Rosemary at Queens Park Books

Hear the remarkable World War II escape story of Hampstead-born Rosemary Say told her daughter, Julia Holland and son-in-law, Noel Fursman who grew up in Kilburn – he was born just couple of streets away from Queens Park Books.

'' I had decided earlier in the year that I had to do something different and redical that would being set for me. But what? It wasn't until early that autumn, walking over Hampstead Heath one bright, cold afternoon with my school friend Peggy, that I decided exactly what I would do.

'I'm going to live abroad' I declared.

Little did Rosemary know on that fateful day on Hampstead Heath that her trip abroad would lead her imprisonment in, and escape from, two Nazi internment camps.

Join us at Queens Park Books for drinks and nibbles

7:30 – 9.00

Wednesday 6^th April 2011

Our Window this week :-)

Broaden your horizons at ELB!

We have a new international section in the shop this month, courtesy of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, featuring the complete longlist – and it’s a great selection this year. Standout nominees are David Grossman’s inspirational To The End of the Land, Santiago Roncagliolo’s thrilling Red April, and Orhan Pamuk’s epic The Museum of Innocence. Also included are some brilliant previous winners, including titles by Haruki Murakami, Jonathan Littell and Alaa Al Aswany. The IFFP is one of our favourite annual literary contests – showcasing a selection of work from around the globe that might otherwise be (unjustly) overlooked, and rewarding the excellent efforts of the translators who bring it to us as well as the authors. Stop by and have a look!

We're Twice Nicer On World Book Day!

We love World Book Day….there’s no more pleasing sight than a child engrossed in a brand new book—so we’re doubling the fun this year!

Every child bringing a World Book Day voucher to our shop can exchange for two WBD books…or, if they prefer, they can simply use the voucher to claim £1 off any children’s book in the shop.

World Book Day authors include Dr Seuss, AA Milne, Katie Davies, Andrew Cope, Michael Lawrence, Betty Birney, Glenn Murphy and more!

We are welcoming a host of local schools into the shop for children to select their book by their big voucher. Some of our staff are also visiting the local schools and talking with reception and children about books and reading generally, helping them to catch the reading hug. Hundreds of children will benefit from free access to some of the country's finest children's authors.. So, make sure you don't miss it out.

If your child’s school would like to arrange a visit, just ask them to give us a call on 0207 625 1008 and we’d be delighted to schedule a session with them.

We will offer any local school that affiliates with us 10% of their parents’ spends in the shop back in free library books—so make sure that your school and PTA spread the word because you can’t argue with free! We also offer participating schools an array of benefits to working with us from author visits and workshops to discount cards and much more.

World Book Night

Queens Park Books is proud to be involved in the first World Book Night. The 5^th of March will see a small army of 'Givers' collect 48 copies of their favourite book from local bookshops and advance upon unsuspecting members of the public brandishing truly powerful stories ranging from Cloud Atlas to Beloved.

The event will harness the reader's passion for their favourite books and see their chosen title and enthuiasm passed on to new owners, with no money being exchanged, a process one of the chosen authors, Philip Pullman, has likened to the experience of the earliest storytellers and our great tradition of oral storytelling.

Thousands od people are involved nationwide and we are proud that 16 books givers have chosen us as the starting point fortheir exciting journeys. The event will culminate in readings, events and nationwide celebration of the written word so remember to beware the book giver, who will be shortly be armed and ready to pounce.

Click here for more information

No Space But Their Own

Queen's Park is proud to bring you a poetry reading from the prestigious Grey Hen Press.

Tuesday 18^th January , 7 – 8:30

All are welcome, wine and nibbles provided

Here you go guys, QPB Book Club.. hooopa!

We are kicking off 2011 with a new QPB Book Club which has a working title of 'Queen's Park Readers - or QPRs which is definitely NOT a reference to the local football team! Or maybe it is?

Our first book is The Obscure Logic of the Heart by the talented young writer Priya Basil. Briefly, the book is about two lives, two loves and two faiths. Lina is a devoted daughter and the apple of her parents' eyes. When she meets the liberal Anil and, in stark opposition to her parents' wishes, their secret relationship develops, they are faced with an impossible dilemma. Both Lina and Anil are second-generation immigrants living in London with vastly different backgrounds and she, especially, is forced to make a choice between family devotion and her great love.

Priya's debut novel, Ishq and Mushq was short-listed for the prestigious Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2008 and long-listed for the Impac Dublin Prize in the same year. The book was given second place in the World Book Day “Book to Talk About” competition, also in 2008.

It would be a great treat for any book club to have the author on hand to talk about their work when they meet for discussion and dissection and that is precisely what is going to happen with The Obscure Logic of the Heart. Priya Basil will be with us at Queen's Park Books during the early evening of Thursday 27 January giving us the opportunity to get first hand insight into her work, put questions to her and enjoy a glass of wine and nibbles.

(Any interested takers will need to have read at least some of the book by then, if not finished it.)

This is a format that we are planning to repeat often and it is hoped that QPRs will sometimes be selecting books from the vast array of literature by the many local authors we are fortunate to have in our midst.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING QUEEN'S PARK READERS PLEASE CONTACT US BY EMAIL: shop@queensparkbooks.co.uk

OR CALL US ON: 020 7625 1008

WE ARE OFFERING A 15% DISCOUNT ON THE PUBLISHED PRICE OF THE CURRENT SELECTION FOR THE QPRs.

THERE IS NO COMPULSION TO FINISH ANY BOOK YOU DO NOT ENJOY, TO READ EVERY BOOK SELECTED OR TO ATTEND EVERY DISCUSSION GROUP.

DISCUSSIONS MAY ALSO BE HELD AT LOCAL PUBS OR COFFEE SHOPS AT TIMES AND DATES TO SUIT THE GROUP GENERALLY.