Author Interview with Jerry Castaldo

Today we have had the opportunity to interview
 author and entertainer Jerry Castaldo on his book 
BROOKLYN NY : A GRIM RETROSPECTIVE - A MEMOIR

Jerry has also been kind enough to donate his book for our current giveaway

Giveaway Details - click here

New York City born-and-bred. Jerry Castaldo is a well-reviewed musical entertainer, who consistently logs an average of 300 shows per year. He has opened for such stars as Jerry Seinfeld, David Brenner and Dom Deluise. 

Welcome Jerry and thank you for talking to us
Who was your inspiration when growing up?
My dad and my mom. Growing up with a dad who played professional baseball made me want to play too. I learned to pitch and became a pretty good player, but I decided to go into music instead. My mom was a reader and seemed to know everything, so I wanted to someday have her knowledge.

What did you like to read as a boy?
Everything, including the entire volume of the World Encyclopedia.

How did you get your first break as an entertainer?
I started a band and started playing for money when I was about 12 years old. As far as “breaks”, I’m still getting them, it never ends. Just having the ability to work steadily and provide a nice home for myself is what I’m grateful for. Now it seems that my new book is taking me further, even in my performing career.

Who has been your favourite act to work with?
I recently opened for ‘60s superstar Lou Christie in February of 2011. He has sold millions of records through the years. His big hits are, “Lightning’s Strikin’ Again” and “I’m Gonna Make You Mine”, although there have been many other stars that I have enjoyed working with. The biggest star being Jerry Seinfeld, who I write an entire chapter about in my book. The relationship Seinfeld and I had together ended horribly with me being physically removed from his dressing room in NYC.

What led you onto the different path of writing a book?
Since I grew up in a violent, “Mafia-run” neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, and was addicted to hard drugs and alcohol by the time I was 16 years old, I went through quite a number of horrifying experiences. When I got clean and sober years later, people would continually yell at me and say, “You have just ‘got’ to write a book about that!” So I did.

How does writing a book compare with the life of an entertainer?
It wasn’t much different for me. I had these incredible “street” stories and I wanted to tell them in an entertaining way, which I guess I did, judging by the over 200 “Five-Star” reviews I’ve gotten on Amazon.com. I’ve also had write ups in “The Village Voice”, “The NY Post”, “The Italian Tribune” and quotes by other celebrities like former “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” host David Brenner. This is sort of the same thing that happened with my performing career. I’ve got pretty decent reviews from the NY Times and the NY Post for my show too.

In one sentence, why should people read your book?
In the first sentence, of the first paragraph, of the first story, on the first page, I’m being violently stabbed at with a large knife through the window of a car, while I desperately swing a huge carpenters hammer, bashing it repeatedly into the face of a dangerous drug dealer, and the book “never” lets up from there on.

How did you feel when writing your memoir?
Relieved. Relieved to be able to “explain” to the world why I was the way I was, and that it really wasn’t me. I was totally honest when writing this book and I knew that I was revealing things that many people could never say out loud to others. I was also afraid. Afraid that the police and the “cold case files” department might start investigating me.

Do you have any plans to write another book?
No, not at this time. Although I must tell you. I only used about 20 to 30% of my notes for this book. I wanted it to keep “moving” and didn’t want to bog it down with minute details. Although, now with its success, I see that I could have included more. So, who knows? Right now I have many industry people pushing me to write a screenplay and have just gotten a new agent in NYC who may help me to develop a one-man show for the New York stage.

What else are you working on now?
I tour with my music show to make a living, record music and video when I can and am always promoting the book. On January 21st, 2012, I will be speaking at a very popular writers’ seminar in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m honored to be asked to speak to these educated people, especially since I dropped out of school in the 9th grade.

You live a very fast pace of life, what do you do to unwind?
I work a bit more, ha, ha. Actually, the movies, the gym, running and building computers for fun when I can.

