World Book Day 2018

World Book Day week is always a busy time for Mostly Books and this year was no exception.  With no less than eight school events to support, the team were running from pillar to post to make sure that all of the books were in place, the authors were well looked after and that the pupils enjoyed each and every event.

Despite the extreme weather, seven of the eight events went ahead without a hitch and the last one has been postponed to April so we were not beaten!!

Authors in Abingdon throughout the week were Helen Cooper, Katherine Rundell, Matt Brown, Marcus Sedgwick & Jay Jay Burridge.  Winnie the Witch herself visited the children at Manor Prep and we ran a book fair at Larkmead.  All in all a busy week but a lot of fun was had by all.

Check out our Facebook page for more pictures of the week.

Books for Christmas Part 6: all kinds of wild justice - our top teen reads for Christmas

We're going up the years - from little ones, to 7+, middle grade - and now here's our favourite books for teens.

One of the themes of our favourite teen reads this year is justice - whether dispensed by half-crazed, one-eyed ex-politicians from the Florida swamps or by supernatural beings righting wrongs from an earlier life, our pick of favourite teen reads this year is a mixture of styles with one clear link - great writing!

Skink No Surrender - Carl Hiaasen - £10.99
When Richard learns his cousin, Malley, has taken off with a guy she met over the internet he's prepared for the police hunt, the huge billboards that announce her missing - he's even prepared that she might simply turn up safe and full of her adventure. What he doesn't expect is to meet Wild Skink -a ragged, one-eyed eco-warrior who thinks her best chance is for him to track Malley down. With Richard riding shotgun, the unlikely pair set off in pursuit, introducing Richard to dangerous swamps, guns and wild life that is even fiercer than the locals. A fantastic road-trip adventure that is both exciting and funny.

Messenger of Fear - Michael Grant - £12.99
"I remembered my name - Mara. But, standing in that ghostly place, faced with the solemn young man in the black coat with silver skulls for buttons, I could recall nothing else about myself. And then the games began...". A suspenseful, twisting tale that touches on many aspects of teenage lives - pressure to fit in, the impacts of bullying, the nature of justice - but in a quirky, twisted fantasy world that grips to the end. Grant's 'Gone' series is brilliant, this marks the beginning of an entirely new direction for the author.

Ghosts Of Heaven - Marcus Sedgwick - £10.99
A cleverly interlinked novel written in four parts by award-winning author, Marcus Sedgwick, about survival and discovery, and about the effect of the spiral, a symbol that has no end, on all our lives. The 'Ghosts of Heaven' can tell us a secret as old as time, and with amazing skill as a storyteller, you can read the four 'quarters' of this mesmerising and mysterious new novel in twenty-four different ways. Genuinely original and beautifully conceived.

The Manifesto on How To be Interesting - Holly Bourne - £7.99
Bree is a loser, a wannabe author who hides behind words. But when she's told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, 'The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting' is born. Six steps on how to be interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life...

Belzhar - Meg Wolitzer - £7.99
A group of emotionally fragile, highly intelligent teenagers are mysteriously picked for Special Topics English, tasked with studying Sylvia Plath's 'The Bell Jar' and keeping a journal. Each time the teens write in it they are transported to a miraculous other world called 'Belzhar' - a world where they are no longer haunted by their trauma and grief - and each begins to tell their own story. From NY Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer, and John Green's editor, Belzhar is a surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance. It's original and the characters will stay with you long after you close the book. 

My True Love Gave To Me - Stephanie Perkins et al - £10.99
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ...This beautiful collection of joyful, festive stories features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of our favourite YA authors, including David Levithan, Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins and Holly Black. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays. This hardback edition features a ribbon marker and pink sprayed edges, and makes a perfect gift for anyone suffering from 'Fault In Our Stars' withdrawal symptoms...

It's vampires...but not what you think

On Thursday we were honoured to run the bookstall for the annual Abingdon Schools Joint Author visit - a fab initiative between most of the schools in Abingdon where they pool their resources, and get a great children's author in for a number of sessions throughout the day. This year, Marcus Sedgwick came along and alternatively gripped and repulsed the kids with talks of vampires, ghosts and things that go bump in the night - not to mention a terrifying image of a kitten that the children who witnessed it will never forget. Marcus writes the Raven Series for younger children - but I got to sit in on his talk for the older readers, which centred on his vampire series beginning with My Swordhand is Singing and continuing with The Kiss of Death. I love watching authors talking to kids - it's the toughest of gigs, and the potential to die a death on stage is ever present. But there were no worries on that score, as Marcus went into the background to his books, the research he had done traipsing around gloomy and spooky locations in Romania, and the customs and stories he had come across. I was particularly taken by the "death bride" custom, where the tragic death of a young man is commemorated by 'marrying' the most eligible girl in the village during the funeral ceremony. That's a picture of Vlad the Impaler on the screen there. I also am very grateful to Marcus for introducing me to Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Apparently it's a well-know fact that George Lucas was heavily influenced by this book when writing Star Wars, and Marcus himself recognised the debt he owed to the book in Writing Swordhand. A bit of judicious googling during the afternoon session (whilst minding the stall) and I reckon I may have to order a copy of that book in...if only for me to read. Here's me holding a copy of Revolver - which, together with The Kiss of Death - are the two titles he has on the impossibly strong Carnegie Longlist this year. I have a sneaky suspicion that Revolver might make the cut, we have had some very strong feedback on the book from one of two customers in the shop that I hold in the highest regard... Major kudos to the school librarians who organised the event (I won't mention them, because they'll get embarrassed) but the logistics of co-ordinating nine school groups from all over Abingdon went effortlessly... (Update 15/02: Additional reports for this event here and here)