Christmas Book Selection 2018

'Six Books to Make Christmas Giving Easier' 

 titles to amuse, intrigue and captivate!

It’s the run up to Christmas! Looking for the perfect present for a bookworm? Or something a little bit different for the man, woman, aunt or uncle who seem to have everything?  We’ve got some really unusual, classy and yet affordable titles on our bookshelves which may well be exactly what you’re looking for, whichever member of your family you have in mind (not forgetting your cat or dog!)

Here are my top six to which please visit our shelves reserved for ‘Little Bookworms’ where you’ll find some absolutely enchanting children’s story-books to delight both boys, girls and toddlers.

Although ‘Unladylike’ doesn’t sound very ‘Beatons’ this really speaks to our values of treating everyone as an equal and honoured individual. What’s more, it’s got an infectious shot of sparkle too – perfect for young and/or global-conscious women. It’s described on the website of the same name as ‘the guide for women and girls everywhere who are trying to find their way in the world.’ Authors Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin combine the history of feminism and make it zing with relevance, advice – and as an added bonus it’s packed full of infographics and witty illustrations by Tyler Feder.

For the gentleman? Petersfield best-selling author Mike Klidjian has just brought out another naval thriller of a novel – ‘Blue Streak’. I gave this to my father who admitted it kept sleeping as he kept on saying to himself, ‘just one more page’. His verdict: ‘Gripping. Plunges you straight in from the start.’

For all you budding (or aspiring) entrepreneurs? We spotted the extraordinary perspicacious Seth Godin has just published a new book: ‘This is Marketing’. Pulling the best of his advice from his blog, fresh gems when it comes to looking at how to get your products and services to the right audience, this is one we think will appeal to a broad audience (I’ve already devoured my copy and am already thinking of ways to apply his thinking to my out-of-hours Biodanza enterprise!)

Talking of consumption, we’ve picked ‘Tarts’ as our ‘Eat, Drink, Cook Book’ choice, because it’s a true classic at a very affordable price. The author, Frédéric Anton is holder of three Michelin stars and his innovative takes on classic dishes are inspiring, and the layout clear, precise and beautifully illustrated.

For something really fascinating for home, garden, nature AND ‘culture-vultures’ we’d recommend a fabulous book published by Unbound titled ‘Ladders to Heaven’. It’s about the fig tree and is utterly mind-blowing. A beautifully bound book which may hold secrets to saving the world underneath its fig leaves!

Finally, we have two stocking fillers for all our animal-loving customers. Local Beatons Tisbury author Gail Garbutt has a perfect present for all dog lovers: ‘Spot on – Dogs Names’. It’s is a real bit of fun about that peculiarly difficult task of naming a dog.

And for the purrfect (sorry Ed!) present for all cat lovers, we couldn’t resist stocking ‘Cats Paws’, an oddly smile-inducing little book of portraits of… cats’ paws! 

May your Christmas include time in front of the fire snuggled up with one of our very good reads.

  Liz Darcy Jones

Book Ambassador

Book of The Month: The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay

'The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay'

by Nicola May

The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay is the perfect summer read. It's light hearted and has an engaging plot with lovable characters – but don't be mistaken, this book has substance. We follow twenty five year-old Rosa embarking on a journey of self discovery with the help of her best friend Josh and side kick dog – Hot; when out of nowhere she is left a corner shop in a small village called Cockleberry Bay, Devon.

Nicola has managed to perfectly capture what it's like to be someone in their twenties, making lead character Rosa incredibly easy to relate to, almost to a point where you feel as if you're reading your own story. With ups and downs along the way, Rosa's story is completely captivating, and you can't help but keep turning the page to see what she'll do next.   

Emily Hoskins Jones 

Book of The Month: Lucky Break

'Lucky Break'

by Rob Stevens 

Rob tackles complex subjects in 'Lucky Break'. We follow school boy and lead character, Leon on his journey dealing with the death of his twin brother, an estranged family and a boy called Arnold who doesn't communicate like his peers. In the way that true masters of their craft do with apparent effortlessness, Rob is able to allow the reader to become Leon and travel along his journey with him on the emotional roller-coaster of a weekend when Arnold comes to stay. With unusual experiences and new discovery's, Lucky Break is a touching novel that will appeal to everyone and well worth a read.

