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Chapters at The Book Shop
Chapters at The Book Shop LIVE - 98th Birthday
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98th Birthday Party - We were thrilled to be able to talk to book club members and customers, aswell as the 3 authors, that joined us at our little shops 98th birthday celebrations.
Authors - JS Morton
Christine Lawrence
Children's author Donna Vann
Credit to Muzaproduction :)
Credit to ikoliks_aj spring easter music :)
Hello, it is Saturday the 20th of June and today we are celebrating our 98th birthday. Very busy in the shop today. We have got three authors with us: Christine Lawrence, JS Morton, and children's author Donna Van. We've also got Bakes by Bear, she's selling some of her wonderful brownies. We've had numerous people in. It's been a really wonderful day. Jasmine's outside giving everybody box fizz, and Emily is with us selling raffle tickets. I'm gonna go around the shop in a minute and I'm gonna chat to some of these people and we're gonna find out what they're reading at the moment, what they love to read, and what they can recommend. And now I've got Emily with us. Emily is one of our book club members, and um she's come along and helped today. She's been selling raffle tickets out the front, which is wonderful. Thanks, Emily. No worries, it's been a pleasure.
SPEAKER_11So, what are you reading at the moment? Um, so I've currently got four books on the go. I'm reading Stay for a Spell, which was um given to me to read by Jasmine.
SPEAKER_09Ah, that was the one we did in our popcott podcast, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_11Yes, I'm enjoying that a lot. And I'm reading On Wings of Blood by Briar Baleen. Baleen, I don't know how to say her name. Is that fantasy as well? That's a fantasy one, and there's a few of us in book club that are reading that as a buddy read. Oh nice! So that's quite good. Um, I'm also reading Lavender Lake by Emma Slate, that is a cowboy romance. Oh, you like cowboy romance, do you? I do, yeah. I've probably got to be up there with my favourites. Um, and I'm also reading Sap and Secrets by Daphne Elliott. So that's again like a small town romance. He's a firefighter. Oh yeah, and she's branching out from cowboys. Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm reading. And then anything else that anyone suggests.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah, you take on board a lot of what people say and add them to your doing red pile. Yeah, I pick up a lot.
SPEAKER_11I've just finished um Picture of Dorian Grey.
SPEAKER_09Oh, yeah, we've got our Dorian Grey event tonight, yeah.
SPEAKER_11We have, and I'm also going to reread The Book Thief after doing our book swap at the beginning of the week. Oh, yeah. Has inspired me to add it to my pile on the sofa to read.
SPEAKER_09That's wonderful. Oh, thanks for chatting, no worries. And now I've caught up with a lovely Chrissy who's also a member of our book club.
SPEAKER_01Chrissy, what are you reading at the moment? So at the moment I'm reading one of our crime books, um, which is Some of Us Are Liars by Fiona Cummings. That was this month's um crime book.
SPEAKER_09That's the second time we've done her for the crime subscription.
SPEAKER_01And this one seems as read as as good as the first one.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, they're very easy to read, aren't they? Excellent. And what are you looking forward to reading? Anything? Have you got anything in your tube red pile that you're looking forward to?
SPEAKER_01My Geoffrey Archer books. I always go back to him. I think he's a great storyteller, so I always um he's my kind of go-to author if I'm going on holiday or anything like that, or if I'm not really sure what to read, I will always go and pick one of his up.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah. Oh, brilliant! Oh, thanks for chatting. Thank you. Now I've managed to catch up with Lisa, who's also one of our book club members. Are you fantasy or crime?
SPEAKER_10Fantasy and positivity.
SPEAKER_09Ah yes, okay. So what are you reading at the moment?
SPEAKER_10I'm actually reading a book about a magical cowboy. Really? Yeah. Oh, that's right up Emily's street. It's a romance. Yeah. Set in London, and there's a writer, she's got writer's block. Um, wakes up one morning and the cowboy from her book is on her sofa. Yeah. And she's got to try and figure out how to get him back to his real world.
