News

Last week the Publishers' Association revealed figures about UK book sales that showed a continuing encouraging trend, with a 5 per cent rise on the previous year. And non-fiction led the way in the consumer sector, generating £1.1bn, with fiction achieving £733m.

I think we've all noted how much we've been enjoying non-fiction titles in recent years. The quality of the writing, the production levels of the books and the range of subject matters have often left us better informed, hopeful and inspired to find out more about a particular topic. I hope that my non-fiction recommendations each week have helped you discover some pleasant surprises.

This weekend I attended the Aldeburgh Literary Festival and I came away feeling energised and delighted by the quality of the presentations by the authors, and fascinated by the information they shared - about subjects I knew nothing about beforehand. It means I've got additions to my reading piles, of course, but it's so exciting to have new worlds opened up. If you weren't able to attend, tickets to all the weekend's sessions are now available online here.

But do think about making the most of the events which are coming up in the next few weeks. It's lovely to have a full programme of festivals again.

There is a special Jubilee Celebration Week of talks and performances coming up in Southwold and I will be at the Arts Centre speaking to Stewart Ross about his new book 'Queen Elizabeth II for Dummies' on the evening of Wednesday 1 June. Later in the month, the Felixstowe Book Festival this year spans two sites with its range of author talks. There'll be more details about these festivals in the coming weeks, but look up the programmes and book ahead to avoid missing out!

Thank you for reading.

The first of the month and another Bank Holiday: here we are in May, and this year is flying by!

It's a long month, though, so we have five weeks to read our book group title and I've chosen something we can really get stuck into. Written by Sarah Winman, it's called 'Still Life' and I can't put it down, so it's nice to have a Bank Holiday to indulge myself. I hope you'll join me and put Monday 30 May in your diary to come along to our discussion.

We had a great time debating April's book 'Barcelona Dreaming' this week. If you weren't able to be there, or would like to raise some of the issues with the author, Rupert Thomson is visiting Ipswich later this year to speak at Suffolk Book League. You can find out more about the organisation, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, here.

Of course we're marking the Queen's Platinum Jubilee next month and a rather special anthology has been produced.

Published by Suffolk company Boydell & Brewer, 'A New Suffolk Garland' has been compiled by Mary and John James at Aldeburgh Bookshop with former publisher Dan Franklin and radio producer Elizabeth Burke. Please scroll down for more details about the book, and read my article about it in this month's issue of 'Suffolk' magazine.

They've been busy in Aldeburgh. It's the Literary Festival next weekend and there are still tickets available in another broad ranging and fascinating programme. Hope to see you there!

Thank you for reading.

It's been another week of beautiful weather but my desire to sit in the sun with a good book hasn't happened yet. Any time I've been able to spend outdoors has involved jobs in the garden, or admiring the view of the river! So my 'to be read' pile remains undiminished.

And this week I learned of another reading list!

This one marks the Queen's Jubilee where librarians, booksellers and 'literature experts' from 31 countries are celebrating great books from across the Commonwealth in a collection of 70 titles, ten for each decade of the Queen's reign.

The Big Jubilee Read includes “brilliant, beautiful and thrilling writing... shared stories that define our social and cultural heritage”.

Naturally the selection has been met with some differences of opinion but, although I'm rather overwhelmed at the thought of so many books which have passed me by, it is great to be introduced to some less familiar authors and works.

It will be interesting to see how the Platinum Jubilee celebrations are supported by literary endeavours in the coming weeks.

I hope soon to be able to tell you about the 'New Suffolk Garland', an anthology of writing from and about Suffolk which has been compiled by a team led by the Aldeburgh Bookshop, and published in honour of the Queen.

And at the beginning of June I'll be talking to the author of a book called 'Queen Elizabeth II for Dummies'. Although I tend to wince whenever I refer to the titles in this very popular and successful series of books, they are packed with facts and it will be interesting finding out more about the work that goes into creating them, and this title in particular.

More on those two next week but tomorrow we will be catching up on our reading over the past month as we meet to discuss 'Barcelona Dreaming' by Rupert Thomson. If you're planning on coming along, please reply by noon tomorrow to reserve your place and receive the details.

Thank you for reading

What a glorious weekend! I hope you've been able to enjoy the beautiful weather in the garden, beach or countryside! We've said it before, but it certainly lifts the spirits to have a bit of sunshine, and springtime is particularly special with all it promises for the year ahead.

We are certainly privileged to be able to enjoy a relaxing weekend when we listen to all that is happening around the world, and things certainly don't seem to be getting any better on many fronts. 

While my reading recommendations this week aren't particularly buoyant, they do speak into our current situation with some hope and positivity, I think, in keeping with the message of this Easter weekend.

For example, we may choose to ration our intake of news from the usual sources, but in 'We Are Bellingcat' we are encouraged to take better ownership of what information we receive, and are encouraged to interrogate it with authority and insight. It's very liberating and encouraging, I think.

And the children's book is all about having 'Too Much Stuff' - a great message for me this weekend as  I was forced to have a bit of a clear out, a spring clean!

Getting rid of things we don't need frees us up for new opportunities, not least some of the places we might go and people we might meet in the coming year.

Arts and literature festivals are in our diaries again and we begin next weekend with the INK Festival in Halesworth.

I have very happy memories of visiting The Cut arts centre and wandering from one studio to another to see a wonderful array of short plays on offer. After the two year gap, things are a little different this year - there are now stages all over the town! You can read more about it in my article here. Or take a look at the programme and book your ticket here. See you there?

But this month is flying by and it's time for a reminder of our forthcoming book group meeting. It's just a week away, so if you would like to come along to discuss 'Barcelona Dreaming' on Monday 25 April, please reply to this email and I'll send you the details.

Thank you for reading.

It's difficult to know how to respond to everything that is happening in the world today. The issues seem so great and it's easy to feel helpless. How can we halt the climate crisis? How can we get alongside the homeless and dispossessed? What can we do for the people of Ukraine?

The novelist Andrey Kurkov, 'Ukraine's greatest living author', was interviewed in the Guardian this week and was asked what we might be able to do to help Ukraine. His response was to recommend that we read non-fiction. 

"Find out more about Ukraine," he says. "Read about our history: Serhii Plokhy's 'The Gates of Europe', Anne Applebaum's 'Red Famine'; Timothy Snyder's 'Bloodlands'. It's really important to understand the difference between Russia and Ukraine. If you really want to know about Ukraine's history and why this is happening, read those books."

Fiction titles were harder for him to suggest as, he says, Ukrainian literature doesn't tend to have a universal message. Nevertheless he does make some suggestions, and his own novels 'Death and the Penguin' and 'Grey Bees' have sold in high numbers in recent weeks.

Although my recommended titles this week don't refer to Ukraine, they do shine some light on difficult situations - the wise and wry words of Margaret Atwood's essays address big subjects with authority and insight, while the children's book is a clever, funny and moving presentation of what it might be like to be homeless as a child. 

I was in the bookshop this week when someone picked up the book 'The Life of an MP: Everything you really need to know about politics" by Labour's Jess Phillips. The customer decided it would make the perfect gift for her Tory-voting father: "that's how we got into this mess," she said, "by not reading someone else's point of view". Whether or not we agree, it's good to read about different perspectives and experiences to our own.

Thank you for reading.