Life After Life

in
Not only is this the winner of the Costa award - it is also a very good read and a remarkable book! My first impressions were that the book is like a cross between Groundhog Day and Sliding Doors - and so it is! But Life after Life is so much more, it's the story of a girl who somehow can live her life over again and by changing small details manage to change major events, not necessarily to history, but to her own life, and those close to her - but some things are too difficult to change no matter how many times you try.  

Books of the month for April

Bernardine Evaristo – Mr Loverman General Fiction: Bernardine Evaristo – Mr Loverman
French Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he's lived in Hackney since the sixties. Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather – but he is also secretly homosexual, lovers with his great childhood friend, Morris.
M. R. C. Kasasian – The Mangle Street Murders British Crime: M. R. C. Kasasian – The Mangle Street Murders
Set in a London still haunted by the spectre of the infamous Spring-heeled Jack, The Mangle Street Murders is for those who like their crime original, atmospheric, and very, very funny.
Sean Doolittle – Rain Dogs

Tough Crime: Sean Doolittle – Rain Dogs
It was one hell of an inheritance for former Chicago reporter Tom Coleman: a broken-down pickup truck, ramshackle campground, a canoe livery—and one pot-smoking, barely working employee he doesn’t need, doesn’t want, and can’t afford. But the truth is, after losing a child and a marriage, Tom doesn’t really care. And life is nice and quiet in the middle of nowhere. Until a drug lab blows up near his property—putting Tom in contact with the woman he once loved…

Ivo Stourton – The Happier Dead

Science Fiction: Ivo Stourton – The Happier Dead
The Great Spa sits on the edge of London, a structure visible from space. The power of Britain on the world stage rests in its monopoly on "The Treatment", a medical procedure which can transform the richest and most powerful into a state of permanent physical youth. The Great Spa is the place where the newly young immortals go to revitalise their aged souls. In this most important and secure of facilities, a murder of one of the guests threatens to destabilise the new order, and DCI Oates of the Metrolpolitan police is called in to investigate…

Paul Kearney – Different Kingdom

Fantasy: Paul Kearney – Different Kingdom
Michael Fay is a normal boy, living with his grandparents on their family farm in rural Ireland. In the woods there are wolves; and other things, dangerous things. He doesn&'t tell his family, not even his Aunt Rose, his closest friend. And then, as Michael wanders through the trees, he finds himself in the Other Place. There are strange people, and monsters, and a girl called Cat.

When the wolves follow him from the Other Place to his family's doorstep, Michael must choose between locking the doors and looking away; or following Cat on an adventure that may take an entire lifetime in the Other Place…

E. L. Tettenstor – Darkwalker (Nicolas Lenoir #1) Paranormal/Urban Fantasy: E. L. Tettenstor – Darkwalker (Nicolas Lenoir #1)
He used to be the best detective on the job. Until he became the hunted...
Once a legendary police inspector, Nicolas Lenoir is now a disillusioned and broken man who spends his days going through the motions and his evenings drinking away the nightmares of his past. Ten years ago, Lenoir barely escaped the grasp of the Darkwalker, a vengeful spirit who demands a terrible toll on those who have offended the dead. But the Darkwalker does not give up on his prey so easily, and Lenoir has always known his debt would come due one day.

Jane Austen – Persuasion

Classic of the Month: Jane Austen – Persuasion
She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older’

At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen’s last completed novel.

Ned Vizzini – Other Normals Teen reading: Ned Vizzini – Other Normals
Given the chance, fifteen-year-old Peregrine "Perry" Eckert would dedicate every waking moment to Creatures & Caverns, an epic role-playing game rich with magical creatures, spell casting, and deadly weapons. The world of C&C is where he feels most comfortable in his own skin. But that isn't happening—not if his parents have anything to do with it. Concerned their son lacks social skills, they ship him off to summer camp to become a man. They want him to be outdoors playing with kids his own age and meeting girls—rather than indoors alone, with only his gaming alter ego for company. Perry knows he's in for the worst summer of his life…

Storytelling for Children – Saturday 5th April, Uppsala

A ballarina with big feet and a T-rex that needs clean teeth!
How can you resist?

Come to story time at the English Bookshop!
11 o'clock, 5th April 2014 in Uppsala.

  • Belinda the Ballerina by Amy Young
  • Down at the Dino Wash Deluxe by Tim Myers and Macky Pamintuan

Belinda the Ballerina by Amy Young Down at the Dino Wash Deluxe by Tim Myers and Macky Pamintuan

Doctor Who Evening on April 10th!

Doctor Who Night at The Uppsala English Bookshop, 20140410

Yes! It IS time to properly announce our fifth bianual Doctor Who Evening on April 10th!

We're shooting for doing this event at the shop, so seating is limited, make sure you book and pay for your tickets in good time. Our special guest this time is Doctor Who animation expert Niel Bushnell.

There WILL be a traditional dress up competition with prizes. And traditional Who-themed fika. And, well, cool things in general! So - want to come?

Doctor Who in the bookshop
Download the Doctor Who poster

Missing You

in

Harlan Coben; Missing YouTo me, spring hasn't really arrived until I have managed to get my paws on the latest Harlan Coben standalone. This has become a ritual of some ten odds years: me reading Coben while watching the White Witch slowly yet mercilessly thawing.

