Newsletter
October 06
A message from The
Book Monkey (Editor)
It's most
definitely autumn now! Today was the first day the heating has been
turned on in the shop - so come and get toasty with a good browse and a
coffee at Mr B's! In the meantime, here's a little winter warmer
of a newsletter
for you.
I bring you today
an enormity of events,
a ripple of reviews,
a whirl through
what's new and a quirk of a
quiz
(with prize!). Just scroll down. Just scroll down or
click on the links above.
Firstly -
Who won September's quirky quiz?!
Not one person got
all three answers right but a few of you tried, so thanks very much. It
was a tough one, to be fair (click
here for answers). As a result,
this month's quiz is
staggeringly easy. There's a fiver off at Mr B's if you do win,
which may come in handy with all that Christmas shopping to do!
The closest
guessers got their allocated biscuits thrown into Vlashka's dinner bowl
again and this time she chose Rachel Weber as the lucky winner!
Congratulations! We'll be in touch with you to let you know how to claim
your £5 off at Mr B's.
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Events - What's Mr B got in store?
Shakespeare,
Gunpowder & Plot
Following-on from their sell-out double-act at the Edinburgh and
Hay-on-Wye Festivals
Authors
Claire Asquith & Alice Hogge
 
Click here for review
Click here for review
Hidden
beliefs and coded politics in Shakespeare & the hatching of the gunpowder
plot
Wednesday 1
November 6.30 p.m. at Mr B's
Tickets £2
(includes a glass of wine and nibbles)
Limited
spaces so call 01225 331155 to book now!
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Launch of Mr
B's Delightful Book Club
If you
think you might like join Mr B's Book Club, do come along to an initial
meeting
Monday 6th November - 7.30 p.m. at Mr B's
We'll all meet over a
glass of wine, see who'd like to join in and choose the first book to
read.
No obligation to
join.
The first proper meeting
is scheduled for January 2007.
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BBC Special Correspondent and former presenter of BBC Breakfast
Jeremy Bowen
Wednesday
15th November - 7.30 p.m.
Brunswick
Room, The Guildhall, Bath
Mr B's is
honoured to present one of Britain's most renowned journalists reading
from his new memoirs "War Stories" which collates his experiences
as a war correspondent over 20 years, from the Gulf to the Balkans to The
Lebanon.
Jeremy
will be signing books and meeting readers after his talk.
Tickets in
advance £3 (redeemable against purchase of "War Stories")
To buy
tickets - call 01225 331155, email
books@mrbsemporium.com
or pop into the shop!
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Launch Party for "The Art of Skiing" by local author Jenny de Gex
Thursday 23rd November - Evening (time to be announced)
A gorgeous coffee-table
book celebrating the art of the ski poster
The perfect Christmas
present for anyone who loves skiing, art or both!
Free! Mulled wine and
gingerbread!
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Mr B's Big Fat Santa Double! -
For Adults and Kids!
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Local
travel writer Jeremy Seal
reads from his book "Santa: A Life"
newly out in paperback
Thursday
7th December - 6.30p.m. at Mr B's
Tickets £2
(includes a glass of wine and mince-pies!)
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Kids'
author Kate Lee
brings in lots of fun stuff to mess
around with & reads from her new touch-and-feel Santa book "Just the Job for Santa"
Ages 2 - 6
Saturday
9th December - 10.30a.m. at Mr B's
Tickets £2 per family (includes juice,
coffee & mince-pies!)
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Reviews
What's Mr B discovered for you this month?
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Secret River
by Kate Grenville
One of the 2006 Booker Prize short list that lost out to Kiran
Desai.
Set in 1807 this is the intriguing tale of a London man, William
Thornhill, who is punished for a grave mistake by the
deportation of him and his family to New South Wales where
he stakes a claim for land and tries to rebuild his life.
Canongate - Paperback - 2006
Price:
£7.99
Click here to buy online |
Journey by
Moonlight
by Antal
Szerb
A bourgeois couple, Mihaly and Erzsi, accidentally get separated
while on honeymoon in Italy and embark on voyages of escape,
self-examination, and a search for meaning.
Szerb addresses "big issues" with a lightness of touch,
a gentle, ironic humour, and a lack of didacticism that make
this novel a beautiful as well as a thought-provoking
experience. The characters and the inter-war settings of
Hungary, Italy, and France are richly observed and retain our
sympathy despite their manifold and manifest faults.
The moral ambiguity of the characters and their world, the
beauty of the writing, and the author's sympathy for the frailty
of his subjects reminds me of Mozart and Graham Greene. This
lovely Pushkin Press edition was translated by Len Rix, winner
of the 2006 Oxford-Weidenfeld prize for translation.
