June Text Book Club: Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
For June, our booksellers were set the task of choosing a book with the theme of humour. After considering a wide range of fantastic titles, we have decided on the newly published and debut English translation Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann.
To book your place, please click here.
The book club will be held upstairs in our reading rooms and are suitable for ages 18+ years.
About the book-
On a hillside near the quaint Irish village of Glennkill, the flock gathers around the dead body of their shepherd, George, who lies pinned to the ground with a spade. George cared deeply for the sheep, reading to them daily, and as a result they are far smarter than your average flock. Led by Miss Maple, the sharpest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world), they set out to find George's killer.
With an assortment of woolly investigators on the case, there are furtive missions into the village and a collection of two-legged suspects to chew over. Dazzingly original, Three Bags Full introduces a band of detectives who are a breed apart.
June Afternoon Lecture with Michael King: The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grosssmith
We are delighted to announce our next text lecture with Michael King will explore The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee with be provided.
About the book -
Channelling a razor-sharp satire through the everyday mishaps of the immortal comic character Mr Pooter, George and Weedon Grossmith's The Diary of a Nobody is edited with an introduction and notes by Ed Glinert in Penguin Classics. Mr Pooter is a man of modest ambitions, content with his ordinary life. Yet he always seems to be troubled by disagreeable tradesmen, impertinent young office clerks and wayward friends, not to mention his devil-may-care son Lupin with his unsuitable choice of bride.
In the bumbling, absurd, yet ultimately endearing character of Pooter, the Grossmith brothers created a wonderful portrait of the class system and the inherent snobbishness of the suburban middle-class suburbia - one which sends up the late Victorian crazes for Aestheticism, spiritualism and bicycling, as well as the fashion for publishing diaries by anybody and everybody. This edition contains the original illustrations by Weedon Grossmith and an introduction by Ed Glinert, author of The London Compendium, discussing the novel's serialisation in Punch, the growth of the suburbs and the figure of Mrs Pooter. George Grossmith (1847-1912) initially worked as a journalist, reporting Police Court proceedings for The Times.
In 1870 he began his career as a singer and entertainer, creating some of the most memorable characters in Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas. Weedon Grossmith (1854-1919) brother of George, was educated at the Slade and the Royal Academy with a view to following a career as a painter, and exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery and the Royal Academy. Joining a theatre company in 1885, he toured the provinces and America.
Author Talk: Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal by Robin Ince SOLD OUT
SOLD OUT
We are delighted to be hosting award winning broadcaster, comedian and author Robin Ince in-store for a discussion about his latest book, Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity.
Robin Ince is a comedian, actor and writer. With Professor Brian Cox, he created and presents the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show The Infinite Monkey Cage, which ranks among the most popular science podcasts worldwide.
What if being a bit weird is actually entirely normal? What if sharing our internal struggles wasn’t a sign of weakness, but strength?
For over thirty years, award-winning broadcaster and comedian Robin Ince has entertained thousands in person and on air. But underneath the surface, a whirlwind was at play — a struggle with sadness, concentration, self-doubt and near-constant anxiety. After his ADHD diagnosis at the age of fifty-two, it all started to make sense.
In Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal, Robin uses his own experiences to explore the fascinating world of neurodivergence and to ask what normal really is – and whether it even exists. Packed with personal insights, intimate anecdotes and interviews with therapists, neuroscientists and celebrities, this is a quirky and witty dive into the world of neuroscience and human behaviour.
A powerful, personal exploration of anxiety, ADHD and self-acceptance, Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal reminds us all - no matter how weird we feel - that it’s okay to be a little different.
Following the dicussion, there will be time for an audience Q+A, as well as a book signing with Robin.
Please note this event is 18+.
Tea and coffee will be provided. Feel free to bring your own tipple.
June Afterhours Book Club
Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together 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 7pm in store for a fun-filled evening.
Tea & coffee will be available for free on the night or if you prefer please feel free to bring your own alcoholic drinks with you (glasses will be provided).
To reserve your space please click here or to purchase a year long subscription to our afterhours book club, please click here.
Please note this event is 18+.
June Classics Book Club: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
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 June, along the theme of Humour, we have chosen A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kenney Toole 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 -
A monument to sloth, rant and contempt, a behemoth of fat, flatulence and furious suspicion of anything modern - this is Ignatius J. Reilly of New Orleans, noble crusader against a world of dunces.
The ordinary folk of New Orleans seem to think he is unhinged. Ignatius ignores them, heaving his vast bulk through the city's fleshpots in a noble crusade against vice, modernity and ignorance. But his momma has a nasty surprise in store for him: Ignatius must get a job.
Undaunted, he uses his new-found employment to further his mission - and now he has a pirate costume and a hot-dog cart to do it with...
Diarmaid MacCulloch on Christianity and Sex
Join us at the Cathedral with Diarmaid MacCulloch as he explores how three thousand years of constant change have shaped our attitudes towards sexuality and families.
