So you want to visit the bookshop?

You've been reading the reviews, the event reports, and you think 'I wonder where Mostly Books actually is? It might be nice to drop in and take a look'.

Well, what with the upcoming Bun Throwing this Sunday, the open-air swimming pool and sprinklers recently opened (although a pump broke on the weekend apparently but they're fixing it as we speak), the newly-renovated County Hall looking particularly fab in the Sun, some great shopping and eating establishments to frequent and not forgetting the river, may be present the Mostly Abingdon pages of our website...

Now, we are actually closed for the Monday and Tuesday of the bank holidays (June 4/5). But we are just putting the finishing touches to a fab Summer events programme - and we're jolly excited I can tell you that the Olympic Torch will be coming right past our window at approximately 7.41am on July 10th...

3 4 Friday: Reading in the Sun

Given the recent dramatic turn-around with the weather, our three picks today have a distinctly 'summer reading' theme (not to mention great picks for bookgroups). All three new out in paperback...

Patrick Gale's ‘A Perfectly Good Man’ is the journey of a Cornish parish priest's life from youth to late middle age (but not written in that order) leaving plenty of room for suspense, shifting relationships and an ending both bitter and warm. Gale is a master storyteller, and you feel you know his characters from the inside. It’s all delivered with a perfect compassion and a lesson not to judge too soon. Recommended reading if you are heading off to Cornwall for a break...

Victoria Hislop’s ‘The Thread’ will doubtless find its way into plenty of beach bags and she returns to Greece for this tale that sweeps through decades of modern Greek history and the terrible events that conspire to keep her central love-story protagonists apart.  Her stories manage to turn tangled and controversial history into popular fiction, focusing on period romance and family relationships, so you don’t feel you are having a history lesson. But this particularly has a pleasingly complex story... 

Finally, 'beautiful and magical' is how Ellie sums up 'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern. Here's what she says: "I was really caught up in this story even though it's quite a slow unfurling of events. It's a really impressive and imaginative debut. The circus as we know it is transformed in this story where two magicians are tied together in a challenge at which the circus is at the centre. It's beautiful, dreamlike writing and I definitely recommend it - particularly if you want to read something a bit different and special. It's a book to savour. Enjoy!"

So - do you have any new summer reading you'd like to recommend? Thanks to Headline, we have a reading copy of 'The Book of Summer' to give away. Leave a recommend below - and we'll select one person in a draw on Monday to receive it...

Teen thrillers - reviews of I'll Be There and Dead Time

A teen romance isn’t usually the thing I find that keeps me turning the pages until late into the night. But there is something very special about ‘I’ll be there’ by Holly Goldberg Sloan – not least that what starts out as a straightforward romance quickly ramps up to being a tremendous thriller.

When Emily meets Sam they are instantly connected, even though it’s clear there is something very different about Sam. Different is good, different means he doesn’t swagger and isn’t full of stories about himself and doesn't insist on doing homework with sport on the TV.

Different because he always has his kid brother, Riddle, in tow – a kid small for his age, always obsessively drawing detailed pictures and not doing or saying a lot else.

When Emily’s family realise this is serious they want to meet Sam, want to meet his brother. Want to meet his parents . . . and that’s where the trouble starts.

The story is told both from Emily’s point of view, and Sam’s, so the reader is already well aware what the trouble is. Sam’s father is a career criminal, wanted in several states, always on the move. He doesn’t school them, he doesn’t even feed them. The two boys have made a life for themselves, the pair of them a tight unit, scrounging for food, making a bit of money by helping folk unload at the dump, keeping on the right side of their violent father.

Everything changes for Sam and Riddle when they start to join Emily’s family for home cooked meals . . . and Emily’s father wants to nurture Sam’s musical talent, it is just a matter of time until their unbalanced father finds out . . .

What follows is an exciting story of survival, of getting back to the people you love, no matter what it takes. It’s a really captivating, live-affirming and moving story, full of heart and surprises.

It’s great to see a teen love story that manages not to be simply about Boys or Tragic First Love, but is about the fact that love can take many forms, about families and how fate can sometimes turn on the smallest of things.

Who’d have thought a teen romance would be one of my favourite reads of the year so far (although I think  many adults may also sneakily like this love story with a heart of gold).

