BESTSELLERS OF 2008
MAY 2008
May saw four adult books of local interest selling well at The Book
Case - two of them by the same author! The Green Weekend made an impact, two
children’s books were especially popular (one of them locally based), and
swimming wild plus Andrew Marr on Britain today made up the
remainder.
1. The Backbone of England: Landscape and Life
on the Pennine Watershed - Andrew Bibby and John Morrison (Was
£12.00, now £14.99). This illustrated hardback on the Pennine
watershed by local author and journalist Andrew Bibby with photos by ex-HB
photographer and author John Morrison continues to sell. Andrew and John will
be discussing the book at the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival.
2. Hebden Bridge: a short history of the area - Peter Thomas, £5.99. This illustrated history of the town and area shows how we have changed over the centuries. A Royd Press publication by a well-known local author.
3. A Century of Stars: Hebden Royd Red Star AFC 1908-2008 - Peter Thomas, £4.00. Peter Thomas scores again! Hebden Royd Red Star AFC, under its various names, is the oldest continuously-existing club in the Halifax League and celebrates its centenary in October this year. This colourful new book is full of memories, interviews, anecdotes and photographs
4. Power in the Landscape: water-powered mills in the Upper Calder Valley, £5.00. This well-researched and illustrated history of watermills in the area continues to sell steadily.
5. How to Live Off-Grid: Journeys Outside the System - Nick
Rosen, £7.99. People who live without mains water, power or
phone line vary widely, but all are outside or in-between the criss-crossing
lines of power, water and phone that delineate the civilised world.
6.The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local
Resilience - Rob Hopkins, £10.95. We live in an oil-dependent
world. This manual will guide communities to begin an 'energy descent'
journey.
7. Wild Swimming - Daniel Start, £14.95. All the practical information you need to enjoy 150 magical swims across the UK in Britain's rivers, lakes and waterfalls.
8. Bog Baby - Jeanne Willis, £5.99. Picture book about two little girls who find a new playmate - but they have to let him go!
9. History of Modern Britain - Andrew Marr,
£8.99. Our May Non-Fiction Book of the Month - tells the story of how the
great political visions of New Jerusalem or a second Elizabethan Age came to be
defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification.
10. Ned Carver in Danger - Phyllis Bentley,
£5.99. A 13-year-old boy starts work at a Calder Valley cropping shop in
1812 just as his friend's mill-owning father introduces the cropping frames
that will put his skilled companions out of work. The second locally-based
historical novels for young people by Phyllis Bentley we’ve
published.
APRIL
Peter Thomas’s history of Hebden Bridge and area is back at number one at The Book Case, with three other books of immediate local interest, and three more Yorkshire or Northern ones. A novel, a sheep identification book and a couple plus their whippet on a narrow boat in the south-eastern USA make up the diverse remainder.
1. Hebden Bridge: a short history of the area - Peter
Thomas, £5.99. Back at the top, this illustrated history of the
town and area, showing how we have changed over the centuries. A Royd Press
publication by a well-known local author.
2. Milltown Memories:
the Upper Calder Valley Captured on Camera, £2.50-£2.80.
We’re now selling back issues of this well-illustrated quarterly journal
featuring aspects of local history and old photographs, and they’re going
well!
3. The Backbone of England: Landscape and Life on the
Pennine Watershed - Andrew Bibby and John Morrison, £12.00 at
The Book Case. Lovely illustrated hardback by local author and journalist
Andrew Bibby who walks the route of the Pennine Watershed exploring its
history, ecology, geography and culture, with photos by ex-HB photographer and
author John Morrison.
4. Power in the Landscape: water-powered mills in the Upper
Calder Valley, £5.00. Now permanently in our bestseller list,
this well-researched and illustrated history of watermills in the
area.
5. Engleby - Sebastian Faulks, £7.99. Mike
Engleby says things that others dare not even think and is devoid of scruple or
self-pity. Yet beneath the disturbing surface of his observations lies an
unfolding mystery of gripping power. Daily Mail Book of the Month.
6.
