We are delighted to announce that for May’s Text Book Club, we will be discussing Rene Karabash’s International Booker-shortlisted debut novel, She Who Remains.

The book club will be held upstairs in our Reading Room at 10am on Sunday 21st June, and is suitable for ages 18+. Tea and coffee will be provided.

To book your place, please click here, or to purchase a year-long subscription to our Text Book Club, please click here.

About the book -

High in the Accursed Mountains, in a village ruled by the ancient laws of the Kanun, Bekija escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a sworn virgin, renouncing her womanhood to live as a man.

Her decision sets off a brutal chain of events, destroying her family and separating her from the one she loves the most.

Years later, as Bekija - now Matija - tells their story to a visiting journalist, long-buried truths come to light, along with the realization of all that might have been.

We are delighted to announce that lecturer Michael King will be exploring John Steinbeck’s novella The Pearl, a flawless parable about wealth and the evil it can bring.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your place, please click here.

About the book:

When Kino, a poor Indian pearl-diver, finds 'the Pearl of the world' he believes that his life will be magically transformed. He will marry Juana and their son Coyotito will be able to attend school. Obsessed by his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed and even violence the pearl arouses in him and his neighbours.

Written with lyrical simplicity, The Pearl sets the values of the civilized world against those of the primitive and finds them tragically inadequate.

Get Into Reading - Cosy

Join us in 2026 for a new reading group where we dive into genres, looking at the authors, books and themes that define them. We’ll cover everything from crime, fantasy and thrillers to classics, romance and more.

Whether you’re trying to read more, are a massive fan of the genre, or normally give it a miss, we’ll have plenty of book recommendations to choose from so that you’re bound to find something you like.

Books can transport us, change our perspectives and teach us more about the world, and about ourselves. And reading for pleasure can help you slow down, improve your attention span and benefit your mental health.

At each of the 10 monthly sessions, Ollie will give a quick background overview on the genre, followed by discussion of what you liked or didn't about your chosen book(s) and how they fit within the genre, leaving with even more recommendations to add to your To Be Read pile. And if you just read one book from each session, you’ll have read at least 10 over the year and be well on your way to a great habit.

So come along to our no-pressure sessions and help strengthen your reading muscle.

June - Get Into… Cosy

Defining 'cosy' can be surprisingly slippery - towns in Cheshire, bookshops in Asia and even an orphanage by the sea, cosy fiction promises that the world of the book will be one you actually want to inhabit, full of charming characters, satisfying small moments, and the reassurance that things will, broadly speaking, turn out alright. But cosy literature doesn’t mean slight or unserious - the best is sharply observed, quietly funny, and surprisingly moving. For this month, we've picked ten books that will make you want to curl up and just enjoy these novels for a while:

• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa (translated)

• Anxious People by Fredrick Backman (translated)

• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (modern classic)

• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (Young Adult)

• The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (translated, modern classic)

• The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert McFarlane (non-fiction)

• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (fantasy)

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (contemporary)

• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (fantasy, LGBTQ)

Register now and you can get 15% off the books in the reading list. Once you have booked a place, you will be sent a password to access the catalogue of books at a discounted price.

To purchase these books once you have received the password, please click here.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The full list of sessions is below - we’ll put up the reading lists against the events each month.

• Jan - Cinema/ Seen on Screen

• Feb - Crime

• Mar - Sci Fi 

• Apr - Classics

• May - Fantasy

• Jun - Cosy

• Jul - Dystopian

• Sep - Thriller

• Oct - Horror

• Nov - Romance

To book your place, please click here.

Once you have booked a place, you will be sent a password to access the catalogue of books at a discounted price.

To purchase these books once you have received the password, please click here.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is now sold out.

Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together over breakfast to have a chat about books.

Book here for your individual book club ticket or click here to purchase a one-year ticket.

Discussions will be around books you love or books you are currently reading and how you are finding them. So if you love to talk about books, but don't have the time to read a set text, join us in-store at 10am on the first Sunday of each month for a fun-filled morning.

This event is charged and is suitable for 18+ years.

During the event, the team may ask if we can take pictures of the event to promote future events held in store. By purchasing a ticket you are consenting to the team using these pictures for our social media channels but you are able to withdraw your consent at any time during the event.

We are delighted to announce that our next poetry afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your place, please click here.

About the book:

This is the definitive centenary edition of the work of one of America's greatest poets, recognised today as a master of her art and acclaimed by poets and readers alike.

