Thursday, December 30, 2010

itsa... hit!


Here in Village Books we are delighted with the new opening of Itsa bagel cafe in Malahide, especially as they have their very own cookbook, for us to indulge in. 

Irish Times food writer, chef and restaurateur Domini Kemp has compiled a collection of delicious recipes for the everyday cook.  Domini takes into consideration our modern lifestyles and ingredients are kept simple, healthy and accessible.  The tone of the cookbook is inviting, casual and honest mentioning that she gets 'slagged off' for freezing sourdough bread for emergency toast and the fish pie recipe "serves 6 - 8 hungry blokes, possibly 10 ladylike guests"

There is an array of recipes to try your hand at, with Domini emphasising the 3 things that everyone should know before leaving home and that's how to cook a steak, make a good vinaigrette and roast a chicken.  The book is divided into 6 chapters with 'no-fuss dinners' for your midweek cooking, and then 'show off' for that something special.  The recipes for 'sweet stuff' are simple, straight forward desserts with "no faffing around".

I personally can't wait to try the broad bean hummous and Itsa's famous Vegetable Lentil Soup.  Yum!

Buy Itsa Cookbook by Domini Kemp for €19.99 in Village Books

Friday, December 17, 2010

Avoca Delight

It's finally here, the 3rd cookbook from the gorgeous Avoca Cafe.  It's been 8 years since their last publication and I can't wait to try their new recipes.

A Year at Avoca is a celebration of good food, with emphasis on the right ingredients for each season.  The pages are filled with season by season mouth-watering dishes and beautiful photography, which was mostly shot around Avoca in Wicklow.

A great gift for any food lover or cook this Christmas.  Buy it in Village Books for €24.95.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Purge


Old Aliide Truu lives alone in a cottage in the woods, pestered by flies she wishes would leave her in peace. Her isolation is interrupted when she spies a young woman under a tree in her garden. The girl is strange; arriving in the dead of night, bruised, dirty and shoeless - why is she at Aliide's door? Overcome by curiosity the old woman decides, warily, to take her in.

Zara is on the run from men who tortured, raped, and sold her into slavery. Her only possession is a tattered photograph of her grandmother and another woman; in which Aliide recognizes herself and her sister. Horrified, she begins to realize that the past she has long tried to forget has finally caught up with her - Purge is a hauntingly intimate portrait of one family's shame against a backdrop of European war

Monday, December 6, 2010

Late night xmas shopping on Thursday evenings


Join us every Thursday evening for a spot of late night shopping and a glass of wine. Enjoy our personal service and assistance choosing your Christmas presents and a 10% discount for late night shoppers.

Christmas shopping evening 8th December cancelled

Dear Booklovers,

We are cancelling the shopping evening this Wednesday the 8th December due to inclement weather.

Apologies

The Village Books team

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Christmas shopping evening Wednesday 8th December

VILLAGE BOOKS PRESENTS
Browse
Drink
Buy

An exclusive shopping event
Wednesday 8th Dec


From 5.30pm till 8pm, customers can peruse the shelves with a glass of wine and will receive a 10% discount on absolutely everything in Village Books.

That’s Amore will be running a special priced menu for customers to enjoy – 2 home cooked Italian courses, followed by tea or coffee for €17.50.




LIMITED PLACES AVAILABLE – BOOKING ESSENTIAL
Village Books 845 5073 / That’s Amore 845 6278

Mary's Book Club

Mary's Book Club will be meeting next Tuesday 7 Dec at 1830hrs.  The book up for discussion is Orpheus Lost: A Novel by Janette Turner Hospital.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

VILLAGE BOOKS JUNIOR BOOK CLUB GROUP 4

Once again mayhem erupted in the calm of the bookshop with the final meeting of the Junior Book Club Group 4 last Thursday, 18th November.

They dissected Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo, a classic adventure story of a child lost at sea. It was greatly enjoyed by all.

Group 4 chose the following to read over the Christmas break:

Age 14 - An Irish Boy Soldier by Geert Spillebeen
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
Wilderness by Roddy Doyle

VILLAGE BOOKS Junior Book Club Group 4 will next meet on 27th January 2011.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

VILLAGE BOOKS BOOK CLUB

Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress was the latest book up for discussion among the VILLAGE BOOKS Book Club. It received a mixed bag of reviews, some finding it hilarious while others completely disagreed but found the more serious side to the book very interesting.

