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Joe Abercrombie Book Launch of The Wisdom of Crowds
Thursday 16th September, 8pm
Concluding the Age of Madness trilogy, The Wisdom of Crowds brings the series which is revolutionising fantasy to its stunning conclusion… Chaos. Fury. Destruction. The Great Change is upon us… Some say that to change the world you must first burn it down. Now that belief will be tested in the crucible of revolution: the […] See more »
An Evening with Ann Cleeves
Friday 17th September, 7.30pm
We will be welcoming acclaimed crime writer Ann Cleeves back to the bookshop once more! She rejoins us this September to discuss her new novel, The Heron’s Cry, the second in the Two Rivers crime sequence which follows her Sunday Times bestseller, The Long Call. The Heron’s Cry is the second installation in the number one Sunday […] See more »
DATE CHANGE: An Evening with Gyles Brandreth
Tuesday 21st September, 7.30pm
This September we are joined in-person once more by one of the most natural and gifted comic performers, writer and star of Just A Minute, Gyles Brandreth. Gyles joins us to celebrate his new autobiography, Odd Boy Out, an extraordinarily revealing account of growing up and coming of age in an apparently well-to-do but always […] See more »
Live In-Person: Cat Jarman on the River Kings
Tuesday 21st September, 8pm
Cat Jarman’s River Kings is a brilliantly-written, magnificent history of the Vikings – and quite possibly the best history book written this year. Meticulously researched and riveting, this wide-ranging book shows Viking culture in a fresh and dazzling new light, offering a major reassessment of the fierce, often-mythologised voyagers of the north, and of the […] See more »
Exciting debut fiction: Megan Nolan and Daisy Lafarge
Wednesday 22nd September, 7.30pm
We’re delighted to announce a joint-event with two of the most exciting new names on the contemporary fiction scene: Megan Nolan, author of Acts of Desperation, and Daisy Lafarge, author of the TS Eliot shortlisted poetry collection Life Without Air and debut novel Paul. Daisy Lafarge’s Paul and Megan Nolan’s Acts of Desperation are two […] See more »
Live In-Person with Alexandra Shulman
Wednesday 22nd September, 7.30pm
We are delighted to host an in-person evening with former British Vogue Editor, writer, journalist and consultant, Alexandra Shulman to discuss and celebrate her new book. In Clothes & Other Things That Matter, she explores the meaning of clothes and how we wear them looking at items of clothing that range from the little black […] See more »
An Evening with Rick Stein
Thursday 23rd September, 7.30pm
The wonderful Rick Stein joins us once more for a warm, fun-filled evening to celebrate his latest book, Rick Stein At Home. It’s a stunning collection of all-time favourite recipes and essays that celebrate the rhythms and rituals of home cooking. Rick has spent his life travelling the world in search of cooking perfection – from […] See more »
An Evening with Tristram Hunt
Friday 24th September, 7pm
We are delighted to announce an evening with Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum and one of Britain’s best-known historians. He joins us to discuss his new book The Radical Potter: Josiah Wedgwood and the Transformation of Britain, a spectacular new biography of Josiah Wedgwood, the pioneering English potter, entrepreneur, and beacon of […] See more »
Jane Austen Walk
Sunday 26th September, 10am
Austen is Britain’s finest literary heroine, and for many Bath embodies the best of her Regency world. But she seems to have loathed the place: “For six weeks, I allow, Bath is pleasant enough; but beyond that, it is the most tiresome place in the world. You would be told so by people of all […] See more »
In-Person: An Evening with Otegha Uwagba
Tuesday 28th September, 7.30pm
This September, Otegha Uwagba joins us in the bookshop to discuss We Need to Talk About Money, an unforgettable blend of memoir and cultural commentary that explores her own complicated relationship with money, and what her wide-ranging experiences say about the world around us. An extraordinarily candid personal account of the ups and downs wrought […] See more »
DATE CHANGE: Green Kids Cook with Jenny Chandler
Wednesday 29th September, 7.30pm
The brilliant Jenny Chandler – an all-time favourite of our cookery-buyer Kathleen – joins us in the bookshop for the launch of Green Kids Cook, a book that aims to encourage and teach children around the 7–14 age group how to cook and eat food that’s as good for them as it is for the planet. […] See more »
An Evening with Elizabeth Day
Thursday 30th September, 7.30pm
We are delighted to announce an evening with Elizabeth Day for her new novel Magpie, a tense, twisting, brilliantly written novel about mothers and children, envy and possession, and the dangers of getting everything you’ve ever dreamed of. Elizabeth is the author of four novels and bestselling memoir, How to Fail. An award-winning journalist, she has […] See more »