Her poems display honesty and humour, grief and acceptance, observing nature and human nature with painstaking accuracy. They often start outwardly, with geography and landscape - from New England and Nova Scotia, where Bishop grew up, to Florida and Brazil, where she later lived - and move inexorably toward the interior, exploring questions of knowledge and perception, love and solitude, and the ability or inability of form to control chaos.

This new edition, edited by Saskia Hamilton, includes Bishop's four published volumes (North & South, A Cold Spring, Questions of Travel and Geography III), as well as uncollected poems, translations and an illuminating selection of unpublished manuscript poems, reproduced in facsimile, revealing exactly how finished, or unfinished, Bishop left them. It offers readers the opportunity to enjoy the complete poems of one of the most distinguished American poets of the twentieth century.

Join fellow local writers as the day begins and the light slowly changes. On the first Wednesday of every month, we open the shop at 6am and invite you to write alongside others while the sun comes up.

Arrive at opening time or drift in when you’re ready. Stay until the words run out or the morning carries you elsewhere. A great coffee or a comforting pot of tea is included to ease you gently into the page.

This is a silent writing session. No workshopping, no sharing, no pressure. Just the quiet motivation of being surrounded by people who, like you, have chosen to write while the world is still half-asleep. We can promise a magical atmosphere. Please be aware that our WIFI can be problematic being an old building.

Tickets: £10

Includes your first coffee or pot of tea.

To purchase a ticket to the event, please click here.

Why 6am? Because many writers rise early to write, and we wondered who else might be doing the same. This is a space for focus, intention, and beginning the day with words.

Tickets are non-refundable due to administration, but are transferable. If you wish to transfer your ticket, you’ll just need to email us the name of the person who will be attending instead.

Questions or feedback? Please contact office@books-on-the-hill.co.uk

Come write with us. Start the day the right way.

Classics can be intimidating. They have a reputation of being too highbrow and incomprehensible for us mere mortals. We at Books on the Hill, however, think that is just not true. Classics speak of a universal theme we all have first hand experience of: love, loss, friendship, hope. They are for all of us. To tackle this, come along to our Book Club focusing on "The Classics" from recent and not so recent history.

On Thursday 28th May - between 7pm and 8pm - we will be discussing The Great Gatsby as our Classics Book Club choice for the month.

This Book Club is held on the last Thursday of the month, and is suitable for ages 18+. Tea and coffee will be provided.

To book your place please click here, or to purchase a year long subscription to our Classics Book Club, please click here.

About the book -

Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties.

Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled.

And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

We are delighted to announce that lecturer Michael King will be exploring E. M. Forster’s work A Room With a View, which describes a woman’s struggles between strict, old-fashioned Victorian values and newer, more liberal principles.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your place, please click here.

About the book:

More than a love story, A Room with a View is a penetrating social comedy and a brilliant study of contrasts - in values, social class, and cultural perspectives - and the ingenuity of fate.

Its heroine, Lucy Honeychurch, visits Italy with her prim cousin Charlotte as a chaperone, where she meets the unconventional, lower class Mr. Emerson and his son, George.

Upon her return to England, Lucy becomes engaged to the supercilious Cecil Vyse, but finds herself increasingly torn between the expectations of the world in which she moves and the passionate yearnings of her heart.

With an Introduction by Malcolm Bradbury.

We are delighted to announce that for May’s Text Book Club, we will be discussing Benjamin Wood’s Booker-longlisted novel, Seascraper.

The book club will be held upstairs in our Reading Room at 10am on Sunday 17th May, and is suitable for ages 18+. Tea and coffee will be provided.

To book your place, please click here, or to purchase a year-long subscription to our Text Book Club, please click here.

About the book -

Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp; spending the rest of the day selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.

When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?

Haunting and timeless, this is the story of a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS MONTH’S EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT.

Join us in 2026 for a new reading group where we dive into genres, looking at the authors, books and themes that define them. We’ll cover everything from crime, fantasy and thrillers to classics, romance and more.

Whether you’re trying to read more, are a massive fan of the genre, or normally give it a miss, we’ll have plenty of book recommendations to choose from so that you’re bound to find something you like.

Books can transport us, change our perspectives and teach us more about the world, and about ourselves. And reading for pleasure can help you slow down, improve your attention span and benefit your mental health.

At each of the 10 monthly sessions, Ollie will give a quick background overview on the genre, followed by discussion of what you liked or didn't about your chosen book(s) and how they fit within the genre, leaving with even more recommendations to add to your To Be Read pile. And if you just read one book from each session, you’ll have read at least 10 over the year and be well on your way to a great habit.

So come along to our no-pressure sessions and help strengthen your reading muscle.

