News

This week I have to share the sad news that Browsers Bookshop in Woodbridge has closed.

Many of us will have considered the bookshop as the anchor, the hub of the town for so many years and this comes as quite a blow.

For me, it's been a part of my life for some 20 years. I joined thinking it would be a nice part-time job for a few months, supplementing my freelance writing and helping me to accommodate some changes in my life, but I loved it so much I could never step away!

It was the most perfect bookshop. 

I was employed by its creator Martin Grindley. He seemed a hard taskmaster but he ran a tight ship and he had a wonderful vision, which was very much ahead of its time.

As a result, in Woodbridge, we had one of the first dedicated children's bookshops, Young Browsers, with Browsers Bookshop and Cafe serving the best coffee and the most delicious cakes when such a concept was almost unheard of. The fantastic selection of books was displayed on bespoke shelves and furniture, with wooden floors, and the lighting made the covers glisten and glow. 

When Martin Whitaker took over the shop in 2008, I was able to introduce evening events in this beautiful space. First it was a monthly book group and then the author events started to take off, many much bigger than the bookshop could accommodate, so I moved to venues throughout the town. I was also engaged as the director of the town's children's book festival.

Though I only worked a few hours in the bookshop in recent times, I'm going to miss seeing familiar faces and chatting about books. 

So what of the future for me? I will continue to host author visits, now as Catherine Larner Events, bringing both big names and debut writers to the town. I hope these will be of interest and you will support where you can. Take a look below for details about Victoria Hislop coming to the Riverside Cinema in the autumn and there will be other events announced soon.

The book group meetings will continue in September with the Booker Challenge and our discussion for 'The Half Life of Valery K' at the end of the month. 

And I will continue sending these weekly e-newsletters.

They began as I wanted to keep you informed of the events I was organising but during lockdown they proved a great way for us all to keep in touch and share our reading recommendations.

I've been so touched and encouraged by your comments over the past few years. As a freelance writer you don't always hear from your readers so it's been incredibly gratifying to get such kind and positive feedback. 

It does take time to put together these emails, though, and while I still hope that you will support your independent bookshops wherever you can, perhaps I can make a plea that you support me too?!

If one of my recommendations proves interesting, it would be lovely if you could buy it from bookshop.org, through my portal of moreaboutbooks.com? I receive a tiny commission for every sale, and a further small commission is passed on to the UK's independent bookshops. You might like to bookmark this link for easy reference!

Alternatively, you can 'tip' me via Kofi here.

And if you know anyone who might be interested in receiving these newsletters, please do send them the link here, too.

Thank you for your support and I look forward to seeing you again soon wherever we meet to talk about books!

It's that time of year again - the Booker Prize longlist has been announced!

As in previous years, book group members have agreed to each take a title, to read it and champion it (or otherwise) in a special meeting.

From our appraisal we draft our own shortlist of six, and even dare to pick a winner, and then wait with interest to see if we correspond with the judges' decisions announced a few weeks later.

As you might expect, coming together to talk about the books is good fun and very enlightening. Often the most surprising titles are given enthusiastic and thrilling recommendations by members of our group, thereby encouraging us all to try new authors, stories and genres.

We've allocated readers for this year's shortlisted books and will be gathering on Monday 4 September to compare notes. If you want to read along, contribute your views about a particular book or books, or would just like to sit in on the meeting, please let me know.

While we don't have our usual book group meeting in August because of the Bank Holiday, there are plenty of other ways to think about books and reading this month.

Tomorrow night there's a film to watch in Woodbridge at the Riverside Cinema. 'Hello, Bookstore' is a fly-on-the-wall documentary of an American bookshop, meeting the owner before, during and after the pandemic as he endeavours to deliver books to his community come what may.

And in a couple of weeks it will be the FolkEast Festival at Glemham. In addition to the music programme, authors will be talking about their new books. Saskia Sarginson and Kate Sawyer will be there, and I'm interviewing the marvellous Margaret Meyer about 'The Witching Tide' on Friday morning. On Saturday Polly Crosby and Sarah Hardy will be talking to me about their wonderfully evocative historical novels, both set in Suffolk. Perhaps I'll see you there?

Thank you for reading.

Have you decided which of this season's blockbuster films you're going to see? I mentioned last week that we're spoilt for choice at the moment - Oppenheimer, Asteroid City, Mission Impossible...Barbie?

But our local independent cinema is also squeezing in some other intriguing films which aren't registering in the media frenzy and, usually having only one showing, I'm trying my best to ring fence the dates in my diary.

A week tomorrow, on Monday 7 August, for example, there is 'Hello, Bookstore'. This is described as an 'amiable and rather free-form tour of daily life in the store during and after the pandemic.'

Filmed in 2022, it is a fly-on-the-wall documentary tracing life in a Massachusetts bookshop - which also sells wine.

It has been a challenging time for bookshops everywhere, so it will be interesting to see how this bookshop owner served his community when he could no longer open his doors, and what happened next. Perhaps I'll see you there?

But tomorrow night, I hope you'll forgo the cinema, or the television, and join me for our book group discussion!

We'll be talking about 'Time Shelter' by Georgi Gospodinov and may also be speculating about the titles which will be included in the Booker Prize Longlist which is announced on 1 August. 

Please let me know if you're planning to come along so that I can make the necessary arrangements for chairs and catering. 

Thank you for reading.

After a spell of book adaptations making the big screen, this summer's blockbusters are a mix of action heroes, comic fantasy and biographical thriller. So I was interested to read an article by the broadcaster and novelist Simon Mayo recently as he introduced his latest venture.

In the time of Mozart, Mayo was told, successful and popular books wouldn't be turned into films (obviously) but instead they became operas.

It's hard to think that trend will be replicated today. But it could happen...

Simon Mayo's bestselling book 'Itch', the first of a trilogy, has just opened in London as a family opera. 

It's an intriguing idea and having read and thoroughly enjoyed 'Itch', I'm very disappointed that I won't get to see this performance. 

Like most of Simon Mayo's books it is a high concept thriller, brilliantly executed in terms of plot, characterisation, pace and drama. It would be incredible to see how it translates onto the stage and in music.

There have been other musical presentations of children's stories, usually for the younger audience. Author illustrator James Mayhew tells and draws stories on stage as an orchestra plays and the children's writer, actor and BBC announcer Zeb Soanes reads stories alongside musical accompaniment. He has also created a musical adaptation of his children's stories about 'Gaspard the Fox'.

It will be interesting to see how 'Itch' the opera is received, and what other book adaptations might follow. 

Thank you for reading.

There was news this week of the sale of a book collection of the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. First editions and signed copies including that of F Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' will be auctioned in the autumn.

It is said that Watts enjoyed reading while touring with the band and sought out these notable books not because he thought they would gain in value but because he took satisfaction from tracking them down and having them in his possession.

Signed first editions of modern writers are still sought after, but these days authors are taken to warehouses ahead of the release of their latest books, and will sign thousands of copies which are then distributed to bookshops for sale. 

While it's nice to have the signature of your favourite author in a pristine first edition hardback, I prefer to keep books with associations - a personal message from an author, the date and place they were signing, and even my notes on the occasion when I heard them speak. It doesn't make the book more valuable to any collector but it's a special souvenir for me.

My most treasured book is a paperback of Ted Hughes' poems. I heard him read from it at Cheltenham Literature Festival. I can picture him on stage now, and can even hear his voice. He said something about each poem before he read it and I wrote notes which I have kept as loose pages slipped into the book. I didn't get his signature, but I kept the ticket and programme notice and, for me, it is a very special book.

Thank you for reading.