. Please share to help spread the word! Thanks.
http://www.bookabookshop.co.uk/…/an-eve ning-with-kevin-kee…/

Event News! We're delighted to announce that we'll be hosting an event with historian and BAFTA winning broadcaster and TV presenter Dan Snow for his forthcoming book, 'On This Day in History'. The event will take place on Tuesday 20th November (7.30pm) at Lion Quays Hotel, Oswestry. Full details on our website with tickets available from the bookshop and online via Eventbrite. Don't miss this opportunity to see and meet Britain's favourite historian! Please share to help spread the word! Thanks.
http://www.bookabookshop.co.uk/ev…/an-e vening-with-dan-snow/

Join us for an evening with Markus Zusak, the internationally acclaimed, prize-winning, bestselling author of The Book Thief as he talks about his highly anticipated new novel Bridge of Clay.
The five Dunbar brothers are living – fighting, dreaming, loving – in the perfect squalor of a house without grown-ups. Today, the father who abandoned them is about to walk back in. But why has he returned, and who have the boys become since he left? At the helm is Matthew, cynical, poe...tic; Rory, forever truanting; Henry, the money-spinner; and young Tommy, the pet collector who has colonized the house with dysfunctional pets, including Achilles the mule and Rosy the Border collie. And then there’s Clay, the quiet one, his whole young life haunted by an unspeakable act. From the tale of their grandfather, whose passion for the ancient Greeks still colours their lives, to the mother and father who met over a mislaid piano, to the present day, where five sons dwell in a house with no rules, Bridge of Clay is an epic tale of a ramshackle family and the unburying on one boy’s tragic secret.
The Book Thief enjoyed universal acclaim selling over one million copies in the UK and 16 million copies worldwide having been translated into over 40 languages. Now, 10 years later comes Bridge of Clay another brilliant, ambitious and inspiring novel from a master storyteller.
We are thrilled to bring Markus Zusak to Oswestry for what should be a memorable event – don’t miss this opportunity to see and meet him and pick up your signed copy of a very special book!
Tickets: £10 (Admits One - fully redeemable against a signed copy of Bridge of Clay) or £19 (Admits One & includes a signed copy of Bridge of Clay). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee)
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Coming to Town! Event News from Booka -

Read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak?
We're thrilled to announce that we'll be hosting an event with Markus Zusak on 31st October for his brilliant new novel 'Bridge of Clay' - sure to be one of the BIG books of 2018! Full details on our website with tickets available from the bookshop and online via Eventbrite. Great to bring Markus to Oswestry when he tours the UK this Autumn - don't miss this opportunity to see and meet him and pick up your signed copy of a very special book! Please share to help spread the word. Thanks
http://www.bookabookshop.co.uk/…/markus -zusak-bridge-of-cl…/

Thrilled to be part of the book tour for Kate Atkinson's new book 'Transcription' published this September. We're sure Transcription will be one of THE novels of 2018! See Kate in Oswestry at our event on 18th September...