May - Get Into… Fantasy

May sees us enter the innumerable worlds of fantasy and myth, where magic is real and mythical creatures abound - sometimes. From its roots in ancient mythology, folklore, and fairy tales, you can wander entirely invented realms, gaze on impossible events or witness glimpses of the supernatural. This month’s reading list includes characters from the Odyssey, a venture on the Discworld and an inconceivable love story. With griffins, trolls, wizards, vampires and kandra, you’re sure to find something you’ll love in this month’s list.

For this month, we’ve picked ten books that aim to encompass the diversity of the genre of fantasy:

1. Circe by Madeline Miller (mythic fantasy)

2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (alternate history)

3. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (comic fantasy)

4. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (translated, magical realism)

5. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (romantic fantasy, genre-breaking)

6. Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang (dark academia)

7. Mistborn (Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson (epic/high fantasy)

8. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (children’s/Young Adult)

9. Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain by Amy Jeffs (non-fiction)

10. Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (grimdark)

Register now and you can get 15% off the books in the reading list. Once you have booked a place, you will be sent a password to access the catalogue of books at a discounted price.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The full list of sessions is below - we’ll put up the reading lists against the events each month.

• Jan - Cinema/Seen on Screen

• Feb - Crime

• Mar - Sci Fi 

• Apr - Classics

• May - Fantasy

• Jun - Cosy

• Jul - Dystopian

• Sep - Thriller

• Oct - Horror

• Nov - Romance

To book your place, please click here.

Once you have booked a place, you will be sent a password to access the catalogue of books at a discounted price.

To purchase these books once you have received the password, please click here.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT.

Bibliotherapy one-day Retreat at Books on the Hill

A soft day of books, shared stories, belonging and reflection.

When? Wednesday 13 May, 10am-3pm

Where? The Reading Rooms, Books on the Hill, 1 Holywell Hill, St Albans, AL1 1ER

Cost? £85 per person including lunch.

To purchase your tickets please click here.

Join me for a restorative one-day Bibliotherapy retreat held in the beautiful Reading Rooms at Books on the Hill. This is an invitation for people looking for meaning, connection, and time to reflect with like-minded people. Through two gently guided bibliotherapy workshops and writing prompts, and a shared, unhurried lunch, we’ll explore carefully chosen texts that spark recognition, warmth, and the pleasure of intelligent, open-hearted conversation. Expect a calm, welcoming atmosphere, no pressure to perform or overshare, and the simple comfort of being among women who love ideas, stories, and self-discovery. You’ll leave with nourishing words, new connections, a sense of purpose and of having been restored.

What’s included in the fee?

Ø Two Bibliotherapy workshops (one morning, one afternoon) led by a qualified, experienced and evaluated bibliotherapy instructor – plus plenty of time for discussion and reflection

Ø Private use of the Reading Rooms at Books on the Hill, in central St Albans

Ø Lunch – a spread of tasty food from local deli ‘Silver Palate’

Ø Tea, coffee and cake

Ø Reading materials for the day and writing prompts

Ø 10% discount at Books on the Hill to spend on a book of your choice

For further information, and to book your retreat, please see the Books on the Hill Events Page.

Nicole Moody

BA/MA/FHEA www.instagram.com/bibliotherapyforme bibliotherapyforme@outlook.com

We are delighted to announce that our next poetry afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your place, please click here.

About the book:

'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways'

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a poet of passion, wit and conscience. She was also a woman who wrote to speak the truth about everything she knew - and she knew just what it was like to be a thinking woman in a society that wanted women to be weak. The eldest of twelve children, she wrote poetry from the age of eleven, and became a highly successful poet in her lifetime - and remains very much loved today.

She was also a strong advocate for human rights, campaigning to abolish slavery and child labour, and her three-part poem A Curse for a Nation is a powerful polemic against the slave trade.

'I heard an angel speak last night, and he said "write! Write a nation's curse for me, and send it over the western sea" '

Join fellow local writers as the day begins and the light slowly changes. On the first Wednesday of every month, we open the shop at 6am and invite you to write alongside others while the sun comes up.

Arrive at opening time or drift in when you’re ready. Stay until the words run out or the morning carries you elsewhere. A great coffee or a comforting pot of tea is included to ease you gently into the page.

This is a silent writing session. No workshopping, no sharing, no pressure. Just the quiet motivation of being surrounded by people who, like you, have chosen to write while the world is still half-asleep. We can promise a magical atmosphere. Please be aware that our WIFI can be problematic being an old building.

Tickets: £10

Includes your first coffee or pot of tea.

To purchase a ticket to the event, please click here.

