Sydenham Music is promoting a

 

CONCERT FOR HAITI

 

on Sunday 21st February

 

at St Barts.

 

 

Tickets for this concert, £20 (con.£14)

are in stock at the bookshop now!

 

We've also just had the tickets in for the

Sydenham International Music Festival.

See www.sydenhammusic.org.uk for details.

 

 

Jonathan is off for a couple of weeks, concentrating on his

new show in Brixton called The Little Shop of Lost Toys.

For further details see www.spontaneousproductions.co.uk

 

A new poetry workshop,

meeting monthy at the shop, is starting on February 3rd.

For further details see contact josgale@jgdburns.org.uk

 

 

 

FUTURE EVENTS: SATURDAY MARCH 6TH

 

A storytime special with Karen Wall and Jim Helmore and their brand new 

HOLD ON TIGHT, STRIPY HORSE

Wear something stripy!

 

 

 

Special Christmas Event

 

We held our special Christmas event on Friday (4th Dec) between 4pm and 9pm, not knowing quite what to expect. As we were offering 10% off everything in the shop and readings from Dickens' Christmas Carol, it was difficult to know how to organise it. On the night, however, it was great fun, with four fantastic actors performing amongst the customers in the shop. The book was divided into six episodes, interrupting the Christmas shopping every 15 minutes.

 

With the mulled wine and the mince pies and a special lucky dip for the children, I think everyone came away feeling a little bit more Christmassy! 

  

Don’t forget

  • We are happy to order books and Audio Books (These often come in within 24hours). E-Books are even quicker. 
  • We also accept phoned, emailed, postal and faxed orders.
  • We sell Naxos CDs and can order titles from the Naxos Catalogue.
  • We are happy to wrap and post books to any address for you.
  • We will even choose and post a birthday card for you!
  • We can search for Out of Print Titles for you.
  • We’ll hand deliver locally if you are having trouble getting here.
  • We have a regular storytime on Saturday mornings 10-30 – 11am. For over 3’s.

No need to book.

 

New Opening Hours

Please note that our normal opening hours have changed. We are now open at 9.30am until 6pm during the week, but 9 – 5.30pm, the same as before, on Saturdays.

 

Book Tokens

It looks as though ELECTRONIC BOOK-TOKENS will be up and running by February 1st 2010. I have yet to unpack the box and instructions, but no doubt we'll get the hang of it before the important day! It then means that paper Book Tokens will no longer be available. I know we have to move with the times, but I will be sorry to see them go. 

 

E-Books & E-Readers

There’s a lot of interest at the moment in e-readers and e-books. Most of the articles herald doom and gloom for the printed book and independent bookshops. However, I prefer to be optimistic that the two will continue to co-exist for quite some time. At the moment we assume that an order for a book will be a paperback or a hardback edition, but in fact, even now, we can also offer audio books, CDs and e-books. (If available). We’re just going to have to think of them as just another edition.

I would point out, in case people don’t realise, that the new ‘Kindle’ e-reader just launched by Amazon, will only ever be able to download e-books from Amazon. It locks you into only buying from them! The publishers are extremely worried about this as it gives Amazon even more power to dictate to them. Sony e-readers and others are available generally and can use any supplier.

 

Gallery News

The roof in the gallery needs a few repairs, so there is nothing on the gallery walls at the moment.  There is, however, a beautiful display of jewellery by local artist David Matthews.

We have several exhibitions arranged for later in the year.

Gifts & Cards                                                            

Our new Crystal Palace Jigsaw  (£9.99 ) was a Christmas bestseller and is continuing to sell !

 

Another new venture for us is a series of DVDs on London history. Showing unseen or rarely seen footage, they each last about 55 minutes. There are eight titles on the East End, London in the Fifties, London’s Lost Docks, Railways, Haunted London & the Krays. 

 

We’ve had so many other unusual gifts in there’s no space to enthuse about them all, but I’ll mention a few.

  • Lots of striking, reasonably priced jewellery
  • Exquisite and witty handmade latex seedlings and mushrooms (I know they sound odd, but do look at them).
  • We’ve just had in a new delivery of Paperblank luxury notebooks and diaries. These share a stand with the Moleskine range.
  • Soft Toys: We’re so lucky to have the children’s author and illustrator team, Jim Helmore and Karen Wall living locally. Their award-winning Stripy Horse books have been so popular and the soft toy to accompany these is lovely! Also look at mini Gromits and Fluffles, Enormous Crocodile and Elmer.
  • Unusual “art” tea towel by another local, Anita Klein (Well, Brockley actually, but she did have an exhibition here a few years ago!)
  • At long last we have SUN JARS back in stock
  • A range of vintage Ladybird products including aprons, mugs, notebooks
  • Recycled leather travel-card covers, coasters & keyrings.
  • Button-bag sewing kits for children – Some super Advent calendars
  • Beautiful embroidered silk brooches and bookmarks - Hand-made soap - Pot pourri.
  • ‘Animated’ bookmarks – still among our bestsellers feature waddling penguins, nodding dogs and dancing dolphins…
  • Musical Ruler – for anyone who’d like to learn to play the twanging ruler seriously…

The Greyhound Development

The revised plans for the Greyhound Pub and car park have been sent in to Lewisham Planning Department. We have a model of this development in the gallery if you are curious to see what it could look like. I’m sure there are lots of people with specific arguments against it, but I personally think that we’ll never get a better offer.

