We are delighted to announce that our next poetry afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore the poetry of poet, Wilfred Owen. One of Britain’s most renowned World War I poets, Owen’s poetry illustrated the harsh and bleak reality of war from his own experience.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To purchase a ticket, please click HERE

About the book -

Dying at twenty-five, a week before the end of the First World War, Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) has come to represent a generation of young men sacrificed - as it seems to the next generation, one in unprecedented rebellion against its fathers - by guilty old men: generals, politicians, profiteers.

Owen has now taken his place in literary history as perhaps the first, certainly the quintessential, war poet.

Limit 5 per order

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.

Tickets: £10

Includes your first coffee or pot of tea.

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

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.

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.

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. Everyone is invited to bring up to two books to discuss to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to share their thoughts. 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.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is now sold out.

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 October, we have chosen to discuss Passing by Nella Larsen.

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.

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

About the book -

A classic, brilliant and layered novel that has been at the heart of racial identity discourse in America for almost a century. Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage and has severed all ties to her past.

Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others - and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.

Join Books on the Hill and Baruccio for the first instalment of a new collaborative book club that merges thoughtful literary discussion with insightful and creative drinks pairings.

We are extremely excited to introduce our new monthly event, which will be held on the fourth Wednesday of every month – taking place between 7 and 9pm – combining two of life’s greatest pleasures: reading and wine.

To purchase a ticket for this event, please click HERE.

This is a book club with a difference. Each month we will discuss a fascinating text (this could be a classic novel, a quirky hidden gem, or a beautiful piece of travel writing) and pairing the book with a range of wines that have been carefully selected to match the atmosphere, setting or even a certain scene within the story.

At the heart of the evening is a bespoke wine pairing experience curated by Gabriele, owner of Baruccio and a trained sommelier with a lifelong love of books. An enthusiastic reader since childhood, Gabriele will carefully select each wine to reflect the spirit of the story, drawing inspiration from its themes, setting, characters, and emotional depth.

Guests will be invited to explore the fascinating connection between literature and wine, discovering how a thoughtfully chosen glass can enhance the atmosphere of a scene, enrich discussion, and bring a story vividly to life. The result is a unique and immersive experience where great books and exceptional wines come together in perfect harmony.

For the inaugural session, we are delighted to announce that we will be discussing Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind, a masterpiece of twentieth century fiction that explores obsession, sensuality, fragrance and immortality.

The streets of eighteenth-century Paris are brought to life in this twisty and unique piece of fiction that is sure to shock, delight and horrify. With its limitless options for wine pairings, we think that Perfume makes for the perfect selection for the first iteration of this event.

Please note that due to the nature of the event, it is expected that attendees have read the book and are willing to partake in an informal but insightful discussion of the book, which will be facilitated by Books on the Hill. The book can be purchased at a discounted price of £5 when bought alongside a ticket for the event.

We are delighted to announce that for October’s prose lecture afternoon, Michael King will be exploring Recitatif, Toni Morrison’s classic novella on race and friendship.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To purchase a ticket, please click HERE

About the book:

Twyla and Roberta have known each other since they were eight years old, when they were thrown together as roommates in a girls' shelter. Inseparable then, they lose touch as they grow older, only to meet again later at a diner, a grocery store and then at a protest. The two women are seemingly at opposite ends of every problem but, despite their conflict, the deep bond their shared experience has forged between them is undeniable.

Recitatif keeps Twyla's and Roberta's races ambiguous throughout the story. We know that one is white and one is black, but which is which? And who is right about the race of the woman the girls tormented at the orphanage? This story is a masterful exploration of what keeps us together and what keeps us apart, of race and the relationships that shape our lives. Now with a new introduction by Zadie Smith, it is as radically compelling and relevant today as it was when first written nearly forty years ago.

We are delighted to announce that for October’s Text Book Club, we will be discussing Cosmos by Lucia Odoom, an epistolary novel and powerful tale of global inequality, friendship and love.

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

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

About the book - A deeply moving novella that questions what it means to belong to a person, as much as to a place.

It is the height of summer in Copenhagen. Cosmos, a Ghanaian migrant, makes a living as a bottle collector. He spends his nights sleeping under the open sky in city parks, writing WhatsApp messages to his family back in Woe, and his days cycling through the streets with The Crows, his newfound friends.

Everything changes when Cosmos meets Elizabeth, a photographer. They fall in love, the city forming a backdrop to their different worlds – and home takes on a new meaning.