Why 6am? Because many writers rise early to write, and we wondered who else might be doing the same. This is a space for focus, intention, and beginning the day with words.

Tickets are non-refundable due to administration, but are transferable. If you wish to transfer your ticket, you’ll just need to email us the name of the person who will be attending instead.

Questions or feedback? Please contact office@books-on-the-hill.co.uk

Come write with us. Start the day the right way.

Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together over breakfast to have a chat about books. Discussions will be around books you love or books you are currently reading and how you are finding them. So if you love to talk about books, but don't have the time to read a set text, join us at 10 am in store for a fun-filled morning.

Book here for your individual book club ticket or click here to purchase a one-year ticket.

This event is charged and is suitable for 18+ years.

During the event, the team may ask if we can take pictures of the event to promote future events held in store. By purchasing a ticket you are consenting to the team using these pictures for our social media channels but you are able to withdraw your consent at any time during the event.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is being hosted at St Albans Cathedral. Books on the Hill will be in attendance to support the event. Copies of Janina Ramirez’s book ‘Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe’ will be for sale on the night.

Tickets for the event can be purchased via the Cathedral’s website: https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/event/legenda-the-real-women-behind-the-myths-that-shaped-europe-with-dr-janina-ramirez

Join bestselling historian Dr Janina Ramirez as she peels back the myths that shaped Europe. In Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths That Shaped Europe, she reveals how iconic figures such as Joan of Arc, Lady Godiva and Isabella of Castile were misrepresented and weaponised in the service of national identity—while trailblazing women of the 18th and 19th centuries were quietly written out of history altogether.

Dr Ramirez is a presenter, lecturer and researcher, specialising in interpreting symbols and examining art works within their historical context. She is the bestselling author of Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It.

Classics can be intimidating. They have a reputation of being too highbrow and incomprehensible for us mere mortals. We at Books on the Hill, however, think that is just not true. Classics speak of a universal theme we all have first hand experience of: love, loss, friendship, hope. They are for all of us. To tackle this, come along to our Book Club focusing on "The Classics" from recent and not so recent history.

For April, we have chosen Catch-22 by Joseph Heller as our Classics Book Club book.

To book your place please click here, or to purchase a year long subscription to our Classics Book Club, please click here.

This Book Club will be held on the last Thursday of the month, and is suitable for ages 18+. Tea and coffee will be provided.

About the book -

Joseph Heller's hilarious and tragic satire on military madness, and the tale of one man's efforts to survive it.

It's the closing months of World War II and Yossarian has never been closer to death. Stationed in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, each flight mission introduces him to thousands of people determined to kill him.

But the enemy above is not Yossarian's problem - it is his own army intent on keeping him airborne, and the maddening 'Catch-22' that allows for no possibility of escape.

This Advanced Bibliotherapy course will take a deeper dive into how to curate books to best address some of life’s challenges. Each week we will look at texts that can directly resonate and help address a weekly theme such as loss, anxiety and change/transformation.

By the end of the course, participants will gain:

1. A deep dive into using literature as a form of remedy and healing within our daily lives, when dealing with

anxiety/overwhelm; loss/grief and change/transformation.

2. The confidence to apply Bibliotherapy both towards themselves and others

3. Hands-on experience at collaborating in a small group, including development of empathetic listening skills

To book your tickets, please click here.

CLASS ONE - Friday 24 April

Loss/grief and Bibliotherapy

Loss is an inevitable part of life so why do we find it so painful and difficult? We will look at different texts with different representations of loss including grief, menopause and empty nesters.

Please bring along a poem that has helped address or alleviate some form of loss – our focus this week will be on the poetry genre so those examples are particularly welcome!

CLASS TWO - Friday 8 May

Options:

Travel from St. Albans – meet on the platform to catch the fast train 1.27pm to London Blackfriars –

OR

Meet directly in London, by the Laurence Olivier statue outside the National Theatre – Upper Ground, South Bank, London, SE1 9PX at 2.15pm

Please note that because of the travel time included, class will run over but will finish by 1pm.

Visit to Southbank, including

• A guided visit to the Poetry Library, in the Royal Festival Hall

• A guided visit to the National Theatre and its bookshop, with a focus on the power of drama in Bibliotherapy

• A visit to the Book Market, in Southbank

CLASS THREE – Friday 29 May

Anxiety and Bibliotherapy

What is anxiety/overwhelm and which texts and readings can best help address this?

We will explore the difference between anxiety and depression and its representation in literature, assessing useful texts and reading strategies to help combat anxiety and overwhelm

Please bring along an extract or example of a book that has helped address or alleviate some form of anxiety/overwhelm – our focus this week will be on the non-fiction genre so those examples are particularly welcome!