Sherlock evening in Stockholm - Thursday March 27


The game is afoot - Sherlock Evening at the Stockholm shop

Join us for an evening of Sherlockian interest and discussions in the Stockholm shop.

Morgan MalmMorgan Malm, one of Sweden’s foremost experts on Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle will give a talk entitled ”May I Marry Sherlock Holmes?”, there will be all sorts of books and merchandise on display and for sale, not to mention that there will also be tea and cake.

When?  Thursday the 27th of March, 7 pm
Where?  The English Bookshop, Lilla Nygatan 11, Gamla stan
How much? 60 kr. Limited space, book your seat in advance!
Why?  Elementary, dear reader; because you know you want to!

Seats are rapidly filling up, email us at stockholm@bookshop.se today to book a seat (or to be placed on the reserve list if the event fills up).

The Girl With All the Gifts at the Uppsala Comix Fair

in

The Girl With All the Gifts;  M. R. CareyOn Sunday you can come to Uppsala Comix and meet Mike Carey – author of the wonderful Felix Castor novels, the fantasy novel City of Silk and Steel and the new tremendously exciting novel The Girl With All the Gifts (Stina LOVES it!). We will have all his novels on display (and other goodies) and you can get them signed!

We will be on The Uppsala Comix Fair and there will be TWO signings during the Sunday.  Don't miss this. You can get your tickets in our shop.

Storytelling for Children – Saturday 22nd March, Uppsala

Storytelling for Children, The English Bookshop

Jack and Jill went up a hill, to fetch a pail of water. But what are they doing with that brown paper? Meanwhile Lulu is snuggled up on the sofa reading a story. Sounds much nicer.

Come and hear stories at the English Bookshop, 11 o'clock, Saturday 22nd March, Uppsala.

  • Jack and Jill by Kate Willis-Crowley
  • Lulu reads to Zeki by Anna McQuinn and Rosalind Beardshaw

Jack and Jill by Kate Willis-Crowley Lulu reads to Zeki by Anna McQuinn and Rosalind Beardshaw

The Natural History of Zombies

How to Make a Zombie by Frank SwainZombies have eaten their way into our brains. From the halloween party at your neighbour's to the plots of major Hollywood features, they've become part of our culture.

Books of the month for March

General Fiction: Lea Carpenter – Eleven Days
Eleven Days is, at its heart, the story of a mother and a son.It begins in May 2011: Sara's son Jason has been missing for nine days in the aftermath of a special operations forces mission. Out of devotion to him, Sara has made herself knowledgeable about things military, but she knows nothing more about her son's disappearance than the press corps camped out in her driveway.

British Crime: James Oswald – The Hangman's Song (Inspector McLean #3)
The body of a man is founding hanging in an empty house. To the Edinburgh police force this appears to be a simple suicide case. Days later another body is found. The body is hanging from an identical rope and the noose has been tied using the same knot.Then a third body is found. As McLean digs deeper he descends into a world where the lines of reality are blurred and that the most irrational answers become the only explanations.

Tough Crime: Keith Thompson – 7 Grams of Lead
Russ Thornton is a hard-hitting journalist known for his ability to take on big targets in government and in business. An old flame, now a Capitol Hill staffer, contacts him out of the blue wanting to disclose some top-secret information. But she is gunned down in cold blood, right in front of him. Worse, the killers are concerned about what Thornton knows, and who he may tell. He finds himself in a game of cat-and-mouse, where the stakes are life and death and the surveillance technology is so sophisticated that he wouldn’t believe it existed—if it weren't implanted in his own head.

Fantasy: Nnedi Okorafor – Who Fears Death
In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means "Who Fears Death?" in an ancient African tongue.

Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny-to end the genocide of her people. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture-and eventually death itself.

Science Fiction: Dave Hutchinson – Europe in Autumn
Rudi is a cook in a Kraków restaurant, but when his boss asks Rudi to help a cousin escape from the country he’s trapped in, a new career - partspy, part people-smuggler - begins.

Following multiple economic crises and a devastating flu pandemic, Europe has fractured into countless tiny nations, duchies, polities and republics. Recruited by the shadowy organisation Les Coureurs des Bois, Rudi is schooled in espionage, but when a training mission to The Line, a sovereign nation consisting of a trans-Europe railway line, goes wrong, he is arrested, beaten and Coureur Central must attempt a rescue.

Paranormal/Urban Fantasy: Lisa Shearin – Grendel Affair
We’re Supernatural Protection & Investigations, known as SPI. Things that go bump in the night, the monsters you thought didn’t exist? We battle them and keep you safe. But some supernatural baddies are just too big to contain, even for us…

Teen reading: George Orwell – 1984
The dystopian novel by George Orwell, written in 1949 but eerie relevant today.
Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent – even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101…

Classic of the Month: Edith Nesbit – Five Children & It
The original story from 1902 by classic British author E Nesbit.
When Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother go digging in the gravel pit, the last thing they expect to find is a Psammead - an ancient Sand-fairy! Having a Sand-fairy for a pet means having one wish granted each day. But the children don't realize all the trouble wishes can cause…

Lea Carpenter – Eleven Days James Oswald – The Hangman's Song (Inspector McLean #3) Keith Thompson – 7 Grams of Lead Dave Hutchinson – Europe in Autumn Nnedi Okorafor – Who Fears Death  Lisa Shearin – Grendel Affair Edith Nesbit – Five Children & It George Orwell – 1984