'Lucky Break' is 'un-put-downable' and I'm not a pubescent boy with a love of rugby! Rob should anticipate the film rights to be snapped up - it's a cracker. So is Rob himself, who did a signing and talk at Beatons New Milton’s Open House and generously donated £2 from the sale of each book to Helping Older People New Forest (Beatons New Milton’s charity of the year).

Why not come and take a look at Lucky Break in any one of our tearooms whilst enjoying a delicious pot of tea, perhaps our Tea of The Month: White Peony?

Book Signing with Nicola May

Book Signing

If you're like us you love books nearly as much as you love tea. This is why we're very excited to announce that on Wednesday 9th May we will be hosting a book-signing with best selling, local Crowthorne author Nicola May!

Nicola will be in Beatons Crowthorne with her latest book - The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay, discussing and enlightening us all about her wonderful character Rosa Larkin and her journey when she inherits a near derelict corner shop in a quaint Devon village. With doubts, questions and discoveries along the way, can Rosa and her little sausage dog Hot get the corner shop up and running again in the small seaside community of Cockleberry Bay?

Please come along from 10am Wednesday 9th May to enjoy the tales of this book with us and meet the wonderful Nicola! 

We look forward to seeing you. 

Book of The Month: Factfulness

Factfulness: Ten reasons we're wrong about the World and why things are better than you think. 

by Hans Rosling

Hans Rosling's final Book, written before he died last year, is the perfect memoir for a Man who saw the World differently, challenged perceptions and fought the 'Fake News' manufacturers right to the end.

Factfulness explains why Journalists and 'Experts' systematically get the answers to so many of the simple, yet big, Global questions wrong. Rosling shows that, from poverty to politics, and education to employment, answers picked randomly by a Chimpanzee consistently proved more accurate than those provided by Academics and so-called Experts.

This is a moving, inspiring and essential Book that will change the way you see the World. 

Book of The Month: Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: Volume 2

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: Volume 2

by Francesca Cavello and Elena Favilli

One hundred more inspiring reasons for your daughters, granddaughter's, sisters or any other of your favourite females to rush up to bed, leave the game consoles alone and open this book!

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls is filled with wonderful illustrations and more true-life tales of real women to inspire our next generation of rocket scientists, poets, politicians, Business women, Queens and law changers. 

Discovering our Humanity - Ecological Book for Year of the Earth Dog

This is a review of our House Poet's Book of the Year, reproduced as an podcast. 'Becoming Animal' by David Abram is a dive into the visceral nature of 'real life' - a literary device detox! Highly recommended and perfect to sit on the shelves of Beatons New Milton when it launches in Early April.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Book of the Month

'The real-life children's fairy tale book so inspiring adults are reading it' 

'Absolutely beautiful - get one for yourself and one to inspire a woman in your life'
'In an ideal world, not only would mothers read this aloud to their daughters, but teachers would read it to schoolboys'  

These are just some of the quotes  describing this brilliant and original book.
Illustrated by sixty female artists from all over the world, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls introduces us to a hundred  extraordinary women, who have achieved amazing things, from Ada Lovelace to Malala, Amelia Earhart to Michelle Obama.

Inspirational and empowering, these are true fairy tales of heroines who definitely don't need rescuing.

A lesson we would all want our daughters to learn, women do not wait on a ‘Prince Charming’ to rescue them! Girls can do anything if they have strength, integrity, bravery and perseverance to follow their dreams!

The Wellbeing Journal

Book of the Month

We could all do with a bit more positivity in our lives! This beautifully presented little book encourages us to get creative, and to reflect on things that will inspire positive thinking.

Explore your inner world and be inspired with The Wellbeing Journal. Developed in partnership with Mind, the mental health charity, each page of this gorgeous journal has been thoughtfully crafted and it includes activities, colouring, drawing prompts, contemplative quotes and lots of space for you to write about your own thoughts, feelings and experiences. Creativity and reflection can have a powerful, positive influence on our lives. Now, with The Wellbeing Journal, you can enjoy practicing these skills every day and wherever you go.

