The Calder Valley factor made itself felt again at The Book Case, with two books of local interest and four more by local authors. In addition, two books looking at present-day society, one wry and humorous and the other scientific, were popular, and a ghostly novel and love poems made up the remainder.
1. The People's Manifesto by Mark Thomas, £4.99. Mark Thomas toured the country to find out what people really wanted. There are some really good ideas in this thoroughly entertaining little book!
2. Hebden Bridge: a short history of the area - Peter Thomas, £5.99. Peter Thomas’s account of the history of our area continues popular. A Royd Press publication
3. Falling through Clouds - Anna Chilvers, £7.99. This first novel from a Hebden Bridge author is a contemporary retelling of the medieval English tale Sir Gawain and the Green Knight via the story of a young man plagued with nightmares after being held hostage in Iraq and his relationship with 22-year-old student Kat as they summer in Cornwall
4. Little Stranger - Sarah Waters, £7.99. A chilling ghost story set in a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire. A doctor is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall, home to the Ayres family for over two centuries. Our Fiction Book of the Month for February.
5. The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better For Everyone - Richard Wilkinson, £9.99. This groundbreaking book, based on thirty years' research, demonstrates that more unequal societies are bad for almost everyone within them - the well-off as well as the poor. Almost every modern social and environmental problem - ill-health, lack of community life, violence, drugs, obesity, mental illness, long working hours, big prison populations - is more likely to occur in a less equal society. Our February Non-Fiction Book of the Month.
6. Hammy the Wonder Hamster - Poppy Harris, £4.99. Hammy: the cleverest hamster the world has ever seen! But there's something different about Hammy, something very special. Not only is he super cute, he's got amazing brains and an incredible secret. By a local author.
7. Life Class by Glyn Hughes, £13.95. A magnificent poem by a major poet, notable for its keen attention to the natural world and accounts and circumstances of a life lived to the full. Glyn Hughes lives locally and is a prize-winning author and poet.
8. Memories of Dolphin - Tom Greenwood, £11.99 inc DVD. Still selling well, this book from a Hebden Bridge author commemorates the great Baildon climber Arthur Dolphin who died tragically young in the Alps in 1953 and includes a DVD of black and white footage showing Dolphin in action in the Lake District in 1950 and 1951.
9. Summat A'Nowt - Steve Murty, £9.95. Steve Murty's well-illustrated history of the Calder Valley and surrounding area, last year’s bestseller, makes another appearance.
10. 10 Poems About Love, £4.95. Well, it was Valentine’s Day! This is one of Candlestick’s little pamphlet-card anthologies.
