Cliff

Reeve And McIntyre Visit The Bookery!

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We were delighted to welcome Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre to The Bookery last week! On September 22nd, Sarah visited nearly 600 children with her books Grumpycorn and Don’t Call Me Grumpycorn. Sarah is not only the well-known author of picture books for children, she is also the designer of our logo and the lettering on the front of our shop! She went to Broadclyst in Exeter to talk to 180 children (aged 4-7) and was joined by the three … Read more

Review: Crossroads

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  A return to form for Jonathan Franzen in this addictive (and huge) novel. Set at the beginning of the changing winds of the 1970s, pastor and patriarch Russ Hilderbrand is struggling to hold the strands of his life together. His disgrace at work, his shaky marriage, his relationship with his unruly kids and his own self-doubt all add up to trouble as Christmas looms over the horizon. Following these events, the secrets and lies of the Hilderbrand family are … Read more

Short Cuts

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The Bookery’s Cliff found himself with reader’s block in 2020 – how did he cure it? Last year was not a normal year, I think we can all agree. Amidst chaos and change, I found myself with…time on my hands. And, in common with many book lovers, I thought that a long fallow period would allow me to perhaps attack some of those long and difficult doorstops which had been stacking up on the pile just out of my eyeline. … Read more

Review: Medusa

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  You’ve probably heard of her – the hideous Gorgon with snakes for hair who turns all that look at her to stone. But this brilliant new Young Adult novel from Jessie Burton (author of The Miniaturist) compels us to look again.  ‘You should be careful who tells your story’, Medusa warns us. In this breath-taking and powerful reclaiming of the ancient Greek myth, Medusa finally tells her own story.  18-year-old Medusa lives on a lonely but beautiful island, with her Gorgon sisters, … Read more

Review: Pony

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  The long-awaited and hugely original follow-up to the phenomenally successful Wonder was worth waiting for! There are moments when you realise that the decision you’re making will reverberate for the rest of your life. This is a story about making brave choices. It’s 1860s America, the sheriffs and their deputies have a perilously thin grip on the prospectors, bounty-hunters and criminal gangs hiding in the unmapped land. Tensions between abolitionists and slavers are about to blow up into the … Read more

Review: Julia And The Shark

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  “This is the story of the summer I almost lost my mum, and found a shark older than the trees….” In the beginning, we meet ten-year-old Julia relocating with her parents from their home in Cornwall to a lighthouse in Shetland. Julia’s mum, a marine biologist, is using the trip to search for an elusive and 400-year-old Greenland Shark. While her parents are settling into their temporary home, Julia meets a shy and soulful boy called Kin. The new … Read more

Devon Can Be Murder

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  With the brooding and dramatic landscapes of Dartmoor and Exmoor, the beautiful sunny beaches of the English Riviera and the busy villages of mid-Devon, is it any wonder that the mysterious possibilities of the county have captured so many writers’ imaginations? Devon is synonymous with legendary crime writer Agatha Christie and is the setting for one of Sherlock Holmes’ most famous cases, but is also the inspiration for many more mysterious crime novels than you might realise. Here are … Read more

Exciting Autumn Arrivals

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  Autumn is the busiest time in the publishing calendar when everyone brings out their top books in time for Christmas. Here we have picked eight of the best – some big hitters and a couple that might slip under the radar.

Review: The Howling Hag Mystery

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  Ingredients: 1 school plagued with curses; 1 young witch who can’t do magic; 1 talking cat sleuth on holiday. Method: Place the ingredients in a big cauldron and stir well over a low fire at midnight. Dancing and chanting optional. Raven Charming has always known magic is real – she comes from a family of witches. And although she doesn’t seem to have any magical ability of her own yet, she knows how important it is to keep magic … Read more

Review: Woodston – The Biography Of An English Farm

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  Lying on the ground at the edge of a ripe wheat field, John Lewis-Stempel describes in loving detail all the life he observes: flowers, insects, birds, a field mouse even a toad waddles past; he is mesmerised and stays there for hours. For 30 years from 1930, Lewis-Stempel’s grandparents ran Woodston farm. It was primarily a hop farm but mixed with sheep, milking cows, wheat and other crops for animal feed.  ‘Poppop’ was hired because he was a good … Read more