Bath Events and Reading Groups
In this beautiful Georgian city we host all sorts of literary occasions from reading groups to large events. We are home to a vibrant all year round event programme, culminating every year in our Autumn Literary Festival which runs from September through to the end of November.
Tiny Tales ~ Our Picture Book Reading Group
Tuesday 25th March, 10am
Welcome to Tiny Tales! At 10:00am, Claud will read a handful of brilliant new picture books carefully selected. It will last for approximately 45 minutes.Tiny Tales …
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Sherlock & Pages' Luke Sherlock for Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures
Tuesday 25th March, 7pm
Spending his weekends exploring historic churches across the idyllic English countryside - and sharing their beauty and unsung history across social media - Luke Sherlock is …
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Indie Press Reading Group
Tuesday 25th March, 7pm
The Indie Press Reading Group series aims to highlight authors published by indie presses. We'll gather to discuss works of fiction, essays, and poetry. In this …
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Paul B. Preciado for Dysphoria Mundi
Wednesday 26th March, 7pm
'Drawing on theories of language, mind, technology, immunology to retell a story of this world, Preciado's work more firmly shatters the binaries responsible for the destruction …
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Diana Evans for I Want to Talk to You
Thursday 27th March, 7pm
'Every piece feels beautifully sewn together and complete' BERNARDINE EVARISTOCrafted over twenty-five years, I Want to Talk to You invites you into a conversation of literature, …
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Kara Leigh Ford for The Essential Pottery Notebook
Monday 31st March, 7pm
Join us for a demo with local potter Kara Leigh Ford to celebrate the publication of her fabulous kiln companion: The Essential Pottery Notebook.Unlike other potter's …
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Gina Rippon for The Lost Girls of Autism: How Science Failed Autistic Women
Tuesday 1st April, 7pm
'A compelling exploration. Rippon is easily the most engaging communicator of neuroscience research working today. A truly fascinating must-read' - Elinor Cleghorn, bestselling author of Unwell …
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Recipes from a Japanese Home Kitchen with Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares
Wednesday 2nd April, 7pm
Talk, Demo & Tastings'Umai opens the doors to Millie's tiny kitchen in Tokyo, showing us just how soulful and simple Japanese cooking can be. This book …
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Natasha Pulley for the Hymn to Dionysus
Wednesday 2nd April, 7pm
We are beyond excited to be hosting internationally best-selling author Natasha Pulley in celebration of her enthralling and mythical upcoming novel, the Hymn to Dionysus."This is …
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Tiny Tales ~ Our Picture Book Reading Group
Tuesday 8th April, 10am
Welcome to Tiny Tales! At 10:00am, Claud will read a handful of brilliant new picture books carefully selected. It will last for approximately 45 minutes.Tiny Tales …
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Charlie Porter for Nova Scotia House
Tuesday 8th April, 7pm
'Beautifully provocative, Nova Scotia House is the most compelling exploration of life, death, love and resistance that I've read for a very long time' - Eimear …
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Ottolenghi's Noor Murad for Lugma
Tuesday 8th April, 7pm
"I adore this book. It's personal, beautifully written - Noor's voice draws you in and holds you there - and the recipes are absolutely glorious." - …
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Nicola Kelly for Anywhere But Here
Wednesday 9th April, 7pm
What is it like to arrive on our shores with nothing and be pushed to the margins of society?Who stands to gain from an asylum system …
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Philip Marsden for Under A Metal Sky: A Journey Through Minerals, Greed, and Wonder
Thursday 10th April, 7pm
A revelatory journey from the tin mines of Cornwall to the gold mountains of Georgia in search of the substances which have both shaped our imagination …
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Manga Reading Group
Sunday 13th April, 7pm
Gather one gather all; we’ll be sharing our passion for manga in the bookshop over snacks, drinks, and laughs. Here, we can talk about our love …