A perfect present for someone you care about, or maybe it’s just the book you’ve been looking for to get positive during your summer holiday!

Salt Melts

‘The UK seems filled with anger and hate at the moment - much of it as a result of loss...
Liz, who writes for us, penned the poem below after the Manchester terror attack in May. It seems equally pertinent in the light of London Bridge Terror attack earlier this month and the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. We hope that, like us, you appreciate the sentiments expressed and find it to be restorative on some level too.'
–Patrick Duffy

Salt Melts 

Anger has no place in grief

grief is sharp but tender

it insists our hearts stay open

to the essence

to the fragrance which remains

Anger is a time-delay switch

serves no lasting purpose

we all know the picture’s changed 

we don’t need to change the pitch

from grief to hatred

yet anger takes upon itself to ease the agony 

of sudden ends 

to muffle the clanging silence of the iron door

mask the hideous face of madness or diminishment

these are all things we cannot ignore

Anger keeps us in our head

boiling anger, dangerous and red

extracting meaning, blame, hate

from something meaningless

part of grieving? No!

Anger forces grief to wait

‘til she’s well beyond her use-by date

If we’re lucky sounds of gentle pricked by memory

will echo in our ears

surrender us to grieving

cooling anger in a sea of tears

What, then is this frozen fierce which throws me to the wall?

I am halted

stopped short by its call

Outrage! Yes! Out-rage

Can we decide to out-rage Thought

which splices seconds with ‘what if’, ‘if only’ or ‘I so, so wish…’?

which takes our hearts and bodies far from now – 

we have a choice

we can bow 

to wordless feeling

Look! it gathers all that’s left and, see,

it leads to action’s healing hand

summons waiting senses

sighs ‘you do not need to understand’

so out: rage, anger, blame and fear 

out of the cold, numb vessel of the mind

visit if you must my heart but you will find 

life beats on, ‘though faint, confirming I am here

‘though life seems desperately unkind 

this one thing is clear...

and strangers offer sad dry lips a sip of tea

while the world unites with oceanic love and empathy

a tender salve to open wounds which weep

 as ‘other children’ play

unaware of any aftermath on such a sunny day

we helplessly reach out through them to those we miss

as salty water melts its way through this. 

© Liz Darcy Jones

26th May, 2017


(If anyone would like to listen to this poem they can find it on Liz's 'Not-a-Blog' page at www.lizdarcyjones.com )

Politics and Poetry: Chapter 46

Poem of the Month

Beatons is the perfect politics-free zone for you to muse on where we can best govern!  An inspirational 'chapter' from one of Liz's forthcoming books: 'The Tao and Tea for you and me'

Chapter 46

The masters of the metaphor ensure the dregs

enrich the soil constantly

when now is absent sugar poisons my Tea and dulls my taste-buds

there's no greater crime than adding false sweetness to your Tea

there's nothing so crude as drinking without tasting

no worse tragedy than pouring Tea into a cup that's already full

spilling stories of who might lose and who might win

then fighting about who took over the party

... forgetting that it all happens within.

Liz Darcy Jones 

June 2017

Secrets from our Countryside

Book of the Month

There British Summer is upon us and many of us enjoy a stroll in the beautiful countryside that surrounds us.

This book, The Walkers Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs, by Tristan Gooley,  was BBC Countryfile book of the year and contains hundreds of clues, signs and techniques to read the landscape around us and make more of our time spent outdoors.

How can we navigate using natures stunning rainbows? Six secrets that Ivy teach us and what the colour of mud means...these are just a few of the intriguing and amazing aspects that we can learn about and really make the most of our forays into the wild!

Perfect for  families wanting to learn more about  what the land, sun, moon, stars, trees, plants, animals, sky and clouds can reveal - when you know what to look for.

Hitman Anders and the meaning of it all

Author of the Month

This novel by Jonas Jonasson doesn't disappoint, just as quirky and brilliantly written as hugely popular The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

We have a hitman, Anders, recently out of prison, doing small jobs for gangsters, he meets female Protestant vicar, Johanna, who has lost all faith in a God, they join forces with a homeless receptionist, Per Persson, a ruined grandson of an ex-millionaire.