Anne Cassidy is one of the best-known names in teen thrillers and her latest, 'Dead Time', is centred around not just one mystery, but two - one of which looks set to continue in further books in this series.

When Rose rebels against her grandmother’s choice of private schooling and joins a college in a rough part of London, she knows she doesn’t fit in, but is determined to make it work, even when she is a key witness when a boy who has been bullying her is knifed

Her mother, who was in the police, disappeared five years ago and Rose is trying to live the sort of life she feels her mother would have chosen for her. So she half-heartedly agrees when the dead boy’s girlfriend appeals to her for help identifying his killer. 

Rose has also linked up recently with Joshua, whose father disappeared at the same time as Rose’s mother. Rose is surprised to learn that Joshua never believed the story of how the two disappeared and has been searching for them ever since, setting up websites and never giving up hope.

The twin investigations form a compelling and intricate plot that works on many levels. It’s not only a welcome modern-day thriller, with contemporary themes and strong main characters, it’s also a compelling mystery. 

The deaths aren’t dwelt on, but the mystery of both the college deaths and picking up the cold trail of Rose’s mother’s disappearance are edge-of-the-seat stuff.

Rose is in some ways not an engaging heroine, but her backstory and her bewilderment at trying to fit in with her cold grandmother, who had been estranged from her daughter at the time of her disappearance, is well handled.

It’s a well crafted and satisfying story that works on many levels. And with only a light romantic angle and not too much gruesome details about the murders, this could well appeal to those readers who have outgrown younger mystery stories – as well as the teen audience for which is has been written.

And finally, Kate Harrison, author of 'Soul Beach' - another cracking teen thriller about a social website that appears to be a portal to the dead - is putting together a survey about what we read and why.

Publishers don't do an awful lot of research and she has become interested in changes to our reading habits. If you have a few minutes and want to help to shape the future of reading, do go and answer the questions at http://kate-harrison.com/news/reader-survey-2012-what-do-you-think-of-uk-fiction.

The Lost Abbey of Abingdon

In 2010, we organised two walking tours of Abingdon with the Friends of Abingdon and Dr Simon Bradley, editor of the revised 'Berkshire' Pevsner guide. It's easily one of the best events we've ever done (and one we'd love to do again). For many who came on the tour, it opened our eyes to Abingdon's remarkable heritage and history.

Most famous is the Abbey buildings, and there is still a great deal about them that we don't know. In recent years the restoration of the Abbey Gardens (a Scheduled Ancient Monument) has rekindled interest in where the Abbey was, and informed speculation on the exact location and make-up of the Abbey buildings.

So this book is very timely, published right at the end of 2011: 'The Lost Abbey of Abingdon'. It's a little gem, only 34 pages, but contains a great deal of the latest information we have about the Abbey, much of it based on work done duration the Abbey Gardens restoration, and including 'geophys' readings and computer-generated reconstructions of the buildings.

The book also contains a fantastic montage image, which superimposes a building which was very similar to Abingdon Abbey (Wells Cathedral) onto the gardens, to give an impression of what the Abbey looked like.

Working at Mostly Books, we keep finding out lots of incredibly interesting things about the history of the town (mostly tantalising rumour, and stuff that cannot be corroborated - my personal favourite being that the A34 was originally planned to go the other side of Abingdon, but was changed at the last minute - anyone know any more about that?).

We recently came across this intriguing website, showing how one of the Abingdon Abbey buildings served as inspiration for Chicago's Glessner House, which inspired a young Frank Lloyd Wright. Fascinating - and would be great to know more...

Copies of 'The Lost Abbey of Abingdon' are in Mostly Books for £5 - or order with £3 UK delivery below:

Order 'The Lost Abbey of Abingdon' securely:

UK price (inc postage) £8.00 GBP Outside UK (inc postage) £10.00 GBP

3 4 Friday: a face like glass, a robot's body and a book from a doll's house

This week we take a trip around the children's room, where we've selected three new children’s books that we really love. They are great as gifts or a treat for your little ones.

First up are two shop picks that we all loved as soon as we got them out of the box, ‘Make It! Rocket’ and ‘Make It! Robot’ by Mike Brownlow.

They’re fab new stories that are perfect for children 5+. Not only do you get a lovely story about Hugo and his family of inventors but there are press out pieces inside so you can build your own rocket or robot too – we love it!