As tender as it is keenly observed, Cosmos is a rich and confronting portrait of love and loss in the margins.

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.

To book your place, please click here.

October- Get Into… Horror

For the genre of ‘horror’, we have chosen to explore the following books.

• We Have Always Lived In The Castle, Shirley Jackson (classic, psychological/gothic)

• The Shining, Stephen King (classic, haunted house)

• There is No Antimemetics Division, qntm (science fiction)

• Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Grady Hendrix (Southern Gothic/occult)

• John Dies at the End, David Wong (horror/comedy)

• 20th Century Ghosts, Joe Hill (short stories)

• The Devil In The White City, Erik Larson (non-fiction)

• The Moustache, Emmanuel Carrère (translated, psychological)

• On Earth As It Is Beneath, Ana Paula Maia (translated, survival horror)

• Tender Is The Flesh, Agustina Baztarrica (translated, dystopian)

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.

We’re excited to share with you a new monthly event – a crafts evening! On the second Tuesday of every month, we’ll be opening our Reading Room doors and inviting you to bring along your current projects. Whether that's knitting, crochet or embroidery we’d love for you to come along. We hope these evenings are a chance to connect with like-minded people that share a love for crafts. Exchange tips, patterns and advice together with a cup of tea and biscuits.

The space will be open from 6pm until 8pm. However, our doors will remain open throughout the event so feel free to come and go as you please.

We look forward to seeing you then!

Tickets: £10

Includes free tea/ coffee and biscuits.

To purchase a ticket please click here.

We welcome a range of crafts but due to the club taking place in our Reading Room we ask that you avoid bringing any messy crafts.

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.

If you have any questions, please contact us at office@books-on-the-hill.co.uk

PLEASE NOTE: This event will be taking place at The Pioneer Club. Tickets for the event must be purchased directly via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cheese-beer-tasting-with-ned-palmer-at-the-pioneer-club-tickets-1998541468331

Join best-selling author and cheese historian Ned Palmer at The Pioneer Club for a cheese tasting adventure you won’t want to miss.

An evening of cheese and beer at the Pioneer Club with cheese historian Ned Palmer, author of Sunday Times bestseller A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles and the award-winning A Cheesemonger’s Tour de France.

Whether you're already a fan of cheese or interested in learning a bit more, Ned will reveal how delicious, complex and fascinating cheese can be, introducing new cheeses and rediscovering old ones. Your ticket includes a tasting selection of six cheeses, along with crackers, condiments, and drink pairing.

By the end of the evening you will be able to impress and entertain your friends with your knowledge and cheesy anecdotes.

Tickets are £35, tables of six can be purchased for £180.

Due to licensing restrictions, this event is for adults aged 18+.

We are delighted to announce that our next poetry afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore the poetry of writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing, Benjamin Zephaniah. One of Britain’s most beloved poets, Zephaniah’s accessible but political rhymes saw him dubbed ‘The Poet of the People’.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your ticket, please click HERE.

About the book:

Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-2023) was a writer and performer of extraordinary range: an oral poet, novelist, playwright, children’s writer, reggae artist, actor, television personality and political activist. Born and raised in Birmingham, he was sent to an approved school for being uncontrollable, rebellious and ‘a born failure’, ending up in jail for burglary and affray. After prison he turned from crime to music and poetry.

He was later nominated for Oxford Professor of Poetry, and voted Britain’s third favourite poet of all time (after T.S. Eliot and John Donne) in a BBC poll. Benjamin was a poet who wouldn't stay silent, who didn't pull any punches, who wrote out of a sense of urgency and a commitment to social justice.

Known for his performance poetry with a political edge for adults as well as his poetry with attitude for children, he had his own rap/reggae band. He was the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley, in a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela, which Mandela heard while in prison on Robben Island.

Dis Poetry brings together all the poems from Benjamin’s three Bloodaxe collections, City Psalms (1992), Propa Propaganda (1996) and Too Black, Too Strong (2001), as well as some from The Dread Affair (1985), along with previously unpublished work and lyrics from various recordings.

Limit 5 per order

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.

Tickets: £10

Includes your first coffee or pot of tea.

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

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.

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.

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. Everyone is invited to bring up to two books to discuss to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to share their thoughts. 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.

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 24th September, between 7pm and 8pm, we will be discussing the Sicilian classic The Leopard 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 - The Leopard is a modern classic which tells the spellbinding story of a decadent, dying Sicilian aristocracy threatened by the approaching forces of democracy and revolution.