SPEAKER_09Oh, I love this. Is it cozy fantasy or is it smutty?
SPEAKER_10More magical. Well, there's not much magic, but it's more romance. Yeah. Yeah. There's a little bit of smut in it. Do you know what the um do you know what the author is? Uh Romantic Hero. Oh Kirsty Greenwood. You read your books quite quickly.
SPEAKER_09You've got what have you got lined up to read next?
SPEAKER_10Um I've got the next the second in the Hunger Green series.
SPEAKER_09Oh yep.
SPEAKER_10I've got the next of the reclaimed series. Rejected, we did for one of the fantasy boxes. That was rejected, yep. Um, I've got Shield of Sparrows, the second one. Yeah. A lot of fantasy lined up. Yeah. Yeah. I try and dip in and out of fantasy because otherwise it gets too confusing for my brain.
SPEAKER_09And are you at Dorian Gray tonight? Yes, I did. So did you read that as well? I did, yes. Yeah, wonderful. Ah, we'll see you later. Thank you. Oh, now I've managed to catch up with Hannah. Oh Hannah, my my crime queen twin. Uh with Amy who's not here, but I think she is coming soon. I think she's coming down about three, she said. Okay, brilliant.
SPEAKER_02So tell us what you're reading at the moment. At the moment, I'm reading uh sing by Chevy Stevens. Oh yeah. Is it Chevy Stevens? I think so. Yeah, missing, really good. Recommended by Amy, really, really good. Yeah, she gets basically it's about a woman, she has a like psychological therapy, yeah, and then the story is told in therapy sessions. So like I'm on session 10. Oh, okay. She's got a bit of a kind of a jokey background, and then she tells us about when she was locked in the cabin. She's a she was a realtor, did a last house showing. Says, I'll do one more. I'm closing up. Guy kidnaps her, puts her in the back of a van, and he's like, take me with, and then the story evolves. Oh wow, okay. And he's like, not nice. No. What did you read before that? Before that, I read Horror in the Woods by Lee Mountford. Oh yeah. That was yeah, cannibalistic. Yeah. Good. It was a page turner. Really, really good. Enjoyed that. Recommended by Amy again.
SPEAKER_09And what are you looking forward to reading next? What have you got lined up as your next book?
SPEAKER_02I might read the second part of The Tattoo is the Vouchwitz. So it's uh Silver's Journey. Yeah. Put that in my Kindle. There's three parts to the woman that wrote that and then the book. So I might read that. Yeah. And then I might go into your book club book because I like to leave at least a week to tend the little book club. Yeah. Yeah, good idea. I've got plenty of time at the moment. Oh well, enjoy the I might even read one of the books that you've ordered for me when it comes. Oh yeah, you've got three Stephen Kings coming, haven't you? Stephen King said all of them. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09Oh, well, enjoy the day. Make sure you get a box fizz. And then we'll chat later. Alright then. Helen are caught up with lovely Helen. How did Scotland do last night? I didn't watch it.
SPEAKER_08Oh okay, I'll edit that out. They won the first one though, didn't they? Yeah, they did. Okay, let's change the subject. What are you reading? Beastmasters. Book two. Who's the author? Jamie and Eve. Yes. And one number two. Yeah. Finally, there's some smut.
SPEAKER_06It's awesome. Yeah. It's amazing. I'm so totally hooked in the whole world and the world building. It's absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_09Brilliant. And that was in the fantasy box, wasn't it? The first one.
SPEAKER_06Fashion was in the fantasy box, which then persuaded me during art club here in the bookshop, which also happens on a Monday night on occasion. Very good. People should come along. And the I got persuaded to buy book two and three of the series, which have beautiful spread edges on them, and everything. Yeah, they're lovely. Absolutely gorgeous.
SPEAKER_09And what have you got lined up to read next? Uh number three. Oh of course. Number three.