Orpheus Lost by Janette Turner Hospital is up for the next meeting that will take place on Tuesday 7th December at 6.30pm. 

If you would like to join the VILLAGE BOOKS Book Club email us on info@villagebooks.ie or call us on 845 5073 and we will add you to our waiting list.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

JUNIOR BOOK CLUB GROUP 3

VILLAGE BOOKS Junior Book Club Group 3 had their final meeting of the year last Thursday, November 11th.

They discussed The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean and The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson.  To put it mildly, The Death Defying Pepper Roux did not go down well! On the other hand, The Dragonfly Pool could not have gotten better reviews. The Dragonfly Pool tops the favourite list of books this group has read to date.


They chose the following to read over the Christmas break:


Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Saving Mississippi by Cornelia Funke
Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Sunday, November 7, 2010

JUNIOR BOOK CLUB GROUP 1

VILLAGE BOOKS Junior Book Club Group 1 had their final meeting of the year last Thursday, 4th November. The books up for discussion were Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean.

Both books were enjoyed by their readers. Some found The Death Defying Pepper Roux a little difficult to get into but once there, it was a rollercoaster of a story. Three Cups of Tea proved to be of great interest and many enjoyed learning about life in Pakistan.

Group 1 chose three books to devour over the Christmas break;

Age 14 An Irish Boy Soldier by Geert Spillebeen
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo.

VILLAGE BOOKS Junior Book Club Group 1 is next due to meet on the 13th January 2011.

If you would like to join any of our book clubs just email us at info@villagebooks.ie or phone us on 845 5073 and we will add you to our waiting lists.

Friday, October 29, 2010

SPECIAL OFFER: The ReadAssist

For National Dyslexia Awareness Month, we're selling the ReadAssist at a SPECIAL OFFER PRICE of €24.95, till the end of October (RRP €29.95). The ReadAssist is revolutionary reading aid designed especially to help people with dyslexia and very handily fits into pencil case!

ReadAssist is the size of a 6" ruler.  It comes in three parts. The student just clicks the parts into place. There is also a pouch for ReadAssist. This is in order to keep it clean and safe in the student's pencil case.

There are four colours of acetates to choose from. These are the primary colours that are used by people with dyslexia, eliminating the effects of glare on the page. School books, newpapers, magazines etc. are printed black on white. People with certain reading difficulties have a problem with focusing on words printed black on white. Each student will have a preference to one of these colours. They can then put it into ReadAssist. The grey frame around ReadAssist enables the student to focus ONLY on the line he/she is reading from. Some may feel they may only need to use the frame, without the acetate.

So not to miss out on the SPECIAL OFFER price, make sure you pop into Village Books this weekend!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Village BooOOOooks gets ready for Halloween!


Hairy spiders and slithering snakes have taken up residence in Village Books! Dare you step inside?


An eerie chill fills the shop while ghoulish eyes, fat bats & haunted ghosts peer at us amongst the books.


Eek!


Decorate your house this Halloween with inflatable pumpkins, bats and ghosts, for sale in Village BooOOOooks for €2.50. We have trick or treat candy buckets €3.20 and witches broomsticks  €4.99 and battle axes €6.70.  We also have glow in the dark horror fingers and face paints, for dressing up on Halloween, as well as spooky torches and skeletons. All a bit frightful!



And don’t forget to check out our spooky selection of books!

 


