25/07/2008 by Vicky.

…but a wonderful dilemma all the same. This week I’ve had to write copy, send out press releases, organise invitations and generally market, what I sincerely hope will be our most important book of the year. It is a book I have read both in manuscipt form and in it’s proofed version.  The book- ‘Corvus-A life with Birds’. The author- my friend and Banchory colleague Esther Woolfson. The dilemma- I don’t want to embarrass her with my gushing; I want customers to know it is genuine; and what if she is the only member of staff on the shop floor when someone comes in to enquire about…”that craw book in the windae”? Actually I want to run up Banchory High Street and shout “come and buy Corvus…it’s fab!”. But I’ll have to wait. Corvus is published on August 4th. Esther is currently writing for, and being interviewed by, every broadsheet newspaper in the land and Corvus will be Radio 4 ‘Book of the Week’. The rest of the Banchory team wish her every success because she absolutely deserves it. They also get a home made Woolfson cake each Tuesday and so they do ever so slightly hope that the roller coaster of publicity doesn’t start to consume too much of her time. 

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04/07/2008 by Vicky.

Last night saw our first event in Elgin since we took over the business and a first event ever for author Derek Flory. His book ‘Torn Apart’ is a wonderful story told with immense charm and empathy. It is the story of his mother Sybil’s escape from war torn Rangoon in 1941 and the discovery of her sister Blanche 66 years later, who she presumed she had lost during those difficult days of Japanese occupation. Sybil Le Fleur joined us for the event, sitting in the VIP seat at the front of the audience. Many commented on her continued beauty, radiance and wonderful dress sense which  captured the heart of Scots Soldier, Reid Flory in the final years of the war. Reid Flory was to bring his exotic bride first to Ellon and then to settle in, Huntly, Aberdeenshire.  Derek gave a great talk last night which was moving, funny and self deprecating. His initial nerves were quite unwarranted. Look out for much media coverage in the coming weeks as this seven decade story is finally shared.   

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03/07/2008 by Esther.

July— and both as booksellers and readers—we’re thinking of holidays and ‘holiday reading’. For some, the term suggests light reading, escapist literature for this period, however brief, of escape from the day-to-day. For others, it’s an opportunity to catch up on the books that the demands of the year have prevented us from reading or to begin on the long list of books we’ve always meant to read. There is too, the vicarious holiday reading of those who, like me, who aren’t going anywhere but enjoy reading about the places we might like to go.

The excellent ‘Four Seasons in Rome’ by the American novelist and short story writer Anthony Doerr is an account of a year spent as a visiting fellow at the American Academy in Rome, Doerr evokes-enchantingly-both the city and his own first year as the father of infant twins while for anyone who finds the prospect of a trip to Venice enticing, Jan Morris’s wonderful classic ‘Venice’ or Predrag Matvejevic’s superbly atmospheric ‘The Other Venice’ are the perfect preparation for a future visit, or else the ideal books to read while there.

Two new books: ‘Wild Swimming’ by Daniel Start, a guide to ideal sites for outdoor swimming and ‘Britain and Ireland’s Best Wild Places’ by Christopher Somerville, could provide some superb ideas for a summer to be spent nearer home.

Orange prize-winning novel ‘The Road Home’ by Rose Tremain, or shortlisted ‘Lullabies for Little Criminals’, by Heather O’Neill would be great beach-reading, as would Australian Tim Winton’s latest book, ‘Breath’ – a stunningly-written novel about surfing—or, for short story readers, William Trevor’s ‘Cheating At Canasta’.
Two very different but equally fascinating biographies, are the intriguing, ‘In Search of Robert Millar’ by Richard Moore, a fascinating account of the successful career and subsequently mysterious life of the Tour de France cyclist Millar and Julie Kavanagh’s ‘Rudolf Nureyev-The Life.’

Someone I’ve found to be a great travelling companion is the American humourist David Sedaris— I expect his new book ‘When You Are Engulfed in Flames’ to be as funnily, oddly poignant as all his others.

Two new hardbacks, the highly recommended novel ‘The Redemption of Alexander Seaton’ by Shona MacLean and ‘China-A History’ by John Keay, would be a perfect summer choice for those of us who are staying at home.

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