CLASS FOUR – Friday 5 June

Activity: Excursion to Hampstead, with its rich literary tradition and bookstores, including a visit to John Keats’s house

Options: Travel from St Albans or meet directly in London, Hampstead at 2.15pm (TBC)

Guided visit to this historically rich literary area, including visits to Daunt Books, Burgh House and John Keats’s house

• Optional tea and cake in a café (not included in the course fee).

CLASS FIVE – Friday 26 June

Change and transformation – Bibliotherapy

What does literature have to say about change and transformation? Through exploring specific texts we will view different perspectives of change, transformation and altering our perspectives

What is included in the £145 fee?

Venue for classes in central St Albans at Books on the Hill, 1 Holywell Hill, St Albans, AL1 1ER

Instructor as guide to two excursions to London: Southbank and Hampstead

Reading materials, articles and online contact with the instructor throughout the course

10% discount at “Books on the Hill” in St Albans to spend on a book of your choice

NOT included

Travel to, from and around London on excursions

Tea and cake in cafés in London

Please email bibliotherapyforme@outlook.com for further information or to register for the course and to embark on a journey for your wellbeing.

Places are limited – first come, first served!

To book your tickets, please click here.

www.bibliotherapy.co.uk

“Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious… through pity and fear effecting the proper catharsis of these emotions.” — Aristotle, Poetics, c. 335 BCE

This course is now SOLD OUT! To register interest for possible additional courses, please email Nicole at bibliotherapyforme@outlook.com.

In this 5-session course, we will engage with the rich and dynamic genre of plays as a way to examine complex themes and encounter new perspectives.

In Ancient Greece, theatre was closely connected to ideas of wellbeing; dramatic performances were believed to support emotional, psychological, social, and even spiritual health. Tragedy, in particular, was thought to allow audiences to experience catharsis—the safe expression and release of powerful emotions—helping to restore emotional balance. Theatre was culturally linked to healing practices and was understood as part of a wider approach to health and self-understanding.

Across the course, we will not only learn about the plays and their themes but also use set texts as prompts to process emotions, reflect on behaviour, and gain insight into our own challenges and experiences. Through guided discussion, therapeutic writing, and group work, participants will be encouraged to engage with drama as a living, reflective practice.

The course is suitable for anyone interested in reading or writing plays, as well as for those looking to find deeper meaning and connection through shared engagement with literature. The classes are underpinned by a collaborative, caring ethos creating a supportive space for reflection and discussion, therapeutic writing and creative response. Though the plays may deal with challenging material, we will aim to find glimmers of hope and insight that can help deepen understanding and offer direction.

Course outline:

All classes will run in the Reading Rooms at Books on the Hill, from 10.15-12 on selected Fridays from April – June. To gain most from each session, participants will be expected to have read the text before class.

Session 1 – Friday 24 April

Exploring identity, freedom and choices

Set text: Henrik Ibsen – A Doll’s House

Session 2 – Friday 8 May

Exploring unrealistic expectations and not being ‘good enough’

Set text: Arthur Miller – Death of a Salesman

Session 3 – Friday 22 May

Exploring a frightening future and intergenerational responsibility

Set text: Lucy Kirkwood – The Children

Session 4 – Friday 5 June

Exploring forgiveness and redemption

Set text: James Graham – Punch

Session 5 – Friday 26 June

Exploring loneliness, connection and the power of storytelling

Set text: Conor McPherson – The Weir

There will be an optional group visit at the end of the course to see a play together.

To purchase a ticket for the 5-session course, please click here.

We are delighted to announce that for April’s Text Book Club, we will be discussing Shusaku Endo’s stunning work of historical fiction, Silence.

The book club will be held upstairs in our Reading Room, and is suitable for ages 18+. Tea and coffee will be provided.

To book your place, please click here, or to purchase a year-long subscription to our Text Book Club, please click here.

About the book -

Jesuit priest Sebastian Rodrigues sets sail for Japan in 1640, full of idealistic fire. But the cold land he arrives in has no place for missionaries: the Tokugawa shogunate has banned Christianity, and believers face torture and execution. Living in hiding, leading worship in secret, Rodrigues begins to question the true meaning of compassion - and the limits of his own belief.

This stunning work of historical fiction - introduced by Martin Scorsese, who adapted it into a film - is one of literature's deepest explorations of doubt, fellowship, and enduring faith.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe. Translated by William Johnston.