SPEAKER_06And then I have the next fantasy book, which might be called something like the magic shop.
SPEAKER_09Oh, yeah. Yeah, is it the tiny magic bookshop?
SPEAKER_08Yes. Um, August Bloom. That's the one.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, it's Anna Britton, isn't it? She writes as her real name's Anna Britton, she writes crime books, but yeah, her fantasy name is August Bloom.
SPEAKER_06I feel like we all need a fantasinium. That would be.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, maybe we should do that at Next Book Club. We'll come, everyone should come up with their fantasy book. Their fantasy name, I mean. Fantasinium, yes. I would love that. What a great idea. Oh, thanks for chatting. Thank you. So now I'm here with Donna. Hi Donna. Donna's been on the till all day. She's been really, really busy. So, Donna, what are you reading at the moment?
SPEAKER_05So I'm reading Rebecca by Katie DuMaurier. Yeah. And I am also reading Blind Sighted by Karen Slaughter. I've never read Karen Slaughter before. Oh, Karen Slaughter. Yeah, really enjoying it. Really, yeah, really good. I love crime as it is. So it's quite nice to have the both going on at the same time.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. So yeah. And what have you got lined up next?
SPEAKER_05So lined up next, so I funny enough, I was just saying, so we go to Late Garda soon. So I've got um a book called Murder on Late Garda or at Lake Garda, which can't be what I think it's Tom somebody tom. I've also got I want to buy the um next one in the Echoman series for Sam Bola.
SPEAKER_09Book five.
SPEAKER_05Mm-hmm. And then I've got the Fiona Cummins one. Crime book this month.
SPEAKER_09Yes. I was gonna say to you, you're not only gonna take one book with you. No, no, no. And I've also got Angela Marsons on my Kindle, so that's coming as well. So yeah. Oh, brilliant selection. Oh, thanks. I'll let you carry on serving customers. Right now I've sat with the lovely Christine Lawrence, one of our authors today. Christine. Hello. Hello, tell us about your books.
SPEAKER_04Um well I've got all my novels along today. I've got five here, and a couple of books, short stories as well. So my latest novel is Grace, which is set in in Portsmouth Borough Mental Asylum during World War One, and I feel really passionate about writing about that sort of era and how women mainly during World War One just got on and got on and did it all really. Yeah. So I've written two books about World War One and the mental health system. First one was Emily, and she was a patient in the actual hospital.
SPEAKER_09A real lady.
SPEAKER_04No, I made her up.
SPEAKER_09Okay, just check in, just check in.
SPEAKER_04No, but it is based on real life stories, and I did research several people who were in there at the time.
SPEAKER_11Wow.
SPEAKER_04And I really wanted to make it um story of doom and gloom. So I made it into another story. So although she when she goes in there, her life is all in bit she actually manages to get through that.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, it's got a beautiful cover, that book.
SPEAKER_04Emily.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, how did you find that picture?
SPEAKER_04Um well somebody who was making a film out of the out of the book for an event that we were we were all working on as a cooperative cooperative in Portsmouth. He actually let me use that photo. It's of his mother. Really? So he he he actually put that photograph on the film cover. And uh but but he also let me put it on the on the front cover of the book. And it and it's really been good for selling my book.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, really it's really eye-catching when it's on the kit. Oh, who was that?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, he did tell me not to say who who it really was, but I couldn't, I can't, I can't not be honest about it.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, give the credit for it.
SPEAKER_04And then Grace, of course, was was the follow-on from that, which is set at the same time that I wanted to write about nurse training because I am I was a psyche nurse. Yeah, as as you know.
SPEAKER_09That must have been hard going. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. Interesting.
SPEAKER_04Very interesting, I loved it. I didn't have any photographs of of uh nurses of that era, but of an artist friend of mine took some ideas from me, and and that's how come the cover's actually a drawing rather than a photograph.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. Oh lovely. And um another question then, what are you reading at the moment?