Join us for an evening with award winning and bestselling author Kate Atkinson as she talks about her magnificent new novel Transcription.
In 1940, eighteen-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathisers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of tho...se years have been relegated to the past for ever. Ten years later, now a producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat. A bill of reckoning is due, and she finally begins to realize that there is no action without consequence.
Transcription is a work of rare depth and texture, a bravura modern novel of extraordinary power, wit and empathy. It is a triumphant work of fiction from one of this country’s most exceptional writers. We are thrilled that Kate Atkinson will be returning to Oswestry to celebrate the publication of Transcription, sure to be one of the novels of the year!
Tickets: £10 (without book - £7 redeemable against a signed copy of Transcription) or £20 (with book - includes a signed copy of Transcription). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online with booking fee.
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Join bestselling cookery author and entrepreneur Ella Mills as she talks about her new book Deliciously Ella: The Cookbook and shares her passion for delicious healthy food.
Ella’s latest book features the most popular, tried and tested recipes from her supper clubs, pop-ups and deli menu to show how delicious and abundant plant-based cooking can be. The simple vegan recipes cover everything from colourful salads to veggie burgers and falafel, creamy dips and sides, hearty on...e-pot curries and stews, speedy breakfasts, weekend brunches, muffins, cakes and brownies. They’re the recipes that Ella’s thousands of customers have been asking for since the deli first launched in 2015, all in one beautifully illustrated book.
In addition to over 100 brand new plant-based recipes, for the first time we are treated to a personal insight into Ella’s journey – how she grew her blog, which she began writing to help get herself well while suffering from illness, into a wellbeing brand – and all that she has learnt along the way, as well as what drives the Deliciously Ella philosophy and her team’s passion for creating delicious healthy food.
Ella’s stunning book is a must-have for fans and food-lovers alike, it’s also perfect for anyone looking to experiment with vegan cooking for the first time. We’re delighted that Ella will be joining us – get ready to be inspired!
Tickets: £10 (£8 redeemable against a signed copy of the book at the event ). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee)
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Join us for an evening in the company of bestselling author Patrick Gale as he talks about his latest novel Take Nothing With You – a novel of boyhood, coming of age, and the confusions of desire and reality.
1970s Weston-Super-Mare and ten-year-old oddball Eustace, an only child, has life transformed by his mother’s quixotic decision to sign him up for cello lessons. Music-making brings release for a boy who is discovering he is an emotional volcano. He laps up lessons from ...his young teacher, not noticing how her brand of glamour is casting a damaging spell over his frustrated and controlling mother. When he is enrolled in holiday courses in the Scottish borders, lessons in love, rejection and humility are added to daily practice. Drawing in part on his own boyhood, Patrick Gale’s new novel explores a collision between childish hero worship and extremely messy adult love lives.
We’re big fans of Patrick novels which include Notes From an Exhibition, A Perfectly Good Man and A Place Called Winter and are delighted to welcome on of our favourite authors to Oswestry.
Tickets: £8 (£5 redeemable against a signed copy of Take Nothing With You). Tickets available from the bookshop, or purchase online (with booking fee).
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Join us for an evening in the company of Manda Scott as she talks about her latest novel A Treachery of Spies.
A Treachery of Spies is an espionage thriller to rival the very best, a high stakes game of cat-and-mouse, played in the shadows, which will keep you guessing every step of the way.
An elderly woman of striking beauty is found murdered in Orleans, France. Her identity has been cleverly erased but the method of her death is very specific: she has been killed in the ma...nner of traitors to the Resistance in World War Two. Tracking down her murderer leads police inspector Ines Picaut back to 1940s France where the men and women of the Resistance were engaged in a desperate fight for survival against the Nazi invaders. To find answers in the present Picaut must discover what really happened in the past, untangling a web of treachery and intrigue that stretches back to the murder victim's youth: a time when unholy alliances were forged between occupiers and occupied, deals were done and promises broken. The past has been buried for decades, but, as Picaut discovers, there are those in the present whose futures depend on it staying that way - and who will kill to keep their secrets safe...
With fantastic reviews from the likes of Simon Mayo, Lee Child, Mick Herron, Robert Goddard and Giles Kristian A Treachery of Spies is definitely one to watch! Come and hear the inspiration behind the novel as we welcome Shropshire based Manda Scott back to Booka.
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As part of the Wilfred Owen Festival being held in Oswestry to remember and commemorate the centenary of Wilfred Owen’s death and Armistice Day, Booka Bookshop are delighted to welcome Allan Mallinson to talk about his new book Fight to the Finish: The First Word War Month by Month.
From the opening shots to the signing of the armistice, the First World War lasted almost 52 months. It was fought on, or in the waters of, six of the seven continents, and in all of the Seven Sea...s. For the first time, the fighting was on land, sea and in the air. It became industrial, and unrestricted: poison gas, aerial bombing of cities, and the sinking without warning of merchantmen and passenger ships by submarines. Military and civilian casualties probably exceeded 40 million. Four empires collapsed during the course of the war – the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman. In all its military, political, geographical, economic, scientific, technological and above all human complexity, the First World War is almost impossible to comprehend.
Few historians are as well placed as Allan Mallinson is to write a comprehensive account of the First World War. A soldier for thirty-five years, serving first with the infantry and then the cavalry, he began writing while still serving. His first book was a history of four regiments of British light dragoons, one of whose descendant regiments he commanded. The Making of the British Army was shortlisted for several prizes, while Mallinson’s centenary history, 1914: Fight the Good Fight – Britain, the Army and the Coming of the First World War won the British Army’s Book of the Year Award. With Fight to the Finish, Allan Mallinson offers a new and original portrait month by month on “The War to End War,” in which complexities are never lost or sacrificed for the sake of simplicity and the sense of time is preserved in a single volume history.
Tickets: £6 (redeemable against a signed copy of Fight to the Finish). Includes a glass of wine / soft drink on arrival. Tickets available from the bookshop, or purchase online (with booking fee).
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This man has climbed some of the tallest and most incredible trees on the planet filming life amongst the canopy. Great event with James Alfred last night for the paperback publication of The Man Who Climbs Trees. Thanks to everyone who came along. Signed copies in stock.

