A Route with a View

I often cycle to work and hills are my ultimate nemesis. There are a number of routes that I can take, all involving at least one hill. However, there is one route in particular that sends shivers down my spine and it is only when I am feeling extremely refreshed and adventurous that I chose this option. Why take this route I hear you ask? Well, as the saying goes: no pain, no gain. The view from the top of the hill in Richmond park is something worth working hard for.... and of course being safe in the knowledge that there is a delicious iced latte waiting for me when I get to work!

Ahhh ... Monmouth

It has always puzzled me why people serve coffee at the end of a dinner party. It's almost as if the night is incomplete without it. The night is winding down, you're full of good food, made the necessary small talk and all you want to do is go home to bed. Then the coffee orders are taken. I don't want to be the odd one out so like a good guest I humour my host and agree to a very weak white coffee. My general rule is no caffeine in any way, shape or form after 4pm, so the 10pm coffee is a major break of the rules.

At one such dinner party a coffee was definitely in order for the host as, instead of using coffee granules, Bisto was used instead. Same colour, NOT the same taste. Eurgh, Bisto....

Since working in a coffee shop I have learnt to appreciate good coffee. My tolerance to coffee has grown almost to the point where a 10pm caffeine kick is not such a bad idea. I have however, turned into a bit of a coffee snob, choosing whether or not to accept an invitation to coffee depending on the type served.

My advice therefore, to anyone hosting a dinner party is as follows:

Serve a decent coffee. A coffee worth lying awake at 2am for. A coffee that your guests will appreciate. A coffee that is not gravy. Serve Monmouth coffee...

... 250g bags available now at The Golden Treasury!!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

As you might imagine, many of our conversations here at The GT centre on books we love. Recently, we've been talking about books that we remember from our childhood, and we've been very sad to discover that lots of them are now out of print (and we're not that old, honestly!)

This blog post is dedicated to all of those long lost favourites, in the hope that some of you loved them as much as we did!

Ernest and Celestine Series by Gabrielle Vincent. 

Orginally published by Collins, 1982.

 

Ernest is a bear, Celestine a mouse.  I can't tell you exactly how they came to be sharing a home, but they do, and this leads to various cute adventures.  The stories are accompanied by Gabrielle Vincent's beautiful watercolour illustrations, giving heart, warmth and personality to the characters.  There were several books in the series, but the one I remember is 'Merry Christmas, Ernest and Celestine'.  Having found a few extracts online recently, I really think that it stands the test of time as one of the loveliest Christmas picture books. 

Yak and the Painted Cave by Donald Bisset. 

Originally published by Methuen, 1971.

Written by the British actor Donald Bisset (although I didn't know that at the time.) Yak is really one of the stand-out characters of my childhood. Gentle and slightly surreal, Yak and the Painted Cave tells the story of Yak, who decorates his gloomy cave with paint made from crushed mountain flowers.  Creating beauty from nature, this little guy was a great artist with a lovely message.  Again, this was a series of books, but this and 'Yak and the Sea Shell' are the ones I remember with fondness.   I wish Yak could make a comeback...

The Exeter Blitz by David Rees. 

Originally published by Hamish Hamilton, 1978.

This book won the 1978 Carnegie Medal, so I was really surprised to find that it was out of print.  I remember reading this when I was about 11, I think I must have taken it out of the school library.  I had never really read anything about World War II, or The Blitz, but I was fascinated, and it gave me an interest in the subject which has lasted to this day.  Obviously, there are lots of children's novels on the wars, with authors such as Michael Morpurgo and Robert Westall being well known for dealing with the subject. I think it's a real shame that The Exeter Blitz isn't available anymore though - if it succeeded in giving an eleven year old New Kids on the Block fan an interest in history, it must be good!

We'd love to hear about any of your childhood favourites that have gone to the big bookshop in the sky. Who knows, maybe some lovely publishing person might spot them and decide it's time to 

resurrect one of them! 

Last few photos!

More Easter fun!

Some more photos from our Easter eggstravaganza (taadaa!!), including the lovely Emily, chief treasure hunter!

Easter cupcake decorating treasure hunt

As a fun Easter treat for our little customers, we decided to hold a day of events. We decorated chirpy chick cupcakes (thanks for the inspiration Usborne!) and also held a treasure hunt, where the treasure was of course a Cadburys Creme egg (thanks again Usborne!).

Sign-up for this free event was swift and we really loved seeing the serious concentration, creativity and fabulous book knowledge of all our participants!

Here are some photos from the events. Thanks so much to everyone for coming along and we would like to wish our customers a very happy Easter!

Books You've Always Meant to Read

At the beginning of January, once all the Christmas chaos had settled and we were well into plans and preparations for our coffee shop, we decided we wanted to test out a new section for adults in the shop. As you probably know, we have always stocked a selection of titles for our grown up customers, but we wanted to try something a bit different.

We've therefore introduced a new section of 'Books You've Always Meant to Read'. Using our combined literary knowledge and some book trade research, we have come up with a selection of books that might have always been on your 'must read' list, but you've never quite managed to get around to. From The Great Gatsby to The Kite Runner, The Woman in White to The Godfather and The Handmaid's Tale to The Shining, there is something for everyone to get their teeth into.

We're really enjoying coming up with the list but it's making our to-read piles even higher!

So, for your next holiday, long train journey or to read while relaxing with a coffee, why not try one of our 'Books You've Always Meant to Read'?

Over at our reviews blog, GT member of staff Polly has talked about one of her favourite books - Pride and Prejudice - which has already proved to be a popular title in our new section... Click here to read Polly's review.