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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260603T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260603T190000
DTSTAMP:20260419T104416Z
CREATED:20260417T101524Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260419T104416Z
UID:19620-1780509600-1780513200@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'Literally' with Ella Willis
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Ella Willis to the store on 3rd June at 6pm to discuss their book\, Literally\, a joyful\, realistic and relatable guide to being autistic\, whether you know you are\, think you may be or love someone who is. As well as a discussion on their book\, there will also be a Q&A\, plus the chance to get your books signed by Ella. The event will be chaired by our bookseller\, Leah. \nTickets \nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £16.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book: \nThere are three reasons why this book is called Literally: \nNumber 1: Autistic people can take things literally.\nNumber 2: This is a literal book. Clear in its language\, easy to understand and accessible.\nNumber 3: It’s relatable. What do you say when someone says something so profoundly relatable that it connects to your own experience perfectly? ‘LITERALLY!’\nTenuous fourth reason: It looks great on a front cover. \nIllustrator and content creator Ella Willis was 22 when they were formally diagnosed with autism but this was no surprise. Growing up they felt like they’d surely been dropped on earth by aliens and would eventually be rescued. Social blunders\, overstimulation\, intense joyful special interests: with the label of autism\, these experiences made so much more sense. \nIn Literally\, Ella is here to help you navigate all parts of being autistic\, destigmatize neurodivergence and offer accessible\, practical and hopeful advice. From getting a diagnosis to self-diagnosis\, stimming to masking\, navigating relationships to sensory issues\, Ella uses their personal story\, research\, illustrations and interviews to provide a clear-eyed view of the autistic experience\, \nThis is the book to help you – or your loved ones – thrive.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-literally-with-ella-willis
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
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ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260602T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260602T190000
DTSTAMP:20260414T105320Z
CREATED:20260412T144033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260414T105320Z
UID:19536-1780423200-1780426800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'The New Fatherhood' Kevin Maguire in conversation with Sacha Lord
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is excited to welcome Kevin Maguire to the store on Tuesday 2nd June at 6pm to discuss his book\, The New Fatherhood: Why Everything They Told You About Being a Dad Is Wrong and How Embracing It Will Transform Your Life. As well as a discussion on his book\, there will also be a Q&A\, plus the chance to get your books signed by Kevin. Kevin will be in conversation with Sacha Lord\, co-founder of The Warehouse Project and Parklife Festival\, and fellow dad. \nTickets \nBuy a book and ticket here \nBuy a ticket only here \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book  \nFatherhood will change you. That much is certain. But whilst it can never be under your control\, it can be under your influence. \nThe old rules of fatherhood are no longer fit for purpose. It used to be simple: you had to protect\, provide for\, and preside over your family. But the world has changed\, seeing today’s dads question the role they play in society\, at work\, and in their homes\, as they feel the once-solid foundation of fatherhood crumble beneath their feet. \nThis redefinition of a role previously set in stone for generations has sent dads looking for answers. Thousands have found them in their inboxes\, via The New Fatherhood\, the #1 fatherhood newsletter on Substack from Kevin Maguire. For five years\, he has interviewed some of the world’s best thinkers\, studied the output of our most creative minds\, and dove deep into the archives of peer-reviewed parenting. This book transforms those sources into an updated operating system for modern dads: delivered through deeply personal stories\, transformative perspectives on success and sense of purpose\, compact frameworks\, habits that stick\, and techniques you can apply in even the most turbulent moments.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-the-new-fatherhood-with-kevin-maguire
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
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ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260514T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260514T190000
DTSTAMP:20260307T104225Z
CREATED:20260207T152914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260307T104225Z
UID:17791-1778781600-1778785200@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'Rose and Renzo' with Carolyn O'Brien
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Carolyn O’Brien on Thursday 14th of May from 6pm to discuss their new book\, ‘Rose and Renzo‘. The evening will involve a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your book signed by Carolyn. Carolyn will be in conversation with Louisa Reid\, author of adult and YA fiction including ‘Handle with Care’. \nTickets \nBook and Ticket £9.99 \nTicket Only £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nAfter the death of their father\, two sisters arrive in Manchester’s vibrant ‘Little Italy’: creative misfit\, Rose\, and her much older sister\, Ivy. Frustrated and desperate to pursue her artistic passion\, Rose meets Renzo\, a painter arrived from Europe. Their connection is instant and powerful. Yet as their feelings deepen\, Renzo’s past in Mussolini’s Italy remains a mystery. In a time of looming fascism in Europe\, Blackshirts are marching the streets. Rose is drawn to fight this\, but what about Renzo? \nAbout the author \nCarolyn is a historical fiction writer from Manchester. Her writing has a strong sense of the north-west of England. Consistently drawn to the struggle for equality\, as illustrated in her first novel\, The Song of Peterloo\, her work features strong female characters striving to find their place in the world.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-rose-and-renzo-with-carolyn-obrien
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
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ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260507T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260507T190000
DTSTAMP:20260412T105322Z
CREATED:20260118T131657Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260412T105322Z
UID:17318-1778176800-1778180400@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'The Jackfruit Chronicles' by Shahnaz Ahsan
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is overjoyed to welcome Shahnaz Ahsan to discuss her book\, ‘The Jackfruit Chronicles: Memories and Recipes from a British-Bangladeshi Kitchen‘. The event will take place on 7th May at 6pm\, and will involve a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance for you to get your book signed by Shahnaz. Shahnaz will be interviewed by Dr Munza Rahman\, a senior lecturer from MMU whose research focuses primarily on contemporary Postcolonial writing and film\, and more specifically how this intersects with the interdisciplinary field of Food Studies. \nTickets \nClick here to buy a book and ticket \nClick here to buy a ticket only \nAbout the book \nWith insight and love\, Ahsan guides us through the vibrant flavours and captivating story of Bengali food and its place in Britain. Beginning with the arrival of her grandfather\, Habib\, in Manchester in the 1950s\, this is a spellbinding journey not just through one family story\, but also the broader tale of the Bangladeshi diaspora’s quest for a new life in Britain. \nAhsan beautifully weaves together this narrative of migration and hope with treasured family recipes\, including dishes like sour tomato broth\, jackfruit kofta curry\, lentil fritters\, fish with clementine peels and much more. \nAbout the author \nShahnaz Ahsan is an author\, columnist and award-winning food writer. Shahnaz’s debut novel Hashim & Family was an Observer Best Book of 2020 and was shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker Prize. Born and raised in West Yorkshire\, Shahnaz is of British-Bangladeshi heritage\, and has also lived in the USA\, Ethiopia\, Zimbabwe and Rwanda. Shahnaz regularly appears on national and international radio\, including BBC Radio 4\, BBC Asian Network\, BBC Scotland\, and ABC Radio Australia. She has also taught creative writing at the University of Westminster\, and facilitates sessions on food culture for public and private sector clients.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-the-jackfruit-chronicles-by-shahnaz-ahsan
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
