It's here! My brand new online bookshop, Helena Halme Books is now open. Helena Halme Books Since I'm not able to bring my dream of a brick-and-mortar bookshop into reality, I've gone for the next best thing. I opened my own Shopify bookstore online. I am beyond excited! The shop is … [Read more...]
Goodbye England’s Lane Books
On my return from holiday I got the sad news that the wonderful England's Lane Books will be no more.High rents and rates, other popular bookshops nearby and a low footfall, as well as the decline in sales of physical books all contributed to the decision to close down this locally loved independent … [Read more...]
E-books in bookshops – whatever next?
There's much consternation in the press this morning following Waterstone's deal with Amazon to sell Kindle and e-books in their stores. Much 'Deal with the devil' kind of comments have been banded about, but I have to say that I don’t understand why there isn't more of … [Read more...]
The Best New Books of 2011
Last year was a very busy reading year for me. Not only did I start working in a bookshop, but I also ran three book groups and arranged and took part in various author events and readings.But out of all the fiction titles, children's books, non-fiction books or crime thrillers, a few books by … [Read more...]
David Nicholls at England’s Lane Books
David Nicholls' latest novel, One Day, has been a huge hit both in the UK and overseas. It's a story of two people who first meet on the last day at university and then have a 'will they, won't they' -relationship for the next twenty years. The book is now being turned into a film, adapted by … [Read more...]
Holiday packing: capsule wardrobe time
I'm hopeless at packing for a holiday. First of all I can't do it much ahead of time because the weather where we usually go (Åland Islands in Finland) is always unpredictable, and I have to wait until I have a proper reliable forecast. At least that's what I tell myself, because the real and … [Read more...]
Angry Birds in the book shop
First I must tell you I cannot abide birds. I don't know why, but I just can't cope with their sharp peaks, awful scaly feet and staring singular eyes. So you can imagine I had a shock today when, minding my own business at England's Lane Books, a pigeon flew past the counter. I immediately got … [Read more...]
A blog post about…?
There are so many posts I have planned for this blog but...Firstly there was the wonderful evening with Icelandic crime writer, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, at England's Lane Books. She was so approachable and I really want to do the evening justice by writing a good piece.Yrsa Sigurdardottir interviewed by … [Read more...]
Justin Cartwright giveaway
Justin Cartwright has written seven novels; he's a winner of the Whitbread Novel Award and he's been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His latest novel, Other People's Money is a darkly comic tale of a private banking family in trouble. It's both a subtle thriller and an … [Read more...]
My list of summer reads, or books to take on holiday
It's that time of the year when we're all beginning to think about our summer holidays. (While the rain beats down the windows behind my desk...) I usually leave the book buying to the last minute, but this time, since I'm now a professional bookseller, I thought I'd get a head start.The first novel … [Read more...]
