This is your chance to meet bestselling author Jamie Smart as he signs copies of Looshkin: Honk If You See It! , his third magnificent comic book!

You never know what to expect from Looshkin – except that it will be very, very funny! Follow the continuing adventures of the maddest cat in the world as he defeats vampires with chicken nuggets, accidentally turns into a duck, becomes a high-flying entrepreneur and gets caught in a time warp. Sometimes all at the same time! It’s an explosion of pure comic comedy joy!

Jamie Smart studied art at college for four years, but it was just an excuse to practise drawing animals with boggly-eyes. His comic Fish-Head Steve was the first comic to be shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. His well-loved Bunny vs Monkey and Looshkin stories are regularly published in The Phoenix comic, and as bestselling graphic novels. Bunny vs Monkey has been shortlisted for the British Book Awards and The Week Jr Book Awards. Jamie is also the author of the middle-grade Flember series.

Terms & Conditions:

If you want to buy additional books on the day, it would be best to reserve them by calling or emailing the bookshop in advance.

We want all fans to have the best possible experience meeting Jamie Smart. In the interest of the limited time available and to maximise the number of readers that Jamie can meet, the following terms and conditions will be in effect for this book signing. We are putting these rules in place for the safety and enjoyment of everyone involved.

Please respect each other and Jamie on the day. Be kind to each other and take the opportunity whilst in line to make some friends.

Due to the anticipated high turn-out, please come prepared to queue. We are offering short time-slots to try to minimise the queuing time but we can’t eliminate it completely. You will need to queue outside on Calton Avenue so please do come dressed appropriately for the weather and keep hydrated. Our shop is small so to keep everyone safe we’ll be letting you in a few at a time.

Please note the event may be filmed of photographed, as an attendee you consent to footage and/or images of you being used for promotional purposes.

If you have further questions, please contact: events@village-books.co.uk

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Award-winning and bestselling cook Anna Jones is back with a new book – Easy Wins: 12 flavour hits, 125 delicious recipes, 365 days of good eating. In Easy Wins, Anna gives her golden rules for Easy Wins in the kitchen with super-simple recipes that are bursting with flavour and kind to both the planet and busy schedules.

Anna will be chatting to journalist and author Felicity Cloake about the 12 hero ingredients that are guaranteed to make your food taste great: lemons, olive oil, onions, peanut butter, mustard, tahini and more.

In Easy Wins, Anna distils over 20 years of experience on how to layer flavour and texture. There’s also practical advice on how to season plus plenty of ideas for invaluable vegetarian swaps as well as how to reduce waste and use less energy when cooking. Easy Wins will soon become your go-to for the most flavourful dishes that come together quickly and prom­ise daily moments of triumph.

Anna Jones is a cook, writer, the voice of modern vegetarian cooking and the author of the bestselling One: Pot, Pan, Planet, A Modern Way to Eat, A Modern Way to Cook and The Modern Cook’s Year.

“A peek into Anna’s kitchen cupboards—and her best-kept secrets. For when it’s 8pm, you’re starving, and you want a Tuesday night triumph. An easy, honest, delicious win.” Yotam Ottolenghi

A Village Books and Alleyn’s Schools Enterpises event

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Spend an afternoon with ‘National Treasure’ Michael Rosen to celebrate the publication of Getting Better in paperback . Chosen by the Guardian and the BBC as one of their ‘Books of 2023’, Getter Better is an essential companion for anyone who has loved and lost, or struggled and survived.

Michael Rosen has grieved the loss of a child, lived with debilitating chronic illness, and faced death itself when seriously unwell in hospital. In spite of this he has survived and has even learned to find joy in life in the aftermath of tragedy.

In Getting Better , he shares his story and the lessons he has learned along the way. Exploring the roles that trauma and grief have played in his own life, Michael investigates the road to recovery, asking how we can find it within ourselves to live well again after – or even during – the darkest times of our lives.

‘If I could prescribe Getting Bette r to the entire nation, I would…It’s a book that inspires hope, courage and belief in humanity. Basically, it reminds you how to live. I loved every single word.’ Dr Rachel Clarke

Please note, this event is suitable for ages 15+

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We’re delighted to present an evening with Rory Stewart, former MP and Cabinet Minister, and co-host, with Alastair Campbell, of the hugely popular podcast, The Rest is Politics. Rory will be discussing his latest book Politics on the Edge: A Memoir from Within which has become an instant bestseller.

Politics on the Edge details Rory’s time from being a political outsider to standing against Boris Johnson in the Conservative Party leadership contest in 2019, and being sacked from the party in the same year.

Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow and inadequate our democracy and government had become.

Rory Stewart served in the UK Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development, and before that as Prisons Minister, Minister for Africa, Minister for Development, Environment Minister and Chair of the Defence Committee. Stewart is now the president of the non-profit organisation GiveDirectly, and a visiting fellow at Yale’s Jackson School. He tweets at @RoryStewartUK.

Photo credit: Tom Campbell

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Published to coincide with a major new V&A exhibition, Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie contains never-seen-before images from the Chanel archives and recently discovered portraits of Coco Chanel .

Coco Chanel was the most extraordinary creative. The inventor of the Little Black Dress (LBD), the bob haircut, trousers for women, contemporary chic, a globally bestselling perfume and founder of the most successful fashion brand of all time, she was also an enigma, fashioning the myth of her own life with the same attention to detail as her couture.

Justine Picardie has spent over twenty years exploring the truth about the mystery that was Coco Chanel. In this revised, updated version of her bestselling biography, Picardie shares more details and previously unseen images of the woman who has had such a profound influence on the modern world.

