Hoonaloon News October 2012

As usual, here are a few recent additions to our fine selection of worthy tomes ;

Mrs Robert Henrey (Madeleine Henrey, nee Madeleine Gal) was born on the northern outskirts of Paris, the daughter of a miner and his seamstress wife.  Her father died whilst she was in her teens and her mother decided to relocate to England.

Although Madeleine did write some fiction, she is best remembered for her largely autobiographical accounts of life in a small English town. Some of her early work was published under the name of her husband, Robert Henrey, and some under her own name, but she preferred to write as Mrs Robert Henrey as an acknowledgement of her husband`s help with editing etc.

She kept hens as a hobby and lived to be 97.

A copy of her She Who Pays can be found at 5387 in our listings.

Gladys Mitchell, who also wrote as Stephen Hockaby and Malcolm Torrie, was a `Golden Age` detective story writer best remembered for her Mrs Bradley stories.  A prolific wielder of pens, her mysteries were many and you can find out more at www.gladysmitchell.com .

Her interests included Freud and witchcraft and she was a member of The Detection Club, The Crime Writers Association, The British Olympic Association, Middlesex Education Association, PEN and the Society of Authors. 

John Sawkins wrote Jangara ; A Novel of the Sudan after spending some years teaching in that country.
 
I understand that his novel addresses issues of colonialism and racism in a fair, undogmatic way. Unfortunately for the author, he is not the only John Sawkins to write books and it is difficult to be clear where one John Sawkins ends and the other begins.

Despite my almost total ignorance of his life and work, I decided to include his book in this month`s newsletter for no other reason than the fact that I like the cover.

I have posted details of other items from our stock at http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com and http://thesextonblakeblog.blogspot.com  ,

or you can view the full 4,000 or so items we have at present by clicking here ; http://www.abebooks.co.uk/Hoonaloon-Books-Derbyshire/53404521/sf .

As ever, if you have any questions, just get in touch.

Respect the Book !

Nick & Ann-Marie
Hoonaloon Books







   

Hoonaloon News September 2012

We`ll start this month`s newsletter with Berlie Doherty`s `A Beautiful Place for a Murder`. Doherty, a denizen of Derbyshire, is a prolific writer who embraces a variety of genres and formats. She is best known for her work for younger readers but does in fact write for adults as well. Encounter bookish Berlie at number 5292 in our listings, or visit her website at www.berliedoherty.com .

 

 

At 5279 we have Harold H Mather`s Clock and Watch Makers of Nottinghamshire. Horological Harold, a descendant of one of Bonnie Prince Charlie`s soldiers,  was something of a `gifted amateur` where antique timepieces were concerned and repaired/restored a number of those held in Nottinghamshire museums.

 

 

 

Over the pond and a world away, at 5247 we have Charles E Cobb Jr`s On the Road to Freedom ; A  Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail.

 

Cobb is well qualified to write on the Civil Rights movement, having been a field officer for the Student Nonviolent Co-Ordinating Committee and a prime mover in the establishment of `Freedom Schools`.

 

 

That`s all for this month, but remember, at any given time we have around 4,000 titles available online stock, with new titles added five times a week.

 

As explained in my previous posting, many of the items we are currently offering for sale have  been reduced in price by 25% (offer ends 15 Sept 2012).

 

In most cases we only have one copy of each book, so buy now to avoid disappointment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

News From Hoonaloon 31 August 2012

Our next monthly newsletter will be along shortly. In the meantime I just want to mention that a substantial portion of our stock is available now at dramatically discounted prices.

During our sale in July, we discounted all of the stock we were offering  for sale on ABE by 25%.

When the sale ended, we entered into an arrangement with ABE whereby those items that had been discounted as part of the sale continued to be offered at the discounted price, but new items added to our stock after the sale ended went online at the full price.

It`s no secret that retailers of all sorts are having to offer generous discounts to keep sales constant in these difficult economic times.

We are no exception to that, and for that reason, we are extending the arrangement we have with ABE until 15 Sept 2012 - all the stock that was discounted as part of the sale in July continues to be discounted, but items added after the sale ended are online at their full price.

Remember in most cases we only have one copy of each book  and once they`re gone they are in fact  gone, so grab yourself a bargain while stocks last. 

And don`t forget - Respect the Book !

Hoonaloon News August 2012

BIG NEWS ON BARGAIN BOOKS !

Our latest sale has now officially ended. However, as it was going well, we`ve come to an arrangement with ABE whereby all the books we still have that were reduced in the sale are still reduced, but all the new titles we add are going on at full price.

This will help us keep a constantly changing stock and also cater to current trends as it`s clear that book buyers are becoming more and more price-conscious. Understandable, in these troubled times.

We`ve not yet decided how long to continue with this arrangement, so buy now to avoid disappointment.

A FEW RECENT ADDITIONS TO OUR STOCK

We continue to stock a comprehensive crime section. It may well be that you`ve caught one of Alexander McGregor`s appearances on TV documentaries and if so you may well be tempted to savour one of his literary offerings. The Law Killers is his most successful book to date and our copy can be found at 5191 in our listings. Browse our catalogue if you wish to discover the full range of murder and mayhem that we have to offer.

Old Sibthorpian Daniel Taylor began his journalistic career with the Newark and South Notts Advertiser before moving on to more esteemed periodicals. His passion for Nottingham Forest continues unabated and finds an outlet in this worthy tome, which you will find at 5187 in our listings.