SPEAKER_04Oh, I knew you were gonna ask me that. Um I can't remember the title of it, but but I did buy it in the bookshop. Oh, did you? Yeah, last week. That was great. Okay, yeah, I bought a yeah, but I just love it. I love reading and I love reading new books. Yes, as we all do.
SPEAKER_09Oh, thank you. Bin, what are you reading at the moment? How did Scotland get on last night? Don't ask. Okay. I asked Helen and she wasn't sure. Don't ask. But I know you you two stay up for it. Okay, so what are you reading? The Last Resort by Heidi Pearl. Good, very good. Only got that to go. Brilliant. I had to leave the house. Uh so you haven't got much to go much to go in that book. That is tonight's one. And what is your what have you got lined up to read next? 92 books apparently. Have you got a favourite that you're gonna read put on your next? I think I might do the sirens. Okay, oh I recognise that.
SPEAKER_00The woman that wrote Wayward.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, it's her sister. Millie Hart. Yeah. Oh, I loved Wayward. Yeah. Oh, so you're doing sirens next. Oh, let me know how that is because I yeah, I'd quite like to read that. Alright then. Thanks! Jazz, how's it going? It's been a really busy day.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it is. It's going really, really well. Everyone's having a good time.
SPEAKER_09We've sold lots of raffle together. Excellent. Um, and I've been interviewing the book club ladies as they've been coming in. So let's ask you, what are you reading at the moment?
SPEAKER_07I am currently rereading Fourth Wing. Okay. Uh, because I never finished it the first time. I own well, I finished the first one, but I didn't finish the second one. So I'm gonna power through and actually finish it this time, hopefully.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, we had a lady in this morning that had painted the edges of a of a th fourth wing, didn't we? And didn't she say that she tagged Rebecca Yarros and she acknowledged?
SPEAKER_07Yes, she said that she um did the pictures and tagged Rebecca Yarros in it, and Rebecca Yarros then posted it onto her story, which is really cool, but they were absolutely stunning. Beautiful, right? Really cool. She did the same with the Harry Potters, yeah. Um, and it's the part where in Chamber of Secrets, when they're trying to race the train and one of them's hanging out of the car, um, it was that bit, and they were absolutely stunning. But what a hilarious scene to choose to spray the entire of everything that happens in Harry Potter. How funny is it that that's what she chose to do?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah, but they were just exquisite, weren't they?
SPEAKER_07She did pet portraits as well, didn't she? She did, yeah. She was fantastic as well. Really nice.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, we've met some really lovely people today and talked about lots and lots of different books.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_09We've got Richard Jones who's joined us now, hasn't he? He has, yeah. Yeah, we've sold out of his A to Z of Gossport, but um obviously we'll be getting more in, and you can listen to his podcast with his 30-minute chat about Gossport history. Oh, thanks, Jazz! You're welcome. Right now I'm sat with John, also known as JS Morton.
SPEAKER_03Hello.
SPEAKER_09Tell us a little bit about your books.
SPEAKER_03Oh I'm here with my book, You're Gone Today, which is a tale of a good-hearted, depressed serial killer uh trying to find his way back to normal life after the loss of his wife. And it's just you know how he's getting back to what he's good at, but what he's good at is serial killing.
SPEAKER_09So And this one really struck a chord with me when I read it within I read the first three pages and knew straight away that we had to get you in when you came in for that first um book sign-in. So yeah, highly recommend it. Um and what other books have you got with us? Because I know you've written Arthur as well, haven't you?
SPEAKER_03Arthur I'm back, which are a trilogy, so Arthur I'm back and you're gone are part of the trilogy. Um and then I've got Tabula Ressa, uh The Old Wolf, Solace, One Hit Wonder, uh, which is a local book as well. Yeah, I think we've got all of those on the shelf. Yeah, which is good to see.
SPEAKER_09There's when people have read Um You're Gone, there's usually been a demand for the rest of them afterwards. Especially our book club ladies, if they read something and love it, then they just want everything.