Dennis Duncan on the History of the Index
Friday 1st October, 7.30pm
Attention all bibliophiles! This October we will be joined for the evening by Dennis Duncan, author of the remarkable new book, Index, A History of The. Dennis will take us on the historical rollercoaster ride of his scholarly, warm, and witty history on what is perhaps the most easily overlooked textual tool. Most of us […] See more »
Justine Picardie on Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture
Monday 4th October, 7.30pm
Miss Dior is a story of freedom and fascism, beauty and betrayal, roses and repression, and how the polished surface of fashion conceals hidden depths. She paints a portrait of the enigmatic woman behind the designer Christian Dior: his beloved younger sister Catherine, who inspired his most famous perfume and shaped his vision of femininity. […] See more »
Poetry Evening: Jack Underwood and Max Porter
Tuesday 5th October, 7.30pm
Join us on the 5th October for a new – and the first post-pandemic – installation of Poetry on the Paragon. We will be joined by Jack Underwood to celebrate his new collection A Year in the New Life. Jack is a senior lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College whose debut collection, […] See more »
An Evening with Elif Shafak
Wednesday 6th October, 7.30pm
This October we’ll be welcoming the wonderful Elif Shafak, author of the Booker-Shortlisted 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World and the bestselling The Architect’s Apprentice. Elif joins us to discuss her new novel The Island of Missing Trees, a rich, magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, and nature and renewal. […] See more »
Poppy Cooks: Demo & Tastings with Poppy O’Toole
Thursday 7th October, 7.30pm
Heralded as ‘the millennials’ answer to Delia Smith’, the poster girl for TikTok Cooks or you may know her simply as ‘the potato girl’. With her no-nonsense cooking and focus on technical skills, Birmingham-born Poppy O’Toole is a Michelin trained chef turned TikTok mega star and influencer. With her debut cookbook, Poppy Cooks you will […] See more »
RESCHEDULED: Explore Italy with Tim Parks
Friday 8th October, 7.30pm
Bestselling author Tim Parks returns with an exploration into Italy’s past and present – following in the footsteps of Garibaldi’s famed hair-raising 250-mile journey across the Apennines. In the summer of 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy’s legendary revolutionary hero, was finally forced to abandon his defence of Rome. He and his men had held the besieged […] See more »
Legendary Steven Van Zandt
Saturday 9th October, 11.30am
Steven Van Zandt comes under the heading of Rock Royalty. He’s best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, playing guitar and mandolin. An accomplished actor, he starred in all seven seasons of The Sopranos and all three seasons of Lilyhammer. Unrequited Infatuations chronicles the twists and turns of Steven Van Zandt’s always surprising […] See more »
Nina Mingya Powles on Small Bodies of Water
Monday 11th October, 7.30pm
We are delighted to host an evening in the bookshop with Nina Mingya Powles for Small Bodies of Water, a book that has already won her the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize for nature writing. Nina Mingya Powles first learned to swim in Borneo – where her mother was born and her grandfather studied freshwater fish. […] See more »
NEW VENUE: Pasta Making and Storytelling with Rachel Roddy
Tuesday 12th October, 7.30pm
Rachel Roddy is the silver-tongued, award-winning Guardian columnist and food writer. Her previous cookbooks Five Quarters and Two Kitchens are prize winning celebrations of the food and flavours of Rome and Sicily. This evening we will hear the story of pasta as Rachel cooks and chats about Italy’s favourite food. Join us to learn more […] See more »
DATE CHANGE: An Evening with Max Hastings
Tuesday 12th October, 7.30pm
We will be joined in-person by one of the most acclaimed military historians, Max Hastings, to tell the gripping tale of his new book Operation Pedestal. Max describes the story of this epic battle at sea as one of the most extraordinary tales he has ever recounted. In August 1942, beleaguered Malta was within weeks of surrender to […] See more »
Charlotte Higgins on Greek Myths
Wednesday 13th October, 7.30pm
In Greek Myths, Charlotte Higgins offers her own captivating exploration and reimagining of the most enduring stories of all time. These are stories of love and desire, adventure and magic, destructive gods, helpless humans, fantastical creatures, resourceful witches and the origins of birds and animals. This is a world of extremes, and one that resonates deeply […] See more »
Nathan Evans’ Sea Shanties
Thursday 14th October, 7.30pm