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Book Review: Modern Fiction

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
Over the last five to ten years a solid new genre has steadily planted itself firmly between those disparate literary segments that often held opposing camps; general or popular fiction and literary fiction. Often called modern fiction, it’s a genre that bridges the divide, appealing in different ways to both sides of the partition, offering serious well-written fiction that is delivered to the reader in an engrossing, engaging way without the over-literary aspect that has deterred many readers of populist fiction. It functions by entertaining and enlightening without ever allowing itself to be termed – what has now sadly, wrongly, and quite derogatorily, been applied to much popular fiction - chicklit. The Weight of Silence falls firmly into this new integrating genre. It has been, quite correctly, compared to the work of Jodie Picoult; strong storyline, an element of mystery and drama featuring modern ethical dilemmas and issues, and has much to offer readers who enjoy her books.
Set in the out-of-town and neighbourly rural area of Willow Creek in Iowa, the story begins by introducing Callie Clark, seven years old and mute since she witnessed a particularly bad run-in with her violent, wife-beating father, Griff three years ago.
Alcohol-crazed and on a serious bender her father decides to haul his little girl off in the nearby forest for a father-daughter bonding session but, rather obviously so, it all goes wrong. They get lost, Callie becomes terrified and everything turns a very dark shade of bad.
At the exact same time, Callie’s best friend, Petra, the only one who can understand her, despite her lack of speech, goes missing from her home, with no real clues left behind for her parents or the local Sherriff to follow. His hunt for this girl is made all the more intense due to the feelings he still has for her mother, someone he had a relationship of sorts with when they were younger. As, simultaneously, the two girls are sought after by the people who love them and those who simply need to find them, the tangled web of emotions that is woven around the adults surrounding them thickens, the tension builds and the picture of what may have happened to them becomes almost impossible to discern amidst the fog of emotion, prejudice and past learning.
The dark setting of the story, in the heartlands where threats comes from all sides -and not only from the adults surrounding these small children but from the very nature they have grown up close to - makes it all the more stressful to untangle the truth. The author’s skill at building and sustaining the suspense for the reader, right to the very end is masterful and yet combined with the gentle lyricality of her writing is a rather refreshing voice. The juxtaposition of the harshness of the story with the subtly  and innate softness of her writing lends a very curious feel to it, the reader feels alternately terrified, safe, abroad and at home with what is taking place and this tends to heighten the sense of danger throughout. The Weight of Silence is a very very good first novel, one that readers of any book club books, modern fiction, literary and general fiction type novels will be sure to enjoy immensely. It is a clever bridge between two literary genres, full of drama but beautifully rendered, and I await with anticipation the author’s next book. 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Finkler Question wins the Booker Prize



The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson won the Booker Prize tonight. We at Village Books are a bit disappointed with this selection as we really liked "Room" and it was our book club pick. We think "The Finkler Question" win was a safe establishment choice.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

FINGAL'S ANNUAL WRITERS' FESTIVAL

WRITING 3.0
1st - 26th October 2010

Last night saw the first of the events for Fingal's Annual Writers' Festival. Hosted by Malahide Library, authors Stuart Neville (The Twelve and Collusion) and Kevin McCarthy (Peeler) entertained a crowd of avid readers with passages from their Crime Fiction novels. With discussion, conversation and a question and answers session, a great night was enjoyed by all.
VILLAGE BOOKS was there to support the authors.

The next event is Performance Poetry: A Workshop with MĂ¡ighrĂ©ad Medbh which will take place on Monday 4th October in Malahide Library.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell


Dr Max Aue is a family man and owner of a lace factory in post-war France. He is an intellectual steeped in philosophy, literature, and classical music. He is also a former SS intelligence officer and cold-blooded assassin.

He was an observer and then a participant in Nazi atrocities on the Eastern Front, he was present at the siege of Stalingrad, at the death camps, and finally caught up in the overthrow of the Nazis and the nightmarish fall of Berlin. His world was peopled by Eichmann, Himmler, Goring, Speer and, of course, Hitler himself. Max is looking back at his life with cool-eyed precision; he is speaking out now to set the record straight.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Book Review: Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin



Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin
by Valerie Thomas & Korky Paul


As the seasons have changed, the next month October brings us pumpkins and witches and what better way to get a flavour for both than with our favourite witch Winnie. 




Fed up of her shopping flying off her broomstick, Winnie turns her hand to gardening and sets about growing her own vegetables.  Finding it hard work, she decides a magic spell *might* help… resulting in some ENORMOUS vegetables and one ‘amazing pumpkin’.   Wonderfully illustrated, the ending is imaginative and quite frankly pretty ace.

Readership: Preschool (0-5)

Available to buy in Village Books

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The Lastest Crime thrillers reviewed by the Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/0918/1224279140830.html

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Michel Houellebecq: plagiarism in his new novel?

From the Irish Times

Plagiarism? Laziness? Mais non, that's 'patchwork literature'

SHANE HEGARTY

Sat, Sep 11, 2010

PRESENT TENSE: THERE IS ANOTHER spot of bother over the French novelist, and former Cork resident, Michel Houellebecq. He is something of a literary scoundrel already, his own mother dismissing him thus in her autobiography: “This person, who unfortunately emerged from my tummy, is a liar, an impostor, a parasite and above all a little upstart who’ll do anything for fame and fortune.”

