2016. It's Not All Bad

Yep, 2016 is a bit of a fucking monster.

But I reckon we should spend at least 3 minutes celebrating all the good stuff. 

I've cobbled together this.

Hillary Clinton did what no other woman in the history of the United States has ever done: She got the presidential nomination of a major party. 

She also managed to get over 2 million votes more nationally than the person who actually won. FUCK!

Deadpool

The Chibok girls were released by Boko Haram.

Tim Peake went into space and was absolutely awesome (thumbs)

We all watched a puddle on Periscope.

Sadiq Khan.

Leicester City won the Premier League. Yeah, sport, whatever… but Twitter exploded with joy about this, so shut the fuck up.

 

Sarah Olney beat that absolute twat in the Richmond Park bi election.

The Sellout by Paul Beatty won the Man Booker Prize for fiction. Magnificent! How did that happen??

Subversive, satirical and absolute genius.

Pokemon Go.

All those funny cats and silly dogs on youtube. They really upped their game this year.

And here's the big one...

We are still here to make 2017 FUCKING AMAZING. 

Cake & Bake Manchester

I need someone to help me. I will pay money. 

We're selling books at the Cake & Bake Show in Manchester, which runs from Thursday November 10th to Sunday November 13th. 

It's 4 days of Cake related madness and is probably going to be very busy. 

Lots of Bake Off stars will be there, including Nadiya!

Here's a link to the website. 

I'm looking for a sensible, friendly person to help me over the 4 days. 

it's from 10am-until about 4.30pm and essentially you'll be selling books and being nice to people. 

I'll be there too, and will train you on our ridiculously easy till. 

I'll pay you £50 a day. 

If you're based in Manchester and can help out please get in touch. 

Tel. 020 8881 6767

or email enquiries@biggreenbookshop.com

Thank you. 

A 3 Hour Half Price Sale. Come on!

I am writing this post at 9.40pm on Friday. 

The bookshop has had a super crazy day. It was The Big Green Marathon. #BGBMarathon on the Twitter.

A day that Tim announced he wouldn't go home until we'd taken £1,000 . It was a huge ask, as we hadn't got close to this figure on a Friday since last Christmas. 

But you lot played a blinder and we've just reached £1030. 

Tim's still at the shop selling even more books, because there's a book launch happening. 

So firstly. 

THANK YOU

And secondly, as a special treat. 

Tomorrow, between 11am and 2pm, all books/toys in the shop are HALF PRICE.*

Three hours of half price action is available.

*doesn't include customer orders.

If you can make it to the shop, imagine the treasures you will find. 

Hope you can make it. 

Bookshop Marathon

Tim has declared that this Friday (today) be Bookshop Marathon day.

Bookshop Marathon Day? What's that?

Well let me tell you.

Tim will not close the shop today until we take £1000.

This can be over the counter, on the phone (020 8881 6767),or online/email sales (enquiries@biggreenbookshop.com) and he will be taking his sleeping bag in on Friday morning. The last time we took £1000 on a Friday was December last year, so it's ambitious, to say the least. 

If you come in to buy some books, you can roll the Devilish Discount Dice and maybe WIN BIG.

A reminder of  the many faces of Tim West, who will be taking on this extraordinary challenge. 

One of these may not be the right Tim West.

I guess we're gonna have to have some kind of Twitter hashag for this, aren't we? How about #BGBMarathon. 

I'm (Simon) typing this at 6.30am, as i'm just off to work now. Thought i'd give Timmy a hand and open up early to maybe catch some early punters. I'm nice like that. 

BUY BOOKS.

Five Days

Christmas is coming early to the Big Green Bookshop.

Read on for 3 for 2 opportunities and news of the mighty Bookshop Marathon!

Over the next five days, we invite you to come along to the shop and pick up the perfect gift for the festive season.

Ding dong merrily on high..etc.