Religion and sex are inextricably tangled in politics across our contemporary world, often in toxic ways, and the long history of that tangle in the Christian world has frequently been fatally simplified and misunderstood. Diarmaid MacCulloch, drawing on his recent book Lower than the Angels, seeks to set up ways of understanding the past that may help us calm present-day fears. He shows how three thousand years of constant change in Judaism, Christianity and Islam have shaped the ways in which we look at sexuality and families in our own age: part of the extraordinarily varied saga of Christian attitudes to sex over the centuries.
Diarmaid MacCulloch is Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, and Fellow of St Cross College and of Campion Hall, Oxford University. His History of Christianity: the first three thousand years won the 2010 Cundill Prize for History and was accompanied by a BBC TV series; he was knighted in 2012. His latest book (2024) is Lower than the Angels: a History of Sex and Christianity.
Please note, this event is being held at the Cathedral, not in-store. Tickets can be purchased on the Cathedral website, or by clicking here.
July Poetry Afternoon with Lecturer Michael King: Selected Poems by D H Lawrence
We are delighted to announce our next poetry afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore Selected Poems by D H Lawrence.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.
About the book -
From early, rhyming works in Love Poems and Others (1913) to the ground-breaking exploration of free verse in Birds, Beasts and Flowers (1923) the poems of D. H. Lawrence challenged convention and inspired later poets. This volume includes extensive selections from these and other editions, and contains some his most famous poems, such as 'Piano', a nostalgic reflection on lost youth and love for his mother; 'Snake', exploring human fear of the natural world; the short, cutting comment on sexual politics of 'Can't Be Borne'; and the quiet philosophical resignation of 'Basta!'. Using the revised poems, but in the order in which they appeared in their original collections, this selection offers a fresh perspective that reveals an innovative poet who gave voice to his most intense emotions
Alys Fowler on Peatlands: A Journey Between Land and Water
Please note, this event is not held in-store at the bookshop, but rather in the The Apple House eco-barn at The Serge Hill Project.
To visit the Serge Hill Project website and to book your place onto the event, please click here.
About the event -
‘Why do I like bogs so much? I think it is because I feel very at home with them, I think this has something to do with my queerness and their queer nature as a space.’–Alys Fowler
The value of peat bogs as a natural resource and haven of biodiversity is undisputed, yet few of us have been lucky enough to experience their beauty and richness.
Sink deep into the dark, black earths of these rugged places and take a close look at the birds, animals, plants and insects that live within them, with award-winning journalist, author, gardener and presenter Alys Fowler as she launches her compelling new book Peatlands.
Blending memoir with environmental insight, she charts her experiences across places like the Border Mire and the Flow Country, uncovering the rich biodiversity and singular character of these wild spaces.
This is a book about connection—to land, to history, and to the delicate balance of nature. As peat continues to be harvested for horticultural use, Fowler urges us to reconsider what we’re sacrificing—and what it truly means to care for such rare, irreplaceable places.
Alys will reflect on the nature of peat, its cultural and environmental significance and the urgent need to change how we value and care for it.
Hosted in The Apple House eco-barn, in an old orchard, guests can explore Tom Stuart-Smith’s Plant Library of over 1500 herbaceous perennials and bulbs ahead of the talk and enjoy a drink (included in the ticket price) while they do so.
July Breakfast Book Club
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.
This event is charged and is suitable for 18+ years.
Book here for your individual book club ticket or click here to purchase a one-year ticket.
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.
Charles Dowding on Everything You Need To Know About Compost, No Dig and Growing Vegetables
Please note, this event is not held in-store at the bookshop, but rather in the The Apple House eco-barn at The Serge Hill Project.
To visit the Serge Hill Project website and to book your place onto the event, please click here.
About the event -
Join us for an inspirational evening in The Apple House with Charles Dowding, the leading proponent of no dig gardening, as he shares his advice from more than 40 years of vegetable growing and no dig experiments, to allow everyone to grow more food for less effort.
He will also introduce key insights from his new book Compost: Transform Waste Into New Life, exploring how to reduce waste, nourish your soil, and enhance your plants with homemade compost.
Since starting his vegetable-growing journey in 1981, Charles has gardened in four different locations and grown hundreds of thousands of crops. His decades of experience have led to the development of the highly effective no dig system, which focuses on supporting the web of organisms in the soil to promote healthy, weed-free crops.
In this session, Charles will offer practical tips and advice on all aspects of no dig vegetable growing, with a focus on compost including:
What to compost and how to do it
How to achieve the ideal balance of compost materials
A seasonal timeline for successful composting
Debunking common composting myths, such as:
How to add weeds to your compost
Why heat in your compost bin is not essential
Why worms are not vital to the composting process
Why no dig gardening doesn’t require more compost than traditional methods
Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this evening will provide invaluable insights to help you grow vegetables and transform your compost with ease and efficiency.
July Afternoon Lecture: Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf
We are delighted to announce our next text lecture with Michael King will explore Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee with be provided.
About the book -
Between the Acts is Virginia Woolf's last novel, and in her own opinion it was `more quintessential' than any of her others. Set in the summer of 1939 on the day of the annual village pageant at Pointz Hall, the book weaves together the musings of several disparate characters and their reactions to the imminence of a war which is to change the pattern of history. Before the book was published in the spring of 1941, Virginia Woolf had taken her own life.
