Blog

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong Front Cover

T. S. Eliot Prize Winner Announcement

27 Jan 2018

On 14th January 2018, the T. S. Eliot Prize Winner was announced. Ocean Vuong’s astounding debut collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, traces the aftermath of war across generations. In a video about his collection he says “a lot of the poems in the collection attempt to navigate history through a rewriting, or rather a recasting, of history into a … Read more

Claire Barker Head Shot

Interview: Claire Barker

12 Jan 2018

Claire is author of the Knitbone Pepper books, a series about a funny, friendly family of ghost animals who reside at crumbling Starcross Hall. Claire and Knitbone recently won the Simply Books X Factor award, voted for by 2,000 children, and were shortlisted for the Sainsburys Children’s Fiction Award in 2017.  We’ve recently been visiting schools with Claire, who read to … Read more

Costa Book Award Category Winners

Costa Book Awards 2017

05 Jan 2018

Book-world always begins the year promptly, as on the 2nd of January the Costa Book Awards 2017 category winners are announced. There are awards for five categories; First Novel, Novel, Children’s Book, Poetry and Biography. The Costa Book Awards have been running since 1971 and in 1985 an overall winners award was introduced. Last years winner, Sebastian Barry, was the … Read more

St Martin's Island by Todd Gray & Sue Jackson Cover

Review: St Martin’s Island

18 Dec 2017

The disastrous fire which destroyed the Royal Clarence Hotel in October 2016 shocked Exeter and received widespread dramatic coverage. The historic hotel made up one corner of the block of buildings between St Martin’s Lane and Broadgate, many of which are ancient constructions and for which still exist rich historical documentation. Todd Gray and Sue Jackson have mined this rare … Read more

Blue Planet II photography.

Review: Blue Planet II

08 Dec 2017

Written by two BBC producers of the show, this book contains varied content across the series alongside stunning photography. Each chapter brings to life a different habitat in the ocean and explores creatures from the disturbing bobbit worm to the unbelievable pod of spinner dolphins. Captivating images and interesting information make this a lovely Christmas gift to any fan of … Read more

In Our Hands Blog Image

Review: In Our Hands

01 Dec 2017

The business dictionary defines community businesses as ‘self-organised networks of people with common agenda, cause, or interest, who collaborate by sharing ideas, information, and other resources.’ In Our Hands by Steve Wyler explores the history and early origins of community business, delving into the creation of medieval guilds, seventeenth century radicalism, friendly societies and early co-operatives to the present day. … Read more

Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2017

24 Nov 2017

This week, in a ceremony hosted by BBC News presenter Mishal Husain, the annual Books Are My Bag Readers Awards were announced. From the incredible shortlist, book-lovers across the country have voted for their favourite. The Readers Choice Award went to Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctors, which also won the Non-Fiction award.  … Read more

The Novel Cure by Ella and Elderkin

The Surprising Power of Books

17 Nov 2017

Books are entertainment, information and stories. But how do they affect us? We’ve taken a look at the surprising power of books: Reading is Therapeutic You may have heard of the term ‘bibliotherapy’. If not, it is used to describe the use of books as a therapeutic tool. Now there may seem like some obvious examples of this: self-help books. … Read more

James Ravilious Photography

James Ravilious: A Life and The Recent Past

10 Nov 2017

CCB is excited to host ‘Recording Country Lives with Robin Ravilious’ on Thursday 30th November. She will be showing slides and talking about individual images and the engaging and gifted man behind the camera, James Ravilious. To find out more about this event, please visit our Events page. On 2nd November, Wilmington Square an imprint of Bitter Lemon Press published … Read more