Out & About October 2017

lively discussion, and tickets are already flying out.” Andrew Martin’s book Night Trains taps in to the romance of travelling across Europe by sleeper train, and mentions all sorts of literary connections, such as Agatha Christie and Grahame Greene. “I’m a sucker for some golden age crime and also literary classics. As he traverses across modern-day Europe, Martin contrasts travel today with the past and even becomes embroiled in his very own night train whodunit. “I loved his dead-pan humour, and having just travelled to Edinburgh with two small children by train – which was delayed – his book resonated with me in many places.” A travel writing fan, Emma has several old favourites, and is constantly adding to the list. “Bill Bryson always makes me laugh, but Eric Newby and Jan Morris are bookshop favourites. “I’ve recently discovered Geoff Dyer – a contemporary travel writer who blends travel, essays and criticism together in a brilliantly original and often amusing way.” Who would Emma choose for the Journeys festival, then, if she could have booked any writer, past or present? We expect this to be an event that produces lively discussion, and tickets are already flying out

“Martin Bell uses his experiences as a war reporter, an independent MP and UNICEF ambassador to look at the way we now present items of news. “In his book War and the Death of the News , he issues an impassioned plea to minimise the entertainment factor and put the substance back into our news. “We expect this to be an event that produces

Described as the thinking man’s Bill Bryson, Sonning Common author Tom Fort writes ‘curious books about curious things’. “We had done so well with his book on the history of the A303 it was no surprise that his latest book, The Village News , appealed to customers too. “He has a great knack of focusing in on a subject – roads, rivers, the weather – and writing about them so engagingly and perceptively that suddenly they become the most riveting of themes. “ The Village News is the truth behind England’s rural idyll. “The author covers the length and breadth of England on his bicycle to discover the essence of village life. In between the historical analysis are personal memories from Tom of the village life he remembers and enjoys today. “Our local historian Sir Max Hastings calls the book ‘a triumph’ and we are inclined to agree.” Journalist Martin Bell, on the other hand, is something of a heavyweight. “We are living through a time when our world seems to be in a state of flux. I look on my phone and see the words ‘Breaking News’ almost every week and think ‘What now?’ Nothing seems too unbelievable.

Martin Bell

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