Friday 31 January 2014

Meet the staff: Cherie

Cherie is our magazine guru. She's been working here for about 2 years, ever since long time staff member Bev retired. Before coming to us, Cherie worked at the (now closed) Magazine Shop on Hardy St, so she knows her stuff.

When she's not pricing, filing and returning magazines, Cherie likes to garden, fish and spend time with her family. She and her husband Mark have a 14 year old son, Corey and a 4 year old Jack Russell.


Thursday 30 January 2014

Buskerburgoo hits town!

 
Today we have a running commentary from the Busking Festival... and music!  And cheering from the crowd!  Sounds like fun.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

Why was Peter reading out a recipe?

 Jude Gillies called from Arrowtown this morning. We caught Peter reading her Pete Rainey's recipe  from the Food Central Cookbook. We did wonder what was going on, but it was a legitimate call -  research for an article she is writing for the Nelson Mail.

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Better than tidying your wardrobe...

Kesia has been spent the afternoon giving the children's section a good clean. We always have a great time doing this as we peruse old favourites, and of course find some new ones.

Monday 27 January 2014

Winner!

A year of strong artistic New Zealand women, first Eleanor Catton and now Lorde. What a way to showcase our country! Photo credit goes to New Idea

Sunday 26 January 2014

Saturday 25 January 2014

Karen

Karen runs a book blog in the US. We had a great chat about independent booksellers and the joys of recommending books to customers.

Friday 24 January 2014

Launching Cross Creek Return

We launched Cross Creek Return at the library this afternoon. Author Irene Swadling on the right above, and her sister-in-law Heather.

A tragic accident in 1880 on the Rimutaka Incline leaves young George traumatised. His premonition of danger before the event is parallelled by events experienced by his grandfather, an emigrant to Nelson in 1842. the growth of the Colony of Nelson and the 77 years of the Rimutaka Incline Railway, with its Fell engines, set the background of this novel.

Thursday 23 January 2014

Colour cataloguing

Sometimes we think that perhaps a colour-coded approach to shelving books may be of use!

Tuesday 21 January 2014

For the love of giraffes

This beautiful book on giraffes has not only pages of stunning giraffe photographs, but also a natural and cultural history of giraffes.  And who better to hold our book than Briony, wearing her new dress covered in pictures of her favourite animal!

Monday 20 January 2014

Browsing bird books

We spotted Benedetta and Fiama from Italy browsing bird identification books on the beanbags in the kid's section. They are from Roma, here visiting Fiama's son who lives in Nelson.

Sunday 19 January 2014

Saturday 18 January 2014

Mistress of the Windows, hard at work

Here is Maclean, putting together what may be her final window display for us before she heads south. We will miss her skill and artistic flair very much.

Friday 17 January 2014

World famous in New Zealand

Gemma had her photo snapped whilst in Queenstown, Christmas 2012 and it's made it onto the National Geographic Traveller's Photo Contest for 2013. The winning photographer is Nikola Smernic. Well done Gemma!

Thursday 16 January 2014

First rep of the year

Both today and yesterday we have been visited by Dean, our Penguin books rep. He is our first rep of the year! Dean is a keen cyclo-cross cyclist and sometimes times his visits to coincide with cycling events in the region.

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Notebooks to keep forever

Paperblank Patchwork:  Create your own works of art in one of our notebooks. Lined, unlined, diaries or a guestbook... you'll be inspired to write down poems or recipes or travel tales- or secrets!!

Tuesday 14 January 2014

The answer is blowing in the wind

The street is aflutter with windblown leaves, and we've gathered a few windy titles to breeze you through your day....

Monday 13 January 2014

Homeward Bound

Yay, I'm going home says Mary Jane, a.k.a Sally. How wonderful that a lovely regular customer rang the owners of this doll following an advert in the paper, telling her that she was sitting behind the counter. Here she is dressed in a Courier Bag ready to head off home today.

Sunday 12 January 2014

Party at Maclean's house!

Stella, Felix, Jan, Cory, Neil, Lucy, Cosmo and Thomas.
 This evening we threw Maclean, her husband Derek and their son Oscar a farewell and happy travels party, by inviting ourselves around to their house. In a few weeks they are off around the country in their caravan and Oscar is off to uni.
Peter, Susi and Tim at the buffet.

