Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

Described as ‘an uplifting story of female friendship against the odds’ ‘The perfect escape novel for our troubled times.’ PATRICK GALE.

It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist.

Go to LitWits page for more details

The Promise by Damon Galgut is this year’s Booker Winner.

The Promise charts the crash and burn of a white South African family, living on a farm outside Pretoria. The Swarts are gathering for Ma’s funeral.

The younger generation, Anton and Amor, detest everything the family stand for – not least the failed promise to the Black woman who has worked for them her whole life. After years of service, Salome was promised her own house, her own land… yet somehow, as each decade passes, that promise remains unfulfilled.

Confident, deft and quietly powerful, The Promise is literary fiction at its finest. ‘Gorgeous and pleasurable’ Tessa Hadley ‘The most important book of the last ten years’ Edmund White ‘Simply: you must read it’ Claire Messud

Bring in your Christmas books shopping list or fill in the contact from below, and let us put it together for you, Christmas wrapped if requested and delivered all together free to your home address*

By shopping local and not using Amazon, you will be doing your bit to cut carbon emissions, reduce waste cardboard and packing and helping to keep the indies on your High Street!

Continue reading “This Christmas . . . . . . . . .” →

Freya and Amelia were our first customers on Saturday, waiting at 10 o’clock on the dot to come in! Thank you Amelia for cutting the ribbon, excellent work. :o))

These two were followed by lots more customers throughout the day in spite of the atrocious weather. Many thanks to you all, SO good to see you. 

Special thanks to Audrey from Chinley who was determined to come even though she had to come by bus! 

I 

• The Promise by Damon Galgut
• A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam
• No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
• The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed
• Bewilderment by Richard Powers
• Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

The Booker Prize nominees for 2021 were chosen by the official judging panel which consists of novelist Chigozie Obioma, historian Maya Jasanoff, writer and editor Horatia Harrod, former Archbishop Rowan Williams and actor Natascha McElhone.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday 3rd November.

The new Autumn edition of Booktime is available now, collect your copy from the shop on Fridays and Saturdays between 11am and 2pm (these times are while the shop is still closed due to the flooding)

Booktime is full of all the up and coming news on books for both children and adults and is FREE!

The shortlist for UK Nature and Global Conservation writing

here

The winners will be announced on 7 September 2021.

You can buy or order from us today, quote you saw it on our website and receive £1 discount and 1 extra smiley face on your loyalty card!

The longlist this year, announced on Tuesday 27th July by Chair of Judges Maya Jasanoff.

Follow the link https://youtu.be/PIrKprfwhJM

A Passage North 

by Anuk Arudpragasam

Second Place

by Rachel Cusk

The Promise 

by Damon Galgut

The Sweetness of Water  

by Nathan Harris

Klara and the Sun 

by Kazuo Ishiguro

An Island 

by Karen Jennings

A Town Called Solace  

by Mary Lawson

No One Is talking About This 

by Patricia Lockwood

The Fortune Men 

by Nadifa Mohamed]

Bewildermen  

by Richard Powers

China Room 

by Sunjeev Sahota

Great Circle 

by Maggie Shipstead

Light Perpetual 

by Francis Spufford

Watch for shortlist announcement on Tuesday 14th September 2021

SPECIAL OFFER All the books are available in the shop or to order, with £1 off every book and ask for 2 smileys on your loyalty card!

These prestigious awards took place on 16th June 2021 and this year the judges cite ‘powerful and emotional punch’ delivered by the two winners – Jason Reynolds and Sydney Smith.

Click on the link for all the news about the authors and their books, and much more https://carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2021-cilip-ckg-medal-winners-announced/

• Manjeet Mann’s debut novel Run, Rebel (Penguin Random House Children’s) and Sharon King-Chai’s Starbird (Two Hoots) take home the Shadowers’ Choice Awards from the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal shortlists respectively

Hey Duggee: Duggee and the Dinosaurs

Isbn 9781405948630

What’s the Issue?

Ladybird is instigating an urgent product recall on this title due to the discovery of a manufacturing fault on some copies where the foil lamination on the cover of the book can be peeled off. Small parts could be a choking hazard to small children.

What You Need to Do:

Please take the book away from small children and return it to the retailer where you bought it for a full refund (there is no need to produce a receipt) no other Hey Duggee titles are affected by this issue.

