The Bookery

Interview: Raynor Winn

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Since travelling the South West Coastal Path, Raynor Winn has become a regular long-distance walker and writes about nature, homelessness and wild camping. On Monday 11th February Raynor will be at CCB talking about her highly acclaimed debut, The Salt Path.  Q: What Book Changed your Life? A: The Women’s Room by Marilyn French I made my first train journey when I was 18. I’d just met an unbelievably beautiful young man who had exploded into my life in a long army … Read more

Review: Now We Shall Be Entirely Free

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Andrew Miller has established an impressive reputation having won multiple prizes for his novels including Ingenious Pain (James Tait Black) and Pure (Costa). Now We Shall Be Entirely Free is the story of John Lacroix, returned home wounded and weak after the disastrous retreat from Napoleon in the Peninsular War. He is nursed back to health but cannot face returning to his regiment. With no family or friends around him he resolves to try to find peace by travelling to … Read more

Devon Book Club: South West Coast Path Challenge

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Ian, an avid reader and Goodreads user, started Devon Book Club a few years ago. Since then, the group has nurtured discussions about all things Devonshire and Book-related. We spotted his South West Coast Path Challenge and asked if he could tell us more: Devon Book Club has over 3000 members – readers, writers, booksellers, publishers, libraries, festivals and more, all united by a passion for books. We connect through Goodreads.com, on Facebook and on Twitter and occasionally meet (usually … Read more

New Patron: Patrick Gale

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CCB is very proud to announce our new patron, best-selling author Patrick Gale. We hosted Patrick for a sell-out event at the shop earlier this year which was a great success. He said “I’m honoured to become a patron of Crediton Community Bookshop. Quite apart from being a lively, imaginative independent bookseller of the kind that makes any visiting author’s heart sing, CCB is a brilliant example of how transformative community cooperation can be.” Manager, Dee Lalljee, said “We are thrilled to … Read more

Back-To-School: Volunteer Interview

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Cathie (holding the book) is a CCB volunteer and a Granny, and works part time for the University of Exeter training primary teachers. Her invaluable experience makes her the perfect co-ordinator of our Schools Outreach Programme. We chatted to Cathie about her role in this week’s blog: In a nutshell, what’s your role at CCB? My role is to lead the schools outreach team. We identify local authors who would like to work with us and take them into schools, … Read more

Review: Under the Rock

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Benjamin Myers is a critically acclaimed writer most well-known for his innovative and atmospheric novel ‘The Gallows Pole’ which is set in the Calder Valley. Under the Rock is an exploration and memoir of the same area of Yorkshire, based on the 15 years or so since Myers made his home there. What fascinates Myers is the connection between the land and the people who live there; the impact of the people on the land and the influence of the … Read more

Review: Girl, Balancing & Other Stories

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Girl, Balancing and Other Stories front cover

Helen Dunmore was a prize-winning, bestselling novelist, poet and children’s writer; her short stories were published less often but Girl, Balancing & Other Stories proves she also mastered this genre brilliantly. In a dazzling variety of settings she demonstrates her skill within the economy of the form, creating vivid and distinctive characters, recognisable as ‘ordinary’ people, often to give an individual’s story within a known historical or contemporary scenario. She is especially adept at creating characters with a sophisticated mix … Read more

Devon Literary Adventures

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To celebrate the lovely weather, the start of the summer holidays and the stunning county of Devon, we’ve rounded up some hot-spots perfect for literary adventures on a summer’s day. Over the years, writers have been inspired by Devon’s rugged beauty. If you can’t understand why, Ian Sansom wrote an article titled ‘Devon Sent: Why Writers Can’t Resist the County’ to shed a little light on the matter! The Hound of  the Baskervilles | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle First up, … Read more

Man Booker Longlist 2018

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Man Booker Longlist 2018 shelf

The longlist, or ‘Man Booker Dozen’, for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize was announced on Monday 23rd July. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, first awarded in 1969, is open to writers of any nationality, writing in English and published in the UK and Ireland. This is the first year that novels published in Ireland have been accepted. This year’s longlist of 13 books was selected by a panel of five judges: by the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah (Chair); crime … Read more

Review: Where the World Ends

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Where the world ends front cover

Based on a true story from the wildest and most remote of the Scottish Isles and on events which took place nearly 300 years ago, Geraldine McCaughrean brings to life the characters from a very alien time and place so wonderfully that we instantly empathise and become engrossed in their ordeal. A party of nine boys and three men is set ashore on an isolated rock stack half a day’s sea crossing from St Kilda. They are to collect the … Read more