Shusaku Endo (1923-1996) was one of the greatest novelists of postwar Japan. Baptised as a Roman Catholic as a child, his work explores the relationship between East and West from his unique perspective as a Japanese Christian. Endo won the Akutagawa Prize and the Yomiuri Literary Prize, was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times, and received an Order of Culture from the Japanese government.

Join us in 2026 for a new reading group where we dive into genres, looking at the authors, books and themes that define them. We’ll cover everything from crime, fantasy and thrillers to classics, romance and more.

Whether you’re trying to read more, are a massive fan of the genre, or normally give it a miss, we’ll have plenty of book recommendations to choose from so that you’re bound to find something you like.

Books can transport us, change our perspectives and teach us more about the world, and about ourselves. And reading for pleasure can help you slow down, improve your attention span and benefit your mental health.

At each of the 10 monthly sessions, Ollie will give a quick background overview on the genre, followed by discussion of what you liked or didn't about your chosen book(s) and how they fit within the genre, leaving with even more recommendations to add to your To Be Read pile. And if you just read one book from each session, you’ll have read at least 10 over the year and be well on your way to a great habit.

So come along to our no-pressure sessions and help strengthen your reading muscle.

April - Get Into… Classics

Defining a ‘classic’ is notoriously difficult and deciding on an end date is even more complicated - can a book that’s ten years old be a classic? Twenty? Fifty? As a general rule of thumb, a classic is a book that has stood the test of time and is still being read decades after it was first written. But calling something a classic can be a mixed blessing - books like War and Peace, Don Quixote and Ulysses have fierce reputations that often make ‘classics’ synonymous with ‘hard to read’. That’s unfair as much of the writing still feels fresh and relevant today, so for this month, we’ve picked ten books that are great reads - none of which are 1000 pages long (though there is nothing wrong with that).

• Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen

• The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

• The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

• Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim

• Three Men In a Boat, Jerome K Jerome

• A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf (non-fiction)

• I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith (YA)

• The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan

• The Pursuit Of Love, Nancy Mitford

• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark

Register now and you can get 15% off the books in the reading list. Once you have booked a place, you will be sent a password to access the catalogue of books at a discounted price.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Get Into… Reading (2026)

The full list of sessions is below - we’ll put up the reading lists against the events each month.

• Jan - Cinema/ Seen on Screen

• Feb - Crime

• Mar - Sci Fi 

• Apr - Classics

• May - Fantasy

• Jun - Cosy

• Jul - Dystopian

• Sep - Thriller

• Oct - Horror

• Nov - Romance

To book your place, please click here.

Once you have booked a place, you will be sent a password to access the catalogue of books at a discounted price.

To purchase these books once you have received the password, please click here.

We are delighted to announce that lecturer Michael King will be exploring Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s seminal, sardonic and slyly humourous work The Yellow Wall-Paper.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your place, please click here.

About the book:

The writings of landmark American feminist and socialist thinker Charlotte Perkins Gilman were penned in response to her frustrations with the gender-based double standard that prevailed in America as the twentieth century began.

Perhaps best known for her chilling depiction of a woman's mental breakdown in her unforgettable 1892 short story 'The Yellow Wall-Paper', Gilman also wrote ‘Herland’, a wry novel that imagines a peaceful, progressive country from which men have been absent for 2,000 years.

‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’ is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature for its illustration of the attitudes towards the mental and physical health of women in the 19th century. It is also lauded as an excellent work of horror fiction.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is being hosted at St Albans Cathedral. Books on the Hill will be in attendance to support the event. Copies of Tracy Borman’s book ‘The House of Boleyn’ will be for sale on the night.

Tickets for the event can be purchased via the Cathedral’s website: https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/Event/the-house-of-boleyn-with-tracy-borman

Uncover the secrets of the Boleyn family with Tracy Borman, Chief Historian at the Historic Royal Palaces.

In her new novel The House of Boleyn, best-selling author, historian and broadcaster Tracy Borman immerses us in the world of the Boleyn’s beautiful Kent home, Hever Castle. It was here that they plotted and schemed, grieved and rejoiced – and where Henry VIII relentlessly pursued Anne Boleyn.

In this richly illustrated talk, Tracy uncovers the real history that inspired her novel and takes the audience behind closed doors to explore the Boleyn’s as they’ve never been seen before.

About Tracy Borman - Tracy Borman is Chief Historian at the Historic Royal Palaces. A regular broadcaster and public speaker, Tracy regularly appears on Channel 5 documentaries including Princes in the Tower, and Elizabeth I and Anne Boleyn: The Prisoner Queens. Her 2025 non-fiction book, The Stolen Crown, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller and saw her undertake a national tour across the country, appearing at bookshops, historic venues and literary festivals. As a historian and novelist, Tracy writes fiction and non-fiction. Her upcoming novel, The House of Boleyn combines real history with richly imagined drama.

