Page & Blackmore pick up this month's Mayor's Bouquet in Live Nelson!

Page & Blackmore pick up this month's Mayor's Bouquet in Live Nelson!

Here's what our Mayor had to say about us in Live Nelson:

"Page and Blackmore Booksellers has been a part of Nelson since 1998.

The merger of Tim and Susi Blackmore’s Booksellers and Peter
and Ann Rigg’s Pages Bookshop created the business at the top
of Trafalgar Street which is a mecca for book lovers.

The business is known for its eclectic variety of books,
knowledgeable staff and premises where you are not
encouraged to move on, but to spend time finding the
treasures within.

As a city, we should also be grateful to the Page and
Blackmore team for their continued sponsorship of the Readers
and Writers Festival which is a hugely successful component of
the Nelson Arts Festival.

They don’t just lend their name to the Festival, but are
actively involved with the author selection and are at each
event with their bookstall.

I am pleased to be able to acknowledge the role Page and
Blackmore has played in promoting the literary arts in our city."

Peter the bookseller and Peter the book rep pose for the blog

Peter Grey has been one of our longest serving book reps and as always it was great to see him in the shop this morning with a new selection of titles.

Rosie loves books

Rosie and her bunny giving a scathing critique on the latest fiction while her Mum and Dad shop.

Like who now?

Every time I use my personal Facebook account to "like" something we've posted on the shop's page, this suggestion pops up. A cookbook author and a former leader of the Labour party. Hmm, wonder what that tells us about Page and Blackmore fans?!

Running the show

Jan and Marie were in charge today. Do you think they look suitably managerial?

In Flanders Fields

Corner of a Foreign Field - Fiona Waters

One of my favourite poems, for ANZAC Day.

Paper aeroplanes for the holidays?

Today Sarah perfected her paper aeroplane making skills for our school holiday window.

Traditionally on St George's Day a red rose and a book are given to one's true love ...

Peter brought in a red rose but as he and Ann have been such busy bees today we have been unable to get them to pose together for a photo.

Peter and knot books, a match made in heaven

It's a bit of a running joke that Peter never met a knot book he didn't like. As you can see we only have six books on the subject of knot tying, so Peter must be chafing at the bit to order more.

Easter Monday

Corner of a Foreign Field by Fiona Waters

In the last letter that I had from France
You thanked me for the silver Easter egg
Which I had hidden in the box of apples
You liked to munch beyond all other fruit.
You found the egg the Monday before Easter,
And said, 'I will praise Easter Monday now - 
It was such a lovely morning.' Then you spoke
Of the coming battle and said, 'This is the eve,
Good-bye. And may I have a letter soon.'

That Easter Monday was a day for praise,
It was such a lovely morning. In our garden
We sowed our earliest seeds, and in the orchard
The apple-bud was ripe. It was the eve.
There are three letters that you will not get.

-Eleanor Farjeon

Show us your bookshelf

One of Lucy's bookshelves.

How do you organise your bookshelves? Or perhaps you are like me and you just don't. To be honest, this bookshelf started off as a cookbook/reference shelf... The best laid plans and all that.

Busy busy busy

Lucy, Stella and Lynn placating the raving hordes on a busy Easter Saturday morning. Lots of out of towners and others just happy to see the sun after a rough couple of days.

Putting the good into Friday

What do booksellers do when they have a day off? They get their hands on books and they don't let go.

Puzzling

Here's our choice of what do this stormy long weekend. Jigsaw puzzles. Should keep all our bookshop families busy and happy. (along with a good stack or two of books!).

Postcard from Dunedin

Hello to everyone!  Here's a picture of a volume of booksellers (note use of collective noun) caught on film shortly before a candlelit dinner. We thought of you all and raised our glasses (any excuse!) 

Hoping this finds you well and happy- much love from Maclean et al

 

[Pictured (staff past and present): Kesia, Maclean, Briony, Lynn, unidentified sock-wearing person]

The Beautiful

It's always a treat when a beautifully designed book arrives in the shop. Phaidon make stunning books and here's one that just came in today which deserves your attention.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

We were discussing book covers this morning (after reading this article) and I got to thinking about film tie-in covers which are almost always insipid and seldom add anything to the original (more often they detract and put readers off). A few, like the Game of Thrones covers do it right, but they seem to be in the extreme minority.

Above, you can see a selection of recent covers, the original on the left, the new on the right, as well as The Young and Prodigious T.S Spivet (awful cover) which is a re-working of The Selected Works of T.S Spivet (brilliant cover), and The Notebook film tie-in.

Already?

Hard to believe, with autumn making it's presence felt today, that it's time to order diaries for 2015 already.  These are the Paperblank diaries and are hugely popular. Get in early to ensure you get your favourite.

Firemen! Dogs! Trumpets!

The First Responders appreciation parade came past the store this morning, marching in the autumn sun.

What do Mums like?

Our Mother's Day display with the goody-packed hamper, courtesy of Allen & Unwin

Mums like River Cottage and gardening, Michelle De Kretser, Barbara Kingsolver and  Jonas Jonasson. Buy any of the books pictured and go in the draw to win a lovely hamper full of goodies. Runs until May 11th.

Alfie knows best

Just in: a stack of doubly favourite children's books, with its own state-of-the-art cardboard Random House promotional stand. Come and have a browse (just give us a bit of time to work out how to assemble the stand).

Money money money!

"Lost" cash that had fallen under the till drawer.

Lots of money! It's a rich man's world.

The Shortlist!

The shortlist for the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults was announced today. We were very excited. Have a look at the shortlist here.

Rule Britannia!

Mr. and Mrs. Madge and wee baby George have just touched down in Wellington. They're not coming to Nelson but we'll welcome them anyway with bad magazine covers and bunting.

Howard!

Do books keep you awake at night?

Fiddling in the sun

Today we were entertained by toe tapping music from two talented musicians with their variety of instruments including piccolo, guitar, violin, drums and vocals.Thanks guys!

Leunig is coming!

Michael Leunig will be in Nelson next month and the tickets ($15 each) are now available through the shop.

Health & Safety today

After a head-on collision between our map display and a customer  (no injuries were incurred by either party) we have updated our map display

from this ....

to this...

Many happy returns!

The books in the shop are for people to buy. If they don't sell, we return them to their distributors (if possible) and new books take their places on the shelves. Here Sarah is removing dead wood from the Health section.

 

These books are gathering themselves to request a returns authorisation. 

A good wash can never hurt you

Although not the recommended treatment, we are pleased to report that the NZ Booksellers vouchers survive (just!) a good wash and dry experience.