The Crowded Bed - book launch

Last night Nicki and I took a break from the bookshop, left Alex in the safe hands of his grandmother ("Grammy" who had braved the nasty weather and 2 hour drive down from Warboys), put on some posh clobber, and went along to the Ashmolean for the launch of Mary Cavanagh's book "The Crowded Bed". We were both terrifically excited, having never been to one of these things before (and also because we don't get out much), and the choice of the Ashmol was inspired. The whole thing was very well put together, and much kudos is due to publisher Transita, and to the large number of Transita authors who made it to the evening as well (thanks to Christine Coleman, Susie Vereker and Stella Sykes for posing so obligingly for a blog pic!). As well as meeting authors, we met customers, bookcrossers and at least one other blogger. It was particularly inspiring to meet Sara Banerji - she is a brilliant author (bit gushy this bit, but Nicki and I are big fans). It's very uplifting when you meet people in real-life and they are just what you expect - inspirational, life-affirming, and just the right amount of British eccentricity which always gives me a real buzz. Mary clearly enjoyed herself - here she is reading an excerpt from the book. Mary is an Abingdon author (hooray), and The Crowded Bed is her first book. We've had it in the shop for almost a week. Mary came into the shop shortly after we opened, as one of the authors of The Sixpenny Debt And Other Oxford Stories, a collection of short stories by Oxford writers (The Oxpens group). This has been one of our bestsellers since we've opened, so we hope this book does even better. To round off a perfect evening, we even managed to slip round the corner for a pint at the Lamb & Flag on St Giles (The Eagle & Child being packed out). Ahh, memories of simpler days.