In the spring of 1860, Fabrizio, the charismatic Prince of Salina, still rules over thousands of acres and hundreds of people, including his own numerous family, in mingled splendour and squalor.

Then comes Garibaldi's landing in Sicily and the Prince must decide whether to resist the forces of change or come to terms with them.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is being hosted in the Marble Hall at Hatfield House. Tickets must be purchased via Hatfield House directly using the below link:

https://hatfield-house.co.uk/event/an-evening-with-alison-weir-the-boleyn-secret/

Hear the story of the Boleyn cousins beside the Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I.

Join Dr Alison Weir, best-selling author of the Six Tudor Queens series, in the Marble Hall on Thursday 24th September as she talks about her latest novel, The Boleyn Secret. The evening begins with time to explore Hatfield House at your own pace and ends with a book signing in the Armoury, hosted by Books on the Hill.

What to expect

An optional tour of the Old Palace:

The evening can begin at 5pm with a guided tour of the Old Palace, the surviving wing of the Tudor palace built in 1485, where Elizabeth I spent her childhood. Tour numbers are limited and tickets must be booked in advance.

Time to explore Hatfield House:

From 6pm, the House is open for you to explore at your own pace before the talk begins. The Rainbow Portrait, the Ermine Portrait, and Elizabeth I’s silk stockings and gloves are on display in the house built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, the Queen’s principal Secretary of State and closest adviser in her last years.

The talk and the signing:

At 7pm, Alison Weir takes to the Marble Hall to talk about The Boleyn Secret, the woman at its centre and the Tudor world she moved through. Afterwards, from 8pm, she will be signing copies in the Armoury, with books available on the night from Books on the Hill.

The talk

Dr Alison Weir is the biggest-selling female historian in the United Kingdom since records began in 1997, and the fifth best-selling historian overall. She has published thirty-two titles and sold more than three million books, over a million of them in the UK and 2.2 million in the USA. She is currently working on two concurrent series: the Tudor Rose trilogy of novels about Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII and Mary I, and England’s Medieval Queens, a quartet of works of non-fiction.

Her latest novel, The Boleyn Secret, follows a woman who has remained in the shadows of the Tudor story.

Katherine Carey is the daughter of Mary Boleyn. At the age of twelve, she attends her aunt, Queen Anne Boleyn, to the scaffold. Horrified by her grim end, and believing her innocent, she conceives a deep hatred for King Henry VIII, who sent his wife to a terrible death.

Katherine spends much of her young life as a companion to Princess Elizabeth, Henry and Anne’s daughter. The two become close, and when Katherine marries Sir Francis Knollys for love, Elizabeth is jealous.

As time passes, Katherine begins to sense that there is a secret associated with her own background. Only when her mother is on her deathbed does she find out the awful truth. It is a secret that will follow her throughout her life, as she flees religious persecution with her husband and lives abroad in fear, returning home only when Elizabeth becomes queen. But the bond between the Boleyn cousins will never be the same again.

We are delighted to announce that for September’s Text Book Club, we will be discussing Xiao Hai’s Adrift in the South.

The book club will be held upstairs in our Reading Room at 10am on Sunday 20th September, and is suitable for ages 18+. Tea and coffee will be provided.

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

About the book - When Xiao Hai turned fifteen, his family paid a vocational-school teacher 1,200 yuan to find him a factory job in Shenzhen. So began fifteen years spent moving between the garment mills and electronics factories of China's fast-growing southern cities. Adrift in the South is a memoir of life as a migrant labourer in the twenty-first century, making iPhones and baby clothes, hand-stitching football shirts and cutting plastic into radios.

Here, Xiao Hai reveals the alienation and tedium of factory life, the small indignities and indifference of the larger system. And he tells the story of how poetry led him somewhere unexpected: to join a small community of artists living, working, and studying together on the outskirts of Beijing.

This memoir is a landmark text from China's migrant worker literature movement, a grassroots group of writers providing an unvarnished account of what life is like for the 300 million migrant workers powering the world's second-biggest economy.

“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

£145 for the full course (5 sessions). Tickets for this course can be purchased by clicking HERE.

A bundle of all the plays discussed on this course can also be purchased HERE.

Course outline:

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.

All classes will run in the Reading Rooms at Books on the Hill, from 1.45pm – 3.30pm on selected Fridays listed below. To gain most from each session, participants will be expected to have read the text before class.

