Hurley Books www.hurleybooks.co.uk

Honestly, how difficult do you think it is to find a warehouse and launch a commercial website. Very apparently. Well, very, if you have a long list of requirements! The software side of things has been nearly cracked but the warehouse is a nightmare. So if anyone reading this knows of a good solid building to the south and east of St. Austell do drop us a line. Ideally a chapel but you get the idea. And now you see why we are having difficulties!

Anyone reading this blog may have guessed just how much I love Charlestown, so the decision to leave has not been an easy one at all. I'm still hoping that under the right circumstances we may go back but for now we won't be opening Charlestown this year. In the meantime we'll look forward to seeing you in Mevagissey.

Old news really but I've just noticed that it I didn't mention it at the time.  Just before Christmas the Guardian selected us along with another 1000 independant stores to be featured in their Christmas shopping magazine. For a while Steve was very blaze about it until the penny dropped that it was the Manchester Guardian and the Cornish Gaurdian that was singing our praises! It was a wonderful lift to our spirits just before Christamas and rounded a good year off nicely. It also attracted new customers which is no bad thing.

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson 0140232923

A cyber punk novel that was going to challenge eveyone.  We haven't looked at any sci-fi yet let alone cyber punk so it was quite a revelation for some in the group.  This book has been hugely touted as one of the seminal texts in the whole sci-fi genre and is considered the next leap forward after Neuromancer by William Gibson.  I found the writing quite weak to be honest and was astounded that the first paragraph ever got past and editor, talk about purple prose. I generally find that cyberpunk novels are badly written but full of wonderful ideas. Snow Crash was amazing - Sumerian cultures, Tower of Babel, Binary Code viruses, atavars etc I spent as much time background reading as reading the book itself.

 

This book split the group as agreed it could be better written but for half the group they couldn't even finish it, let alone understand what they had managed to read. The other half loved the way it introduced new ideas and made you wonder where we're all going!

 

 

The link above has a really good range of discussion questions based on the book which really deepen the way you look at the novel.

 

Next months choice was

Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegurt

An Equal Music - Vikram Set

Night Watch - Sarah Waters

 

I was expecting a Russian author this time and was looking forward to something large and meaty.  As it was we chose An Equal Music so it looks like I might get a big read after all!  Anyone reading this blog is welcome to join in and comment.

A rather nice piece of news came in over the summer.  Cornwall Today are running a feature on the 10 best bookshops in Cornwall and we hve been selected.  How cool!  Given that we have only just opened the Mevagissey shop it's really great news - Charlestown is also mentioned, so we are obviously getting something right.  Looking forward to reading the actual article - it comes out this month on the 20th. In theory it's going to be complimentary but I'm still anxious to read it.  We were mystery shopped so it will also be nice to try and work out who was flying the flag in the shops.  However, I'm confident that it wouldn't matter whch day they came in, they would have had the same friendly and helpful service.

 

So thanks to Helena, Janet and Dorothy for doing  fabulous job at Charlestown, to Mum for being a star and to Thomas and Finn for putting up with stressed and tired parents.  Steve and I are chuffed by how well the year has gone so far and we've still got four months to go. Roll on! 

A friend suggested that this would explain the 2 month gap.  

Hmm, a two month blog gap is quite hopeless.  Maybe there were lots of fascinating entries but they all got washed away?  The truth of the matter is that we've been so busy - which is no real complaint!  In fact it was quite funny this Sunday, it was as if a switch had been flicked - the roads were clear, the supermarkets were empty, the beaches were quiet.  Cornwall in September is a very different place than in August. Still lots of visitors but now that the families have gone back to school it all gets a bit calmer.  Our own boys go back tomorrow and as much fun as it has been having them around it will be good to get back to a bit of a routine.

Just listening to the News Quiz on listen again. Someone made a joke about Camilla on the show and seven people in the previously quiet shop burst into laughter, then all looked at each other and laughed again! A nice, friendly sharing moment - without being all touchy feeling about it.