SPEAKER_03So The Old Wolf's quite a similar book, if I think it's on the shelf, yeah.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, excellent. It's a revenge thriller about a former hitman, so oh yeah, yeah, that's definitely right up their street. So, what are you reading at the moment?
SPEAKER_03At the moment I'm reading Yellow Face by Rong, which is really good, especially if you're in the publishing industry, because it's it's about uh an author who sort of steals another author's story and then she gets famous, so it's quite an interesting one. And I've also picked up it ends here today as well. Oh, with Heidi Perks, yeah.
SPEAKER_09Oh, brilliant. Oh, well, thank you so much for coming today. It's been really busy, and you've sold quite a few books as well, haven't you?
SPEAKER_03I have, yes, yeah. Grateful for, yeah.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, it's been um yeah, a wonderful birthday. Love our little oh well, I say our little book community. Days today make you realise that it's actually it's a big community. Yeah. So um, yeah, thank you very much for coming.
SPEAKER_03Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_09That's alright. Right now I've caught up with Donna Van, children's author, but award-winning children's author.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_09Tell us about the two books you've brought with you with you today.
SPEAKER_00Well, I've got Galactic Dog, which is about a teleporting dog accidentally teleports into space with his human friends. There's an evil cat that goes along too, and they end up on a planet, and the cat wants to take over the planet, so they have to figure out how to conquer the evil cat and get in the uh oh, how do we get back to Earth?
SPEAKER_09Oh wonderful! And the other one you've brought with you is super cousins.
SPEAKER_00The Franken Pops Rescue. So they're four cousins. An evil alien accidentally lands in their grandparents' back garden tries to take over their family, and these four cousins accidentally get superpowers at that point, and they have to figure out how to rescue their family, and of course the world.
SPEAKER_09Oh, how wonderful! And I've noticed that you've been given out free bookmarks with them as well today. You've sold quite a few, haven't you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, and there's been some lovely children. It's great talking to them about books, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00And I think the most exciting thing for me today, two children came in and they said, Oh, I I read this book and I write your other one now. Oh, that is really fun.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, that is. That's real, yeah, what a compliment. That's wonderful. Um, so outside of children's books, what are you reading at the moment?
SPEAKER_00I tend to read a lot of crime fiction just to relax. And and not anything too scary because I read in the evening and I don't want to stay awake. Yeah, yeah. Just gentle, you know, Anne Cleves or Kate Ellis is a big fan of Kate Ellis. Yeah. But on the children's side, I am trying to read, I'm learning Italian, so I'm trying to read Royal Dolls The Witches in Italian.
SPEAKER_09Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00I can't say that that's going too well, but you know.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. God, what a challenge. That's excellent. Oh, thank you. Oh, that's so wonderful. It's great talking to everyone. We have such a good book community here in Lee. As you know, our tagline is community conversation connection, and I think we really do that. Thinking about our last week, of course, Jasmine and I went up to Chatsworth House and we were lucky enough to sit on the South Lawn and watch Pride and Prejudice. It was a wonderful weekend. It was part of their four-day Jane Austen festival. They held a Pemberley ball. Really highly recommend it if you can get tickets next year. So, wow, what can I say about today? It has been wonderful seeing so many people come through the door. What a wonderful community. People supporting, people celebrating. We've had cards, presents, gifts, we've had book club volunteers wanting to help out today. It has been absolutely amazing. Wow, I finished Blackwater Rising by Sean Watkins, Better Off Dead, which is book two. I've also picked up The Burial Witch, which is a little novella by Kari Thomas. This little novella is set in the magical world of uh Thread Needle and Shadow Stitch. Uh, this one is the unopenable box, a mythical object that appears in fairy tales and folklore across all cultures around the world. Sometimes the box can only be opened by the right person at the right time, and in other