Houellebecq’s second novel, Atomised , became an instant “nihilistic classic”. The New York Times , however, described it as “a deeply repugnant read”. The novel won Houellebecq, along with his translator Frank Wynne, the International Impac Dublin Literary Award in 2002.

If that last paragraph was a bit flat, it’s because I pretty much cut and pasted it out of Wikipedia. Laziness? No way. Houellebecq would call it “patchwork literature”. And he’s been doing that all week since someone noticed that several parts of his latest novel, La carte et le territoire (The Map and the Territory), had been cut and pasted from Wikipedia.

Cue another round in the irregular series newspapers called “What Mess Is That Guy Who Writes Dirty, Possibly Racist Literary Books In Now, and How Do You Spell Houellebecq Anyway?” Already involved in a couple of rows about whether the book is any good and whether he pinched the title from someone else, Houellebecq has been characteristically brazen in his response to the Wikipedia fuss.

“I hope it adds to the beauty of my books to use such material,” he says. “I would like to be able to modify less than I do . . . It’s a type of patchwork, sewing together, dovetailing. Employing material that is rare because of its ‘extraliterarity’ is a small source of pride.”

Seeing that Houellebecq includes himself as a character in The Map and the Territory , the Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun complained that Houellebecq “turns to himself because he doesn’t know how to invent any more”. (To which it is tempting to retort that the guy invented the word ‘extraliterarity’. That must be worth something.)

Houellebecq’s book hasn’t been published here yet, so I can’t make a proper judgment on the context of those passages, but, whether or not the revelation is deliberate, he has exposed some of the machinery of creativity, showing the worn scaffolding on which some novels are built. (Though it is more complex than that, because while it’s not okay to cut and paste from the web, it is fine to cut and paste from life.)

There are unspoken rules between writer and reader. If you call a book factual it had better be just that. If it is fiction you have to be careful how you incorporate fact. If it is a novel, and it happens to be based on your life, you can get away with it as long as you’re clear that it’s not to be taken entirely as fact.

Readers treat verity, and sincerity, very seriously. When something that is supposed to be true is revealed to be false, the world and its media can come crashing in on the author. James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces , a tale of self-destruction that was revealed to be largely a construction, is perhaps the most famous modern example. On Wikipedia (don’t roll your eyes) it is now described as a semi-fictional memoir.

When you read a memoir, though, and the dialogue crackles with certainty, it’s hard not to wonder just how it is that the writer can be so clear. The misery-lit genre, so popular until recently, is written largely by people who suffered in their childhoods – when they were not keeping large diaries, daily jotting down each line of every conversation, which could then be used, edited and repackaged in their adulthood in a series of bestselling books.

There are occasions when you wonder if a novelist is really a novelist at all or just a creative memoirist, writing books that are so close to the author’s life that it is a distraction. (Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland comes to mind.)

Sometimes the mixture of fact and fiction can tease – on the Man Booker shortlist is Emma Donoghue’s Room , inspired by the Josef Fritzl case, and Damon Galgut’s In a Strange Room , whose chief character is one Damon. And occasionally something utterly daft comes along and ignores everything, such as the “autobiography” of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly, which was categorised in some Irish shops and libraries as non-fiction.

Houellebecq’s approach – calculated or not – may have ruined the magic trick being performed by the writer to an audience that wants to believe. Writing is a complicated business, fiction more so. The blurring of fact and fiction can be perilous, even when it’s only lobbing in a few facts, and the reader doesn’t always want to see the man behind the curtain.

© 2010 The Irish Times

BOOK REVIEW: ROOM

Jack is the storyteller. He is five and lives in ‘Room’ with his ‘Ma’.He has no concept of the outside world, believing it to be a fantasy seen on television. What Jack cannot vocalise in his five-year-old voice and mind is that he and his mother are being held captive in Room by the man he calls ‘Old Nick’.

A novel that was inspired, if that can ever be the right word in this case, by the utterly shocking Fritzl case in Austria is never going to be anything other than controversial, disturbing, mind-bendingly unbelievable but yet, though all of these things Room is also gentle and sweet, tender and joyous, uplifting and raw and real.

Whatever Jack cannot say, the reader’s overburdened imagination can either piece together from his accounts of his mother’s conversation, or add to from the prolific media coverage the Fritzl case generated.