Justine Picardie is the author of six books, including her bestselling memoir If the Spirit Moves You and Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture . She is a contributing editor to Harper’s Bazaar , having previously been its editor-in-chief. She was formerly an investigative journalist for the Sunday Times , a columnist for the Telegraph , editor of the Observer Magazine , editor of Town & Country and features director of Vogue .

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*A BBC Between the Covers Bookclub choice*

When a young American academic Talissa Adam offers to carry another woman’s child, she has no idea of the life-changing consequences. Behind the doors of the Parn Institute, a billionaire entrepreneur plans to stretch the boundaries of ethics as never before. Through a series of IVF treatments, which they hope to keep secret, they propose an experiment that will upend the human race as we know it.

Seth, the baby, is delivered to hopeful parents Mary and Alaric, but when his differences start to mark him out from his peers, he begins to attract unwanted attention.

The Seventh Son is a spectacular examination of what it is to be human. It asks the question: just because you can do something, does it mean you should? This is an extraordinary novel about unrequited love and unearned power.

Sebastian Faulks has written nineteen books, of which A Week in December and The Fatal Englishman were number one in the Sunday Times bestseller lists. He is best known for Birdsong , part of his French trilogy, and Human Traces , the first in an ongoing Austrian trilogy.

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M. G. Leonard, the award-winning bestselling author of the Adventures on Trains series and Twitch, dazzles in The Ice Children, a future classic with a powerful message at its core.

At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of December, five-year-old Finn Albedo is found frozen in the city park standing on a pedestal of ice. His heart is beating, he is smiling serenely, but no one can wake him. Finn’s big sister, Bianca, suspects that the beautiful sparkling book Finn got from the library has something to do with it, but the book has vanished. Does the tall mysterious stranger who first discovered Finn know more than they will admit?

Each day, more children are found frozen and Bianca realizes she’s running out of time. Her quest to discover the truth and rescue her little brother hurls her into a fantastical winter wonderland, full of beauty and danger, w here all is not as it seems.

Can Bianca save her brother and the other Ice Children before they are forever lost?

M.G.Leonard will be at Village Books signing copies of The Ice Children. No tickets required!

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The nation’s favourite gardener, Monty Don, is coming to Dulwich!

‘Think of your garden like a meal. When you select a recipe, you’re choosing it based on inclination, experience and circumstance. Making a garden, big or small, uses exactly the same process.’

With Monty Don’s new book as a guide you will discover just how joyful and rewarding gardening can be. Whether you want to grow your own veg, create a child-friendly garden, connect with nature, or make the most of houseplants, Monty will help you unlock your space’s potential, showing you what, where and when to plant.

The Gardening Book gives you the basics to grow over 100 popular flowers, foods, shrubs, houseplants and more – each one has a clear, concise, format: what you need, timing, method, and step-by-step photos, all on one spread. It’s a refreshingly accessible approach that will help you build a garden which
best serves your needs and enhances your lifestyle.

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Join Village Books and Alleyn’s School Enterprises for an evening with bestselling author Ann Cleeves.

Detective Matthew Venn (featured in ITV’s The Long Call) returns in The Raging Storm , the next captivating novel in the Two Rivers series.

When Jem Rosco – sailor, adventurer and local legend – blows into town in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone, Devon, are delighted to have a celebrity in their midst. However, when a lifeboat is called out during a raging storm, Rosco’s body is found in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove.

DI Matthew Venn came to the remote village as a child, its community populated by the Barum Brethren that he parted ways with, so when superstition and rumour mix and another body is found in the cove, Matthew soon finds his judgement clouded. As the stormy winds howl and the village is cut off, Venn and his team start their investigation, little realizing their own lives might be in danger. . .

Ann will be interviewed by Jack Holden. Jack is a critically acclaimed stage and screen actor, writer and producer, whose debut play ‘Cruise’ garnered rave reviews and an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play 2022. He has voiced three Ann Cleeves audiobooks, all from the Matthew Venn series.

Ann Cleeves is the author of more than thirty-five critically acclaimed novels. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn, who can be found on television in ITV’s Vera, BBC One’s Shetland and ITV’s The Long Call respectively. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide.

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Roast Figs, Sugar Snow is an irresistible collection of cold-weather recipes that celebrate the unique pleasures of autumn and winter.

This classic cookbook has been revisited, revised and refreshed nearly 20 years after its first publication, with a new foreword by Nigel Slater and seven new recipes. Full of comforting delights from cold-weather climes – from the ski slopes of Italy, to the coffee houses of Vienna and Budapest, the rural reaches of New England and beyond – these recipes will bring warmth to your heart as well as your home.

Recipes featured in the book include Austrian Pasta with Bacon and Smoked Cheese; Salad of Smoked Duck with Farro, Red Chicory and Pomegranates; Melting Leg of Lamb with Juniper; Snow Biscuits; and Roast Figs and Plums in Vodka with Cardamom Cream.

Diana will be chatting to journalist, author and bookshop favourite Felicity Cloake.

Diana Henry is one of the UK’s best-loved food writers. She has weekly columns in The Telegraph Magazine and Waitrose Weekend and her work has appeared in BBC Good Food, House & Garden, Delicious and beyond. Diana’s journalism and books have been recognized with many awards including the Guild of Food Writers, the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards, and the Andre Simon Food & Drink Awards Her last five books – A Change of Appetite, A Bird in the Hand, Simple, How to Eat a Peach and From the Oven to the Table – were all instant Sunday Times Top 10 Bestsellers.

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