Know Your Sheep - Jack Byard, £4.99. Colour photographs
of and notes on the 41 breeds of sheep most likely to be found on British
farms. There can’t be an unlogged sheep in the district by now. Tractors
following soon!
7. Fabrics, Filth and Fairy Tents - Angus
Bethune Reach, ed. Chris Aspin, £6.95. Our first publication
still selling well, reporting on the textile workers of West Yorkshire in 1849,
with lots of graphic detail and interviews. Royd Press.
8. Gold
Pieces - Phyllis Bentley, £5.95. The exciting 1968 locally-based
children’s classic about the Cragg Vale Coiners. The second in our Tales
from the Tops series, "Ned Carver in Danger", about the a boy who joins the
Halifax Luddites for the 1812 assault on a mill, is just out. Royd
Press.
9. Pies and Prejudice - Stuart Maconie,
£6.99. Entertaining love letter to the North, finding out where the
cliches end and the truth begins. Hebden Bridge gets a mention!
10.
Narrow Dog to Indian River - Terry Darlington, £12.99 at
The Book Case. The couple who took their whippet to Carcassonne by narrow boat
are now in the south-east of the USA, navigating their English narrowboat from
Carolina to Florida.
MARCH
The Book Case’s last month’s bestseller, A History of
Hebden Bridge, was nudged aside by the Pennine Watershed, with a further four
books of local interest also appearing in the top ten. There were also three
enjoyable novels, and of course the £1 children’s specials from
World Book Day.
1. The Backbone of England: Landscape and
Life on the Pennine Watershed - Andrew Bibby and John Morrison,
£12.00 at The Book Case: Local author and journalist Andrew Bibby walks
the route of the Pennine Watershed exploring its history, ecology, geography
and culture - photos by ex-HB photographer and author John Morrison. There was
a very successful launch at the Little Theatre and we still have copies of the
book at a very special price.
2. Hebden Bridge: a short history of the area - Peter Thomas, £5.99: From ancient times to the present day, an illustrated history of the town and area, showing how we have changed over the centuries. A Royd Press publication.
3. World Book Day Special: Where’s Wally? £1.00: This was the most popular of the World Book Day Specials, and the other "Where’s Wally?" books are also selling well (as is "Where’s Bin Laden?" for the adults).
5. Fabrics, Filth and Fairy Tents - Angus Bethune Reach, ed. Chris Aspin, £6.95: Our first publication, reporting on the textile workers of West Yorkshire in 1849, with lots of graphic detail and interviews. Royd Press.
6. Gold Pieces - Phyllis Bentley, £5.95: The exciting 1968 children’s classic about the Cragg Vale Coiners. The second in the series, "Ned Carver in Danger", about the local Luddites, is just out. Royd Press.
7. Two Caravans - Marina Lewycka, £7.99: A field of strawberries in Kent ...And sitting in it two caravans - one for the men and one for the women. The residents are from all over. But these days England's not so pleasant for immigrants.
8. Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones, £7.99: On a small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific, a reclusive white man introduces the children to Dickens as war encroaches. Booker shortlisted and one of Richard and Judy’s Best Reads of the Year.
9. Gone Walkabout - Anna Carlisle, £6.00: The ever-popular book of local walks - the weather must be improving!
10. Miracle at Speedy Motors - Alexander McCall Smith (£12.99 at The Book Case) When Precious Ramotswe she receives a threatening anonymous letter, she is compelled to reconsider her belief in a kind world and good neighbours. But there are very few troubles that cannot be solved with kindness. Hardback.
FEBRUARY
Six local interest titles made The Book Case’s top ten in
February - four of them from our own stable. A library event produced good
sales of a hardback novel, and Khaled Hosseini and Patrick Gale emerged as our
Richard & Judy winners.
1. Hebden Bridge: a short history of
the area - Peter Thomas, £5.99. From ancient times to the present
day, an illustrated history of the town and area, showing how we have changed
over the centuries. A Royd Press publication.