Session 1 – Friday 18 September (1.45-3.30pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring identity, freedom and choices

Set text: Henrik Ibsen – A Doll’s House

Session 2 – Friday 16 October (1.45-3.30pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring unrealistic expectations and not being ‘good enough’

Set text: Arthur Miller – Death of a Salesman

Session 3 – Friday 23 October (1.45-3.30pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring a frightening future and intergenerational responsibility

Set text: Lucy Kirkwood – The Children

Session 4 – Friday 13 November (1.45-3.30pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring forgiveness and redemption

Set text: James Graham – Punch

Session 5 – Friday 27 November (1.45-3.30pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring loneliness, connection and the power of storytelling

Set text: Conor McPherson – The Weir

£145 for the full course (5 sessions).

SOLD OUT

This course is designed for participants who have completed the Plays 1 course.

Course outline:

“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

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.

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

Session 1 – Friday 18 September (10.15am-12pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring marriage and relationships, reality and illusion

Set text: Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Edward Albee

Session 2 – Friday 9 October (10.15am-12pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring memory, nostalgia, change and loss

Set text: Dancing at Lughnasa - Brian Friel

Session 3 – Friday 23 October (10.15am-12pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring family dynamics, division and community

Set text: Till the stars come down - Beth Steel

Session 4 – Friday 13 November (10.15am-12pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring self-discovery, transformation, freedom and escape

Set text: Shirley Valentine – Willy Russell

Session 5 – Friday 27 November (10.15am-12pm at Books on the Hill)

Exploring wasted potential, regret and finding meaning

Set text: Uncle Vanya – Anton Chekhov

We are delighted to announce that for September’s prose lecture afternoon, Michael King will be exploring Aldous Huxley’s strange, dystopian classic novella, Ape and Essence.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To purchase a ticket, please click HERE

About the book:

Huxley's dystopian classic is a nightmare vision of the fate of humanity in a post-nuclear world. After a devastating global catastrophe, a group of scientists arrives in a ruined future shaped by fear, ritual and violence. Humanity has survived – but at a terrible cost, and not in any form they recognise.

Ape and Essence is Aldous Huxley’s bleak, satirical vision of civilisation after collapse. Fierce, strange and provocative, it confronts the destructive impulses that persist even after the world has ended.

PLEASE NOTE: This course is now sold out.

Reading for Wellbeing - Bibliotherapy Introductory course

£145 for the full course (5 sessions).

To purchase a ticket, click HERE

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.  

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!

Classes run are held in the Reading Rooms at Books on the Hill from 10.15-12pm on the Wednesdays listed below, or in London when specified (slightly later start and finish)

CLASS ONE – Wednesday 16 September (10.15am-12pm at Books on the Hill)

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 – Wednesday 7 October

Travel from St. Albans on the 10.13am fast train to London or meet directly in the lobby of the British Library, 96 Euston Road, at 10.45am.

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 – Wednesday 21 October (10.15am-12pm at Books on the Hill)

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 – Wednesday 4 November

Activity: Excursion to Spitalfields and its Bookstores

Options: Travel from St Albans on the 10.13 fast train or meet directly at 11am at the Kindertransport Memorial, Liverpool Street station, 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 – Wednesday 18 November (10.15am-12pm at Books on the Hill)

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

NOT included:

Travel to, from and around London on excursions

Tea and cake in a café on London excursions (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 as maintain the small-group experience.

www.bibliotherapyforme.com

PLEASE NOTE: This event is being hosted at The Serge Hill Project. Tickets must be purchased via Serge Hill directly using the below link:

https://www.sergehillproject.co.uk/whats-on/gardens-that-can-save-the-world

‘Together, we can change the world. Will you join us?’ Isabella Tree

Books on the Hill are delighted to be joining Serge Hill for another fascinating talk at The Apple House.

Three inspirational and influential women in garden design and social therapeutic horticulture will be exploring and celebrating the ways in which green spaces can be the solution to some of our most pressing problems, from loneliness to climate change, with: 

• Lottie Delamain Garden Designer and Author of Gardens That Can Save The World

• Kali Hamerton-Stove Co-Founder and Project Director of The Glasshouse Social Enterprise

• Dr Sue Stuart-Smith Psychiatrist, Co-Founder of The Serge Hill Project for Gardening Creativity and Health CIC, Author of The Well Gardened Mind 

This one-off event marks the publication of Lottie Delamain’s acclaimed book Gardens That Can Save The World and is hosted to help raise funds for one of the featured projects, The Serge Hill Project.