What is your favourite book?
Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote a wonderful book called, “The Sky’s The Limit”. I read it as a teenager when I was being put in and out of jail and was trying to figure out how to better my life. Also, “The Road Less Traveled” is another favorite of mine.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Jerry, all the best for the future. x

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Book Giveaway - SIGNED COPY of Brooklyn NY:A Grim Retrospective by Jerry Castaldo

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A SIGNED COPY OF 

BROOKLYN NY:A GRIM RETROSPECTIVE - A MEMOIR

 BY JERRY CASTALDO

MAKE SURE YOU ENTER THIS FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY!!

Brought to you by Beck Valley Books

with co-hosts Bee's Knees Reviews and Crystal Trent Dotson Reviews

with special thanks to author Jerry Castaldo for this giveaway opportunity

Giveaway open between 1 November 12.01am - 14 November 12.01am

for UK and US residents

upto 11 Entries per person plus more for daily tweets

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Book description click here

REVIEWS

Reviewed By: Crystal Trent Dotson

This amazing Memoir of Jerry Castaldo is by all means , inspiring , breathtaking , and yes , GRIM.

Being addicted to drugs and alcohol, which started as a teenager , he endured beatings , carwrecks , and gangs. Wanting to get away from it all , he joins the Army , but is soon discharged , and is back where he started. His drug addiction continued while trying to make himself a known singer , which didn't mix well for Jerry. His life was full of up's and down's , mess up after mess up , he still continued to use drugs, causing him to lose friends , family , and job's. After years of struggling , Jerry finally takes the first step of attending an AA meeting. He has now been clean for twenty years.

This is such a shocking book , but it comes to show just how bad drug addiction can physically and mentally rip your life apart. Jerry went from nothing to finally fighting his addiction and becoming a touring singer, and being happy with his life.

Truely an amazing story. But I , myself after reading this memoir , am very inspired by Jerry overcoming all the hell he was going through and coming out of it with a great story to be told.

Reviewed by Beck Valley Books
A truly frank and honest account, from the author, in remembering his childhood days and the extremely dark years he plunged into.  How he tries to change his life around by joining the army before finding his vocation as a personal trainer moving onto becoming Jerry The Entertainer.  Its just shows how anybody can turn their lives around if they truly believe they can.

Reviewed on Amazon

It is an important body of work for anybody who thinks they can never amount to anything, and for everybody else ... and I am most certainly richer for having read it!

It was gripping and exciting, although things Jerry did in his younger days were amazing, you end up wondering how he is still alive!!! I would definitely recommend it to anyone!!!!

Reviewed by The Italian Tribune

America's largest Italian American paper promises:

"You'll be captured from the very first page and will find in his story an inspirational message of hope for all who face obstacles in their walk through life."

http://www.jerrycastaldo.com/

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Book Giveaway - SIGNED COPY of Brooklyn NY:A Grim Retrospective by Jerry Castaldo

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A SIGNED COPY OF
BROOKLYN NY:A GRIM RETROSPECTIVE- A MEMOIR
BY JERRY CASTALDO

 MAKE SURE YOU ENTER THIS FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY!!
Brought to you by Beck Valley Books
with co-hosts Bee's Knees Reviews and Crystal Trent Dotson Reviews

with special thanks to author Jerry Castaldo for this giveaway opportunity

Giveaway open between 1 November 12.01am - 14 November 12.01am

for UK and US residents

up to 11 entries per person plus more for daily tweets

This explosive autobiographical volume is a gripping account of entertainer Jerry Castaldo growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, NY, his agonizing descent into the darkness of the city's underbelly and his desperate struggle back to normalcy.

Celebrated NY Post columnist, author and playwright Chip Deffaa edited this dark, yet highly inspirational story.

"Heartbreaking," "surprising," "emotionally charged."

"Shocking," "volatile," "riveting" and "just plain scary."

Those comments are from readers of this book who cut a wide swath across a varied demographic--men, women; young, old; and who are from varying socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and locales.
http://www.jerrycastaldo.com/

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Gateway Books: Which particular books opened you up to a new genre?
Its got to be Mary E Pearce, good old fashioned historical fiction.  I was hooked.  Once I had read them all it also led me onto Margaret Dickinson.  My two favourite authors.

