Saturday 29^th June 2013 - McGrigor Hall, Frinton 6.30-9pm. Tickets £12 including one of the books & 10% off the other title.

Once again Bloomsbury Publishing is bringing us two brilliant new writers.  Francesca Brill author of The Harbour and Melissa Harrison author of Clay will be joining us to discuss their novels and to answer your questions.  So, get your reading group involved in this national initiative.  Or, if you are not
a member of a reading group, simply come along yourself or with some friends!  Nibbles will be provided, with wine and soft drinks for sale.

Further details of the books can be found on our Events page.

This year’s fundraising Quiz will be held on Friday 24th May 2013 at McGrigor Hall at 7.30pm.  The quiz is sponsored by The Book Service and compiled by local quiz specialist Ken Oehlrich.  It is a general knowledge quiz with a few literary twists!  The shield will be presented by our lovely local Festival Patron, Barbara Erskine. Tables of 6 are invited at a cost of £6 per person to include a light supper.  Wine & refreshments will be on sale. Will you be the winner of the coveted TBS Shield this year?

We had a lovely day in Colchester on Wednesday with Bloomsbury author Laura Powell.  We visited Colchester County High School for Girls and St Mary’s School for Girls, where Laura talked to Year 8 students about her brilliant books about ancient witchcraft in a modern world. We have signed copies in the shop, if you’re looking for a great Young Adult read. For photos of the events see our Children’s page.

We had a lovely time on Thorpe-le-Soken Station on Tuesday morning, handing out 20 FREE copies of Sophie Hannah’s Little Face. Pictured here is our first happy commuter, John Williams! And if you missed us in the local paper with the lovely train driver Paul Moss – then follow this link http://tinyurl.com/c5ehc5e.  For more information about becoming a giver yourself next year, check out the WBN website www.worldbooknight.org.

To celebrate World Book Night, we are giving away 20 copies of Sophie Hannah’s first psychological thriller ‘Little Face’.  If you’ve forgotten how great it is to curl up with a good book, then find us at Thorp-le-Soken Station between 0740 and 0820 tomorrow morning.  Grab a free copy of the book…read it…love it…and share it!  And if you rediscover the magic of reading, then we’d love you to come and see us in the Book Shop!

Thursday 16th May at 7.00pm
Kate Worsley will be joining us at Café 19 to talk about her debut novel ‘She Rises’. According to The Times, Kate ‘leaves convention behind to tell a rollicking story of love and adventure. Harwich is gloriously reinvented as a place of smuggling, secrets and a decidedly contemporary passion. This is a fresh take on historical fiction; enjoyably witty and playful’. It should be another great night! More info and menus to follow.

Is your head in a constant whirl?  Are you feeling stressed and overwhelmed, or have you just got too much going around in your mind?  If so, this book is a must for you… Come and meet local author, Carole Sawo, who will be singing copies of her new publication – ‘De-cluttering the Mind’ in the shop on Friday 29^th March from 2 till 4pm.

A big thank you to Liz Trenow for feeding our minds with fascinating tales of her family’s history in the silk weaving trade and to Andrew Spratt and all the staff at Café 19 for feeding our tummy’s with delicious food!  We hope everyone who attended the event enjoyed the evening as much as we did – we even get a mention on Liz’s blog – http://liztrenow.com/2013/03/21/meeting-readers/.  Watch this space for details of the next Supper Book Club and other forthcoming events.

World Book Day was last Thursday – 7^th March and we had a very busy day indeed!  We had two authors visiting two different schools: Erica-Jane Waters, author of Petticoat Pirates was doing workshops with KS2 children at Kirby Primary School and Veronique Eckstein who has written two picture books set on Mersea Island was at Frinton Primary School to open their new School Library and to talk to all the children and lots of parents about the books and her experience as a writer. For a full round-up, please see our Children’s page.

Hoorah!  It’s World Book Day again!  There are 8 amazing special WBD books which can be exchanged for a WBD token or bought for just £1!!  Authors include Cathy Cassidy, Lauren Child, Anthony Horowitz and Tony Robinson with wonderful characters such as Horrid Henry, Tom Gates and Alfie.

Pop into the shop to see the selection or use your WBD token against any other books to get £1 off the RRP.  For exciting activities and more information – follow this link: www.worldbookday.com.