With all the bunting and flags going up around Abingdon, we're all feeling very patriotic, so Julia has selected a Jubilee gem, ‘J. Smith - A Fairy Story’, a miniature book reproduced from the Queen’s Doll’s House Library.

In 1922, various authors were commissioned to create miniature books for the library of Queen Mary’s Dolls house at Windsor Castle. Over 200 were created - all about the size of a matchbox - and Walker Books have now re-created one of these books especially for the Queen’s Jubilee.

A story of a fairy stranded in 1920s London, the book is beautifully made with a satin-like cover and guilt edge pages, it’s a delightful book for any child to treasure. Come in and have a look on our Jubilee and Olympics display at the front of the shop...

Finally, one of Ellie’s favourite children’s book this year, and just out in hardback, is Frances Hardinge’s latest stand-alone novel for children 9+, ‘A Face Like Glass’.

When 5-year-old Neverfell turns up in Grandible’s cheese tunnels, he's surprised that someone has been able to evade his very extensive defences - and shocked by her face. When 7 years later she suddenly finds herself in the 'outside' world of Caverna - a mass of tunnels extending up, down, and back on itself, where plots and assassinations are part of everyday life, she finds that her face is more dangerous than she thought - a face like glass whose thoughts and emotions everyone can read. And in order to discover the truth about her past and escape, it will only get more dangerous...this is what Ellie says:


"A riveting read, Frances Hardinge creates a truly imaginative and exciting world. I really love Frances’ books, which are all so different and thrilling I can’t put them down. I also recommend trying ‘Fly By Night’ and ‘Twilight Robbery’ if you’re after a paperback, which follow the feisty and impetuous Mosca Mye and her friend Eponymous Clent..."

The MB Interview: Eliza Graham, author of 'The History Room'

Eliza Graham has been a big favourite amongst our customers since ‘Playing with The Moon’ was published in 2007 (not that long after we opened). That book was published by Macmillan New Writing in June 2007, and was a finalist in 2008’s Book To Talk About award, voted by readers. She has since published Restitution (2008) and Jubilee (2010).

With the publication of her latest book, 'The History Room', we were delighted to chat with Eliza and find out a bit more about her latest book...

MB: Eliza, it’s very exciting for us – and our customers – to have been able to follow you since your debut, and 'The History Room' is now your fourth novel. Can you tell us a bit about it? 

EG: Mark and Nicki, thank you so much for letting me visit the Mostly Books blog!

The story concerns Meredith Cordingley who returns to Letchford, the family home: an apparently idyllic school run by her Czech emigre father. She's escaping a marriage that's collapsed following the return of her wounded soldier husband from Afghanistan. But if she believes Letchford will provide a tranquil refuge, she's in for a shock. Within days of the new school year starting, a disturbing prank is played in the history classroom. Troubled youngsters could be the cause of the trouble, but Meredith starts to suspect that old family secrets are the cause of the disturbances.


What readers seem to love about your writing is the way you weave in themes of how incidents in the past, particularly the war, cast long shadows across time and different generations. Would it be true to say that these themes come to the fore in your latest book? 

Yes, all my books weave in and out of the past and present. I’ve always been fascinated by how events occurring decades ago can continue to affect, for better and for worse, future generations. Most families, I suspect, have wondered about things that happened earlier in the lives of their parents or grandparents. Perhaps someone finds a family group photograph and wonders about the identity of the woman in the back row in the smart hat. Or comes across a wedding certificate suggesting that a 1920s bride might already have been expecting a baby.

Perhaps we’re more open these days, but the generation who came of age during the traumas of the early and mid-twentieth century were often people who were encouraged to ‘move on’ and not dwell on the past. In some cases, this can be wise advice. But many people who are now elderly must have seen some very shocking things in their lives: poverty, appalling injury, violent death. Not necessarily only in wartime, either. A close family member of mine lost a child at birth in the twenties. I don't think she ever really talked about it for the rest of her life. Some of these sad events must, as you say, cast an emotional shadow. 

And it’s not just tragedies that can ripple on through the generations: I believe that periods of intense joy in people’s lives can also affect not only them, but their children and grandchildren. I am very interested in the intersection between an emotional event in the present and something that might have happened fifty years ago to the same character or to someone else close to them. 

