Book News: September 2011

from The Book Case, who have been providing our community with books for over 25 years

New chapter for The Book Case

Kate will be taking over The Book Case from 1st October. Having worked as the children's book buyer at the Book Case for the last five years, she will running the business with her business partner Jake.

They will be expanding the upstairs into a reading room where they hope to be able to host community events, poetry readings, children's story time etc, and they are keen for anyone who wants to be involved to get in touch (the current address, telephone number and email address will remain unaltered).

They intend building on The Book Case's reputation as a place to find interesting and unusual books and also introduce a selection of classic gifts for book lovers. Peter and Anne will be retiring from The Book Case and the shop will close for a very short period from September 17th to allow Kate and Jake to prepare for reopening on 1st October.

And a message from Felicity Potter (who has been with the shop since the beginning): I'm moving to rural Staffordshire, but will retain my links with The Book Case and Royd Press, and I would like to thank all the wonderful book enthusiasts I've had the pleasure of dealing with over the years - they will be remembered fondly.

TOP TEN: August bestsellers at The Book Case

Miss Rusty topped the bill in August at The Book Case - followed by six books of local interest. Also popular were a child's activity book, a well-reviewed hardback novel and a colourful 2012 diary - summer must be nearly over!

1. Stop! Don't Read This: the story - Leonora Rustamova (£6.99)
From Hebden Bridge-based publishers Blue Moose, an account of the racy self-published novel by the Calder High teacher "Miss Rusty" which led to her suspension - and the novel itself.

2. Hebden Bridge: a short history of the area - Peter Thomas (£5.99) Nudged out last month by the Festival, Peter Thomas's account of the history of our area from ancient times to the present day is back where it belongs.

3. The Mills of the Hebden Valley - HBATC (£5.00)
An informative illustrated booklet about the history of our area from the Alternative Technology Centre.

4. Savile Bowling Club: 100 Years of Bowling, compiled by Bill Green (£5.00) A short history of the 100-year-old club built on a woodland clearing made available by Lord Savile in 1910. It's been compiled from old minute books and documents, with lots of old and new photographs.

5. "Discover Hebden Bridge" - Town Centre Trail (£2)
Visitors liked this colourful guide to a 45-minute walk around the town, produced by Hebden Bridge Local History Society and Hebden Bridge Walkers' Action.

6. Fustianopolis: Hebden Bridge, the growth of a textile town - HBATC (£5.00) Companion volume to "The Mills of Hebden Bridge" above.

7. The Mystery of the Autumn Crocus (Crocus nudiflorus) by Steve Blacksmith (£5) From the Halifax Scientific Society, an attractive little book with colour photographs about this attractive but elusive little plant which grows in rural locations throughout Calderdale.

8. I-Spy on a Car Journey (£2.50)
Ideal for staving off boredom on journeys. "I-Spy at an Airport" was popular too.

9. The Stranger's Child - Alan Hollinghurst (£18 at The Book Case)
Our Fiction Book of the Month. Well-reviewed novel which begins in an English country house in 1913 and develops through the century - a "richly comic history of social mores and literary reputation".

10. Earth Pathways Diary 2012 - Moonshares Cooperative (£13.00)
A colourful celebration of the work of UK artists and writers who share a deep love for our land and a vision of a sustainable future for all, within the context of the seasonal cycle and the Celtic Wheel of the Year. It includes Moon phases and signs, sunrise and sunset times, moonrise and moonset times and some astrological information for the UK.

News

Local Interest

Pennine Valley: a History of Upper Calderdale - ed. Professor Bernard Jennings, based on the research work of the Hebden Bridge WEA Local History Group (£14.99) We're delighted that Hebden Bridge Local History Society is reprinting this classic illustrated work from the early 1990s - "the most comprehensive history of the Upper Calder Valley that has ever been published."

Mr Andoh's Pennine Diary: Memoirs of a Japanese Chicken Sexer in 1935 Hebden Bridge - ed. Takyoshi Andoh & Stephen Curry
Imagine what a Japanese man would make of living and working in a Pennine milltown in 1935! Koichi Andoh travelled by ship from Japan in 1935 to teach the technique of distinguishing the sex of one-day-old chicks to Hebden Bridge hatchery businesses. He kept a daily diary of his journey and life here which his son Takayoshi Andoh discovered in the late 1990s. In his turn,Takayoshi made the journey to Hebden Bridge and a collaboration began between him and Stephen Curry of Angeldale to translate Koichi's experiences and collate his photographs. This book brings to life the thoughts and observation of a sometimes homesick man.

Brighouse Through Time - Chris Helme (£14.99)
This fascinating selection of old photographs alongside the scene today traces some of the many ways in which Brighouse Town Centre has changed and developed over the last century.

West Yorkshire Railway Stations: From Aberford to Yeadon - Peter Tuffrey (£16.99)
The second of Peter Tuffrey's fascinating works on Yorkshire railway stations - with help from picture postcards, www.lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk, and the Yorkshire Post archives.

Local Authors

The Last Word - Mark Illis (£8.99)
Gloria, meet Stephen. He's your dead brother's best friend. He's also a liar, and he doesn't want to hand over your brother's belongings. He's got a hair collection, and he's got somebody's teeth hidden in a drawer. Oh yes, and someone is sending him letters claiming it's his fault Max is dead. Stephen, meet Gloria. She's not good with people. She wants you to hand over all Max's most precious stuff. She likes to steal things, she gate-crashes funerals, she's going to force you to revisit some of the most painful moments in your life. And she doesn't know who's writing the weird letters you're getting, but she tends to agree.

Mark lives in Hebden Bridge and his last book, Tender, was a great success.


Local Events

'Open Door' Artist Talks: Friday 9th September 7pm at the Back Door - Simon Manfield. "Lines of Memory": Illustrator and Book Case staff member Simon Manfield talks about his artistic journey, from cover artist for Scottish political magazine Radical Scotland to documentary illustrator in Spain that saw the production of his Memoria Hist?rica series, to his most current, ongoing project, Orcadians: Seven Impromptus


Ted Hughes Festival, 21-23 October 2011 - another exciting line up later this year.