Peppard writer’s inspirational love letter

Round & About

bookshop

Peppard writer Glenn Bryant has just published his first novel available now in The Bell Bookshop in Henley and Fourbears Books in Caversham

What would you do to survive if you were suddenly arrested in your own home? That’s the question posed by local author Glenn Bryant in his debut novel, Darkness Does Not Come At Once.

Four years ago he began writing inspired by a lifelong interest in the Holocaust and the question: how could ordinary people do something, in the worst sense beyond imagination, so extraordinary? Glenn learnt specifically how people with disabilities were targeted and says he knew he always wanted to write about that in this psychological thriller set on the edge of Berlin, 85 years ago.

He explains: “That deeper societal question was my motivation. My inspiration was Juliet, my wife, who has a spinal cord injury and a level of paralysis. We’re so happy together. My novel, at its heart, is simply a love letter to her.”

A “love letter” which on many occasions Juliet was unaware Glenn was writing as he would take to his keyboard first thing in the morning while she was still sleeping.

“Setting out to write a book is a commitment. It’s unavoidable. But… You can commit to it on your terms. I wrote three days a week: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the days I wasn’t working,” he says. “I was most interested in how many words I had written. I was aiming for 1,000 a day. From my document history, I can see I was writing a touch over 10,000 words a month. And in eight months, I had reached 85,000 words and the end of a first draft. Then the hard work starts.”

But having always wanted to write since he was a teenager he wasn’t deterred by rejections and knock backs from publishers and literary agents despite constantly asking himself “is your work ever going to see the light of day?”

Glenn adds: “You’re really on your own, and you feel it, so you have to be your own life coach and therapist too, and pick yourself up from the lows. But once I was through those moments, I pretty much loved the whole experience. I’m at the beginning of my journey as an author.”

And while he has plans for no more at this stage and is 100 per cent focused on this first work, he concedes: “I’m sure I will one day. You just need that gem of an idea to lodge in your head and I will be away, starting all over again with a blank Word document.”

Join Glenn for a relaxed Q&A style talk about the book on Friday 7th June, 7pm-8pm at Fourbears Books, 20 Prospect Street, Caversham. Enjoy free entry and complimentary wine when you get there.

The door to dreams

Karen Neville

bookshop

Stepping into a bookshop is like catching up with an old friend, the familiarity and love come flooding back and yet you just know there will be something new to discover. Karen Neville invites you to step inside these independent havens of literature…

As a child I loved pushing open the big wooden door on the bookshop in the town where I grew up to be greeted by an Aladdin’s cave of words wrapped in colourful covers.

There was a whole world waiting to be discovered that ate up much of my pocket and birthday money. The delight I felt when collecting the special copy of Ballet Shoes I’d ordered and handing the assistant the piece of paper with the details felt like I was joining a very special club – the bookshop club.

Sadly that shop is no longer but fortunately for all of us bibliophiles according to the Booksellers Association at the end of 2022 there were 1,072 independent bookshops sharing the love I treasured.

The dream of running a bookshop is a popularly held one and for Alex Forbes it came true in 2020 with the name Fourbears coming from a nickname. They host a wide range of events, book clubs and writing clubs and are happy to chat all day long about books. So be warned, there’s no such thing as just popping into Fourbears in Caversham. Their book subscription service is the perfect gift for the book lover in your life or just a regular treat for yourself. Look out for Fourbears Fest, May 17th to 19th, the first Reading and Caversham Book Festival featuring a range of events for adults and children in multiple venues.

RISC World Shop in the fairtrade shop in London Street, Reading, focuses on sustainable living, human rights, climate change and green living and their selection is carefully curated and ever-evolving and features many of the local interest titles published by Reading star Two Rivers Press. They typically sell books on politics, economics, sustainability, gender, human rights, world fiction, children’s books, gardening, cooking, places, black issues, women, feminism, lbtgq+, local interest development, school books as well as publishing their own titles for schools.