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ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260506T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260506T190000
DTSTAMP:20260316T113622Z
CREATED:20260316T101843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T113622Z
UID:18686-1778090400-1778094000@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:POETRY EVENT: 'Little Bitch' launch with Ellora Sutton\, Betty Doyle and Roma Havers
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Ellora Sutton on Wednesday 6th of May from 6pm to discuss their new poetry collection\, ‘Little Bitch’. Ellora will be joined by Betty Doyle\, author of poetry collection ‘Fruits of Labour’\, and Roma Havers\, author of poetry collection ‘The Natural Way’. There will be 8-10 minutes of reading from the poets\, and 20-30 min discussion with chair\, Stuart Bartholomew. There will also be a Q&A\, and an opportunity for attendees to get their books signed. \nTickets \nAs there are multiple authors in discussion\, you can purchase a ticket-only option\, or you can purchase a copy of the book from us to act as a ticket; see options below: \n£5 Ticket only and the option to buy ONE of the titles available here \n£27 for all 3 books to act as your ticket here \nAbout Little Bitch \nLittle Bitch hangs out in cemeteries\, art galleries\, hot-pink nuclear bunkers. She ruins your favourite movies and won’t stop talking about how hungry she is\, horses\, roses\, her dead mother\, the sea. She watches too much Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She is a Venusian hellhole. She is too pretty to cry. \nEllora Sutton’s hotly-anticipated debut collection is an unsettling exposé of wasted potential\, the precarity of desire\, and the violence of girlhood. With cameos from Hello Kitty\, Susan Sontag\, Tony Hawk\, and Marina Abramović\, Little Bitch uses a powderpuff to serve up a suckerpunch with a side of Black Forest gateau. \nAbout Fruits of Labor \nBetty Doyle’s Fruits of Labour charts coming to terms with childlessness\, from initial symptoms and diagnosis\, grief and uncertainty\, to emerging with acceptance\, hope\, and survival. Doyle explores the impact of childlessness\, and the threat of infertility on the speaker’s sense of self\, femininity\, and family. While initially the body is examined from a place of shame and regret\, it also becomes a site of resilience and abandon. \nThere is joy here\, too – in the unexpected freedom that childlessness brings. Doyle rejects enforced gender roles\, embracing independence and freedom of choice. While the body in these poems can be a site of suffering\, or even viewed by some as deficient\, it is also defiant\, and ultimately\, these poems emerge triumphant\, surviving and thriving on the speaker’s own terms. \nAbout The Natural Way \n‘We’re trying the natural way’\, Havers once said when asked about children in their queer partnership. What follows is their sparklingly disruptive debut\, drawing on inside jokes\, ironies and imaginings for new ways of thinking about what we call natural and the ways and paths we choose to get there. \nFrom Oscar Wilde to an unlikely pelican\, this book’s wandering way resists the traditional nature poem\, instead digging into the muck and rock of queer wilderness. Formally inventive\, these poems span the width of the page and draw on mathematics\, tablecloth patterns and swimming pools for their structures. Ingenious and funny\, Havers’ debut questions received ideas about inheritance and legacies: what if\, it asks\, we live outside the familiar\, familial archive? \nAbout Stuart Bartholomew / Verve Press \nVoted Most Innovative Press at Saboteur Awards and Winner of Michael Marks Publishers Award.\n‘…the always exciting Verve Poetry press’ – Andrew McMillan \nVerve Poetry Press is a Birmingham based poetry indie publishing poets from all corners of the UK. – with a focus on poets that chime with the city’s diverse and energetic qualities. We publish both full collections and pamphlets and favour performance poetry just as much as poems that are written for the page.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/poetry-event-little-bitch-launch-with-ellora-sutton-betty-doyle-and-roma-havers
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/LITTLE-BITCH.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260505T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260505T190000
DTSTAMP:20260313T180932Z
CREATED:20260309T103102Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T180932Z
UID:18468-1778004000-1778007600@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'The Mercy Step' Marcia Hutchinson with Pete Kalu
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is excited to welcome back Marcia Hutchinson on Tuesday 5th of May to discuss her Women Fiction Longlist  title ‘The Mercy Step‘. The evening will begin at 6pm\, and involve a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your book signed by Marcia. Marcia will be in conversation with Pete Kalu\, a Mancunian poet\, writer and playwright. \nTickets \nBook and Ticket £9.99 \nTicket Only £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nBradford\, December 1962. \nA precocious Mercy makes her reluctant entrance into the world\, torn from the warm embrace of her mother’s womb\, to a chaotic household that seems to have no place for her. Her siblings do not understand her\, her mother’s attention is given to the Church\, and the entire family lives at the whims of her father’s quick temper. \nLeft to herself\, Mercy finds solace in books\, her imagination\, and the quiet comfort of her faithful toy\, Dolly. But escapism has its limits\, and as the grip of family\, faith and fear threatens to close in\, Mercy learns she must act if she wants a different future; one where she is seen\, heard\, and her family set free. \nAbout the author \nMarcia Hutchinson was born in Manningham\, Bradford\, the seventh of nine children to Windrush generation Jamaican parents. The first pupil from her school to go to Oxford\, Marcia worked as a lawyer before returning to the North and founding the educational publishing company Primary Colours. She was awarded an MBE in 2011 for her services to Cultural Diversity. Now a full-time writer and member of the Black Writers’ Guild\, Marcia’s solo literary debut\, The Mercy Step (Cassava Republic Press)\, was published in July 2025\, and longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026. The Mercy Step was also nominated for the Nibbies Book of the Year ‘Discover’ Category.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-the-mercy-step-marcia-hutchinson-with-pete-kalu
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/THE-OTHERS-2.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260430T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260430T190000
DTSTAMP:20260305T150547Z
CREATED:20260305T095055Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260305T150547Z
UID:18088-1777572000-1777575600@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: The Others with Sheena Kalayil
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Sheena Kalayil on Thursday 30th April at 6pm to discuss her book\, ‘The Others’\, recently longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. The evening will involve a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your book signed by Sheena. The evening will be chaired by Isabelle Kenyon\, owner of Fly on the Wall Press. \nTickets \nBook and ticket £12.99 \nTicket only £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nSecrets\, lies and love as the DDR collapses.  \nIt is 1989\, and in a small Baltic city in East Germany\, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik\, three young people from vastly different backgrounds become friends. Armando is a factory worker from Mozambique\, Lolita is a medical student from India\, and Theo is an East Berliner who dreams of being a writer. \nWhen Armando and Lolita make a grisly discovery\, they find themselves caught up in the politics of Theo’s homeland more than ever before. While a quiet revolution sweeps through Eastern Europe\, and the Berlin Wall teeters\, the three find themselves entangled in a poignant love triangle which threatens their futures. \nAs the world order shifts\, their three lives are bound together in a web of love\, lies and fears\, leaving each irrevocably changed. \nAbout the author \nSheena Kalayil is a critically acclaimed Manchester-based author and teacher. ‘The Others’ is Kalayil’s fourth novel\, continuing her profound examination of untold stories from the crossroads of history and human experience. Kalayil’s debut novel\, ‘The Bureau of Second Chances’\, announced her as a major new literary talent\, winning the prestigious Writers’ Guild Award for Best First Novel and being shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Prize for Fiction with a Sense of Place. With a lifetime of experiences teaching around the world\, from Nepal and Mozambique to Tunisia and Venezuela\, Kalayil brings a truly global perspective to her writing. Since 2002\, she has called the UK home\, now teaching at the University of Manchester while penning rich\, immersive narratives that transcend borders.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-the-others-with-sheena-kalayil
