Hello booklovers,

On Tuesday May 5th, at 7.30pm (British time) the Felixstowe Book Festival Book Group will meet on Zoom, as we feel this will give everyone the chance to participate.

As always, anyone is welcome to join us, so please feel free to forward this invite. We will be discussing The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. It’s a wonderful book, and if you haven’t started it yet you still have a week!

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For those new to Zoom here are a few guidelines:

1. You do not need to have a Zoom account to join this meeting, but you do need to use the meeting ID. Either click the link below or manually enter: 890 4887 0113

2. Zoom will need to add some software or an app to your device if you have not previously used Zoom.

3. Please provide your name as you log in. This will be shown to everyone in the meeting.

4. At the bottom left corner of your screen you will find the ‘mute’ and ‘stop video’ buttons. It will be nice to see everyone, but please mute yourself initially.

6. Ruth and Liz will kick off the discussion, and anyone who wants to speak can be `unmuted’.

7. You can indicate you want to speak by pressing the `raise hand` button or by alerting us in the comments box.

We are very much looking forward to seeing you, so please join us!

Best wishes,

Ruth & Liz

See below for the invite and meeting ID:

INVITE 

 

RUTH DUGDALL is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: FELIXSTOWE BOOK FESTIVAL BOOK GROUP / THE GIVER OF STARS

Time: May 5, 2020 07:30 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89048870113

Meeting ID: 890 4887 0113

Hello booklovers,

Wishing you all a very happy Friday! How are you all? I hope you are all coping with the strangeness of lockdown life and that books are proving a tonic to any stress or anxiety you may be feeling about the current situation. I am certainly indulging in whiling away the hours with some good books. I have treated myself to a reread of Jane Eyre and Little Women as well as trying out the excellent An American Marriage by Tayari Jones amongst other absorbing books. What are you reading at the moment? We would love to hear about your current lockdown reads.

If you are struggling for inspiration then we have the solution! Over the past few weeks here at the Felixstowe Book Festival we have been compiling reading lists based on our 2020 festival programme. So far we have enjoyed biographies, literary histories and a wonderful selection of children’s books.

This week we bring you some truly excellent crime novels inspired by three festival guests: Kate Rhodes, Louise Millar and Harriet Tyce will be part of our ‘Twist in the Tale’ Crime Panel at this year’s festival.

First on our list we have the Hell Bay series by Kate Rhodes. Set on the beautiful Isles of Scilly, the series so far compromises of four books (yes four!) including Hell Bay, Ruin Beach, Burnt Island and Pulpit Rock. Scillonian D.I. Ben Kitto returns home after ten years spent working in London. His hopes for rest and relaxation are marred when it is revealed that the Isles are rife with crime. These expertly plotted and totally absorbing stories are well worth getting your teeth into!

Next up we are thrilled to bring you City of Strangers by Louise Millar. It follows the story of a newly married couple who return from their honeymoon to find a dead body amongst their wedding presents. Unable to ID the body, the victim is passed off as a burglar who died of natural causes… but thanks to some evidence concealed deep beneath their apartment, it turns out this may not actually be the case.

Last but not least, any crime fans out there will certainly enjoy Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce. Alison is a young and successful lawyer with a loving husband and beautiful daughter. To top it all off, she has just been given her first murder case to defend. Thanks to a potent cocktail of alcohol, secrets and lies, her perfect life descends into a downward spiral and all is not as it seems.

I don’t know about you but I am now on the edge of my seat – I can’t wait to get my teeth into some brilliant crime fiction.

Hope you have been inspired by this week’s reading recommendations.

Don’t forget to use the services of our lovely local independent bookshops to get hold of these bookish goodies. Read on for a reminder of the services they offer…

Stillwater Books: to order books email stillwaterbooksfelixstowe@yahoo.co.uk or phone 07805132405. Books can be posted or delivered locally.

Treasure Chest Books:  make enquiries via email bottsbooks@btinternet.com, offering postal deliveries.

Bookish best,

Imogen and the Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

By now I think it is certainly a truth universally acknowledged that in times of crisis books are an absolute tonic. Escaping from incessant news, notifications, emails and phone is essential and what better way to do so than by escaping into a good book? Reading for pleasure is proven to be linked to reducing stress and depression, as well as improving literacy and sleeping patterns. At a time when we are spending more and more time alone, reading provides crucial connections to other worlds and other lives.

Our friends at the Reading Agency work all year round to encourage universal reading for pleasure, including through events such as World Book Night, an annual celebration of reading. Every year the Reading Agency work closely with lots of different publishers to compile a list of books to share of all different types of genres and suitable for all sorts of different tastes. Many of these books are available both in print and in digital formats, including titles such as The Salt Path by Raynor Winn and East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman. Take a look at the full booklist here. 

This year’s World Book Night has to be slightly different, for obvious reasons. With that in mind, the Reading Agency cordially invites us all to the World Book Night Reading Hour. Join a world of readers at 7pm this evening for an hour of reading: it can be to yourself, to your children, your partner, your pet… just spend an hour delighting in literature! A fantastic way to spend the evening, wouldn’t you agree?