July Text Book Club: The Gentleman from Peru by Andre Aciman
This month, we have chosen the theme of nostalgia. The Gentleman from Peru is a beautiful story of a lone traveller’s recollections on a life of love and regrets. A warm and touching summer read.
To book your place, please click here.
The book club will be held upstairs in our reading rooms and are suitable for ages 18+ years.
About the book -
We spend more time than we know trying to go back. We call it fantasising, we call it dreaming. . .
but we're all crawling back, each in his or her own way. A group of college friends find themselves marooned at a luxurious hotel on the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
While their boat is being repaired, they can't help but observe the daily routine of a fellow hotel guest - a mysterious, white-bearded stranger who sits on the veranda each night and smokes one cigarette, sometimes two. When the group decides to invite the elegant traveller to lunch with them, they cannot begin to imagine the miraculous abilities, strange wisdom, and a life-changing story he is about to impart to one of the friends in particular. . .
Deeply atmospheric and sensual, The Gentleman From Peru weaves achingly poignant insight into a story of regret, fate and epic love.
July Afterhours Book Club
Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together 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 7pm in store for a fun-filled evening.
Tea & coffee will be available for free on the night or if you prefer please feel free to bring your own alcoholic drinks with you (glasses will be provided).
To reserve your space please click here or to purchase a year long subscription to our afterhours book club, please click here.
July Classics Book Club: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
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 June, along the theme of Humour, we have chosen The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 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 -
A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House. In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past.
Bibliotherapy and the Art of Reading for Wellbeing with Nicole Moody
To register for the course and to embark on a journey for your wellbeing please click here and for further information please email bibliotherapyforme@outlook.com.
Would you like to discover the link between reading and wellbeing and how this can enhance your everyday life?
“Literature offers us a powerful language that can help us understand ourselves and others and gives us the words and perspectives that can help us talk about difficult experiences.” Dr Jane Davis, Founder of The Reader
“One sheds one’s sicknesses in books – repeats and presents again one’s emotions, to be master of them.” DH Lawrence, The Letters of DH Lawrence
Bibliotherapy dates back to ancient times when libraries were seen as sacred places where answers and healing could be found. My course explores reading as an active strategy to help cope with life’s challenges, looking at the wider and deeper ways in which fiction and non-fiction can 'find' people, emotionally and imaginatively, helping develop self- esteem, emotional granularity and interpersonal relationships. Participants will be introduced to the neurological benefits of reading “for pleasure” and to a wellbeing model to help us tailor our book choices in order to thrive.
Course Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, participants will gain:
1. An understanding of the key principles of bibliotherapy and how to apply them, including choosing books ‘on prescription’ and making use of a practical, interactive approach
2. A powerful tool to foster group cohesion
3. The experience of using literature as a form of remedy and healing within our daily lives
The course does not require any prior reading ability or experience and absolutely everyone is welcome!
Fortnightly course schedule – Autumn 2025 Classes run at Books on the Hill on the Fridays listed below, from 10.15am-12pm
CLASS ONE - Friday 12th September
What is Bibliotherapy?
· A potted history of Bibliotherapy and its origins
· Differences approaches to bibliotherapy and what they mean
· The neurological processes behind reading and how they help us flourish.
CLASS TWO - Friday 26th September
Options:
Travel from St. Albans or meet directly in the lobby of the British Library, 96 Euston Road, (times TBC)
The Library
· The role of libraries as memory keepers for societies and as a ‘house of healing’ for the soul · The role of librarianship, libraries as ‘safe spaces’/warm hubs and the libraries of the future Activity: Journey through The British Library, Euston Road, London with your instructor as guide The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s largest libraries. Its collections include more than 150 million items, in over 400 languages including books, magazines, manuscripts, maps, music scores, newspapers, patents, databases, philatelic items, prints and drawings and sound recordings. The activity includes access to the Library “Treasures section” as a springboard for using literature as remedy
CLASS THREE – Friday 10th October
Poetry therapy and the benefits of therapeutic writing
· Poetry Therapy and the qualities that make poems particularly helpful as a wellbeing tool
· The link between reading poetry and therapeutic writing.
· How to apply an interactive approach to poetry
CLASS FOUR – Friday 31st October
Excursion to Spitalfields and its Bookstores
Options: Travel from St Albans or meet directly in London, Liverpool Street, for a guided tour of the Spitalfields area and its independent bookstores
Guided visit to this historically rich and diverse area, including visits to Libreria and the Brick Lane Bookshop, to consider the changing face of the bookstore, its relationship with its local community and to our wellbeing.
Optional tea and cake in a café (not included in the course fee).
CLASS FIVE – Friday 21st November
Putting bibliotherapy into practice
· Adopting a practical approach to bibliotherapy as an art therapy for ourselves and others
· How to set boundaries, create a safe environment and help select appropriate reading choices
· Incorporating reading for wellbeing into our daily routine · Wrap up and farewell
What is included in the course fee of £145?