Three unlikely companions, all searching for something better, they hatch a madcap plan which starts well until Anders discovers Jesus and starts to dwell on the meaning of it all.

A fast-paced, hilarious plot that explores the consequences of allowing our rather imperfect human desires to lead us down a path that seems correct at the time. But realising that it's never too late to make amends and start a new journey in life finding redemption in unexpected places.

Find Your Hidden Poet!

Finding your hidden poet

Does anyone remember reading the wonderfully inspiring 'What Katy Did' by Susan M Coolidge (Liz betrays her years!)? There's an enchanting chapter where Katy writes a St Valentine poem for each of the children enclosing a tiny token or symbol. What a great idea!

Below is one I wrote earlier... Now it's your turn. Go on! I dare you to have a go.

Why? Well, apart from touching the beloveds in your life, I've persuaded Beatons to stamp half of your loyalty card. Just show your attempt when you pay at the counter. We'd love to add a little encouragement to any poetry or ditty-writing!

Don’t forget to Check out our special
Valentine's book selection for a
gift that lasts all year.

Poem of the Month

The Teapot Valentine

You are a constant flavour in my pot...

It's my job to see my water's fresh and hot

And taste your juice as long as this wee vessel

holds its tea

so when you are no longer here the smell of you

still draws out what's best in me.

© Liz Darcy Jones

Feb 2014

Book of the Month This Little World

Book of the Month

This Little World

The stories in this anthology are by authors aged from 11–70 who partici- pated in the creative writing workshops that kick-started This Little World. Each one in this fabulous collection is 500 words long or less so you only need a few minutes to enjoy a tale set in Dor- set. Share them with friends, family and visitors to the beautifully diverse county of Dorset. Dorset Writers Network is a not-for-profit arts organization that supports writing groups in Dorset and helps develop individuals’ skills as writers.

Open for Business

Poem of the Month

Open for Business

This shopkeeper - fifty years on - has finally rolled back the shutters is finally ready to trade

is finally ready to enter your inbox and say, 'Look! Look what love made!'

Why did it take me so long?

I was afraid of singing my song

I couldn't conceive that this infinite space

is stage for all our creations - online and face to face!

I discover that buyer and seller are one that the heart of our business is already done

when we open the shutters and shout 'This is how I'd like to serve you!

Come in and find out!'

Whether we'll buy from each other I haven't a clue

but I'm open for business and wait

to appreciate what love created when it fashioned you.

© Liz Darcy Jones

23rd November 2016

Are you really open for business?

Meet other local people interested in growing their projects and listen to some illuminating thoughts from Liz at the launch of our '3C Breakfasts in Blandford' on Thurs- day 26th Jan at 8.30.

Just e-mail liz@lizdarcyjones.com at least 48 hrs before- hand if you'd like to come along. £10 including, Clarity, Croissants and Connection!

Details on our blog and on www.lizdarcyjones.com (events page).

Cecil Beaton at Home: An Interior Life

Cecil Beaton (1904 1980): photographer, costume designer, set designer, playwright, creator of fashion fabrics, and designer of sophisticated and somewhat extravagant interiors.

Cecil Beaton has been named as one of the 20th century’s most outrageous, and outrageously talented, design legends.

Cecil Beaton at Home, written by local author Andrew Ginger, focuses on two homes that Cecil Beaton loved and spent many years in.

Ashcombe House, near the Wiltshire village of Tollard Royal, and Reddish House, located in Broad Chalke, another village in beautiful Wiltshire.
We also discover some of the splendours at London's Pelham Place and Beatons New York hotel suites.

We see that Beatons country homes were not only havens to escape and seek inspiration for his photography and other artistic pursuits.

But also, and maybe more so, they were designed to provide a theatrical, fanciful yet always beautiful surrounding for Beaton to entertain his equally artistic companions.

Against his often-extravagant interiors, Beatons private life unfolds his unique talent for self-promotion, desire for theatricality, and uncertain pursuit of love.

