Sanquhar Christmas Fair

The annual Christmas Fair in Sanquhar Town Hall was successful in attracting many visitors yesterday. Local artists and craft workers were there to show and sell their work.

Among those yesterday were Noelle Stevenson, artist and silk painter

Author, artist and photographer Stuart Readman

Local woodturner and poet Bob McVeigh, and artist Barbara Maddox

Cover Stories

What's the difference between a good book jacket and a great one? A good jacket reveals something about the content of the book: it hints at the basic plot, maybe even gives us a glimpse of the main characters. A very good book jacket re-creates the spirit of the book. A great book jacket, however, is so arresting that it makes you pick up the book in the first place . . . full story

Recent Buys

Recent buys of clean used books include
Horse titles - training, riding and caring for horses
Vintage Agatha Christie and other crime novels
Vintage and Modern Poetry

25 Free Downloads

Absolutely free - no purchase needed - enjoy!

Which book will be the bestselling stocking-filler for this Christmas?

Nostalgia is the hot trend this year
They talk of grammar, eccentric measurements and the odd etiquette of yesteryear — and to the surprise of their authors, they have generated millions of pounds and fans by becoming the must-reads of Christmas.
The astonishing success of nostalgic books specialising in bizarre and offbeat subjects has spawned a pocket industry expected to dominate bookshops in coming weeks.
This week a book on Latin has emerged as the latest challenger to the crown claimed by Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Lynne Truss’s surprise literary hit about grammatic pedantry, and Ben Schott’s multi-million selling series of Miscellanies. Despite its niche appeal, Amo, Amas, Amat and All That is already moving towards the upper end of the booksales register by selling upwards of 1,000 copies a week.
Meanwhile other stocking fillers from pamphlets on how a woman should behave in wartime and how gents can push the boundaries of derring-do to the bumper annuals of long-gone comics such as Jackie are lining up as challengers.

Other books trading on longstanding reputations are faring less well, however. Buoyed by its appeal to both young and old a new Doctor Who annual this week knocked The Beano off the No 1 spot for the first time.

Seems just about everyone who has had their 15 minutes of fame has published an autobiography these days - I used to think the 'auto' bit of autobiography meant to do it ones self ... now it seems an interview with a scribe will do, throw in a few old family pics and publish while the 'celebrity' is still basking in their new found limelight - Billie Piper, Kerry KatonaGary Barlow, Russel Brand, Pete Bennett from Big Brother, even Carmen Bin Ladin, Osama's sister-in-law!

My Favourites?
A slip-cased facsimile of the "Broons" annual, published in 1939. Conn Iggulden's The Dangerous Book for Boys, QI, The General Book of Ignorance by Stephen Fry, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett and Ian Rankin's Naming of the Dead

Big Money Prize from Russia
A new Russian national book prize that claims to offer the second largest cash award, after the Nobel, was presented for the first time on Wednesday night to Dmitry Bykov, a prolific journalist, novelist and essayist, for his biography, "Boris Pasternak." The prize — sponsored by the Russian government and backed by Russian oligarchs who made their fortunes in oil, commodities and banking — is known as Bolshaya Kniga, or Big Book, and came with 3 million rubles (£60,000)The Nobel Prize for Literature is worth a whopping £746,000

Bookstart Founder Honoured
Wendy Cooling has been awarded the Eleanor Farjeon award for a life spent promoting children's literature. She ran the Children's Book Foundation and National Chidren's Book Week, and founded Bookstart, a national programme which gives free books to every child in the UK. The Eleanor Farjeon award is given in recognition of an individual's contribution to the world of children's books; recent winners have included the children's laureate Jacqueline Wilson, writers Philip Pullman and Malorie Blackman, and Julia Eccleshare, the Guardian's children's books editor. Yesterday I mentioned Bookstart is to host Gordon Brown's annual Christmas party at 11 Downing Street - recognition of the importance of literature for children

Book News

The nominations for the 2007 Carnegie medal - the UK's most prestigious children's literary award - have been unveiled, and titles range from Jeanette Winterson's ideas-fuelled novel of time and space, Tanglewreck, to Conn and Hal Iggulden's attempt to get boys climbing trees and building go-carts, The Dangerous Book for Boys full list here

Pope Benedict has finished the first volume of a book on the life of Jesus Christ and has decided to publish what he has written so far because he doesn't know "how much time and strength" he has left.
The first book to be published by the 79-year-old Benedict since he became Pope in April 2005 will be distributed by Italian publisher Rizzoli, a unit of RCS Mediagroup, in cooperation with the Vatican's own publishing house.

Following the summer's children's book party extravaganza at Buckingham Palace, the Treasury is now getting in on the act. Gordon Brown has asked the book charity Booktrust to host his annual children's Christmas party at number 11 Downing Street

Win a £10 Book Token - How Does This Work?

This is a link to a magic number site - it claims to be able to read your mind and it's spookily accurate! I thought I had it worked out but my theory was flawed

Try the puzzle - if you can work out how it's done, click the comment link below and leave your answer. There's a £10 Book Token on offer for the first person to work it out

Down Memory Lane with William Dalgleish

Bill Dalgleish began writing his regular article for the Wee Paper six years ago
This week he published a collection of these articles in a book called Down Memory Lane. There are 130 articles by Bill, including his well loved fireside chats - this is a book to be enjoyed and would make a nice stocking filler for all readers of the Wee Paper near and far

Down Memory Lane, 189pp, £6.99

SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE FROM SANQUHAR BOOKS

If you want to reserve a signed copy, email janette@sanquharbooks.com

Free Ink - Free Paper!