Qualified, experienced and evaluated Bibliotherapy instructor
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: The British Library and the bookstores of Piccadilly
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
Afternoon tea and cake at The Wolseley or other (optional)
Places are limited – first come, first served!
www.bibliotherapyforme.com
Advanced Bibliotherapy: Further Reading for Wellbeing with Nicole Moody
To book your place on the course, please click here.
Course Description
This course is intended for participants who have already completed the Introduction to Bibliotherapy course.
It 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.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will gain:
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.
The confidence to apply Bibliotherapy both towards themselves and others
Hands-on experience at collaborating in a small group, including development of empathetic listening skills
Course Schedule
Classes run at Books on the Hill on the Fridays listed below, from 10.15am-12pm, and in London on specified days.
CLASS ONE - Sunday 14th September
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 TWO - Sunday 28th September
Options:
Travel from St. Albans or meet directly meet on the platform to catch the 10.13am fast train 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 11am
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 – Sunday 12th October
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 FOUR – Sunday 9th November
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 – please note we will aim to start the visit in Hampstead around 11.30
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 – Sunday 23rd November
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 at the end of the course.
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!
Marian Boswall in conversation with Sue Stuart-Smith on The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening
We are delighted to return to the Serge Hill Project for what promises to be an inspiring evening with Marian Boswall and her latest book The Kindest Garden.
To visit the Serge Hill Project website and to book your place onto the event, please click here.
Please note, this event is not held in-store at the bookshop, but rather in the The Apple House eco-barn at The Serge Hill Project.
About the event:
Change the world from your back garden.
Leading landscape designer Marian Boswall has worked on some of the UK’s most ambitious and innovative regenerative landscape projects. Join Marian in conversation with the Serge Hill Project Director and bestselling author Sue Stuart-Smith in the Apple House for a trail-blazing conversation drawing on, and celebrating the publication of, Marian’s new book The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening, published this Spring.
A step-up from sustainable gardening, which focuses on minimising our impact on the earth, regenerative gardening is about making an active contribution to the health of the planet: nurturing and replenishing biodiversity and ourselves through our gardens. Whether you have a shady patio, a large plot of land or a windowsill–you can make an impact.
Drawing on lessons from forward-thinking farmers, foresters, re-wilders and nature itself, The Kindest Garden will show you how to make a garden that is both a beautiful sanctuary and a place where nature can thrive. Come to understand the key elements of a garden (soil, water, ecosystems, materials, energy and planting) on a deeper level and discover how to work with each one to co-create a garden that helps makes positive change. Apply in-depth practical knowledge to your projects and plan your planting to nourish the soil, yourself and others.
With practical takeaways, and drawing on a wealth of real-life projects, this evening will be perfect and full of inspiration for eco-conscious gardeners and designers who want to make a real difference.
Hosted in The Apple House eco-barn, in an old orchard, guests can explore Tom Stuart-Smith’s Plant Library of over 1500 herbaceous perennials and bulbs ahead of the talk and enjoy a drink while they do so.
June Poetry Afternoon with Lecturer Michael King: Paper Aeroplane Selected Poems 1989 - 2014 by Simon Armitage
We are delighted to announce our next poetry afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore Paper Aeroplane: Selected Poems 1989 - 2014 by Simon Armitage.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.
About the book -
When Simon Armitage burst on to the poetry scene in 1989 with his spectacular debut Zoom!, readers were introduced to an exceptional new talent who would reshape the landscape of contemporary poetry in the years to come. Now, Armitage's reputation as one of the nation's most original, most respected and most influential poets seems secure. Paper Aeroplane: Poems 1989-2014 is the author's own choice of work from across a quarter-century of publishing.
Drawing upon all of his award-winning poetry collections, including Kid, Book of Matches, The Universal Home Doctor, Seeing Stars and The Unaccompanied, as well as his medieval translations and verse dramas, Paper Aeroplane represents a generous and thrilling gathering of work from one of contemporary poetry's most essential voices.
June Breakfast Book Club
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.
This event is charged and is suitable for 18+ years.
Book here for your individual book club ticket or click here to purchase a one-year ticket.
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.
May Classics Book Club: Around the World in Eighty Days
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 May, along the theme of Travel, we have chosen Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne 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 -
Jules Verne's most famous adventure. One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand - whether train or elephant - overcoming set-backs and always racing against the clock.
May Afterhours Book Club
Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together 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 7pm in store for a fun-filled evening.
Tea & coffee will be available for free on the night or if you prefer please feel free to bring your own alcoholic drinks with you (glasses will be provided).
To reserve your space please click here or to purchase a year long subscription to our afterhours book club, please click here.
Please note this event is 18+.
The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark with Lecturer Michael King
We are delighted to announce our next lecture will explore the taut masterpiece The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee will be provided throughout the session.
About the book~
Described as 'a metaphysical shocker' at the time of its release, Muriel Sparks' The Driver's Seat is a taut psychological thriller, published with an introduction by John Lanchester in Penguin Modern Classics. Lise has been driven to distraction by working in the same accountants' office for sixteen years. So she leaves everything behind her, transforms herself into a laughing, garishly-dressed temptress and flies abroad on the holiday of a lifetime.