Even the most hard to please reader will find something among the more than 20,000 books adorning the shelves of The Bell Bookshop, Henley. Find hidden gems among the paperbacks, hardbacks and classics, biographies, travel guides, cookery, history, children’s and many many more. This destination bookshop has been feeding the appetite of book lovers around Henley and beyond since 1966 with the shop itself dating back to the 18th century – I’ll bet it has some stories to tell.

You’ll probably recognise Roald Dahl’s Matilda outside The Book House, Thame which has a fascinating story behind it, as does Fat Puffin, a gift from Puffin Books to mark the opening in 1972 as one of the first specialist children’s books in the country – he could write a book about his ‘adventures’ since he’s been standing sentry. Through the shop discover the bookshop’s very own ‘secret garden’, take a seat and dip into your new book. Books range from first books for babies to young adult reads while adults aren’t forgotten with more than enough to sate their appetites too.

Here’s a bookshop with a difference, Newbury Bookshelf is a mobile shop which pops up at Newbury Market on Thursdays and Saturdays and Thatcham market on Fridays. Creator Emily had always wanted to have her own bookshop having worked in one while at uni and has turned her dream into a reality thanks to her innovative approach. Pick her brain for recommendations and you won’t be disappointed, just look out for the blue canopy.

Hungerford Bookshop has attracted such literary luminaries as Robert Harris, Alexander McCall Smith, Sebastian Faulks and Gill Hornby to their events and this month will be enjoying crime and wine with Adele Parks (3rd) and fizz and fiction with Georgina Moore and Becky Hunter on the 24th. All their books are hand-picked with care, and they love to recommend their favourite titles. Come and have a browse including in the basement where you’ll find an impressive array of secondhand and antiquarian books. Join the book subscription service and benefit from their expertise choosing books based on the recipient’s reading tastes or preferred genres.

Founded more than 75 years ago, White Horse Bookshop still operates from its original site in Marlborough where it opened its doors in 1949. Alongside the thousands of titles that line the shelves they also have an extensive art department stocking all manner of materials, run one day art workshops, hold exhibitions and talks in the White Horse Gallery at the rear of the premises.

As author Evie Woods writes in her novel The Lost Bookshop: “The thing about books… is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.”

Show your support for independent bookshops in Independent Bookshop Week, June 15th to 22nd, part of the Books Are My Bag campaign, an annual celebration of independent bookshops nationwide, and the role they play in their communities.

The door to dreams

Karen Neville

bookshop

Stepping into a bookshop is like catching up with an old friend, the familiarity and love come flooding back and yet you just know there will be something new to discover. Karen Neville invites you to step inside these independent havens of literature…

As a child I loved pushing open the big wooden door on the bookshop in the town where I grew up to be greeted by an Aladdin’s cave of words wrapped in colourful covers.

There was a whole world waiting to be discovered that ate up much of my pocket and birthday money. The delight I felt when collecting the special copy of Ballet Shoes I’d ordered and handing the assistant the piece of paper with the details felt like I was joining an exclusive club – the bookshop club.

Sadly that shop is no longer but fortunately for all of us bibliophiles according to the Booksellers Association at the end of 2022 there were 1,072 independent bookshops sharing the love I treasured.

Caper in Magdalen Road is an independent family bookshop with a difference – as well as wonderful books for children and a great selection for grown ups, it’s also an activity and event space full of quirky things to play with. Among the activities on offer are toddler art classes, cooking classes for kids and events for grown ups such as poetry and writing workshops.

Specialising in rare and secondhand books in the humanities, St Philip’s Books in St Aldates stocks works of theology, history, literature, philosophy, art, classics and antiquarian. Particular interests include Roman Catholic books, John Henry Newman and the Oxford Movement, CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, Eastern Christianity, patristics, medieval studies, Biblical studies and Christian spirituality. They have over 10,000 books in stock and are always interested in buying.

The Book Stop in Magdalen Street and Last Bookshop, Walton Street, are both part of Bill & Ben Books. They specialise in remainders, returns and samples, office copies and overstocks of books to which they give a second life, so expect to find gems and oddities on their shelves.