10 Myths About Bookselling

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10 Myths About Bookselling

by Lacey N. Dunham

MYTH 1: Booksellers Spend All Day Reading

The quiet bookshop nestled on a tree-lined side street. Inside, the bookseller is perched at the register, an open book propped on her knee. Ah, wouldn’t it be wonderful to spend all day reading and discussing books? You spend your workday surrounded by books; ergo, you spend your workday reading them.

I’m not sure about the origin of the luxurious, all-day reading marathon bookselling myth, but it’s an utter fallacy. While booksellers sometimes read the dust jackets or (in the case of Russell Brand memoirs) hold impromptu giggle sessions that are an introvert’s idea of performance art, bookselling is a job.

Books don’t appear on the shelf in such a tidy order instantaneously. Someone has to unpack the FedEx boxes, add the books to the store inventory database, and place each one in the correct section (no Tolstoy in psychology, please!). Think of doing that for 200-300 books each day (double that on a new release day) all while answering phones, fielding customer questions, processing and sending out books ordered online, explaining e-books, setting up chairs for an author reading, hosting the author reading, updating the store’s social media, checking for shelving errors and re-alphabetizing as necessary, researching a rare title for a customer, collecting books for return to the publisher and selling books at the cash register — you understand why booksellers hate when people tell them, “Oh, I would love to sit and just read all day like you do.” Reading is the last thing booksellers have time to do.

MYTH 2: Booksellers Make Lots of Money, Otherwise Books Wouldn’t Cost So Much
Here’s an industry joke about bookstore proprietors that I think applies equally to booksellers:

Q: How do you make a small fortune in bookselling?
A: Start out with a large fortune.

Yes, books aren’t getting any cheaper, but neither is milk, bread, or a new car. At the bookstore where I work, customers often haggle over the jacket price under the assumption that we control all aspects of the publishing industry. The assumption is ridiculous, of course; books arrive at independent bookstores long after the author’s advance, the marketing budget, the printing costs, and the publisher’s staff (all except the interns) is paid. A bookstore typically makes only 35% of the price set by the publisher. If a bookstore discounts that cover price by 15% or 20%, that’s halving our revenue. And because independent bookstores aren’t in a position to price gouge the way Amazon or non-book retailers like Wal-Mart and Target can, we can’t give you a 50% discount because the cover has a teeny, tiny dent. Booksellers aren’t rolling in the scrilla. For many of us, bookselling is a career we do as a labor of love. None of us are getting rich from it—but if you are topping off your bank account with this gig, I’d like to know if your store is hiring.

MYTH 3: Bookselling Isn’t a Career (i.e. so when are you getting a real job?)
A colleague of mine describes herself as a “professional bookseller” and she’s experienced several eye rolls and questions such as “so what does that mean?” or “why?” Many of my colleagues have worked in bookselling for a decade or more.

We receive dozens applications each week (since the recession that number has tripled). When applicants are asked why they want to work for us and the response is, “I’m looking for a fun job,” their application goes to the bottom of the pile. Ditto for anyone whose favorite books are all staples of high school English classes. If you haven’t read a book since high school and you’re thirty-three, how are you going to keep up with the hundreds of books published weekly?

Although bookselling isn’t as lucrative as a law or business career, it’s still a career choice for literarily minded individuals who love working with the public by day and devouring books by night. Besides, if the legitimacy of a career is based on that career’s annual salary, than booksellers shouldn’t be the only ones asked by well-meaning family and friends when we’re finally going to get a “real” job: teachers, social workers, electricians, and pastors should have to field this question, too.

MYTH 4: Bookselling Is a Low-Stress Job
People who think bookselling is low-stress have obviously never worked retail on Black Friday. Any job is going to have high points and low moments; however, when you’re working with the public, it’s impossible to know if the next person who walks up to you is having the best day of his life and will shower you with rainbows and smiles or if he just lost the all-important Schnizicki account at work and is stomping into the bookstore like Godzilla.