But her search for adventure, sex and new experiences takes on a far darker significance as she heads on a journey of self-destruction. Infinity and eternity attend Lise's last terrible day in an unnamed southern city, as she meets her fate. One of six novels to be nominated for a 'Lost Man Booker Prize', The Driver's Seat was adapted into a 1974 film, Identikit, starring Elizabeth Taylor.
Muriel Spark (1918 - 2006) wrote poetry, stories, and biographies as well as a remarkable series of novels, including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), The Mandelbaum Gate (1965) which received the James Tait Black Prize, and The Public Image (1968) and Loitering with Intent (1981), both of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Spark was awarded the T.S. Eliot Award for poetry in 1992, and the David Cohen Prize for literature in 1997.
May Text Book Club: Wild Atlantic Women by Grainne Lyons
For May, our booksellers were set the task of choosing a book with the theme of travel. After considering a wide range of fantastic titles, we have decided on the newly published Wild Atlantic Women by Grainne Lyons.
To book your place, please click here.
The book club will be held upstairs in our reading rooms and are suitable for ages 18+ years.
About the book-
At a crossroads in her life, Gráinne Lyons set out to travel Ireland’s west coast on foot. She set a simple intention: to walk in the footsteps of eleven pioneering Irish women deeply rooted in this coastal landscape and explore their lives and work along the way. As a Londoner born to Irish parents, she also sought answers in her own identity.
As Gráinne heads north from Cape Clear Island where her great-grandmother was a lacemaker, she considers Ellen Hutchins, Maude Delap, Edna O’Brien, Granuaile and Queen Maeve among others from her unique perspective. Their homes – in places that are famously wild and remote – are transformed into sites of hope, purpose, opportunity and inspiration. Walking through this history, her journey reveals unexpected insight into emigrant identity, travelling alone, femininity and the trappings of an ‘ideal’ life.
Against the backdrop and power of this great ocean, Wild Atlantic Women will inspire the twenty-first-century reader and walker to keep going, regardless of the path.
Advanced Bibliotherapy: Further Reading for Wellbeing with Nicole Moody
To book your place on the course, please click here. please be aware that when booking online there is a significant charge by Eventbrite. We recommend buying this course in store, thank you.
Course Description
This course is intended for participants who have already completed the Introduction to Bibliotherapy course.
It 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.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will gain:
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.
The confidence to apply Bibliotherapy both towards themselves and others
Hands-on experience at collaborating in a small group, including development of empathetic listening skills
Course Schedule
Classes run at Books on the Hill on the Fridays listed below, from 10.15am-12pm, and in London on specified days.
CLASS ONE - Friday 9 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
CLASS TWO - Friday 6 June
Options:
Travel from St. Albans or meet directly in London’s Southbank
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 20 June
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.
CLASS FOUR – Friday 4 July
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
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 18 July
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? - please be aware that when booking online there is a significant charge by Eventbrite. We recommend buying the course in store.
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 at the end of the course.
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 place on the course, please click here.
May Poetry Afternoon with Lecturer Michael King: John Keats
We are delighted to announce our next Poetry Lecture Workshop will explore Andrew Motion's selection of John Keats poems.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee will be provided throughout the session.
About the book~
John Keats (1795-1821) abandoned a career in medicine to write poetry, until his life was cut tragically short from tuberculosis at the age of twenty-five. By that time, he had published three volumes of verse to an unreceptive critical response. But as the nineteenth century wore on Keats's reputation would build, and today he is recognised as one of the greatest of the Romantic poets.
May Breakfast Book Club
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.
This event is charged and is suitable for 18+ years.
Book here for your individual book club ticket or click here to purchase a one-year ticket.
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.
April Afterhours Book Club
Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together 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 7pm in store for a fun-filled evening.
Tea & coffee will be available for free on the night or if you prefer please feel free to bring your own alcoholic drinks with you (glasses will be provided).
To reserve your space please click here or to purchase a year long subscription to our afterhours book club, please click here.
Please note this event is 18+.
April Open Mic Night
With regret, this event has been cancelled.
Are you a writer, poet or general creative, whether professional or hopeful? Then why not join us instore for our Open Mic Night, where you can share your work in a safe and comfortable environment. There's nothing like showcasing what you've produced infront of a live audience.
You can also join us as an attendee, with no obligation to share, if you're searching for inspiration or if you simply have a love of the spoken word.
The night will consist of writers sharing their work with the room, which can be anything from short stories (both fiction and non-fiction), poetry, screenplays or other writings, we just ask that the work is respectful. Speakers are given 5-10 minute slots to read their work- this can include multiple pieces. The exact amount of time given will depend on the number of performers scheduled.
This event is suitable for ages 18+.
Tea, coffee will be available on the night. Feel free to bring your own tipple.
To book your place, please click here.
April Classics Book Club: The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
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, along the theme of Nature, we have chosen The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 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 -
When Bill Masen wakes up blindfolded in hospital there is a bitter irony in his situation. Carefully removing his bandages, he realizes that he is the only person who can see: everyone else, doctors and patients alike, have been blinded by a meteor shower.