Join us for an evening of singing and merriment with a performance from the world famous sea shanty sensation! Nathan Evans was working as a postman in Airdrie when he shot to fame posting videos of himself online singing old sea shanties. The videos triggered a surge of interest in these ancient songs and their […] See more »
DATE CHANGE: Herb with Mark Diacono
Friday 15th October, 7.30pm
Mark Diacono, gardener, cook, and photographer, rejoins us in the bookshop for his fantastic new book HERB: A Cooks’ Companion. Mark, author of the marvellous Sour, is such an eloquent and lively writer (often reminiscent of the young Nigel Slater) and he will expertly show you how to handle herbs in the kitchen, from infusions […] See more »
An Evening with Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie
Monday 18th October, 7.30pm
It’s the story of one of the most popular and influential British popstars of the past 30 years. Born into a working-class Glaswegian family in the summer of 1961, Bobby’s story begins in the district of Springburn, soon to be evacuated in Edwards Heath’s brutal slum clearances. Leaving school at 16 and going to work […] See more »
A Celebration of the Written Word: Books, Reading & Libraries
Monday 18th October, 8pm
Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes – or filled with bean bags and children’s drawings – the history of the library is rich, varied and stuffed full of incident. In The Library: A Fragile History, St Andrews Professor, […] See more »
Live In-Person: Simon Heffer
Tuesday 19th October, 8pm
Acclaimed historian Simon Heffer will be talking about Chips Channons’ Diaries, now published for the first time in unexpurgated form. A heavily abridged and censored form of the diaries was published in 1967. Only now, 60 years after Chips’ death, can the text be shared in all its unexpurgated and shocking glory. While his career […] See more »
An Evening with Iain Sinclair and Brian Catling
Wednesday 20th October, 7.30pm
Iain Sinclair, award-wining author of The Last London and Lights Out for the Territory, joins us for an evening to celebrate his new book The Gold Machine. Iain will be joined in conversation with esteemed author and artist Brian Catling, known best for his cult Vorrh triology. In The Gold Machine, Iain Sinclair and his daughter travel through […] See more »
An Evening with Booker-longlisted Francis Spufford
Friday 22nd October, 7.30pm
We are delighted to announce a live in-person event with 2021 Booker Longlisted author Francis Spufford on Light Perpetual, which is proving to be one of this year’s literary highlights. November 1944. A German rocket strikes London, and five young lives are atomised in an instant. November 1944. That rocket never lands. A single second in time […] See more »
The Sweet Roasting Tin with Rukmini Iyer
Friday 22nd October, 7.30pm
Everyone loves the stylish Roasting Tin series. We’re delighted to welcome the food writer behind the these iconic and bestselling cookbooks. Rukmini Iyer first revolutionised weeknight cooking with her bestselling The Roasting Tin: unfussy, one-tin-fits-all recipes that you can make with just a few supermarket ingredients and a roasting tin. Since then, she has brought us Green, […] See more »
Paul Muldoon launches Howdie-Skelp
Monday 25th October, 7.30pm
The award–winning poet delivers a sharp wake-up call with his fourteenth collection, Howdie-Skelp. The poems in Paul Muldoon’s striking new collection include a nightmarish remake of The Waste Land, an elegy for his fellow Northern Irish poet Ciaran Carson, a crown of sonnets that responds to the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, a translation from the […] See more »
Ravneet Gill
Tuesday 26th October, 7.30pm
Ravneet Gill studied at Le Cordon Bleu before taking over the pastry sections of some of London’s most respected food institutions such as St. John’s, Llewelyn’s and Wild by Tart. She’s the author of the bestselling A Pastry Chef’s Guide and is currently a judge on Channel 4’s Junior Bake Off. Ravneet grew up LOVING sugar. […] See more »
Geoffrey Wheatcroft on Churchill’s Shadow
Wednesday 27th October, 7.30pm
Gefoffrey Wheatcroft’s critical but fair political biography of Churchill doesn’t just tell the story of his life but the equally fascinating one of his legacy, focusing on how the great statesman was viewed by contemporaries and those who came after. While in A.J.P. Taylor’s words, Churchill was “the saviour of his country,” he was also […] See more »
Live In-Person: Charles Cumming
Thursday 28th October, 8pm
Charles Cumming’s Box 88 was one of the best espionage novels of 2020, introducing readers to masterspy Lachlan Kite. Deftly weaving through the events of the last thirty years, we see geo- politics played out in the murky shadows of the secret services. The latest novel is another exciting spy thriller showing the changing threats […] See more »
An Evening with Colin Thubron
Tuesday 2nd November, 7.30pm