Maybe I’m someone who inspires intense rage in others, but in my almost four years as a bookseller, here’s a partial list of things people have said to me (all one-hundred percent true):
■You’re an idiot
■You’re stupid
■You’re an unhelpful little girl
■Thanks for ruining Christmas
■You’re so hateful
■This is why my kids are getting a college education
■Where are all the nice, happy booksellers today?
■Bitch
■Stupid bitch
■You’re everything but a whore
Add to this a customer who — furious that his gift-wrapping was not “perfect,” —tore the wrapping paper from his book, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at my colleague who had wrapped the present.

Rudimentary name-calling and wrapping paper assault aside, bookselling is the most enjoyable of the stressful jobs I’ve had, although the horrors of the holiday shopping season still tremor through my body in nightmares.

MYTH 5: Booksellers Know Everything About Every Book Ever Published Since Gutenberg Invented the Printing Press
Booksellers possess pride in knowing the ins and outs of recently published books. However, if you’re looking for a book and you can’t recall the author, the title, what the book is about, where you heard about the book, or whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, we’re not going to be much help beyond recommending other books you might enjoy.

If a customer tells me she’s looking for a book by a man and there’s a girl in it but she can’t remember the author or the title, I give her Lolita. If she’s looking for “that popular book about the animals”: Animal Farm. “That controversial book my book club is reading”: The Autobiography of Malcolm X. “The book with a red cover and the word ‘the’ in the title”: The Joy of Sex. I’m a bookseller, not a magician. My dark-framed glasses and skinny jeans possess only so much magic.

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Easy one, has to be licquorice.  In fact when I was pregnant I ate soooo much licquorice the poor shopkeeper ran out of supplies one night, I was devastated!!

Q.What superhero is your alter-ego?This weeks questions are a bit tricky, I cant really answer this one either.  I can say that my favourite was, wait for it.......... ' Wonder Woman '  by that takes me back :-)

I cant pick only five favourite book blogs because I have so many favourites, but the one that currently is at position #1 is ' I am a Reader not a Writer ' http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/ I just love everything about this blog, its design, full of booky information and giveaways, well done!!

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CS Foresters lost crime novel found at auction to be published.

Hornblower author's 1935 novel The Pursued disappeared until found at auction in 2002.

Finally, it is hitting the bookshops.

A crime novel by CS Forester, written during the period 70 years ago when he created the naval hero Horatio Hornblower and wrote The African Queen, is to be published for the first time.

The Pursued, which until recently was thought to have been lost, is a dark, gritty thriller about a woman who pursues resolutely the man who murdered her daughter. Like Forester's other works, it reveals his supreme skill as a page-turning storyteller.

The novel, which is complete and polished from start to finish, was accepted for publication in 1935 by his publisher, Michael Joseph, now part of Penguin. However, Forester and his publisher delayed its release, deciding that it would not be sensible to publish it between two Hornblower books. Forester then moved house and when his publisher was sold, The Pursued somehow disappeared.

Forester clearly felt its loss. Decades later in his autobiography he wrote: "The lost novel was really lost. It is just possible that a typescript still exists, forgotten and gathering dust in a rarely used storeroom in Boston or Bloomsbury."

He was right. It surfaced at Christie's in 2002, when Lawrence Brewer, a lifelong Forester aficionado, was astonished to find that the auctioneer was selling it as a "job lot" of 11 Forester-related items. "It was a pathetic little auction," said Brewer. "There was no … great publicity. Something should have been made of it."

Excited by the chance to own words by Forester that no one had read, Brewer bought the typescript with Colin Blogg, a fellow founder-member of the CS Forester Society, for just £1,500. "Goodness me!" Brewer exclaimed in pure Foresterese. "I found it. I was sky-high."

