Author: Dan

Well it’s that time of year again. Time to think about what to get little Billy and Betty for Christmas. Time to find something that Great Aunt Maud and Uncle Toby will enjoy sitting in front of a good fire with a glass of sherry. Of course the answer is books! Once again we have a wide, varied selection of books that will make great presents (or a treat for yourself). Do pop in to the shop and have a browse. What’s more this coming Saturday we’ll be offering 10% off everything to celebrate Malvern’s Christmas lights switch on!

 

 

 

 

In grimmer news it’s been a bad few weeks for the reputation of Coops. The press has had a field day with the news of the shenanigans at Coop Bank and the wider Coop Group. It seems that the mutual structure is no protection against poor governance of big organisations. Perhaps the problem is size; when an organisation becomes too large to be understood by ‘average’ folk it opens the door to the unscrupulous to exploit it. Our small Coop is very easy to understand! Human scale enterprise has a place even amongst the mega-corps of today. If you’re interested perhaps a copy of Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful might be a good buy. We can order you one today!

Well what a weekend. The Books are my Bag launch was such a hoot. The shop was buzzing; everyone seems to love the bags! Thanks to everyone who visited. We still have bags that can be yours free when you spend £20 or more.

We also made loads of new Twitter friends over the weekend. You can keep up with us by following @malvernbookcoop

So as the autumn evenings draw in what will you all be reading. Suggestions for the best fireside books welcome!

We are all a teeny bit excited. This Saturday sees the launch of the Books are My Bag campaign. This is a nationwide celebration of book shops,books and everything bookish. You can find out more about the campaign by following them on twitter or on their web site, and Facebook page.

 

To mark this wonderful campaign’s start we’re having a bit of a do in the shop. All day on Saturday we’ll be in party mood and to help you feel the love there’ll be 10% off all books! Plus a free Books are my Bag bag (does that make sense?) on all purchases over £20.

We hope that the day will be a great way to kick off our Autumn events programme. There’s a lot in it! You can find a listing of all the events here.

And finally to get you in the book love mood here’s a lovely song by the fabulous Bookshop Band!

A great recent ‘tradition’ in Malvern is the annual floral shop window display competition. We won a ‘highly commended’ award for our map themed display! Making shop displays wasn’t one of the skills we guessed we’d develop when we set the shop up!

 

 

 

If you’re wondering OS sheet 150 is our local map. You can buy it in the shop!

 

 

 

And inside the shop we have a display of maps and guides to inspire walkers!

We are very excited to be hosting the launch of Pauline Conolly’s new book “The Water Doctor’s Daughters”. The book tells the remarkable story of Malvern’s Dr Marsden, his daughters and their governess. The tale is a baffling and intriguing with its links to some of the most famous people of the age. You can find out more about the book on Pauline’s beautiful web site.

On the 23rd March at 2pm Pauline will be talking about her book and signing copies at the Morgan Bar of the Foley Arms. Local Historian Cora Weaver will also be speaking at the event.

We are so happy to be involved with the launch of this fantastic book not just because of its local links but because of the fascinating story it tells and Pauline’s beautiful story telling.

We have been working hard to get together a programme of events that we hope will be entertaining, informative, thought provoking, and fun. (Perhaps Jill Bray’s talk will finally clear up my uncertainty about the use of the Oxford Comma!) The detailed list is on the Events Page so do have a look. As usual you can book in person at the shop, by phone or email us at enquiries (at) malvernbook (dot) coop

Tonight’s (18th Jan) poets’ showcase has been cancelled due to us being wusses and not wanting to get all cold and stuck in 15 foot high snowdrifts. We will be arranging a new date soon so do keep an eye out for that.

Keep warm folks.

Happy New Year from your local book coop!

If Father Christmas didn’t bring you the books you wanted we may have them for you in our sale. We have some great offers on books, puzzles and ephemera. And of course we can help you spend the book tokens Great Uncle Henry sent you.

It’s going to be an interesting year for independent retail businesses. Only today the Guardian has a piece on how to spot fake independents. We can guarantee that we are really independent, owned by local people and not fake in any way.

This will be our first Christmas and we hope to make it a special one. As I write our busy elves are transforming the shop window into a festive masterpiece. We have a wide range of new books in stock with many recent titles on sale at discounted prices. We also have a small range of jigsaws, games and gifts for book-lovers. We’re pretty sure you can find a present for everyone from Cousin Andy to Great Aunt Zelda (and a few books you’d like youself if Father Christmas somehow manges not to come up trumps this year).

On Saturday the 1st December we will be open late and to mark the switching on of the Christmas lights we’ll be offering anyone spending over £10 a free drink.

Of course we’ll have our usual range of carefully selected books in stock, Helen’s delicious cakes and the best coffee in Malvern.

All that from a community owned shop that pays every penny it owes in tax!