Yes, yes, we know it's September, but to be totally honest, we need to pay our rent next week and due to having £10,000 owed to us in outstanding invoices, it's gonna be a exciting tale of bookselling derring-do over the next few days in order to do so.

So, how can we tempt you into the shop?

Well, apart from all the delights we have here already (including a whole new batch of books and toys from Tuffet's), we have three exciting events for you over the next three days. 

Tonight!

Wednesday September 21^st – 7.00pm sharp!

How to Pitch to a Literary Agent

With Hattie Grunewald from Blake Friedmann Agency.

£6. BUY TICKETS HERE.

An amazing opportunity for budding authors to learn some vital lessons on how to approach an agent when you’re pitching your book to them.

Tomorrow!

Thursday September 22nd - 7.00pm

An Evening with Alison Moore 

£3. BUY TICKETS HERE

It’s with enormous pleasure that we welcome back Booker shortlisted novelist Alison Moore to the shop to mark the publication of her phenomenal new novel Death and the Seaside.

The day after tomorrow.

Friday September 23rd - 7.00pm

The Launch of "Wood Green" by Sean Rabin. 

Event details HERE (it's free!)

A Celebration of new Indie Publisher Dodo Ink, with Sean, Seraphina Madsen and Tom Tomaszewski!

AND WE ARE OFFERING EVERYONE WHO TURNS UP AT ANY OF THESE EVENTS

 3 FOR 2 ON ANY BOOKS OR TOYS WE HAVE IN THE SHOP!

BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE!

Friday September 23rd

Bookshop Marathon

Tim has declared that on Friday, he will keep the shop open until we take £1000!

This can be over the counter, on the phone,or online sales and he will be taking his sleeping bag in on Friday morning. The last time we took £1000 on a Friday was December last year, so I think maybe the egg nog has gone to Tim's head.

So what better reason to buy your books here on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday! (mwa ha ha haa).

We'll be announcing more exciting offers nearer the weekend, so look out for that. 

In the meantime though....

LET'S BUY BOOKS!

Thanks.

x

Time Out Love London Awards

I discovered earlier this week that we've been nominated for the annual Time Out Love London Awards. 

Last year’s Love London Awards saw 16,000 nominations and 75,000 votes cast for 5,000 venues across the city. We got some of those votes and as a result of those votes, now proudly display this in our window. 

We're quite keen to get another sticker, so if you can spare a minute or two and you'd like to 

VOTE FOR US PLEASE. 

Thank you. 

YouTube Channel Blag.

Last month, we announced that we were going to start a YouTube Channel.  

It's going to be a right old mix of stuff, including book reviews, opinions & rank stupidity, but hopefully it'll be something you'll enjoy. 

One of the things i'd like to do is have a monthly post where I open parcels of books that publishers send me to read. I won't know what they are, so it might be interesting to see what I get sent. I'll be getting my kids (6 & 8 years old) to review books for younger readers too.

 If I get enough, i'll pick 6 or so to read and review the following month from the packs that I open.  

So this is essentially me blagging free books isn't it?

Well, yes, but also, if you send me a book, I guarantee it'll get onto our YouTube Channel, so it might interest people who watch it (if anyone does, of course). 

I will be focusing on fiction mainly, and I do love indie publishers, but if you fancy sending me something and to ensure I don't open it straight away, please address it to. 

Simon (Booktube)

Big Green Bookshop

Unit 1, Brampton Road, 

Wood Green. 

London

N22 6BG

With a bit of luck we'll have our first post up next week, but this is going to be an ongoing thing, so feel free to send me anything you think I might like. 

We're Closing our Shop

Some of you may remember about 4 years ago, we opened a second shop in Brookmans Park (that's in Hertfordshire).

It was called Tuffet's Toys and Tales and it was a gorgeous kids book and toyshop. 

LOOK HOW PRETTY IT WAS. 

Well, despite our best efforts it simply didn't generate enough customers and we're sadly going to be closing it. 