Saturday 11 January 2014

With bells on

We had several sides of Morris Dancers from all over the world performing down the street this morning. Pat and Steve from Perth came into the shop to buy up all the copies of last night's Nelson Mail as Steve featured on the front page.

Friday 10 January 2014

Books for Flynn

Briony selecting books for 1 year old Flynn's birthday present on behalf of his Granny. After much debate and deliberation she chose Zou and The Big Book of Words and Pictures, two of our staff favourites.

Thursday 9 January 2014

Journals for artists


Back in stock are the wonderful Shaun Tan journals. They are absolutely beautiful, and we all wish we were artists who could fill the pages with illustrations just as fantastic.

Wednesday 8 January 2014

How many birds can you name?

Just flown back in to roost: our stunning Native New Zealand Birds poster ($25.00).  Released by Te Papa to celebrate the new publication of Buller's Birds of New Zealand, it has been flying off the shelf!

Tuesday 7 January 2014

Dobbin gets drenched

Wet days mightn't be good for bicycles, but they are great for reading.    Put aside time to curl up with a crisp, fresh new book.

Monday 6 January 2014

Q&A with Sarah



How long have you been at P&B?
I am one of the more recent additions to the staff at Page and Blackmore, moving from being a very loyal customer to being a very loyal staff member in March of 2013.

Previous book selling experience? (or other interesting jobs)
When I was in London working for the National Trust in the garden of 17th Centuary Ham house I worked weekends in the wonderful ‘Ian Sheridan’s bookshop’ an quintessential second hand bookshop in Hampton. Instead of getting paid in the normal fashion I was paid in books and some of my most special books date from this time, including a very early edition of Mrs Beeton and a 1625 copy of ‘The Historie of the Most High, Mighty, and Euer-glorious Empresse, Elizabeth, Inuincible Queen of England, Ireland, & c. True Defendresse fo the Faith, of immortall Renowne, and nuer-dying Fame and Memory’, how’s that for a title? I’ve always been an avid reader generally with several books on the go at any one time and a stack waiting in the wings.

Seminal books from your childhood/life or favourite reading memories?
I struggled with reading when I first started school so every Friday evening my dad would take me to Whitcome and Tombs in Christchurch to purchase another AM/PM reader and once I mastered the craft of reading I was off. I was often getting told off for reading under the covers with my torch! Now I get the pleasure of reading to my children, each evening the girls and I read the next chapter of our current book.
Favourite authors, genres to read.
I have fairly recently returned to study and are completing a science degree with an environmental science focus so I’m attracted to anything that looks at the nature, landscape and environment as well as human interaction with it. Fortunately there is no shortage either nonfiction or fiction that explore these themes.  Recent  fiction favourites being the Margaret Atwood’s ‘Year of the Flood Trilogy’, Barbara Kingsolver’s ‘Flight Behaviour’ and Wu Ming-Yi’s ‘The Man With the Compound Eyes’. There are far too many nonfiction books to mention, fortunately Page and Blackmore has a large selection to feed my appetite for reading from ‘Ghosts of Gondwana’ to ‘Continents on the move’ to George Monbiot’s ‘Feral’ and anything by David Suzuki.

Hobbies/pastimes/family:
I am mother to three wonderful daughters who are aged 6, 8 & 10 who have fortunately inherited my love of reading, which makes Christmas and birthday presents easy. Any reference of our family wouldn’t be complete without mentioning our beloved pony Tiny, who although not fond of reading had become a lead character in many of the girl’s stories.
When I get the chance I like to get out in nature; tramping and camping are great especially with the girls.

Sunday 5 January 2014

Our new bookmark!





Our new bookmark - updated with our winning award for the year. Nielsen Book Data Independent Bookshop of the Year.  The list grows!

Saturday 4 January 2014

A holiday reading adventure

Perhaps you can't wait for the third and final installment to arrive at the cinema; if that's the case, pop in and have a look at our collection. Illustrated, annotated or pocket size, there's one for everyone!

Friday 3 January 2014

Getting into the New Year Groove

We are often spoilt with great musicians busking in Nelson, and thought we'd share today's talent. 

Thursday 2 January 2014

Holiday Reading

Amelia visiting from Invercargill in the process of choosing her next holiday read.
Dressed appropriately in tutu and pink sandals she's looking at the latest faerie titles.

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Happy New Year to you!

A Happy New Year 2014 to our wonderful customers and fellow book lovers!  Wishing you a peaceful day with something good to read... and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.