It's Almost Christmas. How did that happen?

When should a bookshop put up it decorations? The answer is next week.
When should a bookshop order it's Xmas Cards? The answer is yesterday.
When should a bookshop order it's Christmas books? the answer is last week and then maybe a few more this week and then another check next week.
When should a bookshop do its Christmas window? um, next week.
When should bookshops check they have enough bags and till roll to last through xmas? Look, stop asking all these questions OK.

although lots of shops start their christmasses in September, we prefer to wait until the floods start and Children in Need is on the TV. This is a start of the traditional Big Green Bookshop Christmas, and we hope you understand.

The reason we do all our book ordering and stuff in November is because we are poor, and in the booktrade you have to pay for the stuff you buy at the end of the following month from when you bought it. So if we'd bought all our books in September, we'd have had to pay for them in October (not really the time when I do my Christmas shopping). So by buying everything in November, we can then screw are eyes shut really tight and cross our fingers in the hope that we sell lots of books over christmas, so that we can afford to pay for it all.

The other reason for slight tardiness is that we've been a bit busy lately, what with trying to organise loads of events, having 20 school classes coming in to do buy books for a fine fine thing called the Reading Challenge (a Council funded scheme in which kids are 'challenged' to read six books), as well as all the other bookshop stuff that we do, like sell books.

We're also coming towards the end of our 5 Favourite Books of all time (in no particular order) survey that we've been running. The final day for you to vote is this Sunday, and we've had loads and loads of your entries. But we'd love more, so feel free to send in your top 5. You could win 20 books!

Two events next week

Utter! poetry and Andrew Blackman, author of award winning On the Holloway Road.

Two events the following week.

Wine Adventurer Francis Gimblett and the launch of a new (and the only) history of Tottenham.

Then it'll be christmas i'd imagine, and we can all relax.