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
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ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260428T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260428T200000
DTSTAMP:20260423T132532Z
CREATED:20260318T161513Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260423T132532Z
UID:18778-1777399200-1777406400@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'Darkening Song' with Delphine Seddon
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is overjoyed to welcome  Delphine Seddon to discuss her debut novel\,  ‘Darkening Song’. The event will take place in-store on 28th April\, at 6pm\, and will last for 1 hour. There will be a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance to have your book signed by Delphine. \nTickets \nTickets are £7\, with the option to add on a copy of the book. Click here to get your ticket. \nAbout the book \nPower dynamics in the entertainment world also feature prominently in debut author\, and former music industry executive\, Delphine Seddon’s fiercely feminist novel set in the music business. Daisy Jones & The Six meets Euphoria\, ‘Darkening Song’ follows a teen star from Manchester and her ambitious manager as they navigate friendship\, ambition\, and the devastating cost of success. Darkening Song has an original score soundtrack written and produced by an all-female team and performed by the incredible independent artist\, S.Michaud. The book is going to be adapted into a major TV series. \nAbout Delphine Seddon \nDelphine Seddon writes female-driven contemporary fiction and poetry. For the past 20 years she’s worked in the music business. She started out as a talent lawyer during the ‘Myspace era’ and dawn of Lily Allen before becoming Head of Business Affairs at Warner Brothers Records\, working across an incredible roster which included Dua Lipa\, Liam Gallagher\, Foals\, Royal Blood and Enya. She managed artists for a while and most recently\, she was COO at September\, operationally responsible for the record label\, management company and publishing business across London and LA. September’s clients include Glass Animals\, Little Simz and Adele. Originally from Staffordshire\, England\, Delphine now lives by the sea in rural West Wales.  \n 
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-darkening-souls
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/darkening-song-3.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260416T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260416T190000
DTSTAMP:20260309T105648Z
CREATED:20260309T102607Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260309T105648Z
UID:18458-1776362400-1776366000@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'Kingfisher' with Rozie Kelly
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is excited to welcome Rozie Kelly to the store on 16th April at 6pm to discuss her book\, Kingfisher\, which has just been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026. As well as a discussion on her book\, there will also be a Q&A\, plus the chance to get your books signed by Rozie. Rozie will be in conversation with Sara Hunt\, publisher at Saraband. \nTickets \nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £9.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nShe smelled like jasmine. No\, not exactly. She smelled like the earth beneath a jasmine plant on a hot day.  \n“Most of us are poets”\, she said. “It’s just a question of how it comes out.” \nWhen a creative writing academic becomes infatuated with his colleague – the poet – it is not long before it begins to threaten his relationship with his partner\, Michael. Michael is beautiful. Michael is safe. But the poet is everything he isn’t; she has everything he wants. \nWhile he writes about steel and sex\, she dreams about the movements of swallows. While he tends to his budding career\, she writes from her big\, white house in the woods. As he slips between his old life and this new one\, his fixation grows into something more powerful. The poet\, his Kingfisher\, is his sole focus. He is hypnotised. \nBut when simultaneous illnesses threaten to destroy the precarious reality he clings to\, he’s forced to question what he can and cannot take from someone. This is a novel about grief\, power and desire – and the tangles in between that make up a life. \nAbout the author \nRozie Kelly is a novelist based in West Yorkshire. After reading English Literature and Creative Writing she moved to Hebden Bridge\, where she works for the Arvon Foundation\, hosting creative writing courses. She was shortlisted for the PFD Queer Fiction Prize 2023 and was one of the eight participants in the inaugural Prototype Development Programme 2024. She won the 2024 NorthBound Book Award for Kingfisher\, her debut novel\, and this has now been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-rozie-kelly-discusses-kingfisher
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/THE-OTHERS.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260324T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260324T190000
DTSTAMP:20260123T102909Z
CREATED:20260118T085754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260123T102909Z
UID:17308-1774375200-1774378800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail' with Hélène Giannecchini
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Hélène Giannecchini on Tuesday 24th March at 6pm to discuss their new book\, ‘An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail’. The evening will involve a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your book signed by Hélène. \nTickets \nClick here to buy a book and ticket \nClick here to buy a ticket only \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nAfter she encounters a poem about love and friendship etched on the Homomonument in Amsterdam\, Hélène Giannecchini is moved to attempt to do justice to a form of relation often subordinated to romance. A friendship is a filiation we choose\, one that can reconfigure our understanding of co-existence. It holds love\, laughter\, dissent and solidarity; it can be a site of political struggle\, of reinvention and rest. Thinking back to her own unconventional family formation\, she sets out to piece together an alternative genealogy of lives excluded from normative discourses\, whose traces may only remain in memory and archival fragments. \nIn searching and sensitive prose\, Giannecchini sifts the past to bring marginal existences into communion with each other\, preserved through loving acts of witness and made full of meaning by friendship’s generative force. Roving from Saint-Just’s revolutionary ideal of amity to Donna Gottschalk’s photography documenting radical lesbian organizing in 1960s and ’70s New York\, interspersed with unpublished images acquired magpie-like through chance and circumstance\, An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail forms a slantwise account of queer life in the twentieth century\, and a moving testament to the liberatory power of friendship. \nAbout the author \nHélène Giannecchini is a writer and curator\, specialising in the relationship between text and image. In 2014 she published Une Image peut-être vraie. Alix Cléo Roubaud [translation by Theano Petrou\, A Portrait in pieces\, Sylph edition\, 2023] with Seuil and directed the Alix Cléo Roubaud retrospective at the Bibliothèque nationale de France that same year. Her following novel\, Voir de ses propres yeux [See With Your Own Eyes]\, was published in January 2020. Her new book Un désir démesuré d’amitié was released in August 2024. For several years now\, she has been writing in collaboration with contemporary artists and she curated several exhibitions. \nAs a Doctor of Literature\, she has given lectures at the Pompidou Centre\, the Complutense University of Madrid\, the University of Basel\, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation\, the Jeu de Paume\, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie\, galerie Buchholz New York\, among others. She was a resident of Villa Médicis in 2018-2019 and of Villa Albertine in 2022.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-an-army-of-lovers-cannot-fail-with-helene-giannecchini
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/an-army-of-lovers.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260319T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260319T190000
DTSTAMP:20260202T135947Z
CREATED:20260201T165609Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260202T135947Z
UID:17626-1773943200-1773946800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'Storm Over Camelot' Sophie Keetch in conversation with Emma Hinds