tales it is considered a warning. A test given to the protagonists who are typically forbidden from opening the box, when they eventually succumb what they unleash cannot be put back in. We follow Miranda Richardson, a highly strong, highly driven member of the Covens, who discovers a mysterious, unopenable box in her parents' loft. It's it's okay. It's a nice, easy read. I haven't read Thread Needle or Shadow Stitch, unfortunately, but this book has made me think that maybe I will. So yeah, it must be ticking some boxes. We've got Dorian Grey this evening. It is the candlelight event. We're going to be talking about Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin on the 16th of October, which is two days before mine. Um he studied in Enniskillen, he studied in Dublin, he studied in Oxford, and then he settled in London in 1879, which I believe is when he was 25. Um he gave lectures in the USA and Canada. Um he married Constance after a six-month engagement, and they settled in Chelsea. They had a son called Cyril. Um and at that time Oscar Wilde was writing for the Powell Mall Gazette. They had their second son a year later. Um, and then in 1887, he became the editor of The Woman's World, The Canterville Ghost, The Sphinx Without a Secret, Lord Arthur Savile's Crimes, and The Modern Millionaire were all published. Now the book that we are going to be talking about is The Picture of Dorian Grey, and that was the first version of that was published in 1890. He obviously read a cut led a cover he read a he led a colour. He led a colourful life to say the least. And um in let's have a look he led a colourful life to say the least. And in 1895, he was arrested and charged with gross indecency, convicted and sentenced for two years hard labour, and was imprisoned at Pentonville before being transferred to Wandsworth and then finally to Reading Jail. Whilst in Reading jail, he received an ear injury and it wasn't properly treated. And sadly, late in 1900, he developed further infections which led to meningitis and then his subsequent death at the age of 46. He died penniless and at home alone in a Paris hotel, um, Lotel, I think it is. I'm pretty sure my husband wanted to stay there when we visited once, but I think we just had a nice evening in there drinking cocktails. It's quite expensive to stay over. On his deathbed, he converted to Catholicism. By becoming a Catholic, he enacted one of his well-known witticisms. The Church of England is the best to live in, but the Catholic Church is the best to die in. He's buried in Pierchase Cemetery, I believe. One of his former lovers, Robert Ross, is also buried there. Well, his ashes, anyway. Thousands of visitors visit every year. The tombstone was covered in lipstick kisses, and now I think they've surrounded it in glass or perspecs just to try and protect it. So we'll be going to be reviewing the picture of Dorian Grey this evening, which scandalized Victorian society, mainly because it featured strong homoerotic undertones and defied the era's demand that literature should teach everyone a moral lesson. Be interesting to discuss that this evening and see if anybody uh else thought that it was um it taught lessons. Um but anyway, so what is the picture of Dorian Grey about? The Picture of Dorian Grey is a philosophical fiction and gothic horror novel published in 1890. When a beautiful young man wishes that his portrait would age instead of himself, his desire becomes terrifyingly real. As Dorian pursues a life of pleasure and moral corruption, he remains eternally youthful while his painted image transforms into a horrifying record of his sins. Oscar Wilde explores beauty, morality, and the dangerous influence of hedonistic philosophy in this tale of vanity and of course its consequences. Um, yeah, he's definitely got a narcissistic personality disorder, and that in turn makes him unable to love, full of jealousy. Um, yeah, very looking forward to doing that this evening. Um on Monday evening, we've got our true crime evening with Richard Foster, the retired police officer. We are going to record that, so that will go out as a podcast. Really looking forward to that. He visited the shop today during the 98th year celebrations, so keep an eye open for that. Join us again soon. Again, if you need to contact us, you can text our shop mobile phone on 0771 41074. You can find us on Facebook under the bookshop, or you can find us on Instagram as the bookshop1933. Yes, that was created eight years ago when we thought the shop had originally opened in 1933, and then upon receiving the deeds, we discovered that it was actually established in 1928. But yeah, the bookshop 1933 on Instagram. Come back and listen again soon. Okay, bye.