Please contact Ladybird customer services via email at customersupport@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk if you need further clarification. 

The safety of our readers is top priority and we apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause you.

The Marvellous Map of Great British Place Names

A map of Britain’s funny, rude and just plain odd place names! This fun, slightly cheeky and mildly educational tour of Great Britain introduces to you to some of our favourite places, such as: Bottom Burn, Fulking Hill, Great Snoring, Dull Old Sodbury and Wigtwizzle. To name but a few.

The Great British Literature Map

Do judge a map by its cover! Get chapter and verse on Britain’s world-class literary credentials and the incredible places that inspired your favourite poetry and prose. Become enthralled with Britain’s great literary settings, places of inspiration, festivals, bookshops, museums, attractions, pubs, graves and memorials.

The Great British Food & Drink Map

Featuring over 2,000 of Britain’s finest local specialities, food and drink festivals, breweries, vineyards and distilleries, food and drink tours and tasty trivial tidbits. Fine, locally sourced ingredients all rustled together with a pinch of cheek and a dollop of sauciness to create a truly heart-warming cartographical concoction. One the things that Britain truly excels at, but for which it used to receive an enormous helping of international mockery, is the state of its cuisine. From black pudding to Blackpool Rock and from Cock-a-leekie to Cornish pasties, British food and drink has never been so moreish.

All in traditional map format now £12.99 (RRP £14.99)

From the beginning of June 2021 we will be CLOSED on Sundays and Mondays

Our new hours will be Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 5pm

We apologise for any inconvenience but hope you will come and visit us on any of the other days of the week!

Telling the story of four unlikely friends in a retirement village who meet every week to investigate unsolved murders, until a real killing ends up on their doorstep, this debut novel is “charming and genuinely funny”,

This debut novel from Richard Osman is a record – breaking million copy bestseller

Bookshop.org is the new, ethical alternative to Amazon.

Unlike Amazon, Hive and most high-street book chains, Bookshop was established to boost sales at local, independent retailers, rather than entice customers away.

Of course, we would much prefer it if you came to our shop, ordered direct from us by email, via our website or just ring on 01298 938 166. However, if you are unable to use any of these methods THIS IS THE NEW ALTERNATIVE!

Just select us as your preferred local independent and look in our online shop for ideas.

Click on the link and see what it’s all about https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/readingmattersbookshop

Live online event with cookery writer Anna Jones, in return for a purchase of her bestselling cookbook One Pot, Pan, Planet on Wednesday May 12th @ 7pm

As with all Bookshop.org events, customers can attend whether they have purchased a copy of the book directly from  us, or through Bookshop.org. The link will be emailed to you on the day of the event. 

Our offer price on the book is £23.00.

Hope you can join us!

We are now fully open again! The recommended guidelines are in place to ensure customer and staff safety; counter screens, fan assisted ventilation, social distancing by limiting the number of customers in the shop at any one time and of course FREE DISPOSABLE GLOVES to enable the best experience of browsing and shopping in our bookshop!

Look out for some ‘welcome back’ special offers too.

Open 10am till 5pm every day, except Sunday

Face masks are mandatory – no mask, no entry.

Please don’t come if you have any Covid 19 symptoms – think of others, not just yourself.

Now we are six!

The six shortlisted books are as follows:

The winner will be announced on Wednesday 7th July

The Vanishing Half

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and…

Explore this title

Continue reading “Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021” →

It’s not too late to book your place at the virtual author event with Kazuo Ishiguro on  Tuesday 23rd March at 7pm. This is exclusive to independent bookshops and will only be available to customers who have bought the book from us or Bookshop.org. If you haven’t already got your copy, ring 01298 938 166 with your card details before 3pm on Tuesday, our price is £16.99.  We hope you will join us!

Klara and the Sun, from the bestselling and Booker Prize winning author of Never Let me Go and The Remains of the Day, This  stunning new novel – his first since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature – asks, what does it mean to love? A thrilling feat of world-building, a novel of exquisite tenderness and impeccable restraint, Klara and the Sun is a magnificent achievement, and an international literary event.

Sweep says:

Girl A by Abigail Dean

The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’ Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors.

And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped. When her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared.

