Christmas Newsflash!

If you're feeling a bit stuck with presents, do drop in and ask for some advice.
If you're really, really stuck, then we sell these...

and of course these...

 and him!

A Year in Events

It's been a busy year for events here at Waterstones Cirencester.
Even more busy for Jo and Danielle who also went to work at the Cheltenham Literature Festival!

Here are just some of the events we've held...

The year got off to a flying start with the launch of the book by local legends The Fabulous Baker Brothers! Tom and Henry Herbert joined us for a sell-out evening.

Author Christopher Edge joined us in March to celebrate World Book Day with his then new book, Twelve Minutes to Midnight. He's published more books since then, including his latest: How to be a Hero.

In April it was fantastic to welcome Ian Mortimer and Marc Morris to the store for an evening of historical chat. That's them in the distance in front of a packed audience!

In May we held events with two superb authors.
Kate Colquhoun gave a spellbinding talk about her account of Britain's first railway murder. Her tales of the research she did were as fascinating as the story she uncovered. Watch out for her new book in 2013, plus a BBC adaptation of Mr Briggs!

Rachel Joyce, a since Booker longlisted author, joined us to talk about the journey she undertook to write The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. As a local author we are especially proud of her achievements and we're hoping to hear news of Harold the Movie in the year ahead.

On the younger side of the spectrum, teen author Jenny Smith dropped in to sign copies of My Big Fat Teen Crisis. We're hoping to welcome Jenny back to the store in the new year - she's been working on some new projects - so watch this space!


We were lucky enough to have a few visits from Tracey Corderoy this year, with her Willow Valley series (pictured below), for Halloween with her new Granny book and then nearer to Christmas with A Flower in the Snow. Tracey always does wonderful arts and crafts with us, so a visit from her is a real treat!

 Over the Summer Caryl Hart very kindly popped in on her way back from her holidays! She has so many fab books. Our favourite? Don't Put Your Pants on Your Head Fred!

We also had a visit from the mini ponies
from Talking Horses and Other Stories...

and some of the dog stars from The Spirit of the Dog!















Very excitingly in August we held an event with Karen Maitland. Her historial thrillers have enthralled readers and booksellers alike and Karen joined us to talk about her latest Inquisition-set novel The Falcons of Fire and Ice.







Things were quieter in the Autumn (event-wise, anyway), because we were being given a shop refit, but it was balloons and bubbly at the ready for our Store Relaunch Party Day! Pam Ayres declared us open and as you will see from an earlier blog post, it was a day of general merriment!

Well, what a year it's been! We have lots of plans for next year. Now we've had our refit we have even more room for events, so there will be no stopping us!

We Love Books!

We love making new book discoveries - finding those hidden gems which combine booky beauty with fascinating content. Of course we love making the bestsellers easy for you to find. However, as fellow booklovers, it's the art of picking and displaying those titles which feel like they've been written just for you, that we really enjoy!

Over the next couple of weeks we're going to be bringing you some of our favourite finds for Christmas - book treasure! It's also a chance for you to get to know our team and what our speciality subjects are.

Today we start with Jo, the Store Manager...

I'm living proof that no matter how many years you work with books, there are always new discoveries to be made!
I love working at Waterstones Cirencester - we really do have the best customers in the world. We receive as many recommendations as we make - it's a very booky community. It's exciting to see the next generation of book lovers browsing the shelves in search of a new adventure. 
That's why I love books - it's the opportunity to escape into your imagination, to increase your knowledge and to explore new universes, whether real or imagined. 
Never underestimate the power of pages!

I've had an opportunity to dip into most sections over the years, so here's my rather eclectic selection of books for the festive season!

Fairy Tales are a big theme this Christmas and as a life-long lover of them I can't help but approve! Here are some of my favourites from the magical realm:

I love the artistry of maps, (although it has to be said that I don't have much luck with their application in real life!) ...

Lovely choices for the person who has everything...

And don't forget brilliant books from authors we are lucky to call local!

And a couple we're hoping to persuade to be local for a day next year ;) ...

And finally... proof that books can definitely  be glamorous!

Happy Christmas and do come and see us at the store!
Jo

Thank You!

We'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who joined us for our store relaunch party day today!
A special thank you to the delightful Pam Ayres who declared us open and made us all chuckle.
The fantastic support we receive from our customers & visiting authors means the world to us.
Yes we love books, but we also really love people who love books!
A few snaps from the day...