This November we are joined in the bookshop by one of the greatest travel writers of our age, Colin Thubron. Colin will describe to us the dramatic and ambitious journey he embarked upon for his latest book, The Amur River. The Amur River is almost unknown. Yet it is the tenth longest river in the […] See more »
Your Home Izakaya with chef Tim Anderson
Wednesday 3rd November, 7.30pm
Inspired by the Drinking-and-Dining Dens of Japan, in Your Home Izakaya chef Tim Anderson explores the ‘anything goes’ concept of izakaya by showcasing over 100 flavour-packed recipes. Izakaya began as sake stores that allowed their customers to drink on the premises, and, over time, they began to serve food as well. The food is simple to […] See more »
Adrian Tinniswood on The Fall and Rise of the Post-War Country House
Thursday 4th November, 7.30pm
As the sun set slowly on the British Empire in the years after the Second World War, the nation’s stately homes were in crisis. Tottering under the weight of rising taxes and a growing sense that they had no place in twentieth-century Britain, hundreds of ancestral piles were dismantled and demolished. Perhaps even more surprising […] See more »
DATE CHANGE: Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad: Shelf Love
Tuesday 9th November, 7.30pm
Everything you know and love about Ottolenghi, but with a stripped back approach. In Test Kitchen: Shelf Love the team shows you how to cleverly utilise your kitchen staples and put a delicious meal on the table, the Ottolenghi way. Shelf Love is the first of a series of cookbooks coming out of the Ottolenghi […] See more »
An Evening with Sarah Moss
Thursday 11th November, 7.30pm
Acclaimed author of Summerwater and Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss is back in the bookshop for the launch of her new book, a sharply observed and darkly funny novel for our times. ‘A tense page turner . . . I gulped The Fell down in one sitting’ — Emma Donoghue At dusk on a November evening in 2020 a woman slips […] See more »
Robin Ince on The Importance of Being Interested
Monday 15th November, 7.30pm
Comedian Robin Ince quickly abandoned science at school, bored by a fog of dull lessons and intimidated by the barrage of equations. But, twenty years later, he fell in love and he now presents one of the world’s most popular science podcasts. Every year he meets hundreds of the world’s greatest thinkers. At this event, […] See more »
Martin Latham on The Bookseller’s Tale
Tuesday 16th November, 7.30pm
A SPECTATOR AND EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 ‘A joy. Each chapter instantly became my favourite’ David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas This is the story of our love affair with books, whether we arrange them on our shelves, inhale their smell, scrawl in their margins or just curl up with them in bed. Taking us on a […] See more »
NEW VENUE: David Flatman and Mark Durden-Smith: Rugby Laid Bare
Wednesday 17th November, 7.30pm
Join us for an evening of banter with hugely popular rugby broadcasting double act David Flatman and Mark Durden-Smith as they dissect and celebrate rugby union. Flats and Durders will cover every facet of the game, from surviving the front row, what it takes to be a leader, referees both good and bad, mind games, […] See more »
An Evening with Salley Vickers
Monday 22nd November, 7.30pm
“Salley Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand. She’s a presence worth cherishing,” Philip Pullman. Salley Vickers’ The Gardener is a charming new novel about two very different sisters who buy a ramshackle cottage together. When the sisters hire Murat, who has recently arrived in Hope Wenlock from Albania, to […] See more »
Poetry on the Paragon: Stephanie Sy-Quia on Amnion
Tuesday 23rd November, 7.30pm
Amnion is a contemporary lyric epic, journeying from the Philippines to Libya, through France, Spain, and the UK. Stephanie Sy-Quia’s debut collection of poems questions keenly and urgently the roots of migration and colonialism, charting what it means to grow up in a family divided by geography, history and language. Managing the consequences of empire, […] See more »
Saul David on the history of the Special Boat Service
Wednesday 24th November, 7.30pm
On November 24th, Saul David joins us in the bookshop to discuss the first authorised wartime history of the Special Boat Service. Britain’s SBS – or Special Boat Service – was the world’s first maritime special operations unit. Founded in the dark days of 1940, it started as a small and inexperienced outfit that leaned heavily […] See more »
Henry Eliot on the Penguin Modern Classics
Thursday 10th March 2022, 7.30pm
For six decades the Penguin Modern Classics series has been an era-defining, ever-evolving series of books, encompassing works by modernist pioneers, avant-garde iconoclasts, radical visionaries and timeless storytellers. The newly published reader’s companion showcases every title in the series so far, with more than 1,800 books and 600 authors, from Achebe and Adonis to Zamyatin […] See more »