Now, with civilization in chaos, the triffids - huge, venomous, large-rooted plants able to 'walk', feeding on human flesh - can have their day...
Ice by Anna Kavan with Lecturer Michael King
We are delighted to announce our next lecture will explore the the strange and compelling climate novel Ice by Anna Kavan.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee will be provided throughout the session.
About the book~
Ice will soon cover the entire globe. As the glacial tide creeps forward, society breaks down. Hurtling through the frozen chaos is a nameless narrator, seeking the white-haired girl he once loved, desperate to rescue her - or perhaps to annihilate her.
Through nightmarish, ever-shifting scenes, she flees him and his powerful enemy, the Warden. But none of them can outrun the ice.
Anna Kavan's masterwork is an apocalyptic vision of environmental devastation and possessive violence, rendered in unforgettable, propulsive, hallucinatory prose.
Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.
With an introduction by Christopher Priest, author of The Prestige and The Inverted World.
Anna Kavan (1901-1968) was born Helen Woods, the only child of wealthy British expatriates, and grew up travelling through Europe and America. She began publishing under her married name, Helen Ferguson, having left her husband in Burma and returned with her son to live in England.
After a mental breakdown in the 1930s she began writing under a new name, taken from one of her characters, and with a new style. She continued writing for another three decades, while frequently using heroin and undergoing several rounds of psychiatric hospitalisation. She died shortly after the publication of Ice, her most celebrated work.
April Text Book Club: Aerth by Deborah Tomkins
For April, our booksellers were set the task of choosing a book with the theme of nature. After considering a wide range of fantastic titles, we have decided on the debut novel Aerth by Deborah Tomkins.
To book your place, please click here.
The book club will be held upstairs in our reading rooms and are suitable for ages 18+ years.
About the book-
Magnus lives on Aerth, which is currently moving into an Ice Age, with a strange virus limiting the population. When the planet Urth is discovered, he vows to become an astronaut and travel there, but on arriving he finds it hot, crowded, corrupt and violent, despite it being initially welcoming. Slowly Magnus realises he will not find what he's looking for, but there seems no way back.
Aerth is a story about migration, climate, conspiracy theories and interplanetary homelessness.
April Breakfast Book Club
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. This event is charged and is suitable for 18+ years.
Book here for your individual book club ticket or click here to purchase a one-year ticket.
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.
April Poetry Afternoon with Lecturer Michael King: William Wordsworth
We are delighted to announce our next Poetry Lecture Workshop will a collection of William Wordsworth poems, selected by Seamus Heaney.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee will be provided throughout the session.
About the book~
In this series, a contemporary poet selects and introduces a poet of the past. By their choice of poems and by the personal and critical reactions they express in their prefaces, the editors offer insights into their own work as well as providing an accessible and passionate introduction to the most important poets in our literature. Earth has not anything to show more fair:Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty .
. . -- Composed Upon Westminster Bridge,September 3, 1802
What Makes a Garden by Jinny Blom
We are thrilled to be working in partnership with The Serge Hill Project. Please note, this event is being held at The Serge Hill Project and not at the bookshop.
For more information and to book your place, please visit The Serge Hill website by clicking here.
About the event:
Jinny’s work pulls you into a romantic wonderland of natural beauty’–Fergus Garett
Using the title of her successful recent book as a springboard, in this talk eminent landscape designer and writer Jinny Blom, draws on over 20 years of experience to reveal her highly individual approach to garden design; reflecting on the references, ideas and experiences that have shaped her design practice’s distinct philosophy and multidisciplinary approach. Her work, which focusses on conservation and the best use of land, has been celebrated internationally.
Sharing projects, collaborations and insights from across her career, Jinny will the explore complex constellation of ideas, experiences, thoughts and senses that explore what makes a garden.
She will expose the idea of the garden across time and cultures, and the alchemy and processes of transformation that we invest in altering our landscapes.
Much like the ingredients to make a garden itself, the talk will combine the practical and the scientific with the natural, the human, the philosophical and the arts.
An informative and inspirational evening for the widest audience of gardeners, garden designers and garden lovers.
Hosted in The Apple House eco-barn, in an old orchard, guests can explore Tom Stuart-Smith’s Plant Library of over 1500 herbaceous perennials and bulbs ahead of the talk and enjoy a drink while they do so.
March Open Mic Night
Please note, this event has been posted until April 25th. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. To attend our April Open Mic, please click here.
Are you a writer, poet or general creative, whether professional or hopeful? Then why not join us instore for our Open Mic Night, where you can share your work in a safe and comfortable environment. There's nothing like showcasing what you've produced infront of a live audience.
You can also join us as an attendee, with no obligation to share, if you're searching for inspiration or if you simply have a love of the spoken word.
The night will consist of writers sharing their work with the room, which can be anything from short stories (both fiction and non-fiction), poetry, screenplays or other writings, we just ask that the work is respectful. Speakers are given 5-10 minute slots to read their work- this can include multiple pieces. The exact amount of time given will depend on the number of performers scheduled.
