theperksofbeingabookseller

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

#book #reading #sherlock holmes #sir arthur conan doyle #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booklr #read #books #sherlockian #arthur conan doyle #classic #bookish photography

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

As I have mentioned, a few months ago myself and my colleague (and friend) Fiona started a bookish podcast - A Tale of Two Booksellers.

The idea first sprung from Fi, who despaired at the lack of podcasts about books, especially YA books. As Fi and I both work together running the rather massive ‘Kid’s Room’ at our store (which includes a lovingly curated, rather huge, YA section), whilst we work we often spend many hours just chatting away about all of the books we loved, hated, had read recently, were looking forward to... and unbeknownst to us, several of our colleagues had been ‘listening in’. 

One day, our manager commented that she could listen to us chat about books for hours, and that she often took accidental book recommendations from us... thus, the idea for A Tale of Two Booksellers was born!

We have currently recorded four episodes, three of which are currently available to listen to. We upload roughly every four weeks, time dependent (we do both work full-time!) and - of course - it is free to listen. We upload to SoundCloud and iTunes.

One of our highlights so far has to be getting to record Episode 3: The Cringefest Special with three amazing YA authors from Scholastic when they came to our store as part of the Cringefest book tour. We sat down with Beth Garrod, Simon James Green, and Stephanie Kate Strohm to chat about all things cringey and bookish, and even though Fi and I were both really nervous, we had so much fun!

We would both absolutely love it if you would check it out.

You can listen on SoundCloud here.

or on iTunes here.

And if you enjoy it, it would make our day if you subscribe or share!

We’re also on Twitter @TwoBooksellers if you want to keep up to date with when we’re recording and uploading, and on Instagram @ataleoftwobooksellers.

#books #reading #bookseller #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booklr #podcast #bookpodcast #read #book chat #booklovers #booksellers

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Beautiful Broken Things // Sara Barnard. Proof Vs. Final cover.

#books #reading #beautiful broken things #sara barnard #ukya #i read ya #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booklr #read #ya #bookish photography

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Happy Sunday ✨

#book #reading #open book #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booklr #pages #read #books #bookish photography

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Wonder Woman: Warbringer // Leigh Bardugo.

Wonder Woman: Warbringer is the first book in Penguin’s new DC Icons series - four books by four different YA authors, telling the origin stories of four of DC’s most iconic characters. A recent convert to Leigh Bardugo’s writing (and now utterly addicted), I was incredibly excited to read her take on Diana.

In Warbringer, we meet 17-year-old Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Frustrated by her lack of strength compared to her sisters, and bored of the day-to-day life of being Hippolyta’s daughter, Diana finds herself abandoning a race in order to save a human - Alia. But Alia is no ordinary human. She is the Warbringer, a descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy.

This book as absolutely everything that I wanted and so, so much more. Bardugo, it seems, was the perfect author to pen Diana’s story, managing to blend mythology and the modern-day together masterfully, spinning a tale so engrossing that I could barely put this book down.

True to form, Bardugo has written a set of brilliantly diverse and complex characters that feel like they could just jump off the page. This, mixed with an unputdownable story, made Warbringer an absolute delight to read. I cannot wait for the rest of the books in this series.

Get Warbringer from the Book Depository.

#book #reading #wonder woman #warbringer #leigh bardugo #book review #booklr #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #review #read #books #wonder woman warbringer

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Awesome! ^^ I recommend "Passenger" and "Wayfarer" by Alexandra Bracken, "Three Sisters Three Queens" by Philippa Gregory! I finished them recently and really enjoyed them. I hope you do too, if you haven't already!

Oooo - I keep eyeing up the Passenger books at work, I may have to take the plunge and invest. And I have read a couple of Philippa Gregory’s books and really enjoyed them - keep meaning to get around to more! Thanks ^.^

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Geekerella // Ashley Poston.

#book #reading #geekerella #ashley poston #i read ya #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booklr #read #books #ya #bookish photography

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Do you like getting book recs?

I do indeed! I can never promise to get around to all of them, but everytime someone recommends me a book, I make sure to add it to my goodreads to-read shelf, so I remember the recc :)

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Have you ever read "The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain? Love your blog by the way!

I haven’t - but I have read Circling the Sun by her and I absolutely loved it. And thank you so much ^.^

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

My Sherlock Holmes shelf.

#books #reading #sherlock holmes #sherlockian #Arthur Conan Doyle #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #sir arthur conan doyle #read #bookish photography

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

what are some good books you have read recently ??

SO MANY! Definitely one of my recent favourites has to be Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo. I adoredddd it!

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Loved your first podcast, can't wait for the next!

Ahhhh, with my disappearing act, I have only just seen this. Thank you so much!! In case you haven’t seen, we now have three episodes up here!