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is excited to welcome Sophie Keetch on March 19th at 6pm to discuss the final book in her ‘Morgan Triology’\, ‘Storm Over Camelot‘. The evening will involve a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your book signed by Sophie. Sophie will be in discussion with Emma Hinds\, author of ‘The Knowing‘ and ‘The Quick and the Dead‘. \nTickets \nClick here to buy book and ticket \nClick here to buy a ticket only \nAbout the book \nThe thrilling conclusion to the bestselling Morgan Le Fay series \nGrieving over a devastating loss\, Morgan has retreated to the sanctuary of Belle Garde behind a veil of fairy magic\, after swearing vengeance upon King Arthur and Camelot. \nSteeped in her rage\, she becomes a storm of retribution\, battling to avenge her brother’s wrongs while trying to undo a terrible tragedy. But with her resurrection skills elusive and Camelot growing in glory and strength\, Morgan is failing\, her freedom under threat in the wake of her chaos and treasonous reputation. \nAll appears futile\, until her efforts bring news of scandal in the Royal Court\, and Morgan is once again drawn inside Camelot’s golden walls. When an encounter with Arthur’s trusted knight\, Sir Lancelot\, sparks suspicions of Queen Guinevere’s adultery\, Morgan falls deeper into obsession\, the need to punish those who betrayed her driving her further away from her loved ones\, and the woman she once wished to be. \nAs the Age of Camelot darkens\, and the forces of love\, fate and truth collide\, she must choose between her thirst for vengeance and the power to heal what is broken\, and decide who Morgan le Fay truly is\, in her own future and for all time. \nAbout the author \nSophie Keetch read English Literature at Cardiff University\, including the study of Arthurian legend. Her debut trilogy is a feminist retelling of the story of sorceress Morgan Le Fay. The first book\, Morgan is my Name\, was a #1 Audible bestseller and one of the Sunday Times’ Best Historical Fiction novels of 2023. The audiobook\, narrated by Oscar-nominated actress Vanessa Kirby\, was a The Times Audiobook of the Week. Sophie is Welsh and lives with her husband and son in South Wales.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-storm-over-camelot-sophie-keetch-in-conversation-with-emma-hinds
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Storm-Over-Camelot-2.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260312T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260312T190000
DTSTAMP:20251203T110904Z
CREATED:20251127T121248Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251203T110904Z
UID:16746-1773338400-1773342000@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'Beyond Palatable' with Sophie Lee
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Sophie Lee on Thursday 12th March to discuss her new book\, Beyond Palatable: A Manifesto for Unapologetic Women. Sophie will be here from 6pm\, and the event will consist of a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance for you to get your copies signed by Sophie. \nTickets \nBook and ticket option £14.99\nTicket only option £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nBeyond Palatable is a transformative manifesto for women seeking to embrace their true selves unapologetically. In this powerful work\, Sophie Lee acts as both a revelator and a rebel\, challenging the societal norms that keep us small and confined. \nSophie’s compelling voice guides readers to confront the pressures of conformity that stifle individuality. Each chapter is rich with actionable insights\, somatic practices and practical tasks\, all designed to deepen self-understanding and spark meaningful change. \nWith tools for self-reflection\, Beyond Palatable fosters a sense of empowerment that encourages readers to stand firm in their truth\, even amidst external resistance. This heartfelt invitation to reclaim authenticity serves as a reminder that the essence of who we are is rooted in our hearts. \nA must-read for those on a journey of personal growth and liberation\, Beyond Palatable challenges you to break free from limitations and redefine what it means to be you. Embrace the journey and discover the power of living authentically. \nAbout the author \nSophie is a storyteller\, strategist and writer\, and is the founder of Electric Peach. She helps organisations build movements and turn ideas into real-world impact. She also works closely with female founders on voice and visibility\, helping them speak with clarity and become unignorable. Her work sits at the intersection of strategy\, storytelling\, and social change. Beyond Palatable is her first book.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-beyond-palatable-with-sophie-lee
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/BEYOND-PALATABLE-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260226T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260226T190000
DTSTAMP:20260118T084320Z
CREATED:20251110T155943Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260118T084320Z
UID:10714-1772128800-1772132400@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: Helen Gaskell discusses 'The Regency Switch'
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is excited to welcome Helen Gaskell to the store on 26th February at 6pm to discuss her new book\, The Regency Switch. As well as a discussion on her new book\, there will also be a Q&A\, plus the chance to get your books signed by Helen. The evening will have drinks on arrival\, and goody bags provided for all our romance-loving bookworms. \nTickets \nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £9.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nEtta Moore expects nothing more from a Tuesday than another dull day in the office. But when her morning commute ends in Regency England\, she is forced to accept the impossible: she and her ancestor Miss Henrietta Bainbridge – or ‘Mad Hetty’\, as she’s known amongst the ton – have switched bodies. \nSuddenly Etta and Hetty must get to grips with the new worlds they find themselves in. For Etta\, it’s goodbye to dating apps and the daily commute and hello to the list of things ‘Ladies Do Not’ do. Luckily the dashing Lord Stanhope is on hand to aid her through even the most shocking of faux pas. \nMeanwhile Hetty\, who has always felt unseen and unknown\, finds her truest self blossoming with the help of 21st century medicine and the most welcome attentions of her rather beautiful Adult Learning teacher\, Stella. \nTwo hundred years away from everything they’ve ever known\, might Etta and Hetty have actually found a place where they each truly belong? \nAbout the author \nA member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association\, Helen writes Regency and contemporary romantic fiction with a twist. When not writing fiction\, Helen is a lead content designer. She lives semi-anonymously in deepest\, darkest suburbia\, splitting her time fairly evenly between sleeping\, eating raspberry trifle\, and over-thinking Oxford commas.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-helen-gaskell-discusses-the-regency-switch
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/REGENCY-SWITCH-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260217T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260217T190000
DTSTAMP:20260213T140158Z
CREATED:20260110T155347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260213T140158Z
UID:17211-1771351200-1771354800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'Broken Biscuits; and Other Male Failures' with Adam Farrer
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Adam Farrer on February 17th at 6pm to discuss their paperback book\, ‘Broken Biscuits; and Other Male Failures’. The evening will involve a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your book signed by Adam Farrer. \nTickets \nClick here to purchase a ticket only \nClick here to purchase a book and ticket \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nBroken Biscuits vividly recounts Adam’s struggles to live up to masculine expectations\, real or imagined. From the calamity of his first serious relationship to an obsession with Prince that sees everyone questioning his sexuality\, and from the repercussions of his adult circumcision to his doubts about his ability to survive the apocalypse\, this candid and personal collection of essays is astonishingly far-reaching and riotously funny. Holding up a mirror to Adam’s own body image\, his relationship with his family\, his sense of self-worth and the mortifying experience of arriving at a teenage party wearing strawberry-patterned short shorts\, this book is about growing up and trying to define yourself as a man but somehow always missing the mark. \nAbout the author \n\n\n\nAdam Farrer is a writer\, a lecturer and the editor of the creative nonfiction journal The Real Story. He has been a photo lab technician\, an illustrator\, a ceramicist\, a musician\, a music journalist and currently works at the University of Salford\, where he is the Writer in Residence for Peel Park. His first book\, Cold Fish Soup\, won the Northbound Book Award.\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-broken-biscuits-and-other-male-failures-with-adam-farrer
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/BROKEN-BISCUITS-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260213T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260213T200000
DTSTAMP:20260109T125535Z
CREATED:20260107T141832Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260109T125535Z
UID:17150-1771005600-1771012800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:Book Swap with Fly on the Wall Press
