Did You Bag a Book for the Bank Holiday?

What better way to spend the long weekend than to settle down with a bestseller? Here at Inspired we spent some time leafing through the Bookseller Bestseller List on Friday to find our perfect Bank Holiday read. We then took ourselves down to our local bookshop to browse the shelves and found ourselves a few treats!

Here are our top four weekend reads:

The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt                     

A story of loss, obsession, survival and self-invention, the Goldfinch combines thrilling suspense with a beautiful addictive story.

The perfect read for the night-owl.

Mad About the Boy – Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones is back and how we have missed her! Mad About the Boy is timely, touching and very witty.

The perfect book to curl up under a blanket and escape the rain with.

The Song for the Dying – Stuart MacBride

MacBride’s new novel is a heart-stopping crime thriller following a detective with one shot at redemption, at earning his freedom, at revenge.

A gripping thriller that leaves you hanging until the last page.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler

An exploration of sibling love and conflict with an underlying mystery plot full of surprises from the very start. Long-listed for the Man Booker Prize this year.

A funny, clever and honest tale filled with ideas that will leave you thinking long after you’ve finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Little Library at London Bridge

After work last Thursday, we made our way to Gibbon’s Rent, a “transformed, long forgotten cut through from Magdalen Street to Bermondsey Street” in our SE1 neighbourhood. This urban jungle was created collaboratively by Team London Bridge and Southwark Council with the purpose of providing a leafy escape from the surrounding cityscape. We have attended events there before, most notably our successful wreath-making class last December, and yesterday was the launch of Little Library, an incentive to encourage reading and socialising in the garden.

As the below photos suggest, the library is a portable architectural creation which can be wheeled inside if needed, though the idea is for it to stay put all year around, open during the day and closed up at night but with a cubby hole through which night-time passers-by can drop off their literary offerings. It is an opportunity for those living and working in the area to donate books, swap one book for another or simply replace a book after reading. We think it will be particularly useful for sunny lunch breaks or after work on a winter’s eve when you fancy taking home a new book.

Luke Jones of Mill and Jones won a tough competition to design the library and with the help of his partner and a blacksmith, he created this fantastic capsule of books with pull out shelves and blackboard noticeboards for notes and messages. When you drop off a book you could write a brief recommendation or leave a request for a particular title.

This is a great addition to our neighbourhood; tucked between The Shard and Borough Market, we are in the midst of a growing and exciting space, fast becoming the publishing hub of London! Next time you drop by the Inspired offices, make sure to check out the Little Library too.

Here at Inspired Selection, we are passionate about the publishing industry; we talk about publishing, read about publishing and attend all major publishing events like the one you’ve just read about. We would love to meet you at events so do feel free to come up and introduce yourselves! If you’re interested in opportunities within publishing do keep in touch and register for our Vacancy Update Service as well as keeping up to date with us on Twitter

The SYP Annual Pub Quiz

Last night Inspired donned our thinking caps once again to attend the SYP Annual Pub Quiz held at Shillibeer’s Bar and Grill near the Caledonian Road. Our consultants arrived ready and raring for a fantastic evening of quizzing with rounds covering Literature, Film & TV and Geography to a Guess the Link and Pot Luck, all literary themed of course! Our personal highlight was the Dingbat picture round in which we scored a rather respectable 16/18 – a favourite pastime of Inspired and so we had had a lot of practice!

At the half way point, The Inspired Quizmeisters were going strong with a solid score of 36/50. We had the prize in our sights, a rather large pile of books, what more could a young budding publisher want?

 

In the second half the competition really got underway and it was a close fight to the end with the top three teams scoring within one point of each other. The Inspired Quizmeisters came a not too shabby 8^th, beating our previous best. We may have some ground to cover in preparation for next year and perhaps a couple of trips to our local to practice…but watch this space!

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and wish to thank the SYP for putting on a great evening, see you next year!

 

Here at Inspired Selection, we are passionate about the publishing industry; we talk about publishing, read about publishing and attend all major publishing events like the one you’ve just read about. We would love to meet you at events so do feel free to come up and introduce yourselves! If you’re interested in opportunities within publishing do keep in touch and register for our Vacancy Update Service as well as keeping up to date with us on Twitter