LATEST NEWS... The decision was postponed due to confusion over a strip of land. We'll probably have to wait now until the end of February for a decision.

 

BOOKS

 

We’ve been looking round the shop at the books we have in stock trying to pick out particular titles to mention. With so many different subjects and interests it’s nearly impossible. We’ll just have to go for a random choice and hope that there is something to interest you or spark off that idea for a present.

 

Some non-fiction…

Lost Crafts: Rediscovering Traditional Skills by Una McGovern (£14.99 pbk) – in this era of financial crisis everyone’s looking to find tried and tested ways of doing things and this is a very useful guide to just that.

Lost London by Philip Davies (£29.99 hbk) – this is a beautiful collection of old photographs of bygone London; buildings and spaces that don’t exist anymore or have faded into the background of history.

A Gambling Man: Charles II and the Restoration by Jenny Uglow (£25.00 hbk) The much admired biographer turns her attention to this most colourful of characters during the first ten years of his reign.

The Making of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr (£25.00 hbk) – Tying in with the recent TV series Marr explores the social history of Britain in the 20th century with his usual flair for detail.

Life Stories by David Attenborough (£20.00 hbk) - Another wonderful book by an indispensable British institution, beautifully illustrated.

Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 by Christopher Andrew (£30.00) - This unprecedented publication lifts the lid on one of the world’s most secretive organisations – a fascinating read.

Hops and Glory  by Pete Brown (£14.99 hbk) – An unexpected bestseller in our shop. Humorous travel writing and beer - what more could you want?

Halfway to Hollywood: Diaries 1980 to 1988 by Michael Palin (£20.00 hbk) -

The hugely likeable Palin manages to make his forays in film, television and writing seem effortlessly hilarious.

 

Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch Vol 1 (£30.00 hbk) – Over 400 recipes inspired by Nigel Slater’s vegetable patch – A beautifully designed book

 

Venice by Peter Ackroyd (£25 hbk) - We loved Ackroyd’s London: The Biography, so much so that a few years ago, we had staff and customers reading it aloud over 24 hours! Now Ackroyd has done it again, with a warts and all portrait of this most beautiful and beguiling of cities.

 

I Know How To Cook by Ginette Mathiot (£24.95 hbk) - Could this be as indispensable to the British as it is to the French? 

 

Some fiction…….

 

Stieg Larsson - The Swedish crime writer that everyone’s talking about.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo & The Girl Who Played With Fire are in paperback (£7.99). The third, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is just out in hardback (£18.99). The three novels feature one of the most original heroines in modern crime fiction. Tragically the author died suddenly after delivering the final part of the trilogy to his publishers.

 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows (£7.99 pbk) – We loved this charming novel composed entirely in letters, set against the backdrop of the Nazi-occupied Channel Islands. A warm, funny and moving celebration of the written word.

 

Tamara Drewe by Posy Simmonds (£12.99 pbk) - Following her previous adaptation of Madame Bovary, The Guardian’s regular cartoonist adapts Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd as a modern morality tale. Beautifully drawn and very witty.

 

Just out is ...And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer (£18.99 hbk) the official sequel, and sixth in the series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Colfer, author of the best-selling Artemis Fowl books, brilliantly recreates Douglas Adams' hitherto inimitable style. Long-awaited by fans it's sure not to disappoint.

 

 

The Man Booker Shortlist for 2009 was announced in September and was a familiar mix of new and established authors. Bookies’ favourite Hilary Mantel led the pack with Wolf Hall (£18.99 hbk), which explored the interior life of Thomas Cromwell during the Tudor years. This went on to win the prize in October. An early favourite, Sarah Waters, followed up her previously-shortlisted Nightwatch with The Little Stranger (£16.99 hbk), a 1930s set ghost story, while another heavyweight, AS Byatt, made this year’s list with The Children’s Book (£18.99 hbk). Also in the running was twice-winner JM Coetzee whose Summertime (£17.99 hbk) completed his trilogy of fictionalised memoirs. There were two newcomers: Adam Foulds’ The Quickening Maze (£12.99 hbk) took the Victorian poet John Clare as his starting point, and Simon Mawer used wartime Czechoslovakia as his setting for his novel The Glass Room (£16.99 hbk).