Brookmans Park is a great village and we'd hoped to emulate the kind of thing we do here in Wood Green, but the amount of energy we needed to put into it, meant that we weren't able to put as much energy into The Big Green Bookshop. That, in turn meant that sales in The Big Green Bookshop started to get seriously affected. 

So, we are biting the bullet so that we can focus EVERYTHING on The Big Green Bookshop again. 

It's all very sad, as initially we were so excited about the new shop. 

It doesn't look quite so pretty now, does it?

Boo hoo

Ah well, onwards and upwards. 

 We've moved all the stock, and fixtures and fittings into one of those self storage buildings (thanks to @markymarket for helping us do this) and we plan to spend the next 2 weeks going through it all and keeping all the best stuff. 

This is a temporary fix, as these storage spaces aren't cheap and we're skint. 

So, of course we have the obligatory favour to ask.

Does anyone near Wood Green have any spare garage space that we could borrow for a month or two? It won't be for loads of stuff, just 4 or 5 bookcases and about 20 boxes of books I reckon. 

If you do, could you give us a bell 020 8881 6767 or email enquiries@biggreenbookshop.com.

Thanks, Simon & Tim

EVENT. Not the Booker Prize. LIVE!

Saturday October 15th - 6.00pm - 8.00pm

Not The Booker Night

£3. BUY TICKETS HERE.

In 2009, the first Not the Booker Prize was launched by Sam Jordison in the Guardian. After a number of “controversial” decisions at the Man Booker Prize (and other literary prizes) this was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek attempt to introduce a slightly more democratic way of choosing a prize winning book.

The entry criteria are very similar to the Booker Prize.

Readers are asked to nominate a book fitting these criteria and a very long longlist is then announced. This longlist is then whittled down to six books, by people writing reviews for the books they want to win...the full rules can be found here , but we now have the Not the Booker Shortlist. Here it is.

 

The Combinations by Louis Armand

The Less Than Perfect Legend of Donna Creosote by Dan Micklethwaite

Walking the Lights by Deborah Andrews

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

Chains of Sand by Jemma Wayne

What Will Remain by Dan Clements

And we are delighted that once again, the Not the Booker Prize is going live! Wembley Arena? Nah. The South Bank? pfft. Only the Big Green Bookshop could host such an event.

Each year, the award gets bigger and bigger, with over 1500 votes for the shortlist this year.

All six authors have been invited by to attend a panel reading and discussion and Sam Jordison will be here to chair the discussion. We can't guarantee all the authors will be able to make it (two are based in the states, so we’re working on hooking up Skype, so they can be involved too), but we’re pretty sure four will be in attendance at the shop on the night.

Not only will you get the chance to meet the authors, there will also be a Q and A and a signing.

 These Not the Booker Events are really brillaint fun and this year's shortlist looks fantastic. I cannot wait to read each of them myself.

Tickets for this event are just £3 (HERE), redeemable on any of the shortlisted books on the night. Spaces are very limited and this event will sell out very quickly.

Really hope you can make it. 

EVENT. Jayne Joso joins us for a Kimono Book Party!

Thursday September 29^th – 7.00pm

Jayne Joso joins us for a Kimono Book Party!

Hurray! We’re thrilled to welcome one of our favourite authors, Jayne Joso back to the Big Green Bookshop, to celebrate the publication of her new novel “My Falling Down House”.

Having lost his job and his home, Takeo Tanaka, a young Japanese man, takes refuge in a dilapidated wood and paper house. He sets himself projects in an attempt to hold on to his sanity and as recompense for trespassing and dwelling in a house for which he makes no payment. But with only a cat and a cello for company, his ability to distinguish between real and imagined events is soon deeply challenged.

His fears and failing health keep him inside the house through four testing seasons, and he is driven to the edge of insanity as he pushes his creative abilities to keep himself occupied and retain his self-respect.