DESCRIPTION:This ‘Palentines Day’\, why not spend it with your friends\, or make new connections! \nHouse of Books and Friends welcomes Fly on the Wall Press on Friday 13th of February (6-8pm) for an uplifting evening of connections\, friends and books! \nBring along a book you’d love to find an appreciative home for – perhaps one you’d like to tell people about. Or bring more than one to give away if you have too many! \nTickets include two books – one you can select from Fly on the Wall Press on the night\, and one you gain after having swapped a book with a fellow attendee. There are also tickets available to receive a tote bag on the night. \nTickets can be found here.   \nWe can’t wait to welcome everyone in our beautiful bookshop venue. Turn up any time from 6pm.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/book-swap-with-fly-on-the-wall-press
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/HOUSE-OF-BOOKS-FRIENDS-4.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260206T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260206T140000
DTSTAMP:20260107T140758Z
CREATED:20260103T162646Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260107T140758Z
UID:17078-1770382800-1770386400@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:Lunchtime Lecture: Useful Art with John Byrne
DESCRIPTION:House of Books and Friends is bringing back their ‘Lunchtime Lecture’ series\, and are excited to welcome Professor John Byrne to discuss his book ‘Useful Art: How Activist Artists Can Change the World.’ The talk will begin at 1pm and last for 1 hour. \nTickets \nTicket only \nBook and ticket \nAbout the book \nDoes art have to be beautiful? What if it can be useful instead? In this cutting-edge book\, John Byrne shows how the concept of ‘Useful Art’ is helping artists and communities fight back against the neoliberal takeover of our spaces\, services and lives. \nExploring an international selection of projects\, exhibitions and activism\, this important new work champions the shift from aesthetics to use value\, challenging traditional ways of seeing the world symbolically through art. Reaching beyond the financial logic of the art world\, Byrne shows how Useful Art can offer an artistic toolkit for implementing radical change. \nJohn Byrne is Professor of Useful Art at Liverpool School of Art and Creative Industries. For over a decade he has been at the forefront of research into art and use value\, working with world-renowned artists and curators to explore how art can resist\, engage with or offer alternatives to the current conditions of global neoliberalism.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/lunch-time-lecture-useful-art-with-john-byrne
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/lunch-time.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260129T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260129T190000
DTSTAMP:20260118T084309Z
CREATED:20251203T112952Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260118T084309Z
UID:16808-1769709600-1769713200@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: 'Wayward Women' with Rhonda Carrier and Tracey Davies
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Rhonda Carrier and Tracey Davies on Thursday 29th January at 6pm to discuss their new book\, ‘Wayward Women: Sex\, Friendship and the Midlife Reset‘. The evening will involve a discussion\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your book signed by Rhonda and Tracey. \nTickets \nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £14.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nWayward Women is a unique\, searingly honest\, devastatingly raw two-person memoir about the friendship\, travels and sex lives of two fiftysomething women finding their way again after divorce. \nIt’s an entertaining\, emotional and geographical journey that bounces around the world from Florida to India\, Lapland to Hong Kong\, as the authors -both leading travel writers – relay their experiences as midlife women – love\, loss\, parenthood\, divorce\, menopause – along with the tales of the inspirational women they meet along the way\, and the growth of their friendship. \nAbout the authors \nRhonda Carrier \nRhonda Carrier is a travel and lifestyle journalist\, award-winning fiction writer\, literary translator and sometime poet. Having written for almost every national newspaper\, magazine and guidebook publisher over the last 30 years\, including the Guardian\, Red magazine. Condé Nast Traveller and Lonely Planet\, she’s roamed the globe taking in destinations as disparate as the icebergs of Antarctica and the Australian rainforest\, the fjords of Greenland and the Malaysian jungle. She has a special interest in women’s travel and women’s empowerment through travel. \nTracey Davis \nTracey is a veteran travel writer whose byline regularly appears in Metro\, the Daily and Sunday Telegraph\, The Times/Sunday Times\, the Guardian\, iPaper\, Country Living\, Red Online\, Good Housekeeping\, Platinum\, Breathe\, Teen Breathe\, and Travel Weekly. She was co-host of the Carry On travel podcast and is a regular panellist on radio and travel shows. She is also a stand-up comedian.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-wayward-women-with-rhonda-carrier-and-tracey-davies
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WAYWARD-WOMEN.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251122T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251122T150000
DTSTAMP:20251119T140921Z
CREATED:20251119T113530Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251119T140921Z
UID:16681-1763809200-1763823600@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:Manchester Winter Book Fair
DESCRIPTION:Join us at the House of Books & Friends for the Manchester Winter Book Fair! This exciting event will take place on Saturday 22nd November between 11am and 3pm. \nAt the fair\, you’ll have the opportunity to explore a wide selection of books and gifts from local publishers. Whether you’re a book lover or looking for the perfect holiday gift\, this is the perfect event to find something special. \nDon’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to support local publishers and discover new literary treasures. Mark your calendars and join us for the Manchester Winter Book Fair! \nRegister your attendance through Northodox Eventbrite here. \nThis is an externally managed event; please contact Northodox Press if you would like to discuss details/attendance.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/manchester-winter-book-fair-2
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/connection-counts-jessica-2.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251105T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251105T190000
DTSTAMP:20250917T134421Z
CREATED:20250910T130438Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250917T134421Z
UID:10123-1762365600-1762369200@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR PANEL: The Northern Weird Project
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends will be hosting three of the authors behind The Northern Weird Project on 5th November at 6pm. Gemma Fairclough\, Katherine Clements\, and Jodie Robins will be discussing The Retreat\, The Turbine\, and The Off-Season respectively. The event will be chaired by Robert Welbourn\, author of Belonging. The evening will consist of a discussion between our panel\, a Q&A\, and an opportunity for attendees to get their books signed. \nTickets \nAs there are multiple authors in discussion\, you can purchase a ticket-only option\, or you can purchase a copy of the book from us to act as a ticket; see options below: \n£5 Ticket only and the option to buy ONE of the titles available here \n£35 for all 3 books to act as your ticket here \nAbout The Northern Weird Project \nThroughout 2025\, Wild Hunt Books will publish six fantastic pocket-sized novellas from authors based in the North of England and who are also engaging with the North as setting\, subject and character. \nThe novellas incorporate eerie and uncanny incidents including a strange occurrence on a train\, a young boy’s disappearance in a village\, a grieving couple renovating a haunted house\, a group of mysterious strangers by the beach\, a sinister wellness retreat and the unearthed danger beneath an ancient peat bog. \nEditor Ariell Cacciola said of the project\, ‘Im so excited about this project. The novellas will transport readers into the strange and dangerous corners of the North\, and it will be impossible not to read each book in one sitting.’ \nAbout The Retreat \nRichard’s sister Julie returns home from a mysterious wellness facility in remote Cumbria in 1994. He’s convinced that this place was a cult and was the cause of his sister’s eventual suicide. Finally\, after years as an unaccomplished academic\, he decides to investigate the disturbing accusations against the Hartman Retreat Centre. Then he meets Lucy\, a young woman whose story is eerily similar to his sister’s decades before. Richard is determined to unearth what’s really been happening at the Hartman Retreat Centre but more importantly\, who is Charles Hartman\, the celebrated healer who casts a powerful hold over all who come to the retreat. \nTold through letters\, interviews and found texts\, lovers of Fairlcough’s Bear Season will be swept up in a sinister world of wellness gurus and mystery. \nAbout The Turbine \nIn the near future\, England is experiencing the hottest summer in living memory. An unnamed environmental scientist\, is tasked with evaluating the impact of a controversial new wind farm on the West Yorkshire moors. Camped out alone by the base of Turbine 34 – the most remote of the new turbines\, built on an ancient peat bog – she spends her days gathering samples. But when she discovers signs of the devastation caused by the construction\, she begins to see things – things that shouldn’t be there. \nShe has dedicated her life to protecting the moor\, but will it protect her? \nInspired by a real-life proposed wind farm in the North of England\, Turbine 34 is for readers of Dark Matter and Wuthering Heights with a dash of folk horror. \nAbout The Off-Season \nIt’s the off-season in the seaside resort town of Blackpool\, where Tommy never imagined he would return. His relationship has broken down\, so he returns home to keep an eye on his widowed father. While counting down the hours before attending the funeral of a well-loved friend\, a mysterious group turns up on the seafront. One by one\, the locals are entranced by their presence until Tommy and his father can no longer resist the allure. \nTommy soon discovers a secret desire his father has been harbouring for his entire life.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-panel-the-northern-weird-project
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Northern-Weird-Project-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251027T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251027T190000
DTSTAMP:20250930T140637Z
CREATED:20250927T174613Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250930T140637Z
UID:10248-1761588000-1761591600@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: Park Seolyeon with Anton Hur 'Capitalists Must Starve'
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is excited to welcome Park Seolyeon to the store on 27th October at 6pm to discuss her new book\, Capitalists Must Starve. Seolyeon will be joined by her translator Anton Hur\, translator of Seolyeon’s previous translated title\, A Magical Girl Retires. The event will consist of a discussion between Seolyeon and Anton (with an interrpretor attending)\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your copy signed. \nTickets \nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £14.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nWinner of Hankyoreh Literature Award  \nSet against the backdrop of Japanese-occupied Korea\, Capitalists Must Starve follows a sharp-tongued\, big-hearted heroine who dares to love\, rebel\, and carve out space for working-class women in a world determined to silence them. Echoing the unflinching narratives of Alias Grace and the sweeping historical vision of Pachinko\, this feminist historical novel balances raw grit with unexpected tenderness and a defiant streak of dark humour. \nA stirring portrait of resistance from below: fierce\, funny\, and full of fight. \nAbout Park Seolyeon \nBorn in 1989 in Cherwon\, Park Seolyeon made her debut winning the Silcheon Munhak New Writers Prize in 2015 for her short story “Mickey Mouse Club.” Her books include the novels The Job of Marta\, The Shirley Club\, A Magical Girl Retires\, Project V and Capitalists Must Starve\, which won the 2018 Hankyoreh Literature Prize\, as well as the story collections My Hormones Made Me Do It\, Your Mom’s the Better Player\, and Me\, Me\, Madeline. Her stories have been translated into Japanese\, French\, German\, and English. She lives in Seoul\, South Korea. \nAbout Anton Hur \nAnton Hur was born in Stockholm. He is the author of Toward Eternity and has been nominated for the International Booker Prize\, the National Book Award\, the National Book Critics Circle Award\, and the Dublin Literary Award for his various translations including Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park and A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon. He lives in Seoul.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-park-seolyeon-with-anton-hur-capitalists-must-starve
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/capitalists-must-starve.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251023T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251023T193000
DTSTAMP:20250918T113203Z
CREATED:20250917T125732Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250918T113203Z
UID:10184-1761242400-1761247800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:AUTHOR EVENT: Act Normal with Pete Kalu
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is ecstatic to welcome Pete Kalu on 23rd October to discuss his memoir\, Act Normal. The event will begin at 6pm\, and will consist of a discussion between Pete and chair Esther Lisk-Carew\, a Q&A\, and a chance to get your copy signed. \nTickets\nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £14.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nThrough fragmented memories\, vivid imagery\, and introspective musings\, Kalu explores a range of themes\, from the joys and anxieties of childhood to the complexities of adult relationships\, career struggles\, and the enduring search for meaning. Act Normal invites readers to delve into the author’s inner world\, confronting universal themes of love\, loss\, identity\, and the search for connection. \nThrough his unique and insightful perspective\, Kalu challenges conventional narratives and encourages readers to question their own assumptions about life\, love\, and the world around them. \nAbout Pete Kalu \nPete Kalu is a 2024 winner of the Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship Award. He has previously won the BBC/Contact Dangerous Comedy Award and The Voice / Marcus Garvey Essay Award. He received his PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in 2019. His essays can be found scattered in publications including Encounters with James Baldwin (Supernova Books 2024) and academic journals. His most recent short stories have been published by Peepal Tree. He is a Writers Mosaic alumnus and was writer in residence at University of West Indies\, Trinidad Campus. He is a Reading Fellow of Royal Literary Fund. \nAbout Esther Lisk-Carew \nBy day Esther Lisk-Carew works with Arts and Humanities Research Academics at Manchester Metropolitan University and by night works with cultural creatives as a events host\, network lead for Black and Global Majority professionals\, as a freelancer and as a careers mentor. She is also a board member for the Portico Library.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author-event-act-normal-with-pete-kalu
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/act-normal-3.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251016T173000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251016T190000
DTSTAMP:20250906T095705Z
CREATED:20250903T113509Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250906T095705Z
UID:10026-1760635800-1760641200@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:TASTING EVENT: Bold Bean Co 'Full of Beans'
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is overjoyed to welcome Bold Bean Co to discuss their new cook book\, Full of Beans. Lead by Hannah Wilding\, not only will we hear about some of the 70 new recipes\, the evening will include a cook-a-long of a recipe that features in this gorgeous cook book. Attendees will also receive free drinks on the night provided by Botivo\, and a goodie bag full of Bold Bean Co treats! \nTickets\nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £22\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nGet ready to become bean obsessed!\n\nBack by popular demand\, here are 70 brand new\, individually photographed recipes from the trailblazing Bold Beans company. Following their Sunday Times Bestseller Bold Beans: Recipes to get your Pulse Racing\, a legion of ‘bean champs’ has sprung up via social media and supermarket shoppers\, independent food store aficionados and word-of-mouth enthusiasts to call for more fantastic bean recipes. \nOrganised by types of beans and featuring the brand’s newly launched black beans\, borlotti beans\, queen carlin peas and queen red beans\, new recipes include ‘beanottos’ and tray bakes for creating sensational\, super-healthy and totally unprocessed meals that are both planet-friendly and ultra delicious. \nAbout Bold Bean Co \nBold Bean Co. is on a mission to make the world obsessed with beans. They aim to showcase the best legumes can offer by offering slow-cooked heirloom beans produced for full flavour. The brand was born in 2021 and continues to champion and spotlight the creative ways beans can be used at the centre of a plate.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/tasting-event-bold-bean-co-full-of-beans
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/BEAN-CO-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251008T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251008T190000
