Kenilworth Books is pleased

to sponsor ‘Ashes To Ashes’

A talk by Marcus Berkmann

for Kenilworth Festival

on Sunday 9th May 2010, 16:00 hrs at

Kenilworth Cricket Club,  Kenilworth

Author Marcus Berkmann will be talking about his latest book “Ashes to Ashes” (just out in paperback) on Sunday 9th May at 4.00pm.  Marcus is well-known for his light-hearted books about cricket, and he is also a quiz aficionado, so the audience is certainly in for a treat!

In fact, Marcus has spent more than thirty years sitting in front of various television screens swearing at incompetent England batsmen, thinking he could do better himself! In his leisure time he has written columns on sport for Punch, the Independent on Sunday and the Daily Express. He is a regular contributor to Private Eye and has been the Spectator’s pop music critic for over twenty years. His books include ‘Rain Men: The Madness of Cricket’, ‘Zimmer Men: The Trials and Tribulations of the Ageing Cricketer’, ‘Fatherhood: The Truth’ and ‘A Matter of Facts: The Insider’s Guide to Quizzing’.

The event is to take place at Kenilworth Cricket Club in their beautiful new pavilion.  There will be a cricket match going on outside and we will be offering tea and refreshments, so the atmosphere will be the best of the British Summer! We will be selling copies of Marcus’ books and he has agreed to sign them afterwards.

Tickets will be strictly limited, so early booking is advised.  Tickets (priced at £6.50 to include tea) are available via the Kenilworth Festival website, by ringing Oxboffice on 0845 680 1926 or from Kenilworth Books.

Kenilworth Books is pleased to sponsor…

‘Breakfast With Socrates : The Philosophy of Everyday Life’

a talk by Robert Rowland Smith

Thursday 13th May 2010, 08:30 am (Ticket price £10 – includes breakfast)

at The Holiday Inn, Abbey End Kenilworth

Can Nietzche improve your commute?

What would Freud think about your retail therapy?

And what would Plato say about the way that you read books?

In ‘Breakfast with Socrates: The Philosophy of Everyday Life’, Robert Rowland Smith will explain what history’s greatest thinkers would have said about everything we do each day, from heading to work through going to the gym, making dinner, and falling back to sleep. We rarely think about how our everyday activities relate to wider ideas about the world, but Robert will illuminate the connections with wit, warmth and authority.

Robert is the author of the book ‘Breakfast with Socrates: The Philosophy of Everyday Life’ which has become an international best seller and in his talk, as in his book, he will take us through an ordinary day in the company of some extraordinary ideas.  Drawing on philosophy, literature, politics and psychology he will show how your everyday life can be improved by considering the world’s most interesting ideas.

Appropriately Robert will discuss these everyday scenarios over breakfast on Thursday 13^th May in a talk organised by Kenilworth Books for the Kenilworth Festival. Robert was for seven years a Prize Fellow at All Souls College Oxford, and he now advises blue-chip companies and government departments. His work has been described by the great philosopher Jacques Derrida as ‘superbe’. This one-off event is not to be missed.

Breakfast and the talk will be at The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth at 8.00 am.  Copies of Robert’s book will be on sale at the talk and may be signed by the author.

Tickets, priced at £10, include tea/coffee and bacon rolls and can be purchased from www.kenilworthfestival.co.uk, by telephoning 0845 680 1926 or calling into Kenilworth Books in Talisman. 

An Evening With Malcolm Gluck

Enjoy An Evening of Stories and Wine

with Malcolm Gluck

at Lord Leycester’s Hospital

Wednesday 14th April 7pm

You will be greeted with an aperitif glass of sparkling wine.

You will be able to taste Malcolm’s selection of half a dozen wines supplied by Underwoods of Warwick.

You will be charmed by Malcolm’s readings from his two new books.

You will have the opportunity to eat with Malcolm afterwards.

Malcolm is almost too well-known to need introduction but many of you will know him from his days as writer of the Superplonk wine column in the Guardian. With a reputation as one of the great mavericks of the wine world, Malcolm has his very own inimitable style and approach when it comes to tasting and talking about wine and he is probably the only wine writer in the world who rates wines on a value for money basis.

His latest book Chateau Lafite 1953 and other stories is “a searing collection of sixteen stories which lifts the veil from this often corrupt and always mysterious world.” Each story, based round a particular wine, not only lifts the veil on the murky goings on in the wine industry, but tells a tale sometimes humorous, sometimes dark, but always full of fascination. A treat in store when Malcolm reads extracts. And that is not to forget his other more esoteric book The Poetry of John Orland which mines the full range of human emotions, and which is even more enjoyable after a glass of wine or two!