Moving on from fountain pens to other inks, I thought I'd share this cool new site with you. It's called Ink Club - they have a good range of compatible ink cartridges for Canon, Epson, HP, Lexmark and lots of other printers (bet yours is there) - and, for a wee while, they are offering FREE INK and FREE PHOTO PAPER!

Back to blotters

The fountain pen, complete with leaky nibs, bursting cartridges and indelibly stained shirts, is making a compulsory comeback in a last-ditch attempt to save the nation's handwriting.
The spread of vowel-free text messages among the young and the rise of grammarless e-mails across all age ranges is leaving children, university students and even teachers unable to write legibly by hand.
But now a leading independent school in Edinburgh has ordered pupils aged nine and over to write only with fountain pens.

Here's the full story

I remember my first fountain pen, it was a chunky black
bakelite Osmiroid pen and I was eight.

It came in a little cardboard box and had one nib and no ink. I think ink colour in those days was limited to blue or black - what did puzzle me was the choice of washable blue or permanent blue. They seemed the same to me - they certainly behaved the same! Filling my first pen was awkward - there was a skinny rubber tube you had to squeeze while you dipped the nib into the ink bottle. Cleaning the residue wasn't any easier ... the school toilet paper was useless, (it was the shiny scratchy stuff) - I used to blot my nib on a corner of a jotter and by the end of term there was hardly a free space to dry your nib!

At the age of 10 I graduated in penmanship and moved onto cartridge pens - do kids still use them? Do you remember your first pen?

... and in the going down of the sun

and in the morning

We will remember them ...

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month we observe a 2 minute silence. It's a ritual I never forget. I give thanks to all service personnel, past and present, who have served our country in times of conflict and peace. Without their bravery, loyalty and sense of duty, this world would be a vastly different place. It's easy to take for granted the freedoms we have today. It's easy to live for today and brush aside yesterday. I will not forget I am part of a forces family.

10 year old Athena Nicholas will never forget either. Her father, Flight Lieutenant Gareth Nicholas died in Afghanistan when his Nimrod plane, from RAF Kinloss, crashed near Kandahar earlier this year. Here is her poem to her dad

My dad
By Athena Nicholas

He was a great Father for every good Reason, I wish he was still alive. He would still be with me if it hadn't gone wrong,

I wish he had survived.
I feel like it was all a dream.

But it's not what it seems. That he's still with me in my heart.

And in my sad sad dreams.

I'm crying at this moment.

But I can't stop now. I wish he was still with me.

And he's whispering in the clouds.

I will visit you in your dreams.

And we shall roam free. Playing in the grassy fields.

Definitely You and Me.

Most Viewed Unknown Artist

Have you ever wondered who was behind the Google drawings? Dennis Hwang, a 28 years old webmaster - what a cool job to have

Book Ghosts

Andrew and I love rummaging through boxes of fousty old treasures. Holding an old book is like having a direct connection to the past. Some of the books in the shop are nearly 300 years old. I'll never stop being fascinated by old books - the smell of them, the way they feel, wondering who else has held them and what the original owner's life was like ...

Every now and then a book ghost will turn up. To me, a book ghost is something found inside the pages of a book - it might be a bookmark, postcard, photo, pressed flower or any odd thing. Thought it would be nice to share some of our book ghosts with you - these two are of granpa and laddie and aunt mary when she was 17 - so it says on the back of the photos

BOOK NEWS ON THIS DAY

1960: Lady Chatterley's Lover sold out. Bookshops all over Britain have sold out of Penguin's first run of the controversial novel Lady Chatterley's Lover - a total of 200,000 copies - on the first day of publication.
DH Lawrence's sexually explicit novel was published in Italy in 1928 and in Paris the following year. It has been banned in the UK - until now.
Last month, after a dramatic and much-publicised trial, Penguin won the right to publish the book in its entirety.
For those who can manage to find a copy, it is available in paperback for 3s 6d.

2006: A new hardback edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover is available. Published by Penguin Designer Classics, retail price £100. We don't have it on our shelves but will happily order it for you .... we do have a couple of copies from the 60's though!

Elizabeth Gill

What a nice surprise - author Elizabeth Gill popped into the bookshop today - she was visiting a friend in the area and decided to stock up with material for a future novel.

Liz writes saga's about the north east of England - her part of the country, and has a new book out in Decenber - Secrets, published by Severn House - good luck Liz

Sylvia Plath - Ennui

An unpublished sonnet by Sylvia Plath, apparently written by the author while she was in college, while pondering themes in F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, is published for the first time, in an online literary journal

Read Ennui here

Sanquhar and Russian Mail Order Brides An Odd Link!

Trawling the web recently you may be surprised to see a link between local councillor Jim Dempster and Russian Mail Order Brides

It's obviously a mistake - the site in question has signed up for too many news feeds, but it did tickle my funny bone and fire my imagination!

Is this a new Sanquhar sideline?

Do they really arrive by mail order?

Visions of boxed Russian women taking up space in the Post Office had me in stitches ...

Ragweed Chariots

All was quiet at Crawick Mill - not one Nithsdale witch was seen in a ragweed chariot - just this red eyed cackler on my friends door! I was out in a small village last night in the company of a bumble bee, a witch, an arabian princess and a couple of mummies.

Trick or treating is still strong in this part of Scotland - lots of houses decked out in spooky trimmings and offering dookin for apples and mouth watering tablet in exchange for a party piece