Hey we're going to be famous!  Two ladies from a Japanese publishing comany have just been round. They publish a magazine featuring beautiful places to visit in Britain. Very glossy,  visually lovely. So, they've focused on Charlestown and who can blame them., and they loved the bookshop and took loads of photos.  Doubt I'll ever see them as I can't remember the name of the magazine - but hey ho, we're on our way to global recognition!

 

Well they're half way round, click on the link above to read their blog. They'll be coming back in on Friday so come and wave them in.

 

Photos are from the Row Round Cornwall site.

 

 

Brilliant event so far, despite the rain.  In fact the gales only heightened the atmosphere at Menabilly where Rebecca was being performed. As the audience sat huddled under the canopy they could only wonder at what vengeful ghost was tugging at the canvas.  Still trying to get tickets to see it as it's getting really good reviews.  Honestly, having a name like Liz Hurley does not get you to the front of any queue!

 

Went to listen to Marcus Brigstocke - very funny if slightly bluer than expected! God know what he made of us though when an argument broke out in the audience about whose cream is better - Cornwall's or Devon's. You may imagie which county was declared victorious!

 

We have a really nice range of Daphne du Maurier's books in the shop at the moment and at only £4.99 new I don't see them lasting much longer. Flick back to the website to have a look at the details.

 

Lots of things going on around here in the next few months.  Each is well worth a visit and the Rowers are undertaking a really great challenge. All support that they can get will be welcome.

 

 

A big event in a little village. An art and literature festival which has grown and grown- top list authors and commentators give talks, readings and lectures. There are also open air plays, concerts, guided walks and street events. You are as likely to rub shoulders with Michael Portillo or John Mortimer as you are with other event goers.  We're off to see Marcus Brigstocke and I'm really tempted by the Wind in the Willows river cruise. I like the idea of doing nothing for a few hours!

 

 

The first circumnavigation of Cornwall! In just eight days covering 300 miles Charlestown Rowers are going to take  their gig Tormentor around Cornwall. For those of you who didn't think that Cornwall is an island have a look at the website to see how they are going to deal with those few troublesome miles of land above the Tamar.  This is a brilliant event and is raising money for great charities including the RNLI. As Anna is a lifeboat man (woman, person, whatever) we really support this event. Donations can be mad at either of our shops. Come and wave them off or even better cheer them home here at Charlestown. Why not meet them at each port of call, there'll be live music at each port.

 

 

An ancient festival in honour of St Peter, patron saint of fishermen. This is an enormous event, with carnivals and fireworks galore.  If you are planning on coming to stay get your accomodation sorted out quickly, otherwise we have quite a comfy doorstep!

 

 

Now the festivals are well underway. I have a particular fondness for Charlestown Regatta as it is really friendly and manageable.  There are loads of children's events and it never feels crushed or crowded as it doesn't suffer from narrow  roads. Although it's fair to say that the last night firework festival is HUGE!  My favourite day is Sunday when we take part in the Charlestwon challenge. Read my blog for last August to see how miserably we fared last year. This time we're going to get some practice in!

 

 

A much bigger and louder event but just as much fun.

 

Look forward to bumping into some of you along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well I hope everyone had as nice an Easter as us. We spent Sunday on Porthbeor Beach, sunbathing and splashing about. A good family day of rest given how busy we've all been recently.  The shop is now crammed to the gunnels and Charlestown is also up and running. Loads of £1 bargains to be had outside Charlestown right now.  It's quite a challenge running the two shops but it's a good challenge.  Steve has already decided though that we need a third shop!

We've done it, we opened today and whilst there are still the odd things to sort out we're trading. And we've already had customers - which helps!  All a bit of a mad dash last night and it didn't help when poor Thomas knocked over a bucket of dirty water on the carpet! we went home at that point. 

 

Anyway now that we're here please come and visit we're open Monday to Saturday at the moment from 10 - 3. These are our winter hours and will stretch as the daylight does. For the next few days we will be giving away free chocolate christmas decorations so come and have a nibble.