Hope you are all taking care and looking after yourselves dear booklovers. Keep your eyes peeled for our next reading recommendations list! Wishing you all a very happy World Book Night!

Bookish best,

Imogen and the Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

Hope you had a wonderful Easter! The sun shone and the birds sang which, despite everything, made for a wonderful weekend. We hope you enjoyed last week’s reading recommendations which were inspired by our 2020 children’s programme. This week we are bringing you even more wonderful children’s book recommendations! Read on to find out more…

Feeling a bit down? Lockdown leaving you needing a bit of cheering up? Fear not – fantastically funny author Mark Lowery is on the case! Author of the hilarious The Jam Doughnut that Ruined my Life, Eating Chips with Monkey and many more, Mark’s brilliant books are likely to raise a smile on even the most glum of days.

For environmentally conscious kids, we know you will love Just One Child by local author Debbie Bartlett. This beautiful tale, which links fact with fiction and features some recognisable Felixstowe sites on its pages, emphasises how the smallest of individual actions can make the world of difference. An inspiring read for parents and children alike, with lovely illustrations and a powerful message.

Now we have something for our youngest festival guests. Raise your hand if you have a favourite teddy who goes with you everywhere? Well here we have a special recommendation for you teddy-loving little one in the form of Things I Love by Bear by the lovely Susie Linn. Throughout this fun picture book Bear takes us through all the things they love doing and invite us to do the same too! This is a fun and interactive story that is a pleasure to read together.

We hope that you have enjoyed this week’s reading recommendations – don’t forget that, whilst the doors of shops are closed, we are lucky enough to have some great local independent book shops who are taking orders and offering delivery.

Stillwater Books: to order books email stillwaterbooksfelixstowe@yahoo.co.uk or phone 07805132405. Books can be posted or delivered locally.

Treasure Chest Books:  make enquiries via email bottsbooks@btinternet.com, offering postal deliveries.

Keep your eyes peeled next week for the next reading list! Take care everyone.

Bookish best,

Imogen and the Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

The sun is shining and the birds are singing – despite not being able to enjoy such sights as usual, they can still be savoured from the great indoors whilst enjoying a good book. The next few weeks would normally be part of the Easter holidays but, as with everything, this year is proving to be an exception… but it is still a good opportunity for young readers to get their teeth into some fabulous fiction!

We are therefore delighted to base the next few weeks’ reading list on our fantastic children’s programme. Read on to find out more!

For readers who enjoy a good mystery sprinkled with ghosts and corruption look not further than the wonderful Sophie Green’s Potkin and Stubbs trilogy. Wannabee journalist Lil Potkin, armed with trademark yellow mac and reporter’s notebook, is joined by pal Nedly Stubbs in a quest through the twisting, turning underworld of Peligan City. Prepare to be totally absorbed into the nail-bitingly brilliant events that follow…. If you enjoy reading Potkin and Stubbs, get your mitts on a copy of book no. 2, The Haunting of Peligan City and book no. 3 Ghostcatcher. Plenty for voracious readers to get stuck into here!

If you like what you read, you may also enjoy The Windsinger by William Nicholson. Why not try The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart?

There is plenty more intrigue and adventure to be found in The Butterfly Circus by Francesca Armour-Chelu. Following the life of young trapeze artist Tansy and her sister Belle, we are welcomed into the magical yet sinister world of the Butterfly Circus. As dramatic events unfold, it is up to Tansy to face her many fears and, with the help from her shadow, realise that she is stronger than she thinks. Prepare yourself for plenty of intrigue, danger and bravery.

Fans of Francesca Armour-Chelu might also like to give Inkheart by Cornelia Funkea go. Or how about Katherine Rundell’s The Explorer?

We hope you are enjoying our recommendations – look out for more based on our fabulous children’s programme in next week’s reading list. Don’t forget to use the services of our lovely local independent bookshops to get hold of these bookish goodies. Read on for a reminder of the services they offer…

Stillwater Books: to order books email stillwaterbooksfelixstowe@yahoo.co.uk or phone 07805132405. Books can be posted or delivered locally.

Treasure Chest Books:  make enquiries via email bottsbooks@btinternet.com, offering postal deliveries.

We hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.

Bookish best,

Imogen and the festival team x

Hello booklovers,

And so we beat on, boats against the current of normal life, borne back ceaselessly into the past with no cafés or shops or museums or galleries… but what we do have is books! I hope you enjoyed our biography reading recommendations from earlier in the week, take a peek here if you missed them: https://felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/6909/fbf-ultimate-reading-recommendations

Just as a recap, in a bit to beat isolation desperation, we are hoping here at the FbF to inject some light into your lives through reading lists based on our 2020 programme. Have you had a good look at it yet? Have a butchers and follow these links to get the full gammet of what we’ve got on offer: https://felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/events/categories/adult-programme , https://felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/events/categories/workshops and https://felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/events/categories/young-people

Now onto this week’s ultimate reading recommendation: we’re focussing on Literary Histories!