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Lucy Brazier with Sophie Heawood
Tuesday 15th April, 7.30pm
Former London theatre agent turned River Cottage writer talks mid-life in rural Dorset, sea swimming, growing vegetables, a marriage in decline and a husband's ADHD diagnosis.'I …
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Megan Hunter for Days of Light
Wednesday 16th April, 7pm
From the author of The End We Start From, now a major film starring Jodie Comer, Days of Light is a sweeping, gorgeous story for fans …
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Tiny Tales ~ Our Picture Book Reading Group
Tuesday 22nd April, 10am
Welcome to Tiny Tales! At 10:00am, Claud will read a handful of brilliant new picture books carefully selected. It will last for approximately 45 minutes.Tiny Tales …
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Andrey Kurkov for The Stolen Heart
Tuesday 22nd April, 7pm
Please note this event is now taking place at Elim Church.We are thrilled to welcome Andrey Kurkov, who is often referred to as Ukraine's greatest living …
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Emily Hauser for Mythica
Thursday 24th April, 7pm
Who were the real women behind the myths of the Trojan War? Now award-winning classicist and historian Emily Hauser takes readers on an epic journey to …
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Queer Voices Reading Group
Sunday 27th April, 7pm
Join us for a cosy Sunday evening in the bookshop to discuss the work of one of the most important queer writers of twentieth-century Latin America: …
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Bella Mackie for What A Way To Go
Monday 28th April, 7pm
'Super-sharp, lethally witty' NIGELLA LAWSON'Very funny... I inhaled it' JOE LYCETT'Taut, pacy, seamless... a huge pleasure to read' MARIAN KEYES'Mackie has assembled a gloriously repugnant cast... …
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Pankaj Mishra for The World After Gaza
Monday 28th April, 7pm
From the award-winning writer and thinker, comes an essential reckoning with the war in Gaza, its historical conditions, and moral and geopolitical ramifications.Memory of the Holocaust, …
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John Patrick McHugh in conversation with Oisin McKenna
Tuesday 29th April, 7pm
'One of the most exciting writers working in Ireland today' - SALLY ROONEY'Truly gorgeous ... a writer of immense talent' - MICHAEL MAGEEWe are thrilled to …
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Kenji Morimoto for Ferment: Simple Ferments and Pickles, and How to Eat Them
Wednesday 30th April, 7pm
"Kenji is a fermenting guru and this book is a masterclass in fermentation." - Tim Spector Join us for an evening with Kenji Morimoto to celebrate …
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Ballie Gifford Prize-winner Philip Hoare for William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love
Wednesday 30th April, 7pm
'Undoubtedly Hoare's masterpiece' Olivia Laing How one visionary inspired 200 years of art, poetry, and protest...Weaving between the historical, cultural and personal, award-winning author Philip Hoare …
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Sarah Perry for Enlightenment
Thursday 1st May, 7pm
We are thrilled to welcome Sarah Perry for her Booker Prize-longlisted novel Enlightenment.'The heavens, comets, faith, ghosts, love... This is a book of deep pleasures'BOOKER JUDGES, …
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Scottish Malaysian cooking with Julie Lin
Tuesday 6th May, 7pm
"Food has the power to stir memories, bring people together, transport you to new places, and, most importantly, take you home. Julie captures all of this …
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Poppy Okotcha for A Wilder Way: How Gardens Grow Us
Wednesday 7th May, 7pm
'A wise, passionate, heartfelt book. An invaluable resource for those seeking greater attunement with the year's cycles' - Katherine MayA Wilder Way is a memoir of …
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Tim Sullivan for The Bookseller: A DS Cross Thriller
Thursday 8th May, 7pm
'These are must-read detective novels' - MARK BILLINGHAM'One of my favourite detectives' - ELLY GRIFFITHS Someone's about to turn their last page...The body of a bookseller …
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Literary Walk: Celebrating 230 Years of Sydney Gardens
Sunday 11th May, 11am
Join us to celebrate 230 years of Sydney Gardens in true Toppings style - with a fabulous literary walk!The Friends of Sydney Gardens have written a …