Paperback - Pushkin Press - 2006
Price £6.99
Click here to buy online |
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Children’s Books
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Ghost
Party by Jacques Duquennoy
A very silly little story about a group of Ghosts who go round to
their friend Henry’s castle for dinner and take on the colour
and texture of their feast - turning red with the pumpkin soup,
yellow with holes in with the Cheese course – and then disappear
altogether after the magical invisible chef’s special!
Lots of walking through walls and very funny illustrations mean
it’s a friendly, rather than scary, ghost story – although
there’s a big “Boo!” at the end as Henry disguises himself!
Great little Halloween gift! There’s also Loch Ness Ghosts in the
same series.
Ages 2+
£9.99- Hardback - Frances Lincoln
Click to buy online |
Tiger in
the Snow by Nick Butterworth
A sweet simple fun tale about “Tiger” who tries to get everyone
to come and play in the snow with him. Eventually, he comes
across a strange object in the snow which he transforms into a
sledge – and at last everyone joins in as it goes sliding,
swooping, zigzagging and loop the looping down the hill.
Good festive fun!
Ages 1+
£10.99 - Hardback - HarperCollins
Click to buy Online
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What the Book Monkey’s been Reading?
(Highlights from
the Book Monkey’s Book of the Week feature at Mr B’s Emporium)
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Why Don't
Penguins Feet Freeze? New Scientist
This collection of questions and answers from the "Last Word"
column of the New Scientist follows on from the incredibly
popular "Does anything eat wasps?". Witty and educative - a
winning combination and we're particularly fond of random facts
at Mr B's. This is a fun and informative book to have by your
bed to just dip into, smile and learn.
For
example...
Harvey
never knew why the windows of a ship's hull are round.
Juliette
was astonished to read that gnats can fly in heavy rain
without being knocked out of the air by raindrops.
Nic
was pleased to learn that he should pickle his conkers.
And Vlashka would still like to know why dogs' noses are
black but will sadly never know because she can't read.
Price: £7.99 - Paperback - Profile Books
Click here to buy online |
The
History Boys by Alan Bennett
This is a play with a pedigree. Produced for stage and screen by
Nick Hytner, Alan Bennet's latest play, structured around the
English obsession with Oxbridge, explores the themes of
authority, sexuality and adolescent sensitivities. it is also a
great hoot!
Read the play, then see the film - or
vice versa!
Price:
£8.99 - Paperback
Click here to buy online |
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The Book Monkey's Quirky Quiz
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Answer me this, book-lovers, and you could
get
£5 off your next purchase from Mr B’s!
QUIRKY QUIZ QUESTION
Super simple this week....and breaking from the canine theme...
"Name all seven dwarfs"
If
you know the answer, email us on
books@mrbsemporium.com or
pop into the shop.
The first ten people to answer correctly will be allocated a dog
biscuit in Vlashka’s dinner bowl. The first person’s biscuit to
be eaten will be the winner!
The lucky winner will be announced in next month’s newsletter
and will get £5 off their next purchase at Mr B’s shop in
Bath
or off an email book order. |
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Answers to September's
Quirky Quiz
Question: Can you identify these three
canine-sounding novels from their excellent last lines?
“Might I
trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we can stop at
Marcini’s for a little dinner on the way?”
Answer: "Hound of the
Baskervilles" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“And I
know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and
because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? and I
found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that
means I can do anything.”
Answer: "The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon
“Each of us bathes by himself "
Answer: "Dog Years" by Gunter
Grass
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Noticeboard
Don’t miss out on some of the great things our neighbours
are getting up to …
Bath Film Festival (26 October -
19 November)
Highlights....
Saturday 28th October at 2 pm - "Casablanca" at the Little Theatre
Cinema
Mr B's will be
at the venue selling signed copies of a fabulous, new book on
Humphrey Bogart by George Perry, who will also be there to answer
questions.
Tuesday 7th November
at 6.30 p.m. -
"Tintin and Me (Tintin et Moi)" at the
Little Theatre Cinema
For tickets, go
to
www.bathfilmfestival.org
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Lectures,
Readings,
Recitals
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI)
–
16-18 Queen Square
Throughout October - lots of readings and lectures – see
www.brlsi.com
for details
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Concerts
The
Bath Recital Artists Trust
–
Pump Rooms
Saturday 29th October at 8 pm
Anna Mowat on Cello and David Alexander on Piano - playing Schummann,
Debussy, Delius, Dvorak's and Shostakovich
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