Beautifully written and incredibly powerful, Girl A is a story of redemption, of horror and of love. RIGHTS SOLD IN 29 TERRITORIES SOON TO BE A TV SHOW DIRECTED BY JOHAN RENCK (Chernobyl) ‘Terrifyingly gripping’ SUSIE STEINER ‘Beautiful’ ADELE PARKS ‘Incredibly well written, devastating in a good way, and intriguing to the last page’ LIZ NUGENT ‘I was obsessed by it.

We are delighted to announce a zoom ‘In Conversation’ event with ‘Girl A’ author, Abigail Dean on Friday 26th February at 7pm. Please contact us the via email, this website or facebook, or ring if you would like to join us.

Abigail has taken the book world by storm with this, her debut novel.  Haunting and powerful with a pitch perfect ending, Girl A is already a Sunday Times Bestseller and Top Ten New York Times Global Bestseller.

Abigail was brought up in Hayfield in the Peak District and we are chuffed to be able to call her one of own!

                              WIT – WOO FREE BOOKS !

Go to our World Book Day page for details of this year’s books and how to get yours!

Changing lives through a love of books and shared reading

The NEW Jan/Feb issue of booktime is out now. If you haven’t had your free copy with your recent order, call at the shop on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday between 11am to 4pm. Packed full of forthcoming books for adults, teens/YA and children.

‘Research has shown that reading can strengthen your brain, increase your empathy, reduce stress, lower blood pressure and fight the symptoms of depression.’  Ruth Hunter, Booktime Editor

Say no more – grab a book PDQ!

IN A MANNER OF SPEAKING
The story of spoken English by CHARLIE HAYLOCK and illustrated by BARRIE APPLEBY

The author Charlie Haycock, is due to appear on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme later this week, discussing his role as dialogue coach to the actor Ralph Fiennes for the new Netflix film The Dig, which recreates the events of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo

In a Manner of Speaking is a fun and fascinating exploration of spoken English that will answer these questions and many more. Following history
from the time of the Roman conquest through to the days of the British
Empire, chapters explore the beginnings of spoken English, how each
invading force brought different sounds to the language, and how the English
tongue has evolved over time.
This is not a manual on English grammar. It is about how we came to speak
our modern English, and why, even in the country of its birth, there are so
many variations on the way the language is spoken. Witty, interesting and
easy to read, In a Manner of Speaking is also superbly illustrated by Barrie Appleby.

An excellent way to start the week, thanks to Ros & Steve, local bookworms!

We are continuing with direct Home Delivery and Click & Collect for all your booky needs!

Do your children need any revision books, reference books or reading books for their home schooling? If so we can supply you with all their educational needs.

After all that learning have you got a good read to settle down with for ‘you time’?

Have a look at our Book News page for some suggestions or click on Bookshop.org for more.

Our collection days at the shop are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11am – 4pm.

We will ask you to pay in advance by card over the telephone or make a bank transfer payment, please wear a mask when you come to collect – knock on the door and we will have your order ready, no customers are permitted to enter the premises.

Thank you all for your support and understanding, we will do our very best to help in any way.

Go to Book News page for details

. . . . and the winners are –

Costa First Novel Award

Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud

Meet the Ramdin-Chetan family: forged through loneliness, broken by secrets, saved by love. Irrepressible Betty Ramdin, her shy son Solo and their marvellous lodger, Mr Chetan, form an unconventional household, happy in their differences, as they build a home together.

Costa Novel Award

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

Set in a tiny Caribbean village in the 1970s, this charming yet clear-eyed romance begins with a fisherman, David, lazily awaiting his catch only to snare a centuries-old mermaid, Aycayia, cursed by women jealous of her beauty. She’s drawn to the sound of the guitar he’s strumming; he wonders if he’s been smoking too many spliffs.

Costa Biography Award

The Louder I Will Sing by Lee Lawrence

On 28 September 1985, Lee Lawrence’s mother Cherry Groce was wrongly shot by police during a raid on her Brixton home. The bullet shattered her spine and she never walked again. In the chaos that followed, 11-year-old Lee watched in horror as the News falsely pronounced his mother dead. In Brixton, already a powder keg because of the deep racism that the community was experiencing, it was the spark needed to trigger two days of rioting.  But for Lee, it was a spark that lit a flame that would burn for the next 30 years as he fought to get the police to recognise their wrongdoing.