A Tea Party, a Bilingual Story Time, plus a new Crossover Book Club. Find out more in our Summer Junior Newsletter -

Take a look - all our latest Event News in our July 2018 Newsletter! -

Join us for an evening with Joanna Cannon, the bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, as she talks about her wonderful second novel Three Things About Elsie, a restorative, wryly perceptive story exploring memory, friendship and old age.
There are three things you should know about Elsie. The first thing is that she’s my best friend. The second is that she always knows what to say to make me feel better. And the third thing… might take a little bit more expla...ining.
84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light; and, if the charming new resident is who he claims to be, why does he look exactly a man who died sixty years ago?
We were huge fans of ‘Goats and Sheep’ and are delighted to welcome Joanna to Booka for the paperback publication of Three Things About Elsie.
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Join us for an evening with Jasper Fforde, one of Britain’s most original writers, as he talks about his highly anticipated new standalone novel Early Riser.
A new Jasper Fforde novel is always a major event. But he’s made his fans wait for Early Riser which has taken longer than any of his previous novels to write. The wait is over – it publishes in the UK on 2nd August!
Jasper has created an extraordinarily rich and Ffordian new world for Early Riser where every winter 99.9...% of the human population goes into hibernation, protected by an elite corps of Winter Consuls. For five months a year while people sleep the Winter Consul are the law.
The main character in the book, Charlie Worthing, is a novice, apprenticed to infamous Winter Consul Jack Logan. Logan has warned his new recruit about the horrors of Winter, but nothing can prepare Charlie for investigating a viral dream in Sector Twelve, a remote region in the middle of Wales. They say there are no heroes in Winter, and Charlie is about to find out why.
Jasper’s imagination, creativity and humour is unique, and we are thrilled to welcome him to Oswestry as we wait to discover the world of Early Riser.
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Join us for an evening with James Aldred as he talks about his memoir The Man Who Climbs Trees, revealing the extraordinary stories of his adventures across the globe.
You may not know his name, but you will have seen his work. James Aldred is a professional British tree climber, cameraman and adventurer, who has made a career out of travelling the world, filming wildlife for the BBC and climbing trees with people like David Attenborough, Chris Packham, Helen Macdonald and K...ate Humble. James’s climbs take him to breathtaking locations as he scales the most incredible and majestic trees on the planet. On the way he meets native tribes, gets attacked by African bees, climbs alongside gorillas, chased by elephants, and spends his nights in a hammock pitched high in the branches with only the stars above him.
The Man Who Climbs Trees is a love letter to trees and the natural world. It blends incredible stories of scrapes and bruises in the branches with a new way of looking at life high above the daily grind, up into the canopy of the forest.
We’re delighted to welcome James to Oswestry for what should be a fascinating evening of treetop adventures celebrating the paperback publication of his book.
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Event News! Delighted to announce that we'll be hosting an event with TV Presenter Kate Humble for her forthcoming book 'Thinking on My Feet'. An Evening with Kate Humble will take place on Tuesday 9th October (7.30pm) at the Wynnstay Hotel, Oswestry. Full details and tickets available through the shop and online via our website/Eventbrite. Should we a great evening! Please share to help spread the word. Thanks
http://www.bookabookshop.co.uk/…/an-eve ning-with-kate-humb…/

Join us this Saturday 23rd for a very special Bilingual Story Time & Language Workshop! Come and help us celebrate our last children's event for Independent Bookshop Week with translator Manon Steffan Ros and early years teacher Hannah Butler. Tickets are £3, redeemable against a copy of the book. Suitable for children aged 3+ Call us on 01691 66 22 44 to book!... https://mailchi.mp/…/bilingual-story-ti me-this-saturday-23rd
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Went to see Carl Fogarty at his book signing. Absolutely fabulous event.. the staff from Booka were fantastic. Keeping my eyes open for another event. Brilliant. Well done. Stayed in the hotel where the signing took place. Great stay as well.

The book signing on Wednesday evening with Imogen Hermes-Gower was brilliant. She spoke eloquently and in-depth about the history behind her new book The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. Imogen was very friendly too and took time to chat with us all while signing her book. With slides to illustrate her talk I was hooked. Well done Booka on such a great choice.

The best bookshop by miles. Friendly,helpful and knowledgeable assistants,and there’s always something of interest going on. Carrie and Tim work really hard to make it a place you want to be. And the coffee and cakes are pretty good too!!!

Such an amazing find. So much going on, aside from a fantastically wide range of books, a list of visiting authors any Festival would be proud of and such a great cafe - good coffee and scrummy cakes. To see a packed bookshop is a real joy and the owner - for i think it was he I spoke up - knowledgable and enthusiastic.