DTSTAMP:20250910T150458Z
CREATED:20250902T145323Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250910T150458Z
UID:10014-1759946400-1759950000@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:In Conversation: Anna Zoe Quirke 'Sad Girl Hours'
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is thrilled to welcome Anna Zoe Quirke to discuss their new YA title Sad Girl Hours. Anna will be in conversation with Josh Silver\, author of TraumaLand\, on Wednesday 8th October from 6pm – 7pm. As well as a discussion on their new book\, there will also be a Q&A\, plus the chance to get your books signed by Anna. \nTickets\nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £8.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nSaffron struggles with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and is dreading autumn and winter. She took time off in her first year at university and can’t afford to do the same this year if she’s going to achieve her dream of being an astrophysicist. She’s managed to keep it a secret from her friends – fearing that they won’t want to spend time with her if they see her at her lowest – but it’s getting harder. Especially when she meets Nell. \nNell – wannabe poet\, autistic and proud\, and lover of autumn and winter – is determined to show Saffron everything these seasons have to offer. The two grow close\, and when Saffron confides in Nell\, romance blooms. But with Saffron struggling to keep a lid on her mental health and Nell figuring out her own sexual identity\, things soon spiral out of control. \nA dual-perspective sapphic rom-com perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Alice Oseman. \nAbout Zoe \nAnna Zoe Quirke is a queer and autistic author\, librarian\, and freelance writer from the North of England. They’ve written books\, scripts\, poetry (and much more). Their novel ‘Something to be Proud of’ won the Northern Writers’ Award for Debut YA Fiction in 2022\, was shortlisted for the PFD Queer Fiction Prize\, was published with Little Tiger in June 2024\, and was nominated for a Carnegie Award in 2025.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/in-conversation-anna-zoe-quirke-sad-girl-hours
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/SGH-EVENT-NEW-DESIGN-3.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250719T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250719T160000
DTSTAMP:20250522T123941Z
CREATED:20250522T094721Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250522T123941Z
UID:8823-1752933600-1752940800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:The Mercy Step launch: Marcia Hutchinson in conversation with Peter Kalu
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends are excited to be hosting Marcia Hutchinson in conversation with Peter Kalu on Saturday 19th July 2-4pm \nMarcia will be discussing her new book “The Mercy Step”. There will also be a chance for a Q&A\, and an opportunity to get your books signed. We will also be selling copies on the night. \nTickets \nYou can purchase a ticket-only option\, or you can purchase a copy of each book from us to act as a ticket; see options below: \n£5 Ticket only available here \n£16.99 Book and ticket available here (cost wise\, the book is your ticket!) \nAbout the book \nDecember 1962 in Bradford\, and the precocious Mercy makes her reluctant entrance into the world\, torn from the warm embrace of her mother’s womb and thrust into a life that feels far too big for her small body. Mercy craves her mother’s attention\, which she must share with the Church and her many siblings\, while dodging the fists and temper of her abusive father. Quick-witted and wise beyond her years\, Mercy feels like an outsider in her family\, with everyone else seemingly happy to ignore the precarious house of cards they live in. But Mercy is nothing if not resilient\, finding hope and escapism in books and learning\, as well as her faithful toy\, Dolly. She is determined to overcome her upbringing and save her family – no matter what it takes. \nAbout the author \nMarcia Hutchinson was born to Windrush generation Jamaican parents in the UK in 1962. She was the first pupil from her comprehensive school to go to Oxford\, where she gained an MA in Law. She worked as a lawyer before founding the educational publishing company Primary Colours\, which she ran until 2014. She was awarded an MBE in 2011 for services to Cultural Diversity.\n \nShe will be in conversation with Peter Kalu. He is a poet\, fiction writer and playwright. He cut his teeth as a member of Manchester’s Moss Side Write black writers workshop and has had nine novels\, two film scripts and three theatre plays produced to date.  He gained his PhD in Creative Writing\, Lancaster University\, UK\, in 2019.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/mercy-step
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250408T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250408T190000
DTSTAMP:20250214T155555Z
CREATED:20250214T155555Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250214T155555Z
UID:8163-1744135200-1744138800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:In Conversation: Hanna Thomas Uose "Who Wants to Live Forever"
DESCRIPTION:House of Books and Friends are delighted to host Hanna Thomas Uose to talk about their new book\, Who Wants to Live Forever. The evening will start at 6pm and will consist of a discussion\, a Q&A\, plus the chance to get your books signed by Hanna! \nTickets\nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £16.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the Book: \nThis is the greatest romance you will ever read without the happily ever after.\n\nYuki and Sam are soulmates.\nThey are destined to spend the rest of their lives together.\nThey are supposed to love one another\, forever. \nBut when a miracle drug is released which can extend a human’s life indefinitely\, Sam chooses to live forever\, instead of loving Yuki forever – and the world they know is spun inside out. \nWho Wants to Live Forever plunges into a parallel universe where forever is on sale to the highest bidder. What comes next is a world-building epic narrated by an intersecting cast of characters that will drive you to the edge of reality and leave you to answer biggest questions of all: What is life without death? What is life without love?
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/in-conversation-hanna-thomas-uose-who-wants-to-live-forever
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250403T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250403T190000
DTSTAMP:20250212T150955Z
CREATED:20250212T145714Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250212T150955Z
UID:8155-1743703200-1743706800@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:Reclaiming The Future: An evening with Simon Hannah
DESCRIPTION:House of Books and Friends are delighted to host Simon Hannah to talk about his new book\, Reclaiming The Future: A Beginners Guide to Planning the Economy. The evening will start at 6pm and will consist of a discussion\, a Q&A\, plus the chance to get your books signed by Simon. \nTickets\nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £16.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the Book \nIn a world gripped by endless crisis and climate breakdown\, the demand to reshape our economic system has never been more urgent. Reclaiming the Future by Simon Hannah is a beginner’s guide to planning the economy\, taking readers on a transformative journey towards a radically democratic society\, where the power and control over our lives are firmly in our hands. \nDecades of right-wing scaremongering has tried to consign economic planning to the dustbin\, but the need for it is greater than ever – it might be the only thing that can save us from climate catastrophe. In this myth-busting and accessible guide\, Hannah lays the building blocks for a grassroots economy that aligns our economy within human needs and environmental limits. \nAbout the Author \nSimon Hannah is a writer\, activist\, and trade unionist living in South London. He is an assistant branch secretary in UNISON and has written several books\, including A Party With Socialists In It: A History of the Labour Left\, which was a Guardian Book of the Day.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/reclaiming-the-future-an-evening-with-simon-hannah
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250311T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250311T190000
DTSTAMP:20250128T155651Z
CREATED:20250117T125535Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250128T155651Z
UID:7984-1741716000-1741719600@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:In conversation: Alex Bollen\, "Motherdom: Breaking Free from Bad Science and Good Mother Myths"