This attractive volume is an antiquarian pocket-sized hardback edition of R L Stevenson`s Catriona and can be found at 5234 in our listings. Books of this sort were the ancestors of today`s paperback and were aimed at working people who wanted something stylish, affordable and durable they could slip into their pocket and take to work. Many have survived to the present day and they continue to be cheap, practical ways of  acquiring the literature of the past. More fun than a Kindle ! 

That`s all for now, bargain hunters. If you wish to keep up to date with our other activities and obssessions, fell free to visit http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com and/or http://thesextonblakeblog.blogspot.com .

All the Best,

Nick and Ann-Marie Osmond

Hoonaloon Books

Hoonaloon News July 2012

Nefarious doings in the Netherlands ! At 5104 in our listings, Janwillem Van de Wetering`s Hard Rain (number 11 in the author`s Amsterdam Cops series), finds detectives Grijpstra and de Gier investigating a series of killings and having to deal with the obstructiveness of corrupt officials along the way. "A fast-moving story that combines action, detection, satire, Zen philosophy and pure fun" - Fantastic Fiction.

Leicestrian literature looms large in our listings lately. Copies of J D Bennett`s `John Flower 1793 - 1961` can be found at 5092 and 5116 in our current catalogue, while the same author`s `Leicestershire Architects 1700 - 1850` is at 5093. For good measure, copies of Albert Robinson`s `The Whitwick and New Swannington Comforts Fund` can be found at 5105 and 5115, whilst Dennis Baker`s `Whitwick Schools at War` is at 5106.

Created  by writer Helen Wells (aka Helen Weinstock, Francine Lewis), Cherry Ames was a nurse with a sideline in crime-fighting and mystery-solving. You wonder where she found the time ! The Cherry Ames series was long-running (1943 - 1968), though not all the books were written by Wells - some were the work of Julie Tatham.

The theme of crimes solved  by an assertive young career woman fits nicely with modern sensibilities, which is probably one of the reasons a number of the Cherry Ames adventures are currently in print. A member of Mystery Writers of America, Ms Wells wrote many mystery stories aimed at a readership of teenage girls, usually involving an ambitious female lead character who solves cases that have baffled others. 

The two Ames mysteries in our stock at present are ;

5113 Julie Tatham - Cherry Ames, Mountaineer Nurse - World Distributors (UK) - 1963

5114 Helen Wells - Cherry Ames, Senior Nurse - World Distributors (UK) - 1963

AND FINALLY...

Perhaps I could take this opportunity to remind you that the current Hoonalooon Books Sale is currently underway and that all the books we currently have on sale via ABE have been reduced in price by 25%.

The sale will end on 27 July 2012

And remember our slogan - Respect the Book !

Hoonaloon Books Sale July 2012

Our latest sale is already underway and runs from 1 July 2012 -  27 July 2012.

All the items we have on sale via ABE will be discounted by 25%.

The discount has already been deducted from our listings, so all you have to do is choose your books and place your order.

Our usual monthly newsletter will be appearing soon - I had hoped to have it online already but, not for the first time, events have overtaken me.

Any questions, just get in touch.


Nick & Ann-Marie
Hoonaloon Books

P.S. While you await the dubious delights of the next newsletter, here are a few of the more recent additions to our stock. These three are not yet showing up online, but should appear within the next 24 hours.  

Hoonaloon News June 2012

Based in Leicestershire, David Bell (unconnected to the American novelist of the same name) is a former headmaster turned professional writer. For a while he wrote horror and crime stories, sometimes under the name Jack Wainer, but has made his name with numerous non-fiction books with a regional theme (Ghosts and Legends of Staffordshire and the Black Country, Leicestershire and Rutland Murder Casebook, Memories of the Nottinghamshire Coalfields and many others.

He is active in the Ashby Writers Club (www.ashbywritersclub.com) and the Crime writer`s association (www.thecwa.co.uk). Although normally published by Countryside Books, he has one book published by the Nottingham-based Five Leaves.

At present, we have two books by David Bell in stock, 5058  - Staffordshire and the Black Country Murder Casebook (pictured) and 4806 - Derbyshire Tales of Mystery and Murder. See our listings for details of condition and price.

At 5068 in our listings we have a US 1st edition of  Stones From the River, a major novel from German-born American writer Ursula Hegi.

Many of Hegi`s works explore her conflicted feelings about her German ancestry, and that is particularly true of this book, which looks at the impact of Nazism on the inhabitants of a fictitious German town.

Catherine Fletcher`s Our Man in Rome : Henry VIII and his Italian Ambassador (known in the US as The Divorce of Henry VIII) tells the story of Gregorio Casali, known as The Cavalier, Henry VIII`s ambassador to Rome from 1525 - 33 and the behind-the-scenes diplomatic intrigues behind Henry`s divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

Our copy is at 5078 in our listings.

J R Hale aka Sir John Hale aka John Rigby Hale was a British academic and a noted authority on Renaissance History.

The Renaissance in Europe was originally entitled Renaissance Europe ; Individual and Society 1480 - 1520.

Originally published by Collins in 1971, and later by Blackwells in 2000. This Folio edition largely follows the Blackwells edition. Despite my rather clumsy attempt to take a picture of it, it is a particularly fine volume, as Folios always are.

The Renaissance in Europe appears at 5076 in our listings.

As ever, if you have any questions, don`t hesitate to get in touch.