This event is suitable for ages 18+.
Tea, coffee will be available on the night. Feel free to bring your own tipple.
March Classics Book Club: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
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, along the theme of political expression, we have chosen The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov 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 -
Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin's reign, The Master and Margarita became an overnight literary phenomenon when it was finally published it, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere. Bulgakov's carnivalesque satire of Soviet life describes how the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow one Spring afternoon. Brimming with magic and incident, it is full of imaginary, historical, terrifying and wonderful characters, from witches, poets and Biblical tyrants to the beautiful, courageous Margarita, who will do anything to save the imprisoned writer she loves.
Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky with an Introduction by Richard Pevear.
March Afterhours Book Club
Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together 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 7pm in store for a fun-filled evening.
Tea & coffee will be available for free on the night or if you prefer please feel free to bring your own alcoholic drinks with you (glasses will be provided).
To reserve your space please click here or to purchase a year long subscription to our afterhours book club, please click here.
Please note this event is 18+.
They by Kay Dick with lecturer Michael King
We are delighted to announce our next lecture will explore the lost dystopian masterpiece They by Kay Dick.
Tea and coffee will be provided throughout the session.
To book your place, please click here.
About the book~
This is Britain: but not as we know it. THEY begin with a dead dog, shadowy footsteps, confiscated books. Soon the National Gallery is purged; eerie towers survey the coast; mobs stalk the countryside destroying artworks - and those who resist.
THEY capture dissidents - writers, painters, musicians, even the unmarried and childless - in military sweeps, 'curing' these subversives of individual identity. Survivors gather together as cultural refugees, preserving their crafts, creating, loving and remembering. But THEY make it easier to forget ...
Lost for half a century, newly introduced by Carmen Maria Machado, Kay Dick's They (1977) is a rediscovered dystopian masterpiece of art under attack: a cry from the soul against censorship, a radical celebration of non-conformity - and a warning.
March Text Book Club: Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck
For March, our booksellers were set the task of choosing a book with the theme of political expression. After considering a wide range of fantastic titles, we have decided on Visitation, the latest translation from Jenny Erpenbeck.
To book your place, please click here.
The book club will be held upstairs in our reading rooms and are suitable for ages 18+ years.
About the book-
By the side of a lake in Brandenburg, a young architect builds the house of his dreams - a summerhouse with wrought-iron balconies, stained-glass windows the colour of jewels, and a bedroom with a hidden closet, all set within a beautiful garden. But the land on which he builds has a dark history of violence that began with the drowning of a young woman in the grip of madness and that grows darker still over the course of the century: the Jewish neighbours disappear one by one; the Red Army requisitions the house, burning the furniture and trampling the garden; a young East German attempts to swim his way to freedom in the West; a couple return from brutal exile in Siberia and leave the house to their granddaughter, who is forced to relinquish her claim upon it and sell to new owners intent upon demolition. Reaching far into the past, and recovering what was lost and what was buried, Jenny Erpenbeck tells a story both beautiful and brutal, about the things that haunt a home.
Bibliotherapy: Reading for Wellbeing with Nicole Moody
To book your space on the course, please click here.
Course Description
Would you like to discover the link between reading and wellbeing and how this can enhance your everyday life?
“Literature offers us a powerful language that can help us understand ourselves and others and gives us the words and perspectives that can help us talk about difficult experiences.” Dr Jane Davis, Founder of The Reader
“One sheds one’s sicknesses in books – repeats and presents again one’s emotions, to be master of them.” DH Lawrence, The Letters of DH Lawrence
Bibliotherapy dates back to ancient times when libraries were seen as sacred places where answers and healing could be found. My course explores reading as an active strategy to help cope with life’s challenges, looking at the wider and deeper ways in which fiction and non-fiction can 'find' people, emotionally and imaginatively, helping develop self-esteem, emotional granularity and interpersonal relationships. Participants will be introduced to the neurological benefits of reading “for pleasure” and to a wellbeing model to help us tailor our book choices in order to thrive.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will gain:
An understanding of the key principles of bibliotherapy and how to apply them, including choosing books ‘on prescription’ and making use of a practical, interactive approach
A powerful tool to foster group cohesion
The experience of using literature as a form of remedy and healing within our daily lives
The course does not require any prior reading ability or experience and absolutely everyone is welcome!
Course Schedule
Classes run at Books on the Hill from 11.15-12.45 on the Sundays listed below, or in London when specified
CLASS ONE - Sunday 9 March
What is Bibliotherapy?
