coddie

  • How Small Changes Can Make A Big Difference to Teachers

    Blog post by author Michelle Auton In teaching there is always so much to do, so why do we want to be worrying about wellbeing as well? With over a fifth of teachers leaving the profession in the first two few years of their career and stress and workload being cited as the main reasons for leaving- a conversation about wellbeing is essential. I think the key to good wellbeing in education is not a huge change in routine but small considered changes that can build to make a big change. Lots of small steps can make a big difference. With […]

  • You will find kindness in the corners of a bookshop

    You will possibly find dust in those corners as well but that’s a different blog. There are many ways to purchase a book. Some people don’t feel the safety or the conviviality of a bookshop is for them. They may prefer the anonymity of clicking a button and that’s okay. There are different tribes of people.  In our experience there are still lots of people who enjoy visiting a bookshop to buy their books.This is a fortunate fact and it’s why we are still in business. HMV came, went and returned! Debenhams, Woolies and M&S were not able to stick around. […]

  • Espionage, betrayal, scandal, corruption and murder. An author event about true events

      Behind one of the greatest tragedies in UK policing history lies an incredible political scandal which has been likened to that of the Post Office scandal. The audio link above is a small excerpt from an interview with Colne Radio when Matthew Young recently interviewed the authors of No Ordinary Day who are coming to the Colchester Arts Centre on Saturday 16th March at 11am to talk about their book https://redlionbooks.co.uk/product/author-event-no-ordinary-day-16th-march-2024-11am-matt-johnson-john-murray-at-colchester-arts-centre/ ‘An important book, especially now’ Lee Child ‘Espionage, betrayal, terrorism, corruption and murder. All the ingredients of a Le Carré novel, only it’s real’ Matthew Hall   On 17 […]

  • Article from The Big Issue, 2024 Indie bookshops survive closure

    Article for The Big Issue 2024 INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS SURVIVE CLOSURE We were asked to comment for the recent article published in The Big Issue.  Please read here https://www.bigissue.com/culture/books/independent-bookshops-closure-survive-ba/    

  • Deaths, Disasters & Destinies, Anglo-Norman History in Twelve Lives

    By Val Morgan, author, 2024 Being asked to write a blog piece about my new book by Red Lion is a real pleasure for me as Red Lion Books is a great supporter of local writers and their work. I was delighted when I knew my book would be displayed in the medieval history section in the shop. It is called Deaths, Disasters and Destinies: Anglo-Norman History in Twelve Lives. The book came about when I realised that after researching my four novels set in the Anglo-Norman period I had amassed a huge amount of historical and archival material. I was […]

  • Taking Inspiration from Real Life Stories by Liz Trenow

    Taking inspiration from real life stories By Liz Trenow, 2024, Colchester based best-selling author of The Secret Sister, The Last Telegram, The Forgotten Seamstress, The Silk Weaver, Searching for My Daughter and five other novels. When searching for inspiration for my novels the most important thing is that I feel passionate about the subject. I’m going to spend at least a year in the company of these characters and if I don’t care deeply about them it’s going to be tough going. So most of my stories have a basis in real life, and my latest book, The Secret Sister is […]

  • A diamond has been hiding in plain sight

    By Anna Johnson, 2024 Unraveller – Frances Hardinge A diamond has been hiding in plain sight on the shelves of the Red Lion bookshop and I must sheepishly admit that I was late in noticing it.  I’ve just emerged from the world of Unraveller, and it was enthrallingly imagined, intricately plotted and heart wrenchingly humane. As a child, Nettle is cursed to spend her life as a bird, a lonely heron. Kellen, an Unraveller, releases her from this fate and she becomes his companion, and moral compass. In Raddith, the ability to curse is a gift granted by the ‘Little Brothers’, […]

  • In the age of beautiful copies, giveaways, and freebies, are our reviews still honest?

    By Regina Lopez Puerta   For the past couple of years, I’ve been swinging between the world of bookselling and the world of book influencing. They often collide, but surprisingly, they also divert.    In a way, a bookseller has to be a book influencer as well. We’re often invited to events, get free copies of upcoming books and are greatly encouraged to share our thoughts on them.    The system of proofs and advanced copies helps us do our job properly for various reasons.   For starters, it lets us know if a book is a good fit for our […]

  • This is your shop

    We received the following message from a young customer who was recently won the ‘Top Young Reporter of the Year’ award.  Congratulations Rosie It’s Rosie, I’m not sure if you remember me but wrote an article about the shop last Autumn. I was lucky enough to win Top Young Reporter of the Year and also received awards for some of my articles, including my interview with you! I just wanted to say a huge thank you for being so helpful and inviting last year. Your article was by far the one I most enjoyed writing! Thank you again! Rosie Gray https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/23134406.its-shop—rosie-gray-colchester-sixth-form/ (I’ve […]

  • Rivers, Bodies, Stars with award winning poets

    We are thrilled to have an event scheduled with award winning poets, Rebecca Goss, Emily Hasler and Joanna Ingham   Amongst other accolades, Rebecca is the winner of the Sylvia Plath award 2022,  Joanna won second place in the BBC Wildlife Poet Competition and Emily received an Eric Gregory Award.  Their new work is strongly focussed on place or person. Our event, Rivers, Bodies, Stars, on 1st June 2023 can be found on our Events page https://shorturl.at/hwRY6 Rebecca Goss Rebecca Goss is a poet, tutor and mentor living in Suffolk. Her first full-length collection, The Anatomy of Structures, was published by Flambard Press in […]