PLEASE NOTE: This month’s Breakfast Book Club is one week later than normal due to Easter Sunday falling on Sunday 5th April.

Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together over breakfast to have a chat about books. Discussions will be around books you love or books you are currently reading and how you are finding them. So if you love to talk about books, but don't have the time to read a set text, join us at 10 am in store for a fun-filled morning.

Book here for your individual book club ticket or click here to purchase a one-year ticket.

This event is charged and is suitable for 18+ years.

During the event, the team may ask if we can take pictures of the event to promote future events held in store. By purchasing a ticket you are consenting to the team using these pictures for our social media channels but you are able to withdraw your consent at any time during the event.

We are delighted to announce that our next poetry afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore the poetry of R. S. Thomas.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your place, please click here.

About the book:

RS Thomas was the greatest religious poet writing in English in the 20th century, but the 270 poems he chose for this definitive selection reveal a wide range of themes and concerns.

He was a passionate Welsh patriot, but also an outspoken critic of his countrymen. His poems are an expression of his lifelong argument with himself, of his insistent search for God.

In them he grapples with ideas of Welshness, with issues of technology, pollution, the decline of culture. He wrote too about love, about landscape, nature and birds. His is an urgent, prophetic and unique voice.

Join fellow local writers as the day begins and the light slowly changes. On the first Wednesday of every month, we open the shop at 6am and invite you to write alongside others while the sun comes up.

Arrive at opening time or drift in when you’re ready. Stay until the words run out or the morning carries you elsewhere. A great coffee or a comforting pot of tea is included to ease you gently into the page.

This is a silent writing session. No workshopping, no sharing, no pressure. Just the quiet motivation of being surrounded by people who, like you, have chosen to write while the world is still half-asleep. We can promise a magical atmosphere. Please be aware that our WIFI can be problematic being an old building.

Tickets: £10

Includes your first coffee or pot of tea.

To purchase a ticket to the event, please click here.

Why 6am? Because many writers rise early to write, and we wondered who else might be doing the same. This is a space for focus, intention, and beginning the day with words.

Tickets are non-refundable due to administration, but are transferable. If you wish to transfer your ticket, you’ll just need to email us the name of the person who will be attending instead.

Questions or feedback? Please contact office@books-on-the-hill.co.uk

Come write with us. Start the day the right way.

Classics can be intimidating. They have a reputation of being too highbrow and incomprehensible for us mere mortals. We at Books on the Hill, however, think that is just not true. Classics speak of a universal theme we all have first hand experience of: love, loss, friendship, hope. They are for all of us. To tackle this, come along to our Book Club focusing on "The Classics" from recent and not so recent history.

For March, we have chosen One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez as our Classics Book Club book.

To book your place please click here, or to purchase a year long subscription to our Classics Book Club, please click here.

This Book Club will be held on the last Thursday of the month, and is suitable for ages 18+. Tea and coffee will be provided, as well as glasses should you chose to bring your own tipple.

About the book -

'Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice'

Gabriel García Márquez's great masterpiece is the story of seven generations of the Buendía family and of Macondo, the town they built. Though little more than a settlement surrounded by mountains, Macondo has its wars and disasters, even its wonders and its miracles. A microcosm of Colombian life, its secrets lie hidden, encoded in a book, and only Aureliano Buendía can fathom its mysteries and reveal its shrouded destiny.

Blending political reality with magic realism, fantasy and comic invention, One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the most daringly original works of the twentieth century.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is being hosted at St Albans Cathedral. Books on the Hill will be in attendance to support the event. Copies of Dr Joanne Paul’s book ‘Thomas More: A Life and Death in Tudor England’ will be for sale on the night.

Tickets for the event can be purchased via the Cathedral’s website: https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/Event/thomas-more-man-myth-mystery

Saintly scholar, zealous persecutor, ambitious statesman - who was the ‘real’ Thomas More? Neither the hero of A Man For All Seasons nor the villain of Wolf Hall, this talk recovers the living, breathing, complex historical individual who walked London’s streets, wrote Utopia, and daringly spoke truth to Henry VIII. Drawing on new archival research from her biography of More, Dr Joanne Paul will separate the man from the myth to discover the real Thomas More. Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of the sixteenth century to separate fact from fiction and uncover the enduring legacy of one of history's most enigmatic and divisive figures.  

