We have some signed copies of The Promise at Hunting Raven books and are able to source most of Lesley’s backlist of which there are quite a few!!

Hunting Raven Books hosted an evening of storytelling as part of the second WBN celebrations: Sharon Jacksties, West Country professional story teller delighted an invited audience of Hunting Raven customers.

Sharon has been a professional teller of traditional stories for over twenty years, telling to adults and young audiences in all kinds of settings. Running a number of community storytelling projects has enabled her to collect fascinating stories from local people, and she has been researching Somerset stories for a number of years.

Somerset Folk Tales – a collection of these stories was published this week and is beautifully illustrated by Jem Dick. Atmospheric music was played on the flute by Jem to accompany Sharon’s story telling.

We have a limited amount of signed copies of Somerset Tales available at Hunting Raven.

Below are the enthusiastic WBN Givers who arrived at Hunting Raven to collect their
World Book Night boxes of books to distribute on Monday 23 April.

Joffre White

We were excited to welcome local writer Joffre White for a return visit to Hunting Raven Books on Saturday 14 April. He came to chat to young readers and sign copies of his newly published book Frog and the Sandspiders of Aridian.

The story follows on from his first novel Frog – now released in paperback for its fourth edition!

FROG and the SANDSPIDERS of ARIDIAN
is a fast paced fantasy tale and is one of this year’s Frome Festival ABC Day books.

Following on from his previous adventures in the Medieval Dimension of Castellion, the hero Chris Casey returns as the legendary Frog, this time unexpectedly accompanied by his best friend Billy Smart.

The Guardians call upon him again to help fight the abominable Lord Maelstrom and his sister, the wicked Belzeera. Set in the second Dimension of Aridian, a scorched, desert world where most of the population live underground, he meets new allies including the young Nadiah and her energy-wielding girls of the Sisterhood along with a mysterious character known only as The One.

A new Guardian, in the guise of the beautiful Cassaria is on hand to aid him with her Magic and her loyal followers Prince Ameer and Sand Master Katar. Frog’s journey takes him into the depths of Aridian, from the spider hatcheries at Pelmore to the wonders of the subterranean eco systems of Arachnae. Amongst his encounters are giant spiders, the ugly Saurs, the aggressive Dreden, the enchanting Firefox and the revered Sandspider Arac-Khan. Join him as desperate enemies and monstrous creatures pursue him at heart-stopping and break-neck speeds through the underground waterways and caverns of Aridian.

Find out what secrets The One holds and what happens when evil turns true friends into enemies.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

About Joffre
Joffre was inspired to write his first children’s novel ‘Frog’ after making up a series of bedtime stories for his son Chris. FROG is a fast paced fantasy tale of a 12 year old boy, Chris, who discovers a mysterious suit of armour in his garden and is soon transported into a multi-dimensional world of colourful characters.

Joffre, a member of the national association of writers in education, is passionate about and actively promotes the importance of literacy and reading through visiting schools and libraries, and delivering interactive, motivational and inspiring sessions designed to excite and energise children’s imagination and interest in the power of words. He attracts new fans and followers wherever he appears, gaining acclaim from teachers, librarians and pupils alike for his work in schools and colleges.

Following a highly successful 2011 tour taking in venues across the South West, South East and London, featuring on BBC Radio Wiltshire and appearing over three days at the Earl’s Court Literacy Festival, he has now visited more than 90 schools and colleges and made numerous book signing appearances. 2012 will see Joffre embark on his 4th UK book tour, following demand for his acclaimed school workshops and sessions.

The children representatives with their info packs and voting boxes

Pupil, Staff and Parent representatives from local schools were invited to attend the Launch Party at Frome Library where staff from Hunting Raven Bookshop and Frome Library shared the exciting ABC Day 2012 news. ABC Day Authors and Books for Children 2012 is a collaboration between Hunting Raven Bookshop and Frome Library.

Six successful children’s authors are booked to lead sessions during the second children’s literary day in this year’s Frome Festival on Thursday 12 July.

Local schools will be able join popular children’s authors Tom McLaughlin, Jason Chapman, Jeremy Strong, Jeanne Willis, Daniel Blythe and Joffre White to share the fun of their entertaining books.

MEANWHILE local book-lovers of all ages are invited to SHARE, READ and VOTE for their favourite ABC Day book.  Voting closes at 9:00am on Monday 09 July.  The book with the most votes will win its author the first ABC Day Children’s Book Award which will be presented in July.  Votes can be cast at Hunting Raven Bookshop and Frome Library.

School Representatives with their favourite books: Charlotte, Selwood Sch; Adam, Vallis Sch; Ivo, Oakfield Sch; Lennox, Nunney Sch; Orla, St John's Sch; Freddie, Selwood Sch; Chloe, Nunney Sch.

‘This is such a thrilling event for the children (and adults) of Frome and beyond!  We hope that literally everyone will get involved and VOTE for their favourite ABC Day book.  The second ABC Day in this year’s Frome Festival is going to be fun-packed!’, said the organisers Karin Campagna and Wendy Miller-Williams.

Full details of ABC Day 2012,
Share, Read & Vote,
and the Books and Authors
are available at Hunting Raven Books
and Frome Library.

We were delighted to welcome Annie Nichols, a former Frome Community College student, to Hunting Raven Books last Saturday. Annie was promoting her recently published cookbook called Dinner at Mine which is a collection of 52 dinner party menus.

Annie who was brought up in Beckington attended Bath Catering College before working as a chef for 10 years in Switzerland, Australia and the UK. ​She became a food stylist in London, preparing and cooking food for photography for magazines and cookbooks.