Costa Poetry Award

The Historians by Eavan Boland

Her final volume, The Historians, is the culmination of her signature themes, exploring the ways in which the hidden, sometimes all-but-erased stories of women’s lives can powerfully revise our sense of the past. Two women burning letters in a back garden. A poet who died too young. Boland listens to women who have long had no agency in the way their stories were told.

Costa Children’s Award

Voyage of the Sparrowhawk

From the bestselling author of The Children of Castle Rock. In the aftermath of World War One, everyone is trying to rebuild their lives. If Ben is to avoid being sent back to the orphanage, he needs to find his brother Sam, wounded in action and is now missing.

Regrettably, due to the whole of the country placed in lockdown , we will not be able to open the shop again until further notice.

We will however, continue to offer direct home delivery. Just contact us directly via email, telephone, this website or facebook, if you require some escapism, mental stimulus or just plain want to have a laugh! By ordering direct you will be giving us the best support you can – but using bookshop.org is the next best!

We hope you have all kept safe and well over the Christmas period, but now is the time to STICK TO THE LOCKDOWN RULES, it’s just not worth the risk. This is the only way to get things back on track again, for everyone.

Take care, Lyndsay & Sue x

Bookshop.org is the new, ethical alternative to Amazon.

Unlike Amazon and most high-street book chains, Bookshop was established to boost sales at local, independent retailers, rather than entice customers away.

Of course after lock down we would like it best if you came to the shop, however if you are unable to come THIS IS THE NEW ALTERNATIVE

Click on the link and see what it’s all about https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/readingmattersbookshop

Chapel en le Frith Takes Aim is an account of the history of the local Rifle Volunteers, Territorials and Home Guard between the 1800’s and WWII. Compiled by Elizabeth McCormick with plenty of photographs, Liz felt these important roles undertaken by the men of Chapel had to be documented before the information is lost and forgotten forever.

Proceeds from sales will go directly to the Royal British Legion.

The books are £10.00

Welcome back Booktime! This is a new, bumper edition which highlights some brilliant books for adults and children coming out this Autumn. Available in the shop NOW. Collect yours before we run out – when they’re gone, they’re gone :o(

Features include an interview with Maggie O’Farrell, Sarah Perry and also Michael Wood with his epic history of China.

The next edition of Booktime will be in February 2021

Published in collaboration with the National Trust, this beautiful book compiled by Fiona Waters and illustrator, Britta Teckentrup, ‘is a poetry anthology all about animals. A glorious collection of as many animal poems we could find, with one for every day of the year, that a child or parent or carer or friend could dip in and out of as they pleased. Poems and reading matters more than ever but so does the natural world. if this book can nurture a love of the animal kingdom, then maybe it will also help create conservationists of the future’ Louise Bolongaro Nosy Crow Publishers.

In stock now £19.99 (RRP £25.00)

Tiger! Tiger!  burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?    William Blake

Call in and see us for some indie goodies and offers on Saturday 3rd October and remember ‘ to keep us on your High Street – use us’

Our first virtual author event via zoom on Tuesday 28 July, was a great success, our thanks to both Olivia and William and all of those who took part. We will try and get another scheduled again soon.

Meanwhile the books below are available at special discounted prices.

Grave’s End the third crime thriller from William Shaw, featuring DS Alexandra Cupidi. The most riveting and atmospheric novel so far, Grave’s End confronts the crisis in housing, environmental politics and the protection given to badgers by the law.

If Looks Could Kill by Olivia Kiernon, is a superior crime thriller filled with fascinating characters and laced with dark wit. The ending was both shocking and satisfying. Superbly plotted,

If you would like to join in contact us by email, facebook or twitter and details of password etc. will be sent to you nearer the time. Our guests will answer submitted questions at the end, Don’t delay  . . . .  get in touch, from Friday 24th July.

Out in June/July/August 2020

Place an order now, in advance of July/August publications, and get 10% off

Visit Book News page for more

We are all managing with the gloves and sanitiser thing! So THANK YOU EVERYONE, great to be back and be your ‘little bookshop with heart’ once again.

Friends and regulars Lissa and Nik Cook with their beautiful dog

This family moved into their new home in Chinley just       before lock down and couldn’t wait to come to the bookshop!