Dear God this is hard work.  I swear I have burnt grooves in the road going to and forth from Mevagissey, however it seems to have paid off as we are on budget and on schedule, fingers crossed we will have all the stock in by the end of next weekend; ready to trade on the 27th. I can't claim the credit though as our builder is fabulous, various nightmares have surfaced and have been quickly chewed over and dealt with. that said, I have had a constant headache for the past month.

 

As you can see from the photos things have really come on. This weekend we paint it, on Monday we sort out the counter and windows, on Wednesday the carpet goes in, Thursday we get the shelves (the madness that is IKEA awaits) and then we stock up.

 

Well that's the plan anyway!

God these builders are fast! we now have a floor but we might all have to learn to limbo under the existing RSJ - this could be tricky!  Business at Charlestown is now SOOOOOOOOOO dead it's amazing. Just holding on for half term, in the hope of some sort of miracle and then we close. We'll be serving gruel at home, penury for Christmas - super! lol

 

OK, we're getting there. Builders go in tomorrow and maybe we'll be ready by Christmas? Knowing our luck we'll be ready for January - that commercial honey pot! As you can see there's a lot to do.

Well we've got the apple juice back. Labelled it up and then Thomas asked if he could try and sell it at the shop! Well I always approve of a bit of enterprize so we set him up and left him to it. After an hour and no (real) sales he got bored so we brought him home again. Thanks Mum for buying three!

Yeeha! Well we've done it, we are now the proud owners of a shop in Mevagissey. Currently it's a complete wreck, the floor is simply cobbles in sand, the walls are crumbling but it's ours! Now starts the hardwork and hopefully we will have a book shop up and running for Christmas.  It has a wonderful location, being only 10 metres from the harbour. It has no views as it runs behind the pub but by the same token it is protected from storms and storm surges!  It's a large property so we will finally be able to have all our stock in one place. This means that I get my home back, another bonus. 

 

The Charlestown shop has to close for the winter as it is not remotely weatherproof and the books swell in the damp.  We think we will shut down at the end of October - weather dependent- and then re-open for Easter. We're anticipating no shop front for about 2 months whislt we wait for the Meva place to get up and running so it will be belt and braces for a while.

Charlestown really puts on a good regatta.  We had great fun getting involved. All the village was decked out in bunting so I ordered some gorgeous stuff on ebay and decked out the shop. Very Kath Kidston! Keep meaning to take a photo but whenever I remember, it's raining! Too busy doing other stuff when the weather is good.

 

 

We started the regatta with a gig rowing competition between all the local businesses - only novices could apply so I figured that definately applied to us. Steve and I along with Simon and Helena took part and had a brilliant time coming last in woeful fashion. We were atrocious but it would appear that the other teams had at least rowed in a Gig one or two times before!  We had a huge gang of support as Al, Simon, Rowan and Jasmine were staying with us plus we had Janet and Aleisha and Mike Finn and Obi cheering us on being led by Thomas and Finn. The round in the pub afterwards was terrifying!  The children got hold of the tannoy and all we could hear across the harbour, apart from our own laboured breathing, and pins shattering as I caught yet another crab, was the children shouting "HURLEY BOOKS!" Bloody marvellous!!!!! Losing has never been so much fun. The cox and two professional rowers in the gig with us may not have shared that sentiment. Our gig was called "Tormentor" and has won many races but not on that day. Or at least not with us in it. On the few strokes when we all got it together, we flew, very exhilarating' looking forward to next year already. Our thanks to Simon and Helena in rowing with us and to Charlestown Rowning Club for letting us near their precious boats.

 

 

Various other events took place through the week and ended with a massive fireworks display. We stayed open late that night and were treated by Warren who brought down three rabbit pies for us to eat. Completely out of the blue and totally delicious, a really nice way to end a very busy week. Next year though we will close early and get involved, much better than sitting in a shop!