Mentioning wine, we are very lucky that between them Malcolm and Nick Underwood of Underwood Wines of Warwick have chosen a selection of best value wines, both red and white, which you will be able to sample and which Malcolm will talk about. The Underwood Wine Warehouse in Warwick at The Old Pie Factory is one of the finest independent businesses in the town, and we are grateful that they are sponsoring the evening.

After the close of proceedings at Lord Leycester’s, we have booked the top floor of The Art Kitchen for those who wish to share a meal with Malcolm and Nick and continue drinking the wines of the evening. You will of course have to pay for your food, but Malcolm will talk about the matching of food with wines and generally carry on the convivial nature of the evening. If you wish to come to the Art Kitchen please let us know beforehand.

This is set to be a super event in the majestic surroundings of the medieval hall of the Hospital, and we recommend you book your tickets early as they are incredible value at £5 each! You can obtain your tickets from Warwick Books or Kenilworth Books.

An Evening With Martin Bell

Friday 30th April 7pm at Lord Leycester’s Hospital

It is a privilege to welcome Martin Bell a tireless campaigner for trust in politics to talk about his book ‘A Very British Revolution : The Expenses Scandal and How To Save Our Democracy’. Martin comes with impeccable timing, on the eve of an important General Election, to talk about an issue which haunts the whole election process and is utterly germane to how we see our MP’s.

Martin made his name in Vietnam in the 1960s, and also covered wars in the Middle East, Nigeria, Angola and Rwanda, as well as numerous assignments in Northern Ireland. Over the next 30 years, he reported from 80 countries and covered 11 conflicts.

His sparse, uncomprom ising style of journalism won him the Royal Television Society’s Reporter of the Year award in 1977, and again in 1993. He was awarded an OBE in 1992.

It was his last assignment for the BBC, however, which had the greatest impact on him, both physically and mentally.He was badly wounded by shrapnel as he delivered a bulletin from Sarajevo, his “lucky” white suit letting him down for once as he fell to the ground in agony. And what he saw while covering the war awoke a smouldering sense of injustice which was to define his future career.

He later stole the show of course in the 1997 election campaign with his anti-sleaze battle against MP Neil Hamilton.  His legendary fight for the safe Conservative seat at Tatton, on an independent, anti-corruption ticket, made him a symbol of the revolt against perceived sleaze in the governing Conservative Party. He won the seat with an 11,000 majority.

He now acts as an ambassador for UNICEF, and as an outspoken critic of the state of politics and journalism today.

Tickets £7.50 (£6 concessions) – to include a welcoming glass of wine – from Warwick Books and Kenilworth Books.

‘ The Girl On The Wall’

Jean Baggott talked about her new book

in March at The Lord Leycester’s Hospital

This was an amazing evening with a wonderful atmosphere. In a nutshell ‘The Girl On The Wall’ is an incredible and moving life story told through the stitches of a  tapestry hand-sewn by Jean, who comes from Warwick. The tapestry was on display during the evening and after mingling with the sizeable audience of friends and guests, Jean treated us to a few words about how she came to write the book which has received amazing national coverage.

Although her life was never destined to be a famous one nevertheless it is to our eyes a remarkable one, mapped out as it was growing up in the West Midlands and experiencing deprivations of a childhood during the Second World War.

Almost 60 years later, with her children grown up and dealing with the loss of the love of her life, Jean began the education denied to her as a girl and started a degree in history at the University of Warwick. Inspired by this new freedom, she then began to stitch a tapestry which looked back at her life and the changing world around her. It took her 16 months to complete and measures 112cm x 41cm.

The tapestry consists of over 70 intersecting circles, each telling some aspect of her life. Some represent extraordinary events such as the moon landings or world historical events like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Some circles comment on famous people and places, others about the music she likes and the games she played with her brothers as a child.

Each chapter of the book then features a circle from the tapestry and Jean’s accompanying narrative, exploring the circle and the memories it evokes. Jean signed copies of the book on the night and we still have a few available. Do come and have a browse if you have not seen it before as the book is beautifully produced with a pull-out replica of the tapestry itself with accompanying plan.

We are very grateful to one of our favourite publishers Icon for supporting the event so splendidly and to Colonel Lesinski Master of the Hospital for hosting the evening.