We are delighted to celebrate our 6th Birthday this week and Lyndsay and I wish to thank all our loyal customers for your support and making READING MATTERS a well established independent bookshop in Chapel. The past six years have flown by but in that time we have met some wonderful people and heard interesting stories about their lives and their families, learnt how to find a book with the merest of information – ‘it was blue and in the window a few weeks ago’ But the best thing about owning an independent bookshop is – it’s our shop we can do what we like!

I have heard many times recently how more and more of you are shopping locally, and we thank you for this. The town is looking beautifully festive this year thanks to all the other shops and businesses with their window decorations and Christmas trees. Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year.   Sue x

We will be open every Sunday from 11am to 3pm until Christmas Eve

Shortlist announced.

The Costa Book Awards is one of the UK’s most prestigious and popular literary prizes and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year, written by authors based in the UK and Ireland.

Since their launch in 1971, the awards have rewarded a wide range of excellent books and authors across all genres. Read More

The overnight internet sensation that is Wonky Donkey is now on sale here!

Hurry copies are selling fast!

You Tube Wonky Donkey

Milkman by Anna Burns is this year’s winner of the Man Booker Prize.

Milkman is extraordinary. I’ve been reading passages aloud for the pleasure of hearing it. It’s frightening, hilarious, wily and joyous all at the same time.’ – Lisa McInerney, author of The Glorious Heresies In this unnamed city, to be interesting is dangerous.
Middle sister, our protagonist, is busy attempting to keep her mother from discovering her maybe-boyfriend and to keep everyone in the dark about her encounter with Milkman. But when first brother-in-law sniffs out her struggle, and rumours start to swell, middle sister becomes ‘interesting’. The last thing she ever wanted to be.
To be interesting is to be noticed and to be noticed is dangerous. Milkman is a tale of gossip and hearsay, silence and deliberate deafness. It is the story of inaction with enormous consequences. Read More

The winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize 2018 (formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize) is Serhii Plokhy with Chernobyl. Read More

The broadcast brothers are of course our very own High Peak Radio Paul Jenner and his brother Steve.

Their book,  On the Radio is out now and on sale in the shop. Read More

The next LitWits meeting is the Christmas Dinner at The Old Hall, Whitehough on Thursday 6th December for those who have reserved a place.

See Litwits page for more information

Graham Hoyland 

Local author and mountaineer with his latest book,

Yeti: An Abominable History.

Last Hours on Everest, a truly fascinating account of  Mallory and Irvine’s fatal ascent and Walking Through Spring are also written by Graham.

What leads us to believe in monsters? What happens when we meet the brutal creatures of our nightmares? Tales of the Yeti, the `Abominable Snowman’ of the Himalayas, have been recorded for centuries. This huge, ape-like, hairy creature has tantalised explorers, mountaineers and locals with curious footprints and elusive appearances. But until recently, no one has been able to identify what this mythical creature might be, or even determine if it is real.
On an expedition to the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, Graham Hoyland found and filmed footprints of the mythical yeti in a part of the country that has never before been visited by Western explorers. In a lost valley near the unclimbed mountain Gangkar Punsum, Hoyland believes he was stalked by the mysterious yeti, a beast so unspeakably powerful that locals say it can kill a yak with one savage blow of its fist. As he delves into the fascinating history of this ancient legend, Hoyland hears tales of the yeti from Sherpas who have tried and failed to track it.

He explores the literary hinterland behind the legend and searches for the yeti’s American cousin Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and her African relative Mokele-Mbembe. From the dubious, mystical pseudo-science of the Nazis in the 1930s to our current era of `post-truth’ and `fake news’, Hoyland examines the age-old cultural phenomena that have shaped our collective consciousness and fuelled a belief in the existence of these monstrous creatures.         

Yeti: An Abominable History on sale now £16.99

Author of Walking Through Spring and The Last Hours on Everest.

Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

The first graphic novel to reach a Man Booker longlist and I believe it will reach the shortlist, announced later in the month. On my bedside table pile!

The answer is hidden on a videotape, a tape which is en route to several news outlets, and about to go viral. A landmark graphic novel, already hailed as one of the most exciting and moving stories of recent years, Sabrina is a tale of modern mystery, anxiety, fringe paranoia and mainstream misinformation — a book that tells the story of those left behind in the wake of tragedy, has important things to say about how we live now, and possesses the rare power to leave readers pulverised. Read More

STOP PRESS: FALL DOWN DEAD IS No3 IN THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERS LIST THIS WEEK!

Lovely to have Stephen here last    Saturday signing his new book – Fall Down Dead – the 18th Cooper and Fry bestselling crime detectives in another gripping tale, this time on Kinder!

Fall Down Dead is on sale at £16.99 (RRP £20) and Dead in the Dark is now out in paperback.

This is Stephen with David King, a Chapel Parish Councillor. Stephen and David ‘chat’ on social media but until this day had never met! They did seem to have a lot to talk about :o)

BIENVENUE  

‘TO THE FRENCH SHELF’

This is our first selection of foreign language books we will now stock; some French Classics and a range of contemporary novels. Over the next few months we will introduce novels written in Spanish and German, to add to the collection.

This is only a small selection of the books we are able to supply. If you are interested in any other titles, please ask to see the catalogue.

We hope you will enjoy ‘something a little different’ whether you just enjoy reading or are learning a language. Reading will always improve your understanding, vocabulary and of course, give immense pleasure.

Please let us know your thoughts on this new addition to your little independent bookshop.

‘Where the best place to buy a book is an independent bookshop’  16th – 23rd June 2018 support YOUR local bookshop!

Follow the link

indiebookshopweek.org.uk/IBWBookAward

Thank you to everyone who came to Mandy’s special evening last night, her book launch with family, friends and lots more.  A good time was had by all – with plenty of book sales! Home is on sale at the shop now.      Read More

Our team Basilisks came 10th out of 20 national teams in the London quiz final last Saturday. Congratulations to you all – Isobel, Sophie, Sammy and Jayne! Read More

Don’t forget we have our very own Gift Vouchers to spend on anything in the shop – not just books!  £5 or £10 with a matching envelope.

The first book in Cressida’s brand new series, The Wizards of Once is on sale in the shop NOW! Set in an ancient, magical time, full of Wizards, Warriors, Giants and Sprites. This is the story of a young boy Wizard and a young girl Warrior who have been taught since birth to hate each other like poison; and the thrilling tale of what happens when their two worlds collide. Read More