Peter Doyle signs copies of Gallipoli 1915

On 15th October Peter Doyle, who lives in Woodford,  chatted with several customers about his new book Gallipoli part of the Battle Story series that History Press publish. A paleontologist by training Peter has an endless fascination with History and had written more than ten books on the First and Second World Wars. Customers brought in war memorabilia to show him and were keen to share stories of their own family connections to the wars.

Peter is pictured below with his book.

Woodford welcomes Sarah Winman, author of "When God Was a Rabbit"

Those of us who work in the shop have all loved "When God Was a Rabbit" and we have been recommending it to all our customers as a great summer read (see Alison's latest read for more info), so we were over the moon when Sarah Winman (photo two below)  said she would drop in on 12th June to meet us and to sign copies for customers of the shop. 22 people who couldn't make the date left books for Sarah to sign and another 20 were sold on the day. Sarah is very involved promoting her novel which has been lauched in 19 countries. However, she is starting to think about her next book and hopes to settle down to writing it in the autumn. A couple of teachers from Sarah's old school, Woodford County High, popped in to have their books signed and several local book groups are planning to discuss her novel at their next meeting. A big thanks to Sarah for fitting us in to her busy schedule.

Local History Booklet is a big success and money raiser for charity

Dr Thomas Crusz was with us on Saturday 25th June to sign copies of "A Brief History of the White House and the Mallinson family. This is a £3.50 booklet preserving the memories of a splendid building, its distinguished occupants and famous visitors, including Sir Winston Churchill and Prince Philip.

The shop was really busy with the many customers who are fascinated by local history or who wanted to share memories with Tom of trips to the White House over the years whether it was attending events, going to Scouts, learning to swim in the pool and even one couple who had their wedding reception there!

We sold out of booklets on the day but more will soon be available in the shop. Getting their copies before they ran out and pictured with Tom in photograph three below are local residents Jean Gibbins and Gillian Bunce.

All profits on the sale of the booklet go to Haven House Children's Hospice, the current occupants of The White House.

Local Professor Gives Pointers to Graduates

Parents  of graduates and some of the students themselves were delighted to meet Professor Rachel Mulvey when she visited us as part of the launch of her new book.

The “Brilliant Graduate Career Handbook” has been co-authored by Rachel and a fellow career specialist Judith Done. The book covers accessing job opportunities, graduate training schemes, the global graduate, work experience and making applications amongst other very valuable chapters.

The handbook is not only aimed at the qualified students. “The graduate labour market has changed, there are fewer jobs and employers now expect graduates to develop their skills before they start work”, said Rachel. “We wrote this book because parents, and those helping graduates with getting a job, also need as much information as possible”.

Rachel not only signed copies of her book but delivered individual advice to customers during her three hours in the shop. Pictured with Rachel in photo number four  below is Louise Stokes who is just about to graduate and is looking for work as a landscape architect. (Rachel is on the left).