Dr. Joanne Paul is an award-winning historian, broadcaster and writer with a passion for sharing her research on Renaissance and Tudor history. She is Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Sussex and a 2017 AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker.  Her biography of Thomas More (Penguin, 2025) is the result of more than a decade’s research into the man and his work. 

We are delighted to announce our next afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore James Joyce’s enthralling collection of modernist short stories, which created a vivid picture of the day-to-day experience of Dublin life

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your place, please click here.

About the book:

Joyce's first major work, written when he was only twenty-five, brought his city to the world for the first time. His stories are rooted in the rich detail of Dublin life, portraying ordinary, often defeated lives with unflinching realism.

From 'The Sisters', a vivid portrait of childhood faith and guilt, to 'Araby', a timeless evocation of the inexplicable yearnings of adolescence, to 'The Dead', in which Gabriel Conroy is gradually brought to a painful epiphany regarding the nature of his existence, Joyce draws a realistic and memorable cast of Dubliners together in an powerful exploration of overarching themes.

Writing of social decline, sexual desire and exploitation, corruption and personal failure, he creates a brilliantly compelling, unique vision of the world and of human experience.

James Joyce (1882-1941), the eldest of ten children, was born in Dublin, but exiled himself to Paris at twenty as a rebellion against his upbringing. He only returned to Ireland briefly from the continent but Dublin was at heart of his greatest works, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. He lived in poverty until the last ten years of his life and was plagued by near blindness and the grief of his daughter's mental illness.

The book club will be held upstairs in our reading rooms and are suitable for ages 18+ years. Tea and coffee will be provided.

To book your place, please click here, or to purchase a year-long subscription to our Text Book Club, please click here.

About the book -

From twice Booker-shortlisted author Deborah Levy, a moving and revelatory collection exploring the muses that have shaped her life and work as a writer.

In The Position of Spoons, Deborah Levy traces and measures her life against the backdrop of the literary and artistic muses that have shaped her – including a letter to her dying mother and to an absent friend.

This volume illuminates and celebrates a rich and varied intellectual inheritance – and reflects on how it has enriched the author’s own work.

Taking in questions of mortality, language, gender, place, consumerism and everyday living, the acclaimed novelist invites her reader behind the curtain of a creative life, ‘in which the position of the spoon is always changing’.

Join us in 2026 for a new reading group where we dive into genres, looking at the authors, books and themes that define them. We’ll cover everything from crime, fantasy and thrillers to classics, romance and more.

Whether you’re trying to read more, are a massive fan of the genre, or normally give it a miss, we’ll have plenty of book recommendations to choose from so that you’re bound to find something you like.

Books can transport us, change our perspectives and teach us more about the world, and about ourselves. And reading for pleasure can help you slow down, improve your attention span and benefit your mental health.

At each of the 10 monthly sessions, Ollie will give a quick background overview on the genre, followed by discussion of what you liked or didn't about your chosen book(s) and how they fit within the genre, leaving with even more recommendations to add to your To Be Read pile. And if you just read one book from each session, you’ll have read at least 10 over the year and be well on your way to a great habit.

So come along to our no-pressure sessions and help strengthen your reading muscle.

March - Get Into… SciFi

March takes us into a genre that speculates about the future of humanity and what it means to be human - science fiction. Since its birth with Frankenstein, this genre has asked serious questions that it's tried to answer through fantastic settings, from far-flung galaxies and dystopian worlds to alien attacks and medical marvels. This month’s reading list includes authors who really care about science and others who care more about fiction, providing a range of hilarious, thought-provoking or heart-rending journeys along the way.

Reading list:

• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (contemporary, literary)

• Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu (translated)

• The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin (modern classic)

• Exhalation by Ted Chiang (multi-award winning short stories)

• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (series/LGBTQ)

• The Importance Of Being Interested by Robin Ince (non fiction)

•  The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (classic)

• Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes (modern classic, genre breaking)

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams (comedy/audiobook)

• Divergent by Veronica Roth (young adult)

Register now and you can get 15% off the books in the reading list. Once you have booked a place, you will be sent a password to access the catalogue of books at a discounted price.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Get Into… Reading (2026)

The full list of sessions is below - we’ll put up the reading lists against the events each month.

• Jan - Cinema/ Seen on Screen

• Feb - Crime

• Mar - Sci Fi 

• Apr - Classics

• May - Fantasy

• Jun - Cosy

• Jul - Dystopian

• Sep - Thriller

• Oct - Horror

• Nov - Romance

To book your place, please click here.

Once you have booked a place, you will be sent a password to access the catalogue of books at a discounted price.

To purchase these books once you have received the password, please click here.