Regular Storytime for Under-5s

Author Event
Ben Macintyre
Times columnist, historian and author Ben Macintyre comes to Abingdon to discuss his new top secret book about an unlikely, yet staggeringly successful, wartime deception that changed the course of World War II - 'Operation Mincemeat'.

Ben was the author of the bestselling book 'Agent Zigzag', the story of wartime double agent Eddie Chapman, (currently in production as a film to be produced by Tom Hanks next year). As unlikely as Eddie's life was, the story of Operation Mincemeat is altogether more bizarre - and the stakes much higher. One April morning in 1943, a sardine fisherman spotted the corpse of a British soldier floating in the sea off the coast of Spain and set in train a course of events that would hoodwink the Nazi espionage chiefs, sent German troops hurtling in the wrong direction, and saved thousands of lives by deploying a secret agent who was different, in one crucial respect, from any spy before or since: he was dead.

"The complexities and consequences of the story that Macintyre tells in Operation Mincemeat are compelling - a tribute to his impressive abilities as a sleuth…and to his capacities as a writer"
 - William Boyd

"Ben Macintyre turns up trumps in this rollicking tale of a second world war mission to dupe the Germans by using a corpse bearing fictional military plans"
 - Max Hastings

Come along and hear Ben talk about the book in the new Sports Centre Hospitality Suite at Abingdon School on Thursday, February 11th at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 and can be reserved by emailing books@mostly-books.co.uk or call 01235 525880.

Regular Storytime for Under-5s

Thursday Evening Bookgroup
We meet be discussing Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger.

Sara Paretsky
Sara Paretsky is the author of the VI Warshawski novels, and is often credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel through the creation of her detective V.I. Warshawski. By creating a female investigator who uses her wits as well as her fists, Paretsky challenged a genre in which women typically were either vamps or victims.

Her first book 'Indemnity Only' has been followed by twelve more best-selling Warshawski novels. In February, her latest, Hardball, is published in the UK. Read what we thought about the new Warshawski on BBC Oxford recently.

Her books have been filmed and dramatised for radio. Called "passionate" and "electrifying" V.I. Warshawski reflects her creator's own passion for social justice. Paretsky is an impassioned advocate for those on society's margins. She worked as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side during the turbulent race riots of 1966, and more recently, Paretsky served with then-state senator Barack Obama on the board of Thresholds, which serves Chicago's mentally ill homeless. She has mentored teens in Chicago's most troubled schools, and works closely with literacy and reproductive rights groups. In 1986 she created Sisters in Crime, a worldwide organization to support women crime writers, and the British Crime Writers awarded her the Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement.

Paretsky lives on Chicago's south side with her husband, a professor of physics at the University of Chicago's Fermi Institute."

This event takes place in Abingdon Guildhall's Roysse Room at 7.30pm. Tickets are £6 (£3 for Mostly Booklovers). and can be reserved by emailing books@mostly-books.co.uk or calling 01235 525880.

BBC Oxford Afternoon Book Club
Five books under discussion on the Jo Thoenes show.

Book Signing
Linda Newbery
Linda Newbery is a former English teacher, and award-winning children's author. Best-known for young adult novels such as Set In Stone, Sisterland and The Shell House (which won the Costa Children's Book of the Year Award in 2006).

Linda now writes full time, and for younger readers as well. We are big fans of the Cat Tales in the shop, and Linda is also the author of the Catherine Rayner-illustrated picture book Posy.

Come along to Mostly Books on Thursday, February 25th at 4pm to meet Linda, who will be signing copies of all her books. If you can't make it to the shop, copies can be reserved by emailing books@mostly-books.co.uk.

Regular Storytime for Under-5s

Author Event
Douglas Hurd
From 1979-90 Lord Hurd of Westwell (Douglas Hurd) served in Margaret Thatcher's and John Major's governments as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary. Viewed as one of the Conservative Party's senior elder statesmen, he is a patron of the Tory Reform Group, and remains an active figure in public life.