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends are excited to be hosting yourself and Alex Bollen on Tuesday 11th March from 6pm – 7pm to discuss her book\, Motherdom. \n\nThere will be a discussion with Alex\, a chance for a Q&A\, and an opportunity to get your books signed. We will also be selling copies of the authors works on the night. \nTickets \nYou can purchase a ticket-only option\, or you can purchase a copy of the book from us to act as a ticket; see options below: \n£5 Ticket only available here \n£22 for Motherdom to act as your ticket here \nAbout the book: \nBlaming\, shaming and flimsy evidence: welcome to the ugly world of Good Mother myths \nWhen Alex Bollen had her first baby\, the fear of being a bad mother made her guilty and anxious. A researcher with twenty years’ experience\, she went looking for answers. To her surprise the studies she looked at were exaggerated and misrepresented in the media\, forming the foundation for what she calls Good Mother myths. These myths are an assortment of narratives\, ideologies and stereotypes\, deployed to censure mothers and blame them for every societal ill. \nIncensed by the way bad science is used to shame mothers\, Alex Bollen decided to set the record straight. With meticulous research and keen insight\, Motherdom exposes both the shaky science and unjustified prescriptions about how mothers should ‘naturally’ behave. Competing visions of birth – ‘natural’ versus ‘medical’ – mean women can be criticised whatever happens\, raising the odds that birth will be a damaging\, even deadly\, experience. Mothers are judged and belittled whether they breast- or bottle-feed their babies. Bogus claims about brain development and dodgy attachment theories mean that whatever mothers do\, it is never enough. \nThis has to stop. We must replace Good Mother myths with a realistic approach to parenting. Alex Bollen proposes ‘motherdom’\, a more expansive conception of motherhood\, which values and respects the different ways people raise their children. Instead of finding fault with mothers\, Motherdom shifts our focus to the relationships and resources children need to flourish. \nAbout the author: \nAlex Bollen is a researcher with over twenty years of experience\, including as a former director of the research agency Ipsos MORI. She is a Postnatal Practitioner with the NCT\, the UK’s largest parenting charity\, and has been running postnatal groups for new mothers in South West London for over a decade. She is the mother of two children.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/in-conversation-alex-bollen-motherdom-breaking-free-from-bad-science-and-good-mother-myths
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250225T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250225T190000
DTSTAMP:20250131T140433Z
CREATED:20241211T114408Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250131T140433Z
UID:7703-1740506400-1740510000@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:Shoulder to Shoulder by Jake Hall Book Launch
DESCRIPTION:House of Books & Friends is excited to welcome Jake Hall to discuss their new paperback\, Shoulder to Shoulder\, on Tuesday 25th January. Jake will be in conversation with Grey\, the founder of Bender Zine and Grey Area Books. The evening will start at 6pm and will consist of a discussion\, a Q&A\, plus the chance to get your books signed by Jake. \nTickets\nClick here to buy a book and ticket – £10.99\nClick here to buy a ticket only (redeemable against a copy of the book on the evening) – £5 \nAs always\, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380. \nAbout the book \nThrough astounding research and fascinating storytelling\, SHOULDER TO SHOULDER\, transports us through time and into the world of these trailblazers\, bringing their tales to life and exploring both the inexplicable joys and brutal realities of their fights for justice. \nSpanning movements from the Black Panthers coalition with the Gay Liberation Front in the US to the Pride support for miners strikes in the UK\, SHOULDER TO SHOULDER shows how marginalised activists have always been intertwined in their pursuit of joint liberation. \nA beautiful celebration of our often chaotic\, and always messy\, human history and those incredible\, ordinary people who pushed for equality no matter the cost. SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is for anyone who loved BAD GAYS\, NATIVES or POVERTY SAFARI and is hungry for a fresh perspective on our shared human history. \nAbout the author \nJake Hall is a freelance writer and author based in Sheffield. Their first book\, The Art of Drag\, was published by NoBrow Press in 2020\, and their second book\, Shoulder to Shoulder\, will be released in paperback in February 2025. Jake has written for publications including Atmos\, Business Insider\, The Nation\, British Vogue and more\, with a focus on queer histories\, sustainability and pop culture.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/shoulder-to-shoulder-by-jake-hall-book-launch
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-2.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250211T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250211T190000
DTSTAMP:20241224T102357Z
CREATED:20241224T102311Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241224T102357Z
UID:7811-1739296800-1739300400@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:Rachel Thompson: The Love Fix
DESCRIPTION:Looking for bookish Valentines Day plans? House of Books & Friends are excited to be hosting yourself and long term dating columnist Rachel Thompson on Tuesday 11th February from 6pm – 7pm to discuss her book\, The Love Fix . \n\nThere will be a discussion with Rachel\, a chance for a Q&A\, and an opportunity to get your books signed. \nTickets \nYou can purchase a ticket-only option\, or you can purchase a copy of the book from us to act as a ticket; see options below: \n£5 Ticket only available here \n£18.99 for The Love Fix to act as your ticket here \nAbout The Love Fix \n‘Required reading for every person dating’ Beth Ashley | ‘Brilliant… has revolutionised conversations around love and modern dating ‘ Shahed Ezaydi | ‘So well-researched and insightful’ Radhika Sanghani | ‘An important feminist voice and a spectacular writer‘ Sofie Hagen | ‘The best sex and dating writer since Candace Bushnell Gigi Engle \nSwiping\, situationships\, love-bombing\, ghosting\, healing… Dating is hard. Why has making connections never felt so simple\, yet keeping them has never been so complicated? Sex and dating journalist Rachel Thompson has spent the past decade investigating how we seduce\, perceive and treat each other in our post-dating apps era. Written for all\, but with particular care for marginalised communities\, this book explores questions such as: \nWhy are our odds of finding someone compatible 1 in 562? What does ‘the spark’ actually mean from a scientific perspective? How does technology warp our communication\, standards and self-esteem? Why are we becoming more sensitive to rejection? What does real emotional availability look like? \nAbout the author \nRachel Thompson is a British author and journalist specialising in sex\, dating\, and relationships. Her first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It\, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Square Peg (Vintage) in August 2021. Stylist magazine called Rough “2021’s most important book about sex”. Rachel is the Features Editor at Mashable. She is a leading sex and relationships writer.
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/rachel-thompson-the-love-fix
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-6.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250203T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250203T190000
DTSTAMP:20250107T160634Z
CREATED:20241224T091813Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250107T160634Z
UID:7806-1738605600-1738609200@houseofbooksandfriends.com
SUMMARY:Ariana Reines: Wave of Blood
DESCRIPTION:‘Her writing is queer and raunchy\, raw and occult\, seemingly never pulling away from her deepest vulnerabilities. Yet Reines simultaneously maintains a feeling of epic poetry\, of ancient intention.’ – The New York Times \n‘Mind-blowing.’ – Kim Gordon \nJoin us for a night with one of the USA’s most evocative contemporary poets\, in one of a limited series of UK events. Reines is an award-winning poet\, Obie-winning playwright\, performing artist\, and translator. Ariana’s books include A SAND BOOK\, winner of the  2020 Kingsley Tufts Prize & longlisted for the National Book Award\, THE COW\, winner of the Alberta Prize\, COEUR DE LION\, MERCURY\, and The Origin of the World. \nHer new book\, Wave of Blood\, wrestles with the mind of war\, and is at times shocking in its self-analysis. Wave of Blood is a furious and sincere essay\, an eclipse notebook\, a family chronicle\, all told in the poetry of witness. It provides a fascinating account of speaking in public on art/poetry during a time of genocide. \nTo purchase the book and ticket\, with your ticket included in the price of the book\, click here \nTo purchase the ticket only\, click here
URL:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/ariana-reines-wave-of-blood
LOCATION:House of Books & Friends\, 81 King Street\, Manchester\, M2 4AH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Author Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-5.png
ORGANIZER;CN="House of Books & Friends":MAILTO:bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com
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END:VCALENDAR