First up, why not dive into the fascinating Faber and Faber: The Untold Story. Published to celebrate the 90th birthday of the publishing house, Toby Faber takes us on a fascinating archival journey through the story of this iconic publishing house which has brought so many different names to our bookshelves and our libraries over the course of the 20th and 21st century. Crammed with diary entries, letters and other documents, this will prove to be a truly fascinating read to get your teeth into.

Toby will be in conversation with festival favourite and Faber author, Nicola Upson. This may be a good opportunity to see if you can get your hands on one of Nicola’s Josephine Tey Mystery series, also published by Faber.

For another foray into the history of literature, A History of Britain through Books: 1900-1964 by Christopher Tugendhat is well worth a read. Christopher examines a tumultuous century through the books that were published during it, a fascinating way to look at world events which will make for a riveting and educational read.  You may get some literary inspiration from the books that mark moments of twentieth century history – how about getting stuck into The Lord of the Flies or A Room of One’s Own as a bit of isolation reading?

Last but not least, for a slightly different type of literary history, have you had a look at This Golden Fleece: A Journey through Britain’s Knitted History by Esther Rutter? A lifelong knitter, spinner and weaver who grew up on a Suffolk sheep farm, Esther takes us on a journey that shows us the role of wool and craft in shaping our society.

Esther’s brilliant book may well inspire you to dig out your knitting needles, crochet hooks and all manner of wooly wonders – it may be worth seeking out one of the many multitudes of craft books, filled to the brim with fascinating projects and ways to hone our crafty skills.

That’s all for today folks – I hope you have enjoyed today’s selections and maybe try and get your hands on some of our recommended titles.

Bookish best,

Imogen and the Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

How are you all faring? Here at festival HQ we are all trundling along fairly well. The only benefit of this social distancing business appears to be copious amounts of time to spend up to our eyeballs in delicious books. I have just finished the glorious latest instalment from Elly Griffiths in the Dr. Ruth Galloway series The Lantern Men (you won’t be disappointed!) and am currently tucking into some gorgeous new children’s literature.

As we spend more and more time at home, it is highly likely that our carefully selected stocks of books will become slightly dilapidated. I personally seem to be churning through stories like a high speed train, so am looking for further inspiration. If you find yourself in a similar predicament, we may have a solution for you.

Inspired by our fantastic 2020 festival programme which we launched earlier this month, we have a whole host of literary suggestions for you to try out which we will treat you to in various instalments over the coming weeks.

Drum roll please… our first reading recommendations of 2020 will be based on… biography!

Any fans of crime fiction out there? Any wannabe Tommies and Tuppences, dying to know the secrets behind the life of the Queen of crime? Look no further than Laura Thompson’s magnificent biography of the one and only Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life. Even better, Laura’s excellent work has been updated and reissued in celebration of the centenary of the publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the very first tale in the Hercule Poirot series.

A read of A Mysterious Life may also inspire crime connoisseurs to revisit some Christie classics. How about giving The Sittaford Mystery a go? Why not use this time to start the Miss Marple series from the beginning, with The Murder at the Vicarage?

From one phenomenal female writer to another, we move on to the life and work of the youngest Brontë sister, Ann. Brontë expert Nick Holland’s  biography, Crave the Rose: Ann Brontë at 200, examines the life of one of the most overlooked members of an astounding literary trio. A fitting celebration of Ann’s 200th birthday, Nick delves deep into the somewhat unknown life of a woman who was extremely talented in her own right.

Have you read any of Ann’s novels? Why not try Agnes Grey or (my personal favourite) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall?

If you fancy anything that we suggest then we implore you to make use of the fantastic independent book shops that we have in Felixstowe. Look below for contact details:

Stillwater Books: to order books email stillwaterbooksfelixstowe@yahoo.co.uk or phone 07805132405. Books can be posted or delivered locally.

Treasure Chest Books:  make enquiries via email bottsbooks@btinternet.com, offering postal deliveries.

Keep your eyes peeled on the website for our next recommended reads list and do take care of yourselves!

Bookish best,

Imogen and the Festival Team x

Hello booklovers,

We are all taking life day by day at the moment and amidst this uncertainty it is quite uplifting to think about fun things to come. We are thrilled with your response to the release of our 2020 Festival Programme, thank you as ever for your support. In that same spirit, send out the fanfares! We are delighted to announce the launch of the 2020 Felixstowe Book Festival Children’s Programme!

For your delight and delectation, have a perusal on our website for some literary inspiration for your little ones – follow this link to find out more: https://felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/events/categories/young-people . Feast your eyes on our wonderfully varied programme, packed with creativity, craft and lots and lots of fun!

“Access to books and the encouragement of the habit of reading: these two things are the first and most necessary steps in education and librarians, teachers and parents all over the country know it. It is our children’s right and it is also our best hope and their best hope for the future.” –Michael Morpurgo

Here at the Felixstowe Book Festival, this is exactly what we intend to do. More than ever we must look to the future and all the challenges and joys that it will reap.

Enjoy perusing our fantastic 2020 Children’s Programme dear booklovers. After last year’s success, we can’t wait to welcome you and your children back to our festival.

Bookish best,

The Felixstowe Book Festival Team x