The feat, for many, in picking up and reading Room is that the horrendous real life events that this book is based upon may be too upsetting and disturbing to read. I can categorically say this fear should be dismissed immediately. Firstly, a fear of reading something so shameful about the human race should never be reason for not learning about the horrors our fellow man has perpetrated, but even more convincing an incitement for sceptical readers should be a reassurance that this book is not at all horrific. It is so surprisingly hopeful, and joyous. It strips away all the extraneous unnecessary external factors from one boy to reveal a human being as he is, without the influence of the world on him, in all his innocence and, conversely, his wisdom.

It is only in the outside world, when Jack and Ma escape from Room that the horrors become evident. In Room, they were somehow protected from the understanding of what was going on through a lack of any real experience of life to compare it to. Half-way through the book, when they are released and brought into the real, or surreal world, is when the real horror starts. To read about a young boy terrified by seatbelts and rain drops, people touching him and strange food is discomforting and upsetting, but, it’s important. This didn’t happen to Jack, but it did happen to a real little boy out there in the world and, others too, and they deserve their stories to be known.

As for the book itself, leaving the actual story aside, it is – to my mind- a complete triumph. A mastery of language and pace, a display of control and attention to every single word. It is more technically adept that anything that I have read in years and a magnificent accomplishment for that alone.

It is an incredible story, filled with wonder. It is important and significant and brilliantly executed. It is brave and powerful and subtle and touching.

Read it, it will stay with you.


Review by Emma Walsh of Walsh Communications

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2010 SHORTLIST

  • Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

  • Room by Emma O’Donoghue

  • In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut

  • The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson

  • The Long Song by Andrea Levy

  • C by John McCarthy

Saturday, August 28, 2010

BACK TO SCHOOL - SCOOTER OFFER

Make going back to school that much easier and more exciting!

MINI MICRO SCOOTER
Now only €65
  • For ages 3-6
  • Develops Balance
  • Coordination
  • Great fun to ride
  • Two colours - Blue and Pink

MAXI MICRO SCOOTER
Now only €110
  • For ages 6+
  • Max 50kg weight
  • Reinforced deck for safety
  • Three wheel lean and steer mechanism
  • Two colours - Black and Purple

Sunday, August 22, 2010

HOLLYWOOD TAKES ON THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO


David Fincher, director of such modern greats as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Fight Club, is now taking on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

The multi-million selling trilogy has already been made into Sweedish language films, but now in the hands of Hollywood, Stieg Larsson's books are set to conquer the global box office.

Understandably, this challenge has been met with much cynicism and already the film is being slated for the casting of Lisbeth Salander, the Millennium Trilogy’s radical heroine.

Read this article from the Guardian that takes a look at actress Rooney Mara, recently cast as Lisbeth Salander.

Rooney Mara wins lead in Fincher's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo remake

Monday, August 16, 2010

The Slap: love it or hate it?

The Slap by Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas has provoked love and hate from critics.

Read this interesting article on the controversy surrounding this Booker nominated book.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/0811/1224276535022.html

Saturday, August 14, 2010

VILLAGE BOOKS BOOK CLUB

The first meeting of the VILLAGE BOOKS Book Club took place last Tuesday the 10th of August.

The book in question was The Twin, by IMPAC Award winning author Gerbrand Bakker. A lively discussion ensued in which members aired their views, positive and negative. Some felt the book somewhat depressing but all in all it was agreed that The Twin was a very good story.

Next month’s book club will take place on Tuesday the 14th of September at 6.30pm where we’ll be discussing the coming of age novel, Lean on Pete, by Willy Vlautin.

If you would like to join the VILLAGE BOOKS Book Club waiting list just get in touch, email us on info@villagebooks.ie, phone us on 845 5073 or pop into the shop.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

An absolute modern classic

The Knife of Never Letting Go
by Patrick Ness

I have often picked up The Knife of Never Letting Go and thought, “this looks like something I’d like”, but I never got around to actually reading it.

Finally I gave it a go… Regrets? Yes, I have one; that I didn’t read it sooner!

Any reader that is partial to a fantasy story is going to adore The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Set in a world where everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts, things get a bit Noisy at times. Todd Hewitt finds this life a struggle but when he comes upon a pocket of silence, the life that he knew changes in a heartbeat. Everything that Todd knows to be true is in fact a lie and he finds himself on the run; running for answers, running for the truth and running to protect his life and that of a very unlikely companion.

Ferociously paced and action packed, Patrick Ness has mastered the art of the page turner and is very deserving of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Booktrust Teenage Prize.

