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.
Posted on 9th September 2022 by Ashley
When discussing my latest novel Your Show, published in April by Faber and longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize this year, I am always keen to stress that it is more than just a book for followers of the so-called ‘beautiful game’. The novel charts the journey of...
Posted on 1st September 2022 by Ruth
Fiction – Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson Written by ex-doctor Simon Stephenson (who’s previous was speculative fiction ‘Set My Heart to Five’) this is a dry and darkly humorous tale of a disgraced, opiate-addict doctor on his last chance at a grotty...
Posted on 26th August 2022 by Nilopar
One of the key pieces of advice given to aspiring authors is to read– read lots, read widely, read everything! So, when I was asked to write a blog about the books that made me, I knew immediately that it was going to be challenging – I’ll give it a try, but...
Posted on 18th August 2022 by Carrie
Oh the places we will go…. Do you love a road trip? Tim and I do and given the chance we will jump in the car and head off on ‘the open road’ to track down ‘all the bright places’ and re-fill our creative reserves by visiting other villages, towns and cities. As...
Posted on 11th August 2022 by Ben
Q: What do you do for a living? Me. I’m semi-retired but work part time in a bookshop. Q: Semi-retired! What did you do before? Me. I was in the Army. Q: What bit? Me. I joined The Light Infantry (my local regiment) at 16 yrs old then transferred to The Army Air Corps...
Posted on 2nd August 2022 by Ruth
Fiction: The Night Ship by Jess Kidd Based on a real-life event, an epic historical novel from the award-winning author of Things in Jars, that illuminates the lives of two characters: a girl shipwrecked on an island off Western Australia and, over three hundred years...
Posted on 28th July 2022 by Carrie
It’s the holiday season. Time to……..relax. This is the moment I have waited for over the last 3 years – a long overdue and very welcome return to one of our ‘Happy Places’ – the idyllic Cycladic Island of Santorini. I have arrived in paradise – blue skies, crystal...
Posted on 7th July 2022 by Vaseem Khan
This month, The Crime Writers Association has named Booka their Bookshop of the Month! Bestselling Crime Author and CWA Board Member, Vaseem Khan interviewed Tim to find out all about Booka’s journey, read all about it below: Behind Tim Morris’s shoulder...
Posted on 1st July 2022 by Ruth
Fiction Book of the Month – The Halfways by Nilopar Uddin Nasrin and Sabrina are two sisters, who on the face of things live successful and enviable lives in London and New York. When their father, Shamsur suddenly dies, they rush to be with their mother at the...
Posted on 24th June 2022 by Penny
It’s 8am on Monday, the dog needs walking and it looks like I may not manage my early morning run, again. But at least I won’t be stuck in traffic. All you need to be a publisher is a laptop, a desk, and somewhere to put lots and lots of boxes of books. Plus wonderful...
Posted on 24th June 2022 by Emmy
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved writing stories. My first-ever book was one I stapled together from printer paper and painstakingly illustrated it myself. It was about a worm, called “He Will”, who liked helping his friends (hence his name,...
Posted on 17th June 2022 by Carrie
Forward – until the future, whatever it was going to beApologies to anyone who saw me shedding a tear on the train recently. I wasn’t poorly, I wasn’t homesick – no I’d just finished Emma Straubs heartwarming and hopeful ‘This Time Tomorrow’ – it’s...
Posted on 10th June 2022 by Imi
As a child growing up in the noughties, I very rarely got to see myself in the books I read. There certainly weren’t books with characters like me on display in the school library or available in bookshops. In the shadow of Section 28, and before the...
Posted on 1st June 2022 by Ruth
June Book of the Month – Fiction You made a Fool of Death with your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to live again. It’s been five years since the accident which killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now — an artist with her...
Posted on 20th May 2022 by Sian
Gooday and a friendly ‘hello’ from Booka’s newest bookseller! I joined the team at the end of March from what I believed would be a lifelong career in teaching. But as usual, life has its way of throwing curveballs at you when you least expect it. Teaching I qualified...
Posted on 9th May 2022 by Carrie
My Miracle Morning Are you an owl or a lark? I’m definitely a lark. My Grandad had an annoying habit of knocking on our door at some shockingly early hour on a Sunday and would remonstrate with us that we had ‘missed half the day’ if he found we were still in bed. ...
Posted on 29th April 2022 by Ruth
Here at Booka, we believe in the power and joy of books. Our aim with Booka Book of the Month is to read eclectically, unconstrained by genre. Our selection is made up of exciting storytelling from writers we want to shout about. It is a mix of dazzling debuts, tales...
Posted on 22nd April 2022 by Carrie
As a result of the last couple of years we’ve been reflecting on our ‘purpose’ and re-examining who we are and what we do. Experiential bookselling is embedded in the Booka DNA. We don’t rely on algorithms, we are here and present for you – a physical bookshop...
Posted on 14th April 2022 by Carrie
Books and chocolate are a match made in heaven. I think we are all agreed that you can’t have one without the other and the Easter weekend is the perfect time to indulge (with a capital ‘I’) in both. We don’t sell Easter eggs (although we do stock some delectable...
Posted on 8th April 2022 by Tim
As a bookseller faced with so many books to read, there are often books which don’t quite make it to the top of your TBR (To Be Read) pile, not because they don’t deserve your attention, but simply the pressure to read other books means they get usurped by the latest...