In 'The History Room', your characters have very strong emotional feelings towards the main setting, which is both school but also cherished family home. Was this idea suggested by a real place? It would be interesting to know where this idea came from. 

The school in 'The History Room' isn’t based on a particular school but over the last few years I’ve visited a few rather lovely looking schools when my own children have been playing matches or involved in other activities. Some of these schools look more like country clubs than educational establishment. You wonder whether anything bad could ever happen in such idyllic surroundings. But, of course, ‘life’ happens everywhere. And children and teenagers are the same: for better or worse, wherever they are at school. I don’t actually know of any schools that are still run by the founding family, though, but no doubt some still exist. 

In all of your books, war – and its effects on individuals and families – looms in the background. Past books have dealt with incidents from the Second World War but in ‘The History Room’ one of the characters has served in Iraq. Is this something you are interested in personally, or have you had to research whilst writing the book?

We live quite near to Wootton Bassett and I used to see the planes bringing back the dead coming in to land at RAF Lyneham and would feel a shadow falling. Sadly this was a subject all too easy to research, as the newspapers were, at one stage, featuring stories about wounded and dead soldiers on an almost weekly basis.

There were very good articles elsewhere on the web on the subject of artificial limbs and other medical and psychological issues arising from blast injury. I also found some of the material on NHS websites and that of Headley Court, the rehabilitation centre, very helpful indeed. 

Agatha Christie was fond of wartime incidents in the crafting of some of her mysteries – the opportunity for disruption, confusion, etc. ‘The History Room’ – more perhaps than your earlier books - seems to contain a bit of a hint towards the country house mystery (you may not agree with that!). Are you influenced by crime and mystery stories, and if so – what authors have influenced you? 

I love crime and mystery stories and read lots of them. I’ve just, for example, finished Philip Kerr’s latest: PRAGUE FATALE, which includes a country house mystery set in occupied Prague, the suspects including Heydrich, of all people. The book I’m writing at the moment is perhaps also influenced by that ‘crucible’ sense: characters pushed together within a particular space, where they are placed under a degree of stress, causing them to react in interesting ways.

I also like Robert Goddard’s books and am fascinated at how he does his weaving between past and present. Like everyone else, it seems, I have now read quite a bit of Scandinavian crime fiction and watched it on television. I’m currently rereading THE DARKEST ROOM, a novel by Swedish author Johan Theorin. 

As you write a book, is it the mystery that you start with, or do you have a setting, or characters in mind? I can imagine that this is a chicken and egg question, but what would you say were the main drivers when you write? 

I often find it’s a film-like image running through my mind: or a strong emotion, perhaps loss or a link with the past when I am in a particular landscape or by an old building. I have an urge to explore what is making me feel like this. When I worked in London I was once based in a particular part of the New Oxford Street/ Holborn area that made me feel unsettled every time I walked out for a sandwich.

Reading Peter Ackroyd’s book about London taught me that there’d once been a gallows near the office, and that the building was on the site of a maze of streets infamous for violence and crime. Before that it had been a monastic hospital. So much suffering: and, for me, at least, a sense of unsettledness seemed to live on. I have written about that part of London and its history in two books of mine that never made it to publication but which were very important in helping me find a writer’s voice.

Your previous book Jubilee – another first-rate mystery story set across the generations – was very influenced by where you live, the area around White Horse Hill, near the Ridgeway and the (old Berkshire) Downs. In fact, the countryside was almost a character in that novel. You live in a particularly beautiful part of the country, and I wondered whether its influence has crept into your latest book? 

It is lovely where we live and there are some mentions of the local countryside in 'The History Room' but it doesn’t figure quite as much. In that respect, it is more contained and perhaps claustrophobic in feeling. 

Having listened to you speak at events we have done in the shop, I know how important the ‘Books To Talk About’ awards were back in 2008. I know we have writers who read the blog, and I wonder if you could tell us a little of how your writing journey has developed since then. How has the publishing world changed in five years, and how have you changed as a writer? 

Books To Talk About was a real boost to my confidence when I was just starting out. I was very lucky.