Uganda Diary

On leaving college in 1955 James Lang Brown went out by sea to East Africa to join the Uganda Forest Department. Uganda was then a peaceful country, run by kings and chiefs, and indirectly by the British. Unknown to the young recruits, this happy state had only ten more years to run before the chaos and cruelty of Idi Amin’s dictatorship.

This fascinating book tells of the author’s introduction to life and work in Africa, and of the support from his African staff. There are accounts of eccentric missionaries, miners, planters and white hunters. One can feel the pride in being able to help a beloved country to build a forest estate for a prosperous future.

Uganda Diary is a valuable account of the Commonwealth at a turbulent time, from the Kabaka’s return from exile in 1955, through the threatened Baganda uprising of 1961 and the army mutiny of 1964, to the crumbling of medical services and the police. Hindsight poses the question “Were we right to leave then?” and this book examines both answers.

The book is brought vividly to life by 200 of the author’s excellent photographs of work,
expeditions, people and landscape in an Africa now changed forever.

We have some signed copies of Uganda Diary in the shop for those who missed the signing.

If you can’t make John’s signing at Frome Library the book will be available to buy at Hunting Raven Books and we can arrange to have your copy signed by John.

Bath, Queen of the West, is internationally famous as one of England’s oldest and most beautiful cities. The picturesque setting in the Avon valley, surrounded by green hills knit town and country together. The hot mineral springs welling up from deep within the earth have given it unique advantages as a health and leisure resort.

The Romans called the city Aquae Sulis, and below the modern city are the important Roman Baths, one of England’s top tourist attractions. In medieval times a great abbey grew up here, a centre of scholarship as well as religion. Bath was an important Cotswold weaving centre before becoming a great Georgian spa city. As ‘taking the waters’ became an increasingly attractive leisure activity for visitors, a number of charity hospitals grew up around the hot springs. Then in the eighteenth century, great men such as Beau Nash the Master of Ceremonies and John Wood the architect transformed Bath into the grand Georgian city which we know today. Writers such as Henry Fielding and Jane Austen, and artists such as Thomas Gainsborough, settled in Bath.

John Payne reflects on the diversity of the modern city, where industry, sport and shopping take their place alongside tourism and heritage. He considers the continuing importance of religious faith in the city and the contribution to Bath’s cultural life made by its two universities and the many festivals, of which the winter Literature Festival and the springtime Bath International Music Festival are just two.

Like all cities, Bath changes through time, and this book looks at recent developments such as the superb new spa centre, Thermae Bath Spa, and the modernist extension to the Holburne Museum of Fine Art. An insider account that goes beyond the well-trodden city centre, it includes Bath’s attractive urban villages, such as Weston (a favourite walk of Jane Austen) and Combe Down with its stone quarries and Jewish burial ground.

John Payne is the author of books on Catalonia and the English West Country. Born in Bath, he lives in Frome, Somerset.

We were delighted to welcome Peter back to Hunting Raven Books on Saturday 17 December.
Peter braved the December weather, signed copies of his book and relished the opportunity to chat about Charles Dickens with fascinated customers!

DICKENS’S LONDON by Peter Clark

Few novelists have written so intimately about a city in the way that Charles Dickens wrote about London. A near photographic memory made his contact with the city indelible from a very young age and it remained his constant focus. Dickens was drawn to the character of London itself, all aspects of the capital from the coaching inns of his early years to the taverns and watermen of the Thames; these were the constant cityscapes of his life and work.

Based on five walks through central London, Peter Clark illuminates the settings of Dickens’s greatest works, his life, his journalism and his fiction. He also explores ‘The First Suburbs’ (Camden Town, Chelsea, Greenwich, Hampstead, Highgate and Limehouse) as they feature in Dickens’s writing.

Peter Clark is a writer and translator. He worked for the British Council for many years, has translated novels from Arabic and is an authority on 19th century Britain.

Copies of Dickens’s London are available from Hunting Raven Books.

Foraging and ferreting out food for free is Caroline Pakenham’s passion. She has now passed on some of her favourite recipes that she has created in her kitchen at Rudge and put them into her first book MAKING JELLIED PRESERVES : FROM GARDEN AND HEDGEROW FRUIT

The book includes full colour photos to help you recognise hedgerow fruits, plus numerous recipes for fruits that you can gather from spring to autumn or buy from further afield, including:- Gooseberry with perfumed wild Elderflower jelly; Crab apple jelly; Seville orange jelly; Sloe jelly; Plum and Rosemary jelly; Claret and Sage jelly; Garlic and herb jellies; Elizabethan Quince Cream and Spiced cranberry with roasted orange jelly.  Also included are lots of ideas using your wonderful store of jellies in your cooking.

While Nick talked to customers, Harriet lovingly wrapped each signed book in specially printed tissue.

Nick arriving with our first delivery after cycling from Bristol!

We were delighted to welcome Nick Hand on Saturday 3 December
to meet customers and sign copies of his beautifully designed book
CONVERSATIONS ON THE COAST

Conversations on the Coast presents a selection of 20 stories and photography from the Slowcoast project. Graphic Designer and Photographer Nick Hand set off on his bicycle from Bristol in the summer of 2009 to cycle over 6000 miles around the coast of the British Isles.

The people he talked to along the way included weavers, boat builders, a stickmaker, bicycle mechanic, screen printer, cheese maker and tea taster. Conversations were recorded and edited as photofilms and uploaded from the saddle to the Slowcoast website, giving followers of the journey the chance to meet an inspirational group of people living and working around the coast of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Nick cycled from Bristol to Frome to personally deliver our first copies of this fascinating book!  We hear there may be another book being planned . . .