Brewer said his love of Forester began when he was eight. "I went to Oxford [University] and read all sorts of exciting literature. I always felt that …[in] the English language, CS Forester had it. There's not a word too many, not a word too few. Magnificent."

Once he realised the lost novel's quality, he knew he must share it by getting it published. However, he discovered that the copyright lay with Forester's estate. He recalled: "We might own the paper, but we didn't own the words. It took over six years to negotiate through that."

Negotiations with Forester's estate, represented by the literary agents Peters Fraser & Dunlop, have now led to the novel's publication by Penguin Modern Classics on 3 November.

It was as a crime writer that Forester made his name. Two earlier novels – Payment Deferred in 1926 (a psychological thriller filmed with Charles Laughton in the leading role) and Plain Murder from 1930 – were highly successful in their day. Penguin plans to reissue simultaneously the two earlier novels, which have been out of print for about 40 years.

Cecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (1899-1966), who studied medicine at Guy's Hospital and, after leaving without a degree, turned to writing. He became a household name with his 11-book Hornblower series about a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic wars, which began with The Happy Return in 1937. Such is the character's appeal that the books are read worldwide. The Forester Society now has a German chairman, a Dutch secretary and, despite the novels' anti-French jingoism, a French membership secretary. "That's the way the world ought to be," said Brewer.

Penguin is excited by the new discovery. Adam Freudenheim, publisher of Penguin Classics, described the novel as "a dark, twisted tale of murder, lust and retribution".

He added: "It is a novel years ahead of its time, rewriting the traditions of crime fiction to create a gripping psychological portrayal of obsession, jealousy, torment and the grim underside of suburban London life."

Penguin has so far shown the novel to a handful of readers, including the novelist Sarah Waters, who said: "Forester has a great eye for grubby domestic detail, and a subtle understanding of the dangerous passions lurking just beneath the surface of everyday life. A riveting read."

Both the publisher and Brewer believe that it will appeal both to fans of Forester and crime novels, as well as those interested in social history. The novel's portrayal of the suburbs of 1930s London underlines how much they have since changed.

Precisely where the typescript of The Pursued had been until 2002 is unknown. Christie's has not revealed the identity of the vendor.

Dalya Alberge

The Observer,

Now if only we had a real bookshop!!

If only we had a real physical bookshop aswell

as our online bookstore

without question, this would have to be my desk!!

Maybe one day.........

Dagger crime fiction awards unsheathed

A first novel about a woman who loses her memory every time she goes to sleep has been named the best debut crime book of the year. SJ Watson's Before I Go To Sleep has picked up the Crime Writers' Association's John Creasey New Blood Dagger at an awards ceremony in London.


An audiologist, who turned his hand to fiction after taking a novel-writing course, Watson tells the story of a woman whose memory is wiped clean every night. Chrissie keeps a journal to remind herself of her life, which becomes a record of her husband's deception. "As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me," she writes. The novel has already been optioned for film by Ridley Scott's production company Scott Free.

Watson said he was "stunned and delighted" to win the prize. "It was such an honour to have been shortlisted for the John Creasey Dagger, but to have actually won, especially when up against such fine books, is incredible," he said. Judges chaired by the crime writer Danuta Reah chose Before I Go To Sleep over three other shortlisted titles, Kiss Me Quick by Danny Miller, The Dead Woman of Juárez by Sam Hawken and The Dogs of Rome by Conor Fitzgerald, calling it "a powerful and compelling suspense novel that explores the intricacies of the human mind".

The Specsavers Crime Thriller awards also saw Tom Franklin's Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter win the Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year. Franklin, a teacher of creative writing at the University of Mississippi, has set his novel in the southern town of Amos, Mississippi, telling of law enforcement officer Silas Jones's attempts to find out why his estranged childhood friend has been attacked, a young woman has disappeared and the local drug dealer has been killed. "What an amazing longlist! What an amazing shortlist! I'm truly happy just for the company, and everything else is gravy. All my thanks," said Franklin, who beat AD Miller's Booker-nominated Snowdrops to win the Gold Dagger.