The changes in the last five years have occurred so speedily that I think everyone is still walking around a little dazed. We have gone from very few authors being published in e-format to a vast amount number doing this: off their own backs, taking full charge of all aspects of the process. It changes the relationship for everyone. Writers used to have to wait for years to be validated by a gate-keeper: usually an agent, sometimes a publisher. It could be infuriating to have to go through the laborious process. For some people that has been wonderful. For writers in my genre, I’m not so sure. We don’t have the same online fan forums who might turn a book viral. It can be very hard to differentiate yourself on a very crowded e-bookshelf.

Print sales are still the most important for me, though I have seen increased e-book sales over the last year. I am still more than happy to be traditonally published, with people behind me who understand sales and marketing and who are responsible for editing, copy-editing and proof-reading my books.

On the other hand, I’ve now finished my last book on contract for my publisher, Pan Macmillan, so who knows what will happen next. 

Finally, we always have five quick questions that we ask children’s author when we talk to them – so we’ve adapted a few of them right at the end of this interview!


1.    What are you working on at the moment? 

I am writing something provisionally called FAIRFLEET. It’s about another old house: this time one to which a group of young Jewish Kindertransport boys travel in the 1930s. One of the boys has a guilty secret. Seventy years later, a troubled woman comes to the house to nurse him on his deathbed. Her past and his are bound together in a way that emerges as they get to know one another. 

2.    What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given? 

Read your work aloud! 

3.    What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a writer? 

It can be lonely, particularly during the winter. And it can take a long time to be paid — hopeless if you’re trying to budget. 

4.    Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, thing of snack essential before you can start work? 

I keep the cocoa industry afloat! To make it slightly healthier, I do also take a brisk walk every afternoon with our dog. Walking is good for making ideas flow again. 

5.    What was your biggest breakthrough? 

Being taken up by Macmillan New Writers with Playing with the Moon after years of not getting anywhere! 

Thanks to Eliza for talking to us - and we have signed copies of 'The History Room' at Mostly Books. Just email us if you would like a signed copy put aside...

3 4 Friday: different reads - Caleb's Crossing, River and Smoke and The Coincidence Engine

This Friday, the staff have selected three very different - but nevertheless brilliant - books, new out in paperback, either for you to treat yourself, for your bookgroup - or to buy someone who loves new fiction.

First up is one of Ellie's current favourites, 'Caleb's Crossing' by author Geraldine Brooks. Here's Ellie's thoughts:


"It's an evocative story about Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College, which celebrates his truly amazing achievements. Based on fact, the characters and their struggles are brought to life by the fictional Bethia, whose own innocence and beliefs contrast beautifully with the events that occur. The depth of Geraldine's research stands out, particularly in her portrayal of these individual struggles and the conflict on the larger scale between the Native American medicine men and the English ministers. The relationship between Caleb and Bethia movingly explores the boundary between the two cultures and the inevitable difficulties, even between friends. I wasn't sure about this book from the description on the back, but it really was fantastic and didn't disappoint. It was an engaging and moving story and a truly wonderful read."

Next is one of Nicki's picks, the latest book in paperback from Bengali Indian author Amitav Ghosh, 'River of Smoke'. Here's Nicki's thoughts:


"Ghosh is probably most famous for his novel The Glass Palace, a sweeping historical novel that takes in issues of colonialism, social changes and nationhood (aside from a nice line in wry Anglo-English wit!). 'River of Smoke' is the sequel to 'Sea of Poppies' (although you don't need to read the first book to appreciate this). Set against the backdrop of the Opium Wars, this is Ghosh at his best: research lightly worn, a cracking plot, and a cast of characters who make fresh what is an area of history that we may think we know well. Ignore the cheesy Daily Mail quote on the cover...this is just a great story!"

And finally Mark has picked a book that is definitely 'one of his'. 'The Coincidence Engine' by Sam Leith is a  short, ideas-packed satirical thriller set in the world of probability, national security and hokey Americana. It's a debut novel by journalist Sam Leith, and whilst it has its flaws, it's a wonderful fresh debut that's a lot of fun. When highly improbable things start happening across America, it's up to the Department of the Extremely Improbable (DEI) to work out what this new threat to national security is, and they use all the available paranoid state apparatus to investigate what Donald Rumsfeld was probably referring to with his infamous "unknown unknowns" speech. We like debut authors at Mostly Books - and Sam is definitely one to watch...