Summertown is home to Daunt Books, an independent bookseller with a special emphasis on travel and world literature, with a wide range of stock and an extensive children’s section as well as gift wrap, handy if shopping for presents.

Good books and good customer service were the ambition of Jaffe & Neale in Chipping Norton when they opened in 2006 and in 2024, they are going strong with that same ethos. Having fulfilled that dream, owners Patrick Neale and Polly Jaffe realised the second part of their vision with the opening of a café as a hub for the community surrounded by books. They invite you to grab a table and a good book and tuck into a cappuccino or mint tea and locally baked cake. They also stock a range of gifts, cards and stationery.

Book-Bar evenings, signings and a book club are all features of The Madhatter Bookshop in Burford which aims to be a community hub for “all things literary, arty and anything else you want it to be”. You are welcomed  to wonderland “to help make your adventures happen, to make you smile, to make you cry, to educate you, to amuse you, to comfort you and to enlighten you, to shock you, to soothe you… just add a little imagination and the wonders of the written word”. Enough said!

If you’re looking for children’s books then Woodstock Bookshop has shelves packed with them, about a quarter of their stock caters for younger readers with the rest a selection of the best recent reads. The bookshop opened in 2008 and has been shortlisted for Independent Bookshop of the Year three times. They also hold talks and run several book groups. Poetry lovers should put a date in their diary for their Woodstock Poetry Festival in November.

The indie Wantage Bookshop sells books to suit all tastes from the latest releases and bestsellers, to bookseller favourites and classic titles, there’s also a welcoming children’s area for young readers, as well as a fine selection of beautiful cards, wrap and book related gifts. Looking for a special gift for the book lover in your life? Why not try a bespoke book subscription which includes a coffee from the next door shop and a chat with a bookseller to find your next favourite read or how about a book hamper complete with packaging, chocolates and bookmarks – sounds perfect!

Mostly Books in Abingdon has won a host of awards in its 12 years including Independent Bookshop of the Year for the south east last year. Join their online book club, Cosy Club and choose from six books each month to read and review, with in person get togethers once every three months. A podcast series Mostly Books meets…has them speaking to authors, poets, journalists and publishing professionals about the books that shaped their lives. They also offer a range of gift ideas with books throughout the year, have a blind date with a book or how about a mystery book bundle?

The Bookstore in Abingdon’s town centre has been a much-loved local spot since 1998 with everything from thrillers to the classics, biographies, children’s books and histories and what’s more you can also shop for greeting cards, wrapping paper and even handbags and scarves – sounds like the perfect place for me!

“This bookshop is a real gem” proclaims one review of The Wallingford Bookshop. Serving and helping readers find the perfect book since 1983, it’s a familiar face in the community. If you can’t find what you want among the more than 6,000 books they stock, they’ll happily order it in for you and just love a challenge so don’t worry if you can’t remember the title or author, they’ll solve the clues and track it down for you!

Even the most hard to please reader will find something among the more than 20,000 books adorning the shelves of The Bell Bookshop, Henley. Find hidden gems among the paperbacks, hardbacks and classics, biographies, travel guides, cookery, history, children’s and many many more. This destination bookshop has been feeding the appetite of book lovers around Henley and beyond since 1966 with the shop itself dating back to the 18th century – I’ll bet it has some stories to tell.

You’ll probably recognise Roald Dahl’s Matilda outside The Book House, Thame which has a fascinating story behind it, as does Fat Puffin, a gift from Puffin Books to mark the opening in 1972 as one of the first specialist children’s bookshops in the country – he could write a book about his ‘adventures’ since he’s been standing sentry. Through the shop discover the bookshop’s very own ‘secret garden’, take a seat and dip into your new book. Books range from first books for babies to young adult reads while adults aren’t forgotten with more than enough to fuel their imaginations too.

As author Evie Woods writes in her novel The Lost Bookshop: “The thing about books… is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.”

Show your support for independent bookshops in Independent Bookshop Week, June 15th to 22nd, part of the Books Are My Bag campaign, an annual celebration of independent bookshops nationwide, and the role they play in their communities.