Gloria Morgan - Kinmers Lea - Callie-Co Books - Nottinghamshire - 2008

Gloria Morgan`s book Kinmers Lea takes it`s title from the original name of Kimberley, the North Notts town in which I believe London-born Ms Morgan now makes her home.

Kinmers Lea tells the story of Edwin, "an ordinary 12-year old boy", and his new-found ally, his Gran , said to be "ninety, fit as a fiddle and sharp as an arrow".

Read the book to learn how this unlikely pair become embroiled in events which combine the Battle of Hastings, an audacious kidnapping plot and a wild ride to Nottingham Castle - a century before the days of Robin Hood.

Copies of this fascinating children`s book can be found at numbers 3068, 3261 and 4205 in our listings, with 3261 and 4205 being copies signed by the author. Use the `Buy Books` links provided for further details and/or to place an order, or if you prefer you can deal with us direct by e-mailing us at hoonaloon@btinternet.com , provided you`re able to pay by Paypal.

Any questions, just ask.

Hucknall Book and Craft Day

Promoted by New Writers UK with support from Notts County Council,  Hucknall Book and Craft Day will take place, as the name implies, in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire on Sat 9 July 2011 from 11.00 am - 4.00 pm.

Attractions will include craft workshops, talks by local writers like Gloria Morgan and events publicising the work of small, independent publishers like Gingernut, Weathervane and BlueWood.

We ourselves have a long-standing prior arrangement elsewhere, so are unlikely to grace these enlightening festivities with our presence. It goes without saying, however, that we wish the event well.

This might be an opportune moment to re-iterate that we do carry an extensive stock of books that are the output of local writers, local publishers, local history societies and local authorities, as a quick search using the `Buy Books`  links provided will confirm.

We are in Derbyshire now, but as I recall Nottingham was home to a disproportionate number of writers, many published by Five Leaves. It always used to make me smile that they tended to be concentrated in particular areas - I pictured them roosting in flocks, a little like starlings, at the top of tall trees in residential areas, earnestly scribbling throughout the night. But that`s just me !

Archaeology and Conservation in Derbyshire 2005

Sarah Cole, Sarah Whiteley (ed.s) - Archaeology and Conservation in Derbyshire 2005 - Derbyshire Archaeology Advisory Committee, 2005

Number 4108 in our listings, this fine local publication contains features on "The Stanlow Excavation, A Victorian Diary With a Difference, Hardwick Park, An Ancient Message in Dronfield" and much more.

It is not yet showing up online, but details should appear within 24 hours - use the `Buy Books` links provided to check it out.

As always, any qustions, just ask.

Mrs Johnson`s Blues

Mary Johnson is one of the less well-known blues singers of the `20s and `30s, in part because she is overshadowed by the relative fame of her husband, Lonnie Johnson.

As is often the case with blues artists of this era, the little information we have is often confused and contradictory.

Most online sources that I have found give her maiden name as Mary Smith and state that she began performing live as a youngster. However, James Sallis in his book The Guitar Players devotes a chapter to her husband and gives a slightly different account of Mary`s life in passing. He  gives her maiden name as Mary Williams and her place of origin as Yazoo City, Mississipi. He further states, from her own account,  that she got her start helping Lonnie write his own songs and that the two of them then realised that she had a natural aptitude for jazz and blues songwriting. It seems that Lonnie suggested she pursue her own career, and she began to build something of a following in St Louis as well as recording 20 - 30 songs. All sources agree that her recording career began during the seven years she and Lonnie were married.

The two parted company in 1932. As the hungry thirties got under way, Lonnie found work outside the music business but continued to perform as an amateur musician. On his return to recording (1937 if I recall correctly), he drew on a number of previously unrecorded originals, including, perhaps poignantly, She`s My Mary, which appears (to me at least) to be a song written for Mary when the two were together, with just minor amendments  to reflect the fact that they were now apart. Some have speculated that other tunes from this session, notably Trust Your Man, might also relate to their time together. By the same token, Mary`s own Mary Johnson Blues does seem to cast a rather acerbic look back at their marriage.

Mary continued to record for a few years after their divorce, but eventually left the world of jazz and blues due to her increasing involvement with the church. This is probably a good moment to mention that she`s a different person to the soul/gospel Mary Johnson, her jazz and blues recordings of the `20s and `30s are the only tunes she recorded.