 

Books Under Ten Pounds

Je Ne Sais Quoi & Pardon My French by Charles Timoney (hbk, £9.99 each) Discover the hidden French in you with these hilarious guides to getting by in France.

Red Sky at Night: The Book of Country Lore & Wisdom by Jane Struthers (£9.99 hbk) - Ever wondered how to predict the weather just by looking at the sky? This book is packed with instructions and lists, ancient customs and old wives tales.

High Balls, Long Balls & No Balls (£6.99 pbk) - an irreverent collection of sporting gaffes including Gazza’s immortal “I never predict anything, and I never will!”

Secret Life of Birds by Colin Tudge (£9.99 hbk) – Birds have always fascinated and Colin Tudge has dug up some extraordinary facts and stories to illustrate this.

The Weather Book by Diana Craig (£9.99 hbk) – What would the British do without the weather to talk about? This tells you everything about the skies above us than you could ever wish to know – and more.

World Without Bees by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum (£7.99 pbk)- A disturbing look at the plight of the humble bee and what a world without them would be like.

Leviathan by Philip Hoare (£8.99 pbk) - Winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction, this is a wonderful book, exploring everything cetacean. Philip Hoare grew up obsessed by whales, and it shows – you’ll find yourself quickly becoming obsessed with whales too.

 

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

 

For Younger Readers…

 

Bedtime Collection: 40 Stories and Rhymes  (£7.99 pbk) - This anthology has been put together by children’s book guru Wendy Cooling. Brilliant illustrations by the likes of Lauren Child, David McKee and Axel Scheffler accompany poems and stories from, among others, Michael Morpurgo, Roger McGough and Ian Whybrow. This is a very satisfying brew of good value and excellent content. Children will go on enjoying this book for a long time. 

 

Just Like Tonight by Stewart Amber and Layne Marlow (£5.99 pbk) - Following in the softly padding paw-steps as Martin Waddell’s Little Bear comes the very endearing Button. Set in a sunlit meadow full of bright new grasses and flowers, Layne Marlow’s pretty and tender illustrations make this a particularly lovely picture book. And although there are plenty of books about mums and babies this one, usefully, focuses on fatherhood.

 

Hide Me Kipper by Mick Inkpen (£5.99 pbk) – Celebrating 18 years of one of the most successful picture book characters, this brand new story is now out in paperback. Hooray!

 

 Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (£5.99 pbk) - The dream team do it again. And again with their new one in hardback, Tabby McTat, at £10.99.  Pictures for poring over and rhyming stories for reading aloud with pleasure over and over again.

Charlie & Lola Annual 2010 (£7.99 hbk) – Every toddler’s favourite terrible twosome, Charlie & Lola are as popular as ever. Their new annual is packed with stories, games and puzzles.

Pop-Up Dinosaurs Galore by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz (£9.99 hbk) - for all your dino-loving little ones.

For Older Readers…

Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson (£12.99 hbk) – the story of a foundling child who joins the circus before going in search of her real mother. It’s a sort of Victorian Tracy Beaker and lots of fun!

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean (£12.99 hbk) – Pepper Roux defies the prophecy that he will die on his 14th birthday and sets off on a round the world adventure to stay one step ahead of death. As exciting as it sounds!

Brigands M.C. by Robert Muchamore (£12.99 hbk) – the latest in the Cherubs series is sure to be a favourite with its followers. This time Dante is on the trail of the gang who killed his family…

And of course, we have all of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series in stock!

And if younger gothically inclined readers haven’t already discovered Marcus Sedgwick’s eccentric and funny Raven Mysteries, they are in for a treat. Flood and Fang is now followed by Ghosts and Gadgets. Nice little hardbacks – perfect gifts at £7.99

ROALD DAHL FUNNY PRIZE

This is awarded to the funniest books published each year for children and the winners were announced in November. Judges, including Bill Bailey and Michael Rosen, chose Mr Pusskins Best in Show by Sam Lloyd (£10.99 hbk) from the Six and Under category, and Grubtown Tales: Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky by Philip Ardagh (£4.99 pbk)  in the 7-14 category.

Other shortlisted titles included:

The Great Dog Bottom Swap by Peter Bently (£11.99 hbk)

Octopus Socktopus by Nick Sharratt (£6.99 pbk)

Elephant Joe Is A Spaceman by David Wojtowycz (£7.99 hbk)

The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg (£5.99 pbk)

The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams (£6.99 pbk) and

Ribblestrop by Andy Mulligan (£6.99 pbk) 

 

 

 

NOTES FROM UNDER GROUND

 

Books signed or inscribed by their authors or illustrators can make interesting and, sometimes, unique gifts. We have a selection of such items in stock from paperbacks to the sumptuous vellum gilt of an Edwardian classic. Prices range from £10-£1200 and authors/illustrators include Edmund Dulac, George Du Maurier, Alan Bennett and Will Self.