When the shapeshifter (yokai) arrives, and begins to menace him, he is again made to doubt his sanity, and then also his sight, and his hearing. Questioning his previous life brings him to a point of crisis and he renegotiates his feelings towards a crippling modern world and all that this demands. As the seasons move on, he finds himself more and more deeply drawn into a relationship with nature and simple ways of living.

Jayne received the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Award for her new novel, given to a work of fiction or non-fiction which helps to interpret modern Japan to the English-speaking world.

This is Jayne’s third novel. Her first, “Soothing Music for Stray Cats” explores the lives of disaffected city dwellers, and was heralded as ‘the debut of a distinctive voice in contemporary British Fiction’ by social historian Joe Moran; with the Times Literary Supplement projecting that it ‘may emerge as one of the great, eccentric London novels’.

 Her second novel, “Perfect Architect”, draws on Joso’s interest in architectural and psychological space. Accompanied by illustrations by Japanese artist, Hiroki Godengi, Perfect Architect was given full-page discussion in the international magazine: ICON

To make things even more fun, it’s going to be a Japanese themed evening.

Come in your kimono, as your inner ninja, your shapeshifting alter-ego, or just as you are!

This is a FREE event, but please let us know if you’d like to come along (enquiries@biggreenbookshop.com or phone 020 8881 6767)

Refreshments will be available. 

EVENT. An Evening with Alison Moore

Thursday September 22nd - 7.00pm

An Evening with Alison Moore 

£3. BUY TICKETS HERE

 In 2012, Booker Prize shortlisted authors Alison Moore (The Lighthouse), and Tan Twan Eng (The Garden of Evening Mists) came to the Big Green Bookshop just 4 days before the Booker Prize was announced to read from and discuss their books. Those of you who were lucky enough to come to this will remember what an incredible evening it was.

And so it’s with enormous pleasure that we welcome back Alison Moore to the bookshop to mark the publication of her phenomenal new novel Death and the Seaside.

“With an abandoned degree behind her and a thirtieth birthday approaching, amateur writer Bonnie Falls moves out of her parents' home into a nearby flat. Her landlady, Sylvia Slythe, takes an interest in Bonnie, encouraging her to finish one of her stories, in which a young woman moves to the seaside, where she comes under strange influences. As summer approaches, Sylvia suggests to Bonnie that, as neither of them has anyone else to go on holiday with, they should go away together - to the seaside, perhaps”.

It really is a stunning book, and as with Alison’s previous books, the pace and control of the story is something very special. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Tickets for this event are just £3 (HERE), redeemable on any of Alison’s books on the night.

As a special deal (because our Book Group has chosen this for October’s meeting), if you buy a copy of Death at the Seaside before the event, you can get in for FREE! (just let us know you want to come and we’ll put your name down on the list).  

This is likely to be a VERY popular event, so please book EARLY.

Hope you can make it. 

EVENT. How to Pitch to a Literary Agent

Wednesday September 21^st – 7.00pm sharp!

How to Pitch to a Literary Agent

With Hattie Grunewald from Blake Friedmann Agency.

£6. BUY TICKETS HERE.

An amazing opportunity for budding authors to learn some vital lessons on how to approach an agent when you’re pitching your book to them.

We’re delighted that Hattie Grunewald, from one of London’s biggest (and best) agencies will be here to offer essential advice if you’re looking to give yourself a better chance of doing a successful pitch.

Hattie graduated from University of East Anglia in 2013 with a BA in English and Creative Writing, and started work as an intern at Blake Friedmann the very next week. She assists Carole Blake, handles short fiction and permissions on behalf of Blake Friedmann clients, and is now building her own impressive list.

We wanted to set up this event after this recent blogpost appeared online from a “disgruntled” author. DO NOT DO THIS.

Hattie will be in conversation with Chris Brosnahan, who looks after our thriving Writers Group.

There’ll be opportunities to ask Hattie your own questions and after the event, there’ll be drinks and a chance to chat some more.

Tickets are just £6 (a bargain!), which can be purchased HERE.

Hope you can make it.