The only problem is that you will need to have the sequel, The Ask and the Answer, close at hand to see what becomes of the unlikely hero, Todd Hewitt.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

VILLAGE BOOKS 10 TEN NEW CRIME FICTION

1. Innocent by Scott Turrow

2. Blue Heaven by CJ Box

3. Broken by Karen Slaughter

4. Snowman by Jo Nesbo

5. Faithful Place by Tana French

6. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

7. 61 Hours by Lee Child

8. Black Water Rising by Attica Locke

9. The Passage by Justin Cronin

10. Midnight House by Alex Berenson

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Where's Wally? At MALAHIDE HAS IT festival...

Village Books, the bookshop at the heart of the community in Malahide, were delighted to be one of the official supporters of the MALAHIDE HAS IT Festival. Always great supporters of children's reading, we came up with a fantastic fun event for children to tie-in with the festival and get them reading even more.
As part of the MALAHIDE HAS IT weekend, we sent Wally, star of the Where’s Wally? books, roaming around Malahide on Saturday afternoon, July 24th, checking out the festivities. We invited children to keep an eye out for the famous red and white stripy jumper and hat because if they spotted him, and spoke to him, they were given a fantastic voucher for a free Where's Wally? book to be collected from Village Books. Easy Peasy! 
At 2pm sharp the search was on as children all over Malahide kept their eyes peeled and sought high and low for that elusive but distinctive character Wally! Wally, who was trying to remain  anonymous, sauntered around Malahide village for a few hours in his red and white striped jumper, those striking black glasses, bobble hat and eccentric cane and for every lucky child that found him, which was not easy given the crowds that turned up in the village for the festival, they were rewarded with a free Where's Wally? book voucher. 
It wasn't long until a large group of children spotted the famous children's book character wandering amidst the revelry on the green and the chase was on, as they raced across the green to him, poor Wally ran for his life but was ultimately caught by the speedy and tenacious youngsters and vouchers were distributed to the delighted children who immediately made their way up to Village Books to collect their free books. 
Hat back on, and skew-whif jumper rearranged, Wally continued his tour of the village but as the word spread he was spotted by more eagle-eyed children who had been eagerly waiting for a sighting and with screeches of delight he handed out more book vouchers to the excited fans, even posing for a number of pictures along the way.
By 2.30pm Village Books was fast filling up with children collecting their free books, with over 200 vouchers to give out though Wally's work was not done. He continued on up New Street, swiftly avoiding the lure of Gibneys, only to be sighted again and as children high-fived him and claimed their reward crowds were beginning to gather. There's really no hiding when you look as super-sophisticated as Wally so by 3pm almost 100 free book vouchers were given out and the ladies in the book shop were kept busy handing over the books to the lucky kids who'd spotted and chatted to the famous hide-and-seek champion. 
Stopping for some sustenance, kindly provided by the genial Peter in the form of marshmallow flogs (Wally's favourite food), he continued on his way, heading back down to the green again to check out the children's art competition which Siobhan was managing with aplomb. As soon as the children caught sight of him though the chase was back on! Another hour later and there were another very happy 100 children who had cashed in their vouchers for free books in Village Books and Wally was fit to drop! 
With a smile on his face, and a slight ache in his legs he happily returned to Village Books to say hello to the children who were still collecting books, thank Mary, Orna, Siobhan, Peter and Sadashni for all their hard work, pose for a few last photos and be on his way once more, this time to get lost for a bit longer!
It was a fantastic afternoon, that saw hundreds of children absolutely delighted to not only meet their children's book hero, but also to receive a wonderful free book from Village Books for their efforts. 
Who knows, Wally may be back again soon... keep your eyes peeled! 

Booker Long List 2010



The 2010 Booker prize long list was released yesterday.

Peter Carey Parrot and Oliver in America (Faber and Faber)

Emma Donoghue Room (Pan MacMillan - Picador)

Helen Dunmore The Betrayal (Penguin - Fig Tree)

Damon Galgut In a Strange Room (Grove Atlantic - Atlantic Books)

Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury)

Andrea Levy The Long Song (Headline Publishing Group – Headline Review)

Tom McCarthy C (Random House - Jonathan Cape)

David Mitchell The Thousand Autumns of Zacob de Zoet (Hodder & Stoughton - Sceptre)

Lisa Moore February (Random House - Chatto & Windus)

Paul Murray Skippy Dies (Penguin - Hamish Hamilton)

Rose Tremain Trespass (Random House - Chatto & Windus)

Christos Tsiolkas The Slap (Grove Atlantic - Tuskar Rock)

Alan Warner The Stars in the Bright Sky (Random House - Jonathan Cape)


For details http://www.themanbookerprize.com/

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Review: Festival fun at the Village Books Junior Art Competition





What a turnout on Saturday for the Village Books art competition at the 'Malahide has it' Festival on the Green!  And what creative talent too!  It was brilliant to see such a range of storybook characters being drawn (without us suggesting!) like Angelina Ballerina, Princess Poppy, Captain Underpants, Horrid Henry, The Famous Five and a few old favourites such as Snow White and Cinderella.  