(Edit: idiot me originally pasted the wrong link, but fixed now.)

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Old Favourites // Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor.

#book #reading #daughter of smoke and bone #laini taylor #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booklr #read #books #bookish photography

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Um.. hi.

I’ve been gone for around 6 months, despite occasionally coming back on here, declaring my comeback... only to disappear again. I’m sorry, and I’m here to try and briefly explain what the hell has been happening.

I guess that the main reason that I have been AWOL is my mental health, as always. I have had a terrible time with it this year, often struggling to get out of bed. All of my energy - every ounce of it - was going ‘keeping up appearances’ and attempting to go about my day-to-day life, trying to make sure that everybody was non-the wiser. 

Along with all of this, I encountered a huge loss of confidence. I became convinced that I was terrible at everything - my job, my blog.... my life. How could I run a blog about books and bookselling when I was a joke? So I kept putting it off... and suddenly 6 months had passed.

I also recently lost my Bumpcat after a short, painful battle with lymphoma. Bump was my baby, my best friend, my confidant, my nurse. He was born on my 19th birthday, and I first held him when he was just 4 hours old. One month to the day after his 10th birthday, he was diagnosed with terminal lymphoma. I was, and still am, broken. It is so unfair. A soul like Bump’s should be around for many, many years to come, but this horrible illness took my baby from me. We treated him palliatively for two months, before the illness became too cruel to him. And now my world will be forever darker. I shut down afterwards. I can barely remember the week following.

I have to say, not every single moment has been bleak. During those rare good days when I felt myself, I’ve had some amazing opportunities to do some amazing things, both book related and not. I’ve traveled the country for book launches, worked alongside some amazing authors, and I finally made it back to my beloved Amsterdam for a visit. I’ll try and catch you all up on the majority of these events soon.

Another project that I have been working on, alongside my colleague and ‘work bestie’ Fiona, is our podcast, A Tale of Two Booksellers. It was an idea that we had formed way back last year, and after Fi’s wedding we dived right in. The podcast has been absolutely instrumental in recovering my confidence. The reaction that we have had so far is beyond what either of us expected, and we have had such a fun time building and recording it. I will post a separate post all about it, but if you are curious now, then you can check it out here.

So there we have it. My excuses all tied up in one post. But I really, really do hope that this will be the start of my return. Despite my confidence crisis, I have really missed blogging, and chatting books with you all.

#booklr

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Remember I mentioned that Fi and I had recorded a podcast? Well, today's the day that episode 1 is let out in the wild! Above is our 'promo vid' that we recorded just after recording the first episode, so if you like the sound of this, you can listen for free on.... iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/a-tale-of-two-booksellers-podcast/id1251472722 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-549039241 Please do let us know what you think - we're so, so excited and nervois about finally releasing this... we hope you enjoy it!

#reading #booksellers #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booklr #books #read #book #podcast #booklover

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

Hiatus, podcast, and all the stuff in between...

Ummm... hello. Yeah, I did it again. I went on an extended, unannounced hiatus. I wish I could give you a single reason, but there were so many different influences behind me taking a step back from this blog. A mix of mental health, being busy both at home and at work, a death in the family, wanting to focus back on my love of reading, and the fact Fi and I have been brainstorming our podcast, and putting all of our energy into that! So, a podcast? Yes, a podcast! If you've been around for a while, you may remember me mentioning that Fi and I were thinking about starting a bookish podcast. Well, we've only gone and done it! It is called A Tale of Two Booksellers, and episode one will be uploaded very, very soon! We've also recorded a promo video, which will be uploaded in a few days - I will of course upload it here, too. You can follow us on twitter: @TwoBooksellers And instagram: @TwoBooksellers And if you have any questions, suggestions, comments.... you can email us! [email protected] We really, really hope that you enjoy it when it's out... stay tuned!

#books #reading #booklr #bookish #bibliophile #bookworm #booklover #read #book #podcast #bookseller #booksellers

[theperksofbeingabookseller]

#WeAreMCR - Stay strong, Manchester.

Thank you for all of your messages this morning regarding my safety after the horrific events here in Manchester yesterday evening. I am unhurt and safe. I wasn't in the area surrounding the Arena, and despite being shaken up - this is my city! - I am okay. My thoughts are with all those affected by last nights horrific events. We are Manchester. We are strong. When these events happen, we just show what we are made off. Last night, hotels opened their doors, taxi drivers were giving free lifts out of the city, and the residents of this glorious Northern Powerhouse of a City opened their doors and hearts to any and all that needed it. No terrorist will ever reduce Manchester to it's knees. You just show us how strong we really are.

#manchester #wearemcr #ilovemcr