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller went to Steve Hamilton's The Lock Artist. About an elective mute with a talent for picking locks, it is, said judge Natasha Cooper, "a remarkable novel". "One of the most interesting things is that the main character never speaks, but his voice to the reader is completely extraordinary," said Cooper. "It is a very clever thing to have pulled off, this business of speechlessness and such an individual voice, and I don't think anyone else has even tried to do it."

She said The Lock Artist was also "very exciting – it's not all guns blazing and helicopters, but it's completely gripping and a really thrilling novel, which is after all the point of this prize". The thriller genre as a whole has been developing in a positive way, according to Cooper. "You do still get thrillers about pirates and drug dealing, but you also get these very subtle but still very thrilling novels," she said, categorising Watson's Before I Go To Sleep in the same way. "There is a great need for novels that really, really grip, and what I so much like about the way the genre is going is there is no place any more for page-turning breathless novels which aren't well written," she said.

Hamilton said that the work of Fleming "represents everything I've always loved about storytelling, whether it be books or movies [and] I can't even express how honoured I am to receive an award with his name on it."

Voted for by the public, the ITV3 People's Bestseller Dagger was won by Peter James for Dead Man's Grip, beating authors including Lee Child and Mark Billingham to the prize. James said he "could not be more thrilled" to win. "This is a wonderful award that strikes at the very heart of what good books are all about: enthralling readers with gripping, page-turning fiction – and decided not by an elite committee but by the very people who read and loved them – the general public," he said. "I don't think there can be a higher accolade for any author."

The ceremony will be televised on ITV3 on Tuesday 11 October.

Alison Flood
guardian.co.uk


.

Its That Friday Time Again

It's That Friday Time Again

To-Be-Read's: How big is your pile? Which book keeps getting pushed down the stack, but you keep meaning to read it?

This is a funny one for me to answer because if anyone was to look at our pile of books they would think they needed to climb Mount Everest!!!   We have literally thousands :-0 piled all over the place waiting to be put onto our bookstore, so I havent even got time to read the ones I am wanting to.  If I did have I want to re-read all my Margaret Dickenson and Mary E Pearce books again, easy reading and easy to escape into the historical fiction .........if only ........



Q.If you could pick one character in a book, movie or television show to swap places with, who would it be?
No laughing now!!!!   But I would love to have been Laura in Little House on The Praire, I said no laughing....Always remember the starting clips where they are running through the long grass with smiles on their little faces and not a care in the world , sounds amazing....


Q. “It’s time to spread some love beyond the borders of the Book Blogger Hop! This week, we aren’t answering a question. We are spotlighting our fellow bloggers. Find your favorite(s) author interview(s), guest post(s), book review(s), or bookish article(s) that ANOTHER BOOK BLOGGER featured on their site recently and tell us why you love it/them!
I have to say the book review I read yesterday from Lisa at Weidknecht -
Being the Strong Man a Woman Wants: Timeless Wisdom on Being a Man by Elliott Katzad.  The title in intself made me smile, then I went on to read the review and immediately thought to myself, 'yes I am going to have to buy that for you know who!'  It does sound a  lovely book though and I am looking forward to see for myself what's inside.

Our Latest Find - A Beautiful Pair of Bookends

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Couldn't Resist Showing You All Our Latest Find!!

These beautiful pair of bookends



On a family day out the other day, we took a slight detour to one of our favourite villages, Stokesley.  On arrival we normally jump out the car with excitement to wander round the charity shops to see what books catch our eye, on this occassion though the children we're playing up so my husband pops out the car and says 'I won't be long'.   Ever heard that phrase before!!  On return loaded down with a couple of bags he shows us his goodies.  The most beautiful pair of bookends appeared out of the bag and I couldn't believe my eyes, they were soooo beautiful. 