2. A Cotton-Fibre Halo - Angus Bethune Reach, ed. Chris Aspin, £7.99. Companion volume to Fabrics, Filth and Fairy Tents, covering the textile workers of Manchester and the surrounding area in 1849. Young journalist Angus Reach revolutionised investigative reporting but sadly died at 36. Royd Press.
3. Gold Pieces - Phyllis Bentley, £5.95. The exciting 1968 children’s classic by the popular Halifax author about the Cragg Vale Coiners. Our next Phyllis Bentley reprint will be "Ned Carver in Danger", about the local Luddites. Royd Press.
4. Fabrics, Filth and Fairy Tents - Angus Bethune Reach, ed. Chris Aspin, £6.95. Our first publication, reporting on the textile workers of West Yorkshire in 1849, with lots of interviews. Royd Press.
5. Room of Lost Things - Stella Duffy,
£14.99
Author Stella Duffy appeared with Paul Magrs at a
Calderdale Libraries event at Todmorden Library. We a couple of signed
copies of this new novel, set in south London.
6. Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini, £7.99. In 1970s Afghanistan, twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon. Now a film.
7. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini, £11.99. From the author of "The Kite Runner", a gripping drama of beauty, destruction, sadness, and suspense, a chronicle of the last thirty years of Afghan history, and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, and the salvation to be found in love. A Richard and Judy choice.
8. Notes from an Exhibition - Patrick Gale, £7.99. When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her attic studio, her saintly husband and adult children have more than the usual mess to clear up. A Richard and Judy choice.
9. The Forest of Bowland: with Pendle Hill and the West Pennine Moors - Andrew Bibby, £7.99. A Freedom to Roam guide from the local author and journalist, produced in association with the Rambers’ Association.
10. Pies and Prejudce - Stuart Maconie, £5.95. Exiled Northerner tours the North (including Hebden Bridge) to find his own Northern soul ... He approves of John Morrison’s Milltown writings! Now in a mass market edition.
JANUARY
Richard and Judy have exerted their usual spell at The Book Case, so there are an unusual number of novels in our top ten, with four books of local interest
1. Power in the Landscape: water-powered mills in the Upper Calder Valley, £5. This colour-illustrated pamphlet from Hebden Bridge Alternative Technology Centre with the history of watermills in the area is back at the top. There is an accompanying DVD and/or CD.
2. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan, £6.99. A honeymoon couple at a seaside hotel in 1962. A story about how the entire course of a life can be changed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini, £11.99. A Richard and Judy choice. From the author of "The Kite Runner", a gripping drama of beauty, destruction, sadness, and suspense, a chronicle of the last thirty years of Afghan history, and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, and the salvation to be found in love.
4. Gold Pieces - Phyllis Bentley, £5.95. Our reprint of the exciting 1968 children’s classic about the Cragg Vale Coiners. Our next Phyllis Bentley reprint will be "Ned Carver in Danger", about the local Luddites.
5. Mr Pip - Lloyd Jones, £7.99. A Richard and Judy choice. A reclusive white man reopens the school on a Pacific island, planning to introduce the children to Dickens. But on an island at war, the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. An unforgettable tale of survival by story.
6. Weird Calderdale - Paul Weatherhead, £7.99. We’re delighted this account of strange and incredible events from the Calderdale area is again available and selling strongly.
7. Notes from an Exhibition - Patrick Gale, £7.99. A Richard and Judy choice. When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her attic studio, her saintly husband and adult children have more than the usual mess to clear up.
8. Letters of Ted Hughes, ed. Christopher Reid, £30 (£25 at The Book Case) This selection begins when Ted Hughes was seventeen, and documents the course of his resolutely private life. Critics’ choice for 2007. In the same spot as last month.
9. Kite Runner - K Hosseini, £7.99. In 1970s Afghanistan, twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon. Now a film.
10. Folktales from Calderdale Vol. 1 - John
Billingsley, £7.50.
The Witches of Eagle Crag, the Cliviger
Boggart, the Bride Stones, the Eve Stone, Stoodley Pike, Great Rock, Tom Bell's
Cave, the Miller's Grave and Churn Milk Joan are included. The first edition is
nearly sold out!