Not only is Malahide full of budding readers,  we have great artists too!




Overall Winner, Hickory Dickory Dock by Dara Fine 

We had a prize giving that afternoon, however a few people couldn't make it back for it.  So if you see your name below and you haven't received your prize yet, please drop into us in Village Books!

Rachael & Sarah Pye with their drawings
of Spongebob and the Faraway Tree
Dara Fine age 10 (Overall winner)
Laragh Featonby age 10
Rachael Pye age 10

Maya Keyes age 9
Therese Shannon age 8
Ciara Scully age 8

Sarah Pye age 7
Christopher 
Aimee age 7
Alex Irwin 
Mia Challoner age 5











Overall Winner; Dara Fine



A BIG congratulations to all our winners and to everyone that took part!

Rover & the Gigglers
 by Ciara Scully
The Centipede
from James & the Giant Peach

Monday, July 26, 2010

Dublin named 'city of literature'

Dublin has been named the UN city of literature. Here is an article from The Irish Times.
Dublin named 'city of literature'

STEVEN CARROLL

Mon, Jul 26, 2010

Dublin has today been designated a city of literature by the cultural arm of the United Nations, Unesco. It is the fourth city to receive the award.

Minister for Culture and Tourism Mary Hanafin said Dublin was granted the accolade “because of the rich historical literary past of the city, the vibrant contemporary literature, the variety of festivals and attractions available and because it is the birthplace and home of literary greats”.

The title was bestowed on Dublin by Unesco director-general Irina Bokova. The previous recipients of the title, which is permanent, are Edinburgh, Melbourne and Iowa City.

A detailed application for the designation was made to Unesco last November by a group led by Dublin City Council’s library service. Unesco was also lobbied by political and cultural bodies from Ireland.

Ms Hanafin said the designation would be a welcome boost for cultural tourism in Dublin in the coming years.

“Dublin is now part of the Unesco creative cities network and there will be numerous opportunities to showcase all that is happening on the cultural and literary fronts in the months and years ahead,” she said.

“Being one of only four cities in the world to achieve the status of Unesco city of literature, will enable Dublin to increase its market share of tourists and attract more people to both the city and the island of Ireland.”

The National Library of Ireland, Dublin City Council and the Arts Council have all welcomed the news.

“Literature has the unique power to distinguish us as a culture and as a people. It helps us understand what it means to be human. In Dublin, the city has been defined by its writers, and continues to be remade and discovered through their words,” Arts Council director Mary Cloake said.

© 2010 irishtimes.com

Check out the new city of literature website http://www.dublincityofliterature.com/

Friday, July 23, 2010

Don't forget to join us for some festival fun!

Don't forget to join us tomorrow (Sat 24 July) on the Village Green as part of the 'Malahide has it! Festival'.  We'll be there from 2pm with crayons, pencils and an artistic flair at the ready, waiting for you to draw us your favourite storyboard character.  Prizes to be won!


Not only that as part of the ever popular 'Where's Wally' series, Wally will be wandering around the village and if you find him, make sure to say hello and you will get a token to exchange in Village Books for your free gift!

When Cuba came to Village Books

Inspired by Michelle Jackson’ s 3rd novel ‘One Kiss in Havana’, we decided to bring Cuba to Village Books, as well as Michelle and ‘just a few’ booklovers.







Michelle signed copies of her new novel to a packed out shop, full in the flow of mojitos and salsa beats.







The fiesta continued next door in That's AmorĂ© where a fine spread of Cuban cuisine was enjoyed by all. Followed by a salsa lesson which we’d like to think justified the big slice of cake afterwards!





We had great fun and here in Village Books we feel that maybe we’re on to a good thing… perhaps Brazil, samba and caipirinha’s next? And not forgetting a book!