As Cecil Beaton himself puts it;

'One can't get on at all if one doesn't have a little glamour about ones home'

This lavishly illustrated visual biography brings together original photographs, artworks, and possessions from his interiors to present an intimate picture of Beaton s extraordinary life. 

November Author of the Month David Szalay: All that Man is.

Author of the Month

David Szalay: All that Man is.

Split in to nine stories about nine men. Each of them in very different circumstances from very different backgrounds, but all with the same basic needs.
Each of them striving to understand just what it means to be alive, to make correct choices, to make the best of what they have.

We are given an insight in to the innermost feelings of these men, from as young as 17 right up to 73 years age, baring all that man is, all that he feels and all that he longs for.
Brutally honest regarding men's weaknesses and desires, this book is powerfully written and certainly makes you think about what really matters in life.
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for this year, you will find this book amongst our carefully curated book selection.

October Author of the Month Falling by Julie Cohen

Author of the Month
Falling by Julie Cohen 

I totally ‘fell’ into the pages of this book and, excuse the cliché, didn’t want to put it down!
A beautifully written, emotive and powerful novel exploring challenges that each age generation could face. Three women, all part of a strong willed and often stubborn family, all trying to deal with their own bales in secret. Gradually brought together as they begin to discover each others strengths and weaknesses, they all come to realize that the bonds of family hold a gravitational force that none can deny. A familial force that brings love, support, joy and above all, hope.
Relatable, thought provoking and heart warming, this is a  must to put on your reading list for this year!

Summer Reads 2016

With holidays in mind, the team at Beatons Tearooms in Tisbury and Blandford Forum promise a Summer with more time for doing what you love, afternoon tea and a book for the man who has everything! A sparkling selection, from a time-releasing tome to an ‘unputdownable’ story of love and motherhood served up with a local author's guide to Edwardian Afternoon Tea.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Darcy Jones

Essentialism by Greg McKeown, Ebury Press 

Truly 'essential' reading for any sufferers of 'decision fatigue', frazzled parents or aspiring world leaders! McKeown, unsurprising, puts it succinctly, 'It's about learning how to do less, better so you can achieve the highest possible return on every precious moment of your life.' 

Disarmingly honest about his own failings in putting what matters first this is a simply guide to carving out heaps more time. Extremely accessible - if uncompromising - McKeown uses analogies such as wardrobe decluttering in illustrating eliminating the unnecessary in your life. Re-reading it sees this author's life re-focussed. Uplifting, and utterly 'of its time' as we face ever more                                                           choices and demands to relate online.

Afternoon Tea: A History & Guide to the Great Edwardian Tradition by Vicky Straker, Amberley

With the time you'll have released reading the above, take Afternoon High Tea with local Dorset writer Vicky Straker. Her beautifully crafted blend of tea history, etiquette and recipes (mainly cakes - most I've never heard of) is served up in a lavishly illustrated paperback. Did you know scones should always be picked up with three fingers and never five? Or what Edwardians were expected to wear for tea? Guaranteed to make you want a tea dress.

A Reader's Book of Days by Tom Nissley, W. W Norton

If you want more suggestions as to what to read, this paperback provides a monthly list! It's also the perfect gift for someone who has everything. Unique in format, it's packed with unusual quotes divided up into the days of the year, sharing treasures relating to books, authors (from Larkin to Jackie Collins) and even the lives of the famous characters which relate to that day. The New York Times calls it a book in which you can get 'gleefully lost in'. Agreed. Perfect for the guest or other 'little room'!

The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells by Virginia Macgregor, Sphere

This is second novel from the Berkshire author whose first, 'What Milo Saw' was an instant best-seller. She has topped it with this courageous book tackling the mother who left her children and returned. It made me laugh, cry and held me captive for twenty-four hours. I finished it with a greater understanding of the complexity of human relationships. Like her debut novel, charming touches include an animal in the cast (in this case a wise dog) and the rare joy of seeing life through the eyes of children, and an angsty teenager. I await news from Beatons Crowthorne as to when her next work is expected - she uses the tearooms as a regular writing den!