· A potted history of Bibliotherapy and its origins
· Differences approaches to bibliotherapy and how they can be used
· The neurological processes behind reading and how they can help us thrive
CLASS TWO – Sunday 30 March
Options:
Travel from St. Albans or meet directly in the lobby of the British Library, 96 Euston Road, (times TBC)
The Library
· The role of libraries as memory keepers for societies and as a ‘house of healing’ for the soul
· The role of librarianship, libraries as ‘safe spaces’/warm hubs and the libraries of the future
Activity: Journey through The British Library, Euston Road, London with your instructor as guide
The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s largest libraries. Its collections include more than 150 million items, in over 400 languages including books, magazines, manuscripts, maps, music scores, newspapers, patents, databases, philatelic items, prints and drawings and sound recordings. The activity includes access to the Library “Treasures section” as a springboard for using literature as remedy
CLASS THREE – Sunday 27 April
Poetry therapy and the benefits of therapeutic writing
· Poetry Therapy and the qualities that make poems particularly helpful as a wellbeing tool
· The link between reading poetry and therapeutic writing.
· How to apply an interactive approach to poetry
CLASS FOUR – Sunday 18 May
Activity: Excursion to Spitalfields and its Bookstores
Options: Travel from St Albans or meet directly in London, Liverpool Street, for a guided tour of the Spitalfields area and its independent bookstores
Guided visit to this historically rich and diverse area, including visits to Libreria and the Brick Lane Bookshop, to consider the changing face of the bookstore, its relationship with its local community and to our wellbeing.
· Optional tea and cake in a café (not included in the course fee).
CLASS FIVE – Sunday 15 June
Putting bibliotherapy into practice
· Adopting a practical approach to bibliotherapy as an art therapy for ourselves and others
· How to set boundaries, create a safe environment and help select appropriate reading choices
· Incorporating reading for wellbeing into our daily routine
· Wrap up and farewell
What is included in the course fee of £145?
Qualified, experienced and evaluated Bibliotherapy instructor.
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: The British Library and the bookstores of Spitalfields.
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 at the end of the course.
NOT included
Travel to, from and around London on excursions
Tea and cake in a café in London on 18 May excursion (optional)
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 space on the course, please click here.
March Poetry Afternoon: Carol Ann Duffy
We are delighted to announce our next Poetry Lecture Workshop will explore the collection Politics by Carol Ann Duffy.
To book your place, please click here.
Tea and coffee will be provided throughout the session.
About the book~
In Politics, Carol Ann Duffy, one of the English language’s best-loved living poets presents from her own archives, in chronological order, her favourites among her poems on the theme of politics and protest, drawing on work written over four decades. Duffy also adds to the selection her poem written for Danny Boyle’s Pages of the Sea memorial for The Great War. It makes for a sequence that is searching, memorializing, healing.
March Breakfast Book Club
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. This event is charged and is suitable for 18+ years.
Book here for your individual book club ticket or click here to purchase a one-year ticket.
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.
February Classics Book Club: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D H Lawrence
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 February, along the theme of love, we have chosen Lady Chatterley's Lover by D H Lawrence 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 -
In the bleak aftermath of World War I, Constance, Lady Chatterley, is a young woman trapped in an unfulfilling marriage to an aristocrat whose war wounds have left him paralysed. With her husband's encouragement, she enters into a liaison with Oliver Mellors, the gamekeeper on their country estate in Nottinghamshire. As this illicit relationship grows into tenderness, mutual respect and sensual passion, Constance discovers that true fulfilment requires a real connection of both mind and body.
Lady Chatterley's Lover shocked its original audience with its vindication of adulterous love across the class divide as well as its explicit descriptions of sex. It retains its power today as a hymn to erotic love and as an impassioned treatise on 'tender-hearted fucking' as a means to salvation from the horrors of war and the sterility of modern life. It is all the more poignant that Lawrence wrote this book - three times over - while he was dying from tuberculosis.
The modern world was not interested in its salvation. Lawrence had Lady Chatterley privately printed in Italy in 1928, but strict obscenity laws in the UK rendered it unpublishable there for more than thirty years.
February Afterhours Book Club
Here at Books On The Hill, we love all things books so thought it would be great to get people together 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 7pm in store for a fun-filled evening.
Tea & coffee will be available for free on the night or if you prefer please feel free to bring your own alcoholic drinks with you (glasses will be provided).
To reserve your space please click here or to purchase a year long subscription to our afterhours book club, please click here.
Please note this event is 18+.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey with lecturer Michael King
We are delighted to announce our next lecture will explore Booker 2024 winner Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
Tea and coffee will be provided throughout the session.
To book your place, please click here.
About the book~
Life on our planet as you've never seen it beforeA team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe.
Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day. Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull.
News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction. The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams.
So far from earth, they have never felt more part - or protective - of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?
February Text Book Club: Morning and Evening by Jon Fosse
For February, our booksellers were set the task of choosing a book with the theme of love. After considering a wide range of fantastic titles, we have decided on Morning and Evening, the latest translation from Jon Fosse.
To book your place, please click here.
The book club will be held upstairs in our reading rooms and are suitable for ages 18+ years.
About the book-
A child who will be named Johannes is born. An old man named Johannes dies. Between these two points, Jon Fosse gives us the details of an entire life, starkly compressed.
Beginning with Johannes’s father’s thoughts as his wife goes into labour, and ending with Johannes's own thoughts as he embarks upon a day in his life when everything is exactly the same, yet totally different, Morning and Evening is a novel concerning the beautiful dream that our lives have meaning.