Fortunately, those nice people at redhotjazz have assembled a selection of Mary`s recordings for our delight and delectation. I like to think that one day we`ll have access to all her work, including the two unreleased tracks. 

For a chance to hear perform, click this link ;

www.redhotjazz.com/maryjohnson.html

Additional comment on her recorded output may be a tad redundant, but for what it`s worth, I`d have to say that my initial impression is that she recorded a fine body of work in her handful of recording sessions. Just occasionally, maybe the odd track shows her lack of experience but overall, her stuff holds up well, in part due to the high standard of the  musicians she worked with. Personally, Death Cell Blues, Delmar Avenue, I Just Can`t Take It and Three Months Ago Blues come to mind as being tracks I particularly liked, but I was less keen on Barrel House Flat Blues and one other where I felt her vocal style was poorly judged.

James Sallis drew on The Devil`s Music by Giles Oakley and a 1962 Paul Oliver interview with Mary for his account of her life. He gives no source for the interview. His account of Lonnie`s career and background (from The Guitar Players) can be found at www.jamessallis.com .

Also useful is Jeff (no surname) - Mary Johnson : An Appreciation, which can be found at
http://sundayblues.org/archives/47 . His choice of quotes from her songs tend to make her sound like a sexually promiscuous serial killer,  but still he`s worth reading !

I`m a bit of a sentimental old softie at heart and I like to think that maybe now Mary will get some of the recognition she so patently deserves. If you like to unwind at the end of the day with a drink and some music,  click on to redhotjazz sometime and drink a toast to Mary !

Happy Trails : A Cowboy from the Midlands

It`s a funny old world.


Only a short time ago, I penned a short article for this blog (The Cowboy and the Detective, 14 January 2011) based in part on information supplied to me by writer Chap O`Keefe (Keith Chapman), who in days gone by  had worked on the staff of the Sexton Blake Library and eventually became editor of the Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine.


Mr O`Keefe/Chapman now writes titles for Hale`s  Black Horse Westerns series and runs the Black Horse Extra website.


Here we are less than three months later and we have just added to our stock three signed books by another Black Horse writer, B J Holmes (aka Ethan Wall aka Charles Langley Hayes).

Mr Holmes/Wall/Hayes is an interesting character.

The son of a  Midlands factory worker he initially followed in his father`s footsteps, but then decided to first return to education and from there went into teaching.

His earliest attempt at writing, never completed, was a short piece from the 1950s describing  a young working class man from the Midlands getting dressed in his teddy-boy gear prior to going out for a night on the town. Of course, it was a description of Holnes himself, seen through the eyes of an outsider. Youthful self-doubt seems to have kicked in ( "Who`d want to know about a working class teenager in the English Midlands of the 1950s ?" he apparently asked himself ) and his writing ambitions lay dormant for twenty years.

At some point in the `70s he tried his hand at writing a text-book - apparently with little success - and decided to try writing a western, a genre he was completely unfamiliar with, more or less on a whim. Cutting a long story short (so to speak), he has now written over 30 Black Horse Westerns and a number of short stories in various genres (crime, horror, science fiction). Interestingly, one of his books (North of the Bravo) began life as an unpublished work of historical fiction and was only later adapted to a western setting. Among his other talents he has had some success writing guides to solving crosswords.

Anyway, that`s enough of that.  The background info on My Holmes here comes from http://website.lineone.net/~adam_and_lynne  , which is co-owened by another Black Horse writer, Adam Wright. Also useful is http://www.blackhorsewesterns.com/ .

To visit our store, use the Buy Books links provided. In the meantime, here are samples of his signatures, in case they are of interest.

Arundel Books of Nottinghamshire

I never hesitate to use this blog to plug a few books from our own stock, so I suppose it`s only fair if I give someone else a plug now and then.


Following on from the local success of his books Narrow Marsh and The Chilwell Ghost, local man A R Dance has produced another book, Leen Times. The sequel to Narrow Marsh, Leen Times is set in Nottingham during the period 1820 -  1830,  described as "an era of brutal and uncompromising change, and of fierce political upheaval". The author promises a "fast-moving story of retribution, radical politics and criminal conspiracies".


You will find my verdict on it`s predecessor among the book reviews on this blog.

For more info on Mr Dance`s works,  visit http://www.arundelbooks.co.uk/ .

Save Bentham Library - Walk from Bentham to Settle - 7 May 2011

Details from http://benthamlibrary.blogspot.com and/or http://ny-libraries.org .