His latest book 'Choose Your Weapons: 200 Years of the British Foreign Secretary' centres on the historical debate of two opposing methods of being a foreign secretary, reflecting his fascination - both as diplomat and foreign secretary - of when and how to intervene. It's a debate that has run for two centuries, and remains at the heart of heated discussion on both sides of the Atlantic today. The book concentrates on personalities and circumstances, different approaches - and the results.

Lord Hurd will be lecturing to Abingdon's Edmund Society in an open event at Abingdon School on "Rights and Wrongs in Foreign Policy" and signing copies of his book. The event - at 5.15pm on Tuesday March 2 - is free, but you do need a ticket, available at Mostly Books. Reserve tickets here.

Regular Storytime for Under-5s

Special Bookgroup Meeting
Roma Tearne - Brixton Beach
Roma Tearne is a Sri Lankan born artist and writer, whose first novel, Mosquito, was shortlisted for the 2007 Costa Book Awards first Novel prize.

In a very special meeting of two of the regular bookgroups, Roma will be joining in the discussion on her latest book Brixton Beach, one of the novels selected for this year's TV Book Club.

The evening event is open to all - with two provisos. We will be holding the event in the shop, so places are limited. The second is that you must have read the book!

Regular Storytime for Under-5s

Author Event
John Gribbin
We once had to abandon the idea of earth being at the centre of the universe. Now, we need to confront an even more profound possibility: the universe itself might just be one universe among many.

On Thursday, March 11th join 'the master of popular science writing' (The Times) John Gribbin at the Guildhall in Abingdon as he takes us on a mind-bending, and time-travelling journey to the very frontiers of current scientific theory - and on to the multiverse.

John worked for the journal Nature and New Scientist, before becoming the bestselling author of books such as In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, In Search of the Double Helix and In Search of the Big Bang. Biographical subjects have included Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman, Galileo, Buddy Holly and most recently James Lovelock. He has even written a biography of the Universe itself. Together with his wife Mary, he has written science books for children, including the brilliant Time Travel for Beginners for any budding Dr Whos out there.

His latest books include In Search of the Multiverse and Timeswitch, his first science fiction novel for ten years. His books have received science-writing awards both in the UK and the US. Since 1993, Gribbin has been a Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex, chiefly working on the problem of determining the age of the Universe. In 2009, John was given a Lifetime Achievement award by the Association of British Science Writers.

Given Abingdon's proximity to Oxford, and the science campuses of Harwell and Culham, we expect interest in this writer to be significant, and recommend booking tickets early. Tickets are £7. To reserve your place, please email books@mostly-books.co.uk or phone 01235 525880.

Featured Events

Thursday, Mar 11, 7.30pm

John Gribbin
We once had to abandon the idea of earth being at the centre of the universe. Now, we need to confront an even more profound possibility: the universe itself might just be one universe among many.

On Thursday, March 11th join 'the master of popular science writing' (The Times) John Gribbin at the Guildhall in Abingdon as he takes us on a mind-bending, and time-travelling journey to the very frontiers of current scientific theory - and on to the multiverse.

John worked for the journal Nature and New Scientist, before becoming the bestselling author of books such as In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, In Search of the Double Helix and In Search of the Big Bang. Biographical subjects have included Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman, Galileo, Buddy Holly and most recently James Lovelock. He has even written a biography of the Universe itself. Together with his wife Mary, he has written science books for children, including the brilliant Time Travel for Beginners for any budding Dr Whos out there.

His latest books include In Search of the Multiverse and Timeswitch, his first science fiction novel for ten years. His books have received science-writing awards both in the UK and the US. Since 1993, Gribbin has been a Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex, chiefly working on the problem of determining the age of the Universe. In 2009, John was given a Lifetime Achievement award by the Association of British Science Writers.

Given Abingdon's proximity to Oxford, and the science campuses of Harwell and Culham, we expect interest in this writer to be significant, and recommend booking tickets early. Tickets are £7. To reserve your place, please email books@mostly-books.co.uk or phone 01235 525880.