Bookablog

Here we showcase the very best of what Booka has to offer. Read reviews of the latest bestsellers. Find out in advance about our exciting events. Discover what our visiting authors have to say. Be inspired by our book-buying guides and helpful articles. Learn something new or revisit an old favourite. Find out more about our team and the work that goes on behind the scenes. Booka is proud to be an independent bookshop and we have never been afraid to speak out. Join us now and subscribe for all our latest updates, posts, events and news.

Guest Blog – Nicola Upson

Posted on 23rd November 2023 by Nicola

Guest Blog – Nicola Upson

The Books That Made Me The first book I ever truly loved was The Swish of the Curtain by Pamela Brown. It was the story that opened my eyes to the obsessive magic of reading, and it’s the only book that I’ve ever begun again as soon as I finished it. It stood out from...

Books of the Month: November

Posted on 1st November 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: November

Fiction: Shot With Crimson by Nicola Upson Clever, fascinating and filled with intrigue, Shot With Crimson is one of Nicola Upson’s Josephine Tey Mysteries (a superb crime series which can be read in any order). Their protagonist is real life novelist Josephine Tey, a...

Books of the Month: October

Posted on 2nd October 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: October

Fiction: The Book of Beginnings by Sally Page From the author of the phenomenal bestseller The Keeper of Stories, comes an utterly beautiful and charming novel full of mystery and secrets waiting to be uncovered… Returning to her Uncle Wilbur’s stationery shop, brings...

Building a Bookshop

Posted on 10th September 2023 by Carrie

Building a Bookshop

To the Future and Beyond The word is out, the dream is becoming a reality. Booka Bridgnorth is being built.  Tim of all trades is busy painting the shop-front, local builders GMC have started the shop-fit. We are on our way to being the proud owners of two independent...

Books of the Month: September

Posted on 1st September 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: September

Fiction: The Good Liars by Anita Frank Now 6 years later the events of that summer have resurfaced to haunt the inhabitants of Darkacre Hall. Dilapidated and worn down, it is the home of the once respected Stilwell family, now a shadow of their former selves;...

Books of the Month: August

Posted on 1st August 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: August

Fiction Book of the Month: Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons A subversive, powerful untelling of Shakespeare’s best-known tale, narrated by a fierce, forgotten voice: this is Rosaline’s story. A fierce, feminist, intensely gripping novel; captivating and...

Books of the Month: July

Posted on 1st July 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: July

Fiction: The Illusions by Liz Hyder The Illusions is another gloriously captivating piece of storytelling from Liz Hyder, author of ‘The Gifts’; magical and mesmerising, full of passion, creativity, secrets and delight. Bristol, 1896 and two young women...

Caroline Lang: 8 Years & 53 Interviews

Posted on 16th June 2023 by Caroline

Caroline Lang: 8 Years & 53 Interviews

With Independent Bookshop Week upon us and in person events very much on the agenda of authors and their readers, It feels the perfect time to reflect on one of my greatest pleasures: in conversation events. It seems extraordinary that it was eight years ago, in early...

Guest Blog: Thomas D Lee

Posted on 9th June 2023 by Thomas

Guest Blog: Thomas D Lee

The Books That Made Me First things first, I’m over the moon that Booka Bookshop have chosen Perilous Times to be their Book of the Month! I’m a Shropshire Lad myself – I lived in Ratlinghope for most of my teenage years, between the Stiperstones and the Long...

Books of the Month: June

Posted on 1st June 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: June

FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee In perilous times like these, the realm doesn’t just need a hero, it needs a knight in shining armour. Legend tells that King Arthur and his knights lie sleeping beneath the land, ready to rise to our aid...

Guest Blog: Claire Fuller

Posted on 12th May 2023 by Claire

Guest Blog: Claire Fuller

The Books That Made Me Reading took off for me when I was nine when my family moved house and I had a term left of my final year at junior school. With no way of getting home, my mum arranged for a neighbour to collect me from the village library which was next to the...

Books of the Month: May

Posted on 1st May 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: May

Fiction: The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller If you’ve read Unsettled Ground, Claire Fuller’s Costa Award winning novel, you will know that her writing combines heart and melancholy without sentimentality, her quiet storytelling all the more powerful for its...

Wardrobe Revolutionaries

Posted on 24th April 2023 by Lizzie

Wardrobe Revolutionaries

On average, British women hoard approximately £285 worth of unused clothing within their wardrobes. This is the equivalent of £34 million worth of useless purchases in Shropshire alone. With Love From… is a new project launching in Oswestry, Shropshire. Our vision is...

Sian’s Guilty Reading Pleasure – A Revival of Romance

Posted on 14th April 2023 by Sian

Sian’s Guilty Reading Pleasure – A Revival of Romance

Since working at Booka, twice I’ve been asked for recommendations for erotic fiction, or as it’s known nowadays: ‘spicy reads’. Romance seems to come with certain connotations: covers featuring scantily clad women embracing men with bulging muscles, lots of ‘held...

Books of the Month: April

Posted on 1st April 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: April

FICTION: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld New from New York Times bestselling author, Curtis Sittenfeld, Romantic Comedy is a smart, insightful, and funny social commentary on modern relationships, societal expectations, and the ungovernable laws of attraction....

Guest Blog: Haulwen Nicholas

Posted on 24th March 2023 by Haulwen

Guest Blog: Haulwen Nicholas

The Books That Made Me On my wall I have a book that is framed in a silver-coloured box frame with a hinged front, so that I can access it should I need it. I almost feel like this box frame should have a sign next to it saying, “break glass in an emergency”. Because...

Growing Readers

Posted on 6th March 2023 by Carrie

Growing Readers

World Book Day The above title will make most booksellers snort with laughter.  World Book Week or fortnight is more like it. Nevertheless, it is a highlight within the Booka calendar where we focus on our work with schools and young readers. We host an all singing,...

Books of the Month: March

Posted on 1st March 2023 by Ruth

Books of the Month: March

Fiction: Spilt Milk by Amy Beashel This is a raw, gut-punch of a novel following teacher, social media influencer and mum, Bea Straw, in the aftermath of a brutally honest comment – the worst thing a mother could possible think, let alone say – which has...

Guest Blog: Amy Beashel

Posted on 24th February 2023 by Amy

Guest Blog: Amy Beashel

The Books That Made Me I have friends who can reel off plots from books they read forty years ago. Character names, surprising twists, beautiful or frustrating endings, the minutiae remain impressively at the forefront of their clever minds ready for intricate...

Guest Blog: Ray Nayler

Posted on 17th February 2023 by Ray

Guest Blog: Ray Nayler

I wonder where to begin. Perhaps with the earliest distinct memory I have of reading a book on my own: it was a picture book of the Three Billy Goats Gruff story, and what I remember most are the pictures in the background: the detailed little houses in the hills –...