Whatever you do, don’t please miss picking up a programme for Warwick Words from either of our shops. Or just click Warwick Words  to see the whole programme on their website. There are some fantastic events between the 1st and the 10th October…..Talks, Workshops, Walks, Afternoon Teas, Poetry Tea Rooms and events for children and young people – More than 80 speakers over 10 days! Tickets are selling fast and 8 events are already sold out so we recommend booking tickets soon to avoid any disappointment.

The committee who organise this, led by Helen Meeke, are doing an amazing job making the Festival bigger and better each year. We are very lucky indeed to have such a big array of internationally-known speakers visit Warwick. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear them, and get some books signed. What could be a better or more imaginative Christmas present?

Warwick Book group met on Wednesday 1st September at The Punchbowl Inn at 6.00pm,  We were discussing ‘The Lacuna’ by Barbara Kingsolver.

We had enjoyed “The Poisonwood Bible” when we read it last year and with this new novel by Barbara Kingsolver we all felt we had found another gem.  Everyone in the group agreed it was very atmoshpheric and a good choice for a bookgroup if, perhaps, rather long.  It covers an interesting period from recent history and cleverly interweaves real and fictional characters.  Penny, a new memeber of the group was so entranced by the images of Mexico portrayed in the book that she has bought a travel guide to Mexico and is planning a holiday there!  Lydia found herself checking on whether the narrator, Harrison Shepherd, really had existed , as he seemed so well established in the plot.  He is in fact the fictional character Kingsolver uses to pull together the disparate parts of this big novel, which covers a period of political and social upheaval in Mexico and the United States.  Diego Riviera, the celebrated Mexican artist, his wife, the regal Frida Khalo and the exiled Lev Trotsky are among the real characters portayed.   Un-American activites  and the fear engendered among artists, musicians and many thoughtful academics as well as the shabby tratment of American War Veterans  are the main themes running through this powerful, provocative and readable novel.  Definitely one to recommend.

Our next book is “White Woman on a Green Bicycle”by Monique Roffey (£7.99 paperback).  Set in Trinidad it tells the tale in retrospect of a white couple who settle in Trinidad in the 1940s.  Sabine, the wife, longs for Europe and “civilisation” but her husband, George, falls in love with the island the moment he sets foot on its soil. 

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Where’s Wally?, Where’s Wally Now?, Where’s Wally? The Fantastic Journey, Where’s Wally? In Hollywood, Where’s Wally? The Wonder Book and Where’s Wally? The Great Picture Hunt. Plus a Where’s Wally? 80 piece jigsaw. Hours of eye-boggling, puzzling fun! The Where’s Wally? series has sold 50 million copies worldwide in 25 languages.

Wally has reached celebrity status, appearing in the TV shows Frasier, The Simpsons and Friends; on the 1000th anniversary cover of Rolling Stone magazine as a cultural icon of the last 40 years; and on Google Earth.

The colourful, vibrant scenes of Old MacDonald’s farm come to life in this charming picture book with sound panel. Little hands won’t be able to resist pressing the buttons to hear each farm animal’s sounds and the much-loved song Old MacDonald”.

This is an immortal story of chivalry, treachery and death brought to new life for our times. The legend of King Arthur has retained its appeal and popularity through the ages: Mordred’s treason, the knightly exploits of Tristan, Lancelot’s fatally divided loyalties and his love for Guenevere, and the quest for the “Holy Grail”. Now retold by Peter Ackroyd with his signature clarity, charm and relish for a good story, the result is not only one of the most readable accounts of the knights of the Round Table but also one of the most moving.