Your Visit (for those of you who haven’t been yet)

Customers can collect some gloves as they enter the shop, this means they will be able to handle the books safely – for themselves, other customers and us. We simply don’t have the space, or the quantity of stock, for it to be put in ‘isolation for 72 hours’ I hope you will understand. There will also be hand sanitiser available to use on leaving. We would like you to bring your own mask if you wish to, there will be a screen on the desk at checkout. We can still offer help to anyone who asks, just at a safe distance. Only 1 or 2 people will be in the shop at any one time, in different rooms. Unless they are from the same household.

Home Deliveries

We shall continue with home deliveries indefinitely for those who don’t feel safe coming to the shop, or who are unable to.

Our thanks again, and continue to keep yourself and your loved ones safe and well.

Lyndsay and Sue x

Another book to download for children about understanding the corona virus pandemic. This time it’s Winnie and Wilbur up to tricks at home.

See Younger Children page for more details

For Younger children

The Racehorse who Learned to Dance by Clare Balding

Charlie’s racehorse has certainly earned the name Noble Warrior: he won the Derby against all odds and bested a bunch of nasty kidnappers. But now Noddy is facing his greatest challenge yet . . Strictly for horses . . . ? Whatever next!

PESTS by Emer Stamp

Meet Stix, the tiny but heroic mouse who might be living behind your washing machine. But is he naughty enough to join the PESTS? Stix is the size of an egg cup, can jump the width of a dog’s bottom, and LOVES cheese. Riotously funny, with enough expressive drawings and poo jokes!

Perdu by Richard Jones

The moving, beautifully illustrated story of a little lost dog and his search for a place to call home. This poignant gem, with an important message about kindness at its heart.

Claude Comic Capers by Alex T Smith

Meet Claude – the ordinary dog with an extraordinary life.Join Claude and Sir Bobblysock and all their Pawhaven friends in their first ever comic book!

My Monster and Me by Nadiya Hussain

A touching story about a little boy whose worry monster follows him everywhere he goes. How can he escape his worries? Having suffered with panic disorder herself for as long as she can remember, Nadiya wrote this heartfelt story to help give children and parents the tools they need to talk about worries and anxiety, to ensure that no child suffers in silence.

Teen & Y/A

Nightshade the NEW Alex Rider novel by Anthony Horowitz

Alex is sent by MI6 Special Operations to infiltrate a new and sinister organization known only as Nightshade. Alex is on his own, with the fate of thousands of people resting in his hands!

Deeplight by Francis Hardinge

The gods of the Myriad were as real as the coastlines and currents, and as merciless as the winds and whirlpools. Now the gods are dead, but their remains are stirring beneath the waves. On the streets of the Island of Lady’s Crave live 14-year-old urchins Hark and his best friend Jelt.

Drowned Lives by Stephen Booth

For those of you who were waiting for this to come out in paperback – now is the time!

Continue reading “Drowned Lives Out in Paperback” →

See Younger Readers page for more new releases

Test your powers of observation, have a look in the children’s window this week and find the odd one out.

Just released by Nosy Crow Publishers a free information book explaining the Coronavirus to children, illustrated by Gruffalo illustrator, Axel Scheffler.

Go to our Younger Readers page

Don’t forget, during this difficult time for us all, we will take your book orders and have them home delivered to your doorstep. Whether it’s books for children or adults, we will do our best to get them to you as quickly as we can . . .  we know what it’s like to run out of books to read to the children, or not to have anything for yourself to read. While we are ‘staying at home’ or ‘self isolating’ just phone, email or contact us via this website and get yourself some books!

A huge thank you to all our customers who are supporting us and done just that! xx

Keep safe and well everyone.

Go to the Younger Readers page for the Dinky Donkey Story!

‘Elevenses’ David Walliams is reading a short story at 11am everyday.

Adults: Make a cuppa and settle down with the children and share!

Children: Make sure your responsible adult is sitting down with you and enjoy some hilarious fun with David Walliams!

click on the link https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/https:

From Tuesday 24th March we are regretfully having to close the shop, to comply with the latest Government  guidelines.

However, we will continue to take orders for books which will be sent directly to your home.

Please place orders via the telephone (our shop phone will be redirected to a mobile) by email or via this website. Remember to leave a telephone number for us to contact you for card payment.

Please use us before you use Amazon!