The detailing on these are unbelievable.   The individual books sitting unevenly on the beautiful old fashioned bookshelves are fantastic, just like you would see them in any lovely old bookshop, all the different book spines are titled or patterned and gilted.  Draws lower down the bookshelves, on the mans bookend, with one of the drawers opened ajar crammed with more even more books.  On the old wooden  floors are books all over the place, different sizes and colours, while the man is standing on the step ladder with one book under his arm and reading one in his hand, so true to life.   The more elegant lady is sat in her wood and cushioned chair, books either side of her and on her knee, reading as if she has all the time in the world.  These bookends are amazing, I hope you appreciate them just as much as we all do.

The Decline of Booksellers - sad, sad times.

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Sad, Sad Times for Booksellers

Independent bookshop numbers have fallen by more than a quarter since 2006 according to official figures released by the Booksellers Association, which is calling for immediate action to reverse the "stark" decline.

The trade body says that it had 1,483 independent bookseller members in June 2006, with the number falling by 26% to 1,099 by June 2011. There has also been a "marked drop-off" in the number of bookshops opening, with just 23 new stores joining the Booksellers Association so far this year, compared with 50 in 2010.

Calling for rate relief for businesses with a cultural and education value, and for a coalition of publishers, government and consumers to be formed to protect the interests of independent bookshops, Booksellers Association chief executive Tim Godfray said there was "plenty that can be done but it needs to be done now if we are to maintain bookshops on our high streets and protect the significant impact they have on the wellbeing of local society the UK".

Jane Streeter, who runs The Bookcase in Lowdham, Nottinghamshire and is president of the BA, agreed, saying the decline in numbers was "not inevitable" but that "if we don't make a real and concerted effort now, then the economics for high-street booksellers simply won't add up".

"Booksellers are already at the heart of their communities, key parts of their local high streets, and are undertaking positive and innovative work across the country to make their shops the best places to browse and discover new books," she said, calling for "a real commitment from publishers and government to offer opportunities to booksellers so we can keep our place on the high street, and keep our high streets diverse and thriving".

An August survey of the BA's membership found that the top issues affecting booksellers were increasing rates (29% said they were the most pressing issue) and expensive parking in town centres (28%).

"This is not just an issue for our members; it's also about preserving the retail diversity of our town centres. We know that maintaining bookshops on our high street is vital to literacy, the future economic prosperity of UK plc and the cultural health of our nation," said Godfray. "What is clear from surveying our members is the considerable influence local and national government and our competition authorities have on the high street retailer … We will be making representations in the next few months to the appropriate bodies, and are also providing our members with posters for shop windows."

"I know first-hand the important cultural and social role that many bookshops play in local communities so it's critical that we work hard to acknowledge and protect their place on our high street," Streeter added

Alison Flood

guardian.co.uk

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Exciting Times for Bagabook - A booklovers fashionable accessory

Fantastic news for Bagabook. Jacqueline Wilson is due to embark on her book signing tour from Oct 1st with her new book Sapphire Battersea...  

The New Amazing Jacqueline Wilson-Tracy Beaker designed Bagabook is to be carried by Jacqueline herself to all venues....

A proud proud moment for Bagabook, I'm sure and we wish them all the success.

Jacqueline Wilson Tracy Beaker design led Bagabook Licensed by Start Licensing Sapphire Battersea is published by Doubleday

Bagabook is used by booklovers worldwide, to read in privacy and style, protecting their books on the train, plane, beach or anywhere!! 

Check out their wonderful designs - www.bagabook.com

Join the FREE online fan club at www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk

Sapphire Battersea by Jacqueline Wilson - review

www.guardian.co.uk

 

Sapphire Battersea: 'It's not girly, and not for the faint-hearted. It is quite dark at some points, and a really gripping and poignant book'  read their review

 

Hey, check it out - Im featured on the Edge of Insanity - In The Spotlight Sunday !!

Hey, check it out - Im featured on the Edge of Insanity - In The Spotlight Sunday !!

This week, we are featuring Beck Valley Books- a bookstore in the UK that sells the rare hard-to-find books you have been searching for!
read more  http://edgeofinsane.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-spotlight-beck-valley-books.html