A SPOT OF PAINT

We're not averse to a bit of elbow grease at Blackwell's.

Our Business Centre - that often-unseen office area where we offer tailored services for books, mapping and specialist publications to organisations - was in need of a repaint. Our booksellers got to work with what we think is the perfect shade of light blue. Here they are just starting off.

We even put the colour to a public vote! And by that, we mean buy the paint then hope Twitter doesn't suggest anything different... click this image to make it bigger.

It went brilliantly! (Thanks to FictionStroker for making us chuckle.)

Independent bookshops are all about graft and we love every minute of it. If you want to buy publications via your organisation, then you should pay a visit to the Blackwell's Business Centre soon. Give Customer Accounts a call.

FRIDAY THANKS

Thank you to everyone who came down for Friday's book launch.

Jenn Ashworth read from her brand new book The Friday Gospels, a tragicomic tale of Lancastrian Mormons described by the Telegraph as "Ashworth’s most confident work yet". Our Q&A afterwards focused on the different voices of the novel, the uniqueness of British Mormonism and the warmth weaved throughout the narrative.

Russ Litten chose to read from his forthcoming crime novel Swear Down - which prompted the best comment from the evening when an audience member said in the Q&A: "I'm only here for the free drink... but I like you."

Your host for the evening was Fat Roland, who has been known to moonlight as Blackwell's assistant manager. Thanks to everyone for putting up with his insistent plugging on Facebook! Massive thanks too to Sceptre Books for supporting the evening. The launch even had a hashtag.

The Friday Gospels is a great book (we love that cover too) and we were proud to launch it in Blackwell's. We'll add photos to this blog post as and when they appear online.

THE FRIDAY GOSPELS: JENN ASHWORTH BOOK LAUNCH

It's Friday in Blackwell's, but this is no ordinary Friday... it's the launch of Jenn Ashworth's new novel The Friday Gospels.

Our event features a reading and a Q&A with Jenn, and support from Russ Litten, author of Scream If You Want To Go Faster and the forthcoming Swear Down. As well as the amazing company and laughs that were the trademark of our events in 2012. Your compere as ever will be the indefatigable Fat Roland.

It starts 7.30pm on Friday 18 January 2013 and admission is free! Do download the poster above (click for bigger) and share it on your networks.

Praise for The Friday Gospels

"A set of brilliantly realized voices in a narrative of great energy and skill... A serious novel seriously engaged with big themes. It is also very funny"' - Andrew Miller, author of Pure

"There’s an addictive, claustrophobic, intimate feel to this novel that reminded me of Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap. Engagingly funny and sad." - Red Online

"The Friday Gospels is possibly the first work of fiction to deal with the Mormon faith in the context of Modern Britain, but to focus on this aspect would be a violation of its specialness. It is rare to find a novel that is so complex, so damn clever and yet at once readable... - a truly exceptional novel." - Helen Walsh, author of Brass and Go To Sleep