Tickets include the talk, a book signing, a welcome drink and the chance to explore Tom Stuart-Smith’s Plant Library of over 2000 perennials and bulbs.

Books on the Hill will be in attendance selling copies of Gardens That Can Save the World by Lottie Delamain.

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.

To book your place, please click here.

September- Get Into… Thrillers

• Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier (classic, romantic thriller)

• The Firm, John Grisham (classic, legal thriller)

• Red Dragon, Thomas Harris (classic, psychological)

• The Housemaid, Freida McFadden (domestic thriller)

• Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (domestic thriller)

• Children of Men by P. D. James (post-apocalyptic)

• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, John Le Carré (spy thriller)

• The Bandit Queens, Parini Shroff (funny/revenge thriller)

• Out, Natsuo Kirino (suspense/horror, translated)

• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (non-fiction)

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.

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 Edwin Muir.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your ticket, please click HERE.

About the book:

Born on the Orkney island of Wyre in 1887, Edwin Muir settled in various parts of Europe during the first half of the twentieth century - from Glasgow, to Austria and Czechoslovakia throughout to 1920s, 1930s and again after the war.

Muir's poetry bears oblique witness to the most traumatic years and events of this century, and is haunted by the symbolic 'fable' which he longed to find beneath the surface 'story' of mere events, as he came to terms with his own nature amidst the terror and confusion of the European maelstrom.

As Seamus Heaney has written: 'Muir's poetic strength revealed itself in being able to co-ordinate the nightmare of history with that place in himself where he had trembled with anticipation... His simultaneous at-homeness and abroadness is exemplary.'

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.

Tickets: £10

Includes your first coffee or pot of tea.

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

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.

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 August, we have chosen to discuss a modern classic: The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

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 -Everything, somehow, fit together; some sly and benevolent Providence was revealing itself by degrees and I felt myself trembling on the brink of a fabulous discovery, as though any morning it was all going to come together---my future, my past, the whole of my life---and I was going to sit up in bed like a thunderbolt and say oh! oh! oh!

Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.

We are delighted to announce that for August’s prose lecture afternoon, Michael King will be exploring Arthur Schnitzler’s dreamlike and psychological 1926 novella Dream Story.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your ticket please click HERE.

About the book:

This wonderful translation of Dream Story will allow a fresh generation of readers to enjoy this beautiful, heartless and baffling novella. Dream Story tells how through a simple sexual admission a husband and wife ware driven apart into rival worlds of erotic revenge.

Like his Austrian contemporary Sigmund Freud, the doctor and writer Arthur Schnitzler was a bold pioneer in exploring the dark tangled roots of human consciousness. Dream Story tells the tale of a young married man who, after a discussion with his wife about their fantasises, experiences an eery reverie through Vienna's underbelly.

We are delighted to announce that for August’s Text Book Club, we will be discussing Maria Reva’s Endling.

The book club will be held upstairs in our Reading Room at 10am on Sunday 16th August, and is suitable for ages 18+. Tea and coffee will be provided.

To book your ticket, please click HERE.

About the book - Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a maverick scientist who scours the country's forests and valleys, trying and failing to breed rare snails while her relatives urge her to settle down and start a family of her own. What they don't know: Yeva already dates plenty of men-not for love, but to fund her work-entertaining Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they'll find docile brides untainted by feminism.

Nastia and her sister, Solomiya, are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator while secretly searching for their missing mother, who vanished after years of fierce activism against the romance tours. So begins a journey of a lifetime across a country on the brink of war: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail with one final shot at perpetuating his species.

We are delighted to announce that our next poetry afternoon with lecturer Michael King will explore the poetry of Christina Rossetti, including her classic phantasmagoric 1862 narrative poem Goblin Market.

Tea and coffee with be provide throughout the event.

To book your ticket, please click HERE.

About the book:

This selection of Rossetti's poems brings together works by one of the most significant nineteenth-century English poets. It includes an illuminating introduction, a chronology of Rossetti's life and works, and explanatory notes.

Christina Rossetti is widely regarded as the most considerable woman poet in England before the twentieth century. No reading of nineteenth century poetry can be complete without attention to this prolific and popular poet. Rossetti's inner life dominates her poetry, exploring loss and unattainable hope. Her divine poems have a freshness and toughness of thought, while many of her love poems are erotic, and as often express love for women as for men. The varied threads of Rossetti's concerns are drawn together in what is perhaps her greatest poem, the strange and ambiguous Goblin Market.

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.