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Laura Spinney & Moudhy Al-Rashid on Ancient Languages
Monday 12th May, 7pm
Proto by Laura Spinney'Superb. With style and panache, Laura Spinney tells a truly extraordinary detective story' -Matt RidleyOne ancient language transformed our world. This is its …
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Linea Maja Ernst for Waist Deep
Tuesday 13th May, 7pm
'Clever, wry, and incredibly sexy' - SUSANNAH DICKEY'Sensuous and vivid, simmering with sexual tension and with an undercurrent of deep longing... A book to devour' - …
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Merlin Hanbury-Tenison for Our Oaken Bones: Reviving a Family, a Farm and Britain's Ancient Rainforests
Tuesday 13th May, 7pm
Powerfully enchanting, written with verve and imbued with hope. - GUY SHRUBSOLE This is a lovely book - wise, brave, thoughtful, painfully intimate - but with …
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Alice Vincent for Hark: How Women Listen
Wednesday 14th May, 7pm
We are thrilled to welcome Alice Vincent, author of Why Women Grow and Rootbound, back to the bookshop for her new book, Hark: How Women Listen.We're …
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Bee Wilson for The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects
Thursday 15th May, 7pm
This strikingly original account from award-winning food writer Bee Wilson charts how everyday objects take on deeply personal meanings in all our lives.One ordinary day, the …
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Chef Emily Scott with Home Shores
Monday 19th May, 7pm
Cornwall chef and restaurateur, Emily Scott leads a delicious cookery demo & tastings that demystifies cooking with seafood at home.Emily’s love and passion for seafood leaps …
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Richard Overy for Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima and the Surrender of Japan
Wednesday 21st May, 7pm
On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this is a controversial and remarkable new account by one of Britain’s foremost military …
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Tracy Chevalier for The Glassmaker
Thursday 22nd May, 7pm
'Spellbinding' ELIF SHAFAK'Ingenious' THE TIMES, Book of the Year'Sparkling'OBSERVER'A triumph' PHILIP PULLMANTracy Chevalier has been visiting Venice regularly since her honeymoon there thirty years ago. She …
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Guided Walk with forager Andy Hamilton
Sunday 25th May, 10am
Join us this May as author, forager, and researcher Andy Hamilton guides you along one of Bath's beautiful parks in search of distinct flora, to celebrate …
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Piece by Piece: Patchwork & Quilting Talk with Lauren MacDonald
Monday 26th May, 7pm
Lauren MacDonald is a designer, maker and founder of textile studio Working Cloth. She's made every sewing project under the sun but is perhaps best known …
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Gabriel Zuchtriegel for The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii
Wednesday 28th May, 7pm
'The best book on Pompeii I've ever read' STEPHEN FRY'A brilliant account of the latest discoveries at Pompeii and a deeply personal celebration of the inherent …
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Polari Award Winner Nicola Dinan for Disappoint Me
Wednesday 28th May, 7pm
‘Nicola Dinan writes like some kind of demigod, her fictions make thinkable new realities for how we live, what we might expect from each other’ TORREY …
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T.S Eliot Prize Winner Peter Gizzi with Hannah Sullivan
Thursday 29th May, 7pm
We are thrilled to welcome Peter Gizzi, winner of the TS Eliot Prize 2024, to Bath this year for the winning collection Fierce Elegy. Peter will …
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Women's Prize for Nonfiction Longlisted Chloe Dalton for Raising Hare
Friday 30th May, 7pm
'A beautiful book' - ANGELINA JOLIE'I will be recommending this to everyone' - MATT HAI'Quietly profound, beautifully written, Hare is now lodged in my heart' - …
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Damien Lewis for Great Escapes Four: Gripping Escape Stories from WWII Heroes
Monday 2nd June, 7pm
'Damien Lewis is both a meticulous historian and a born storyteller' - Lee Child‘Lewis takes the reader on an epic journey of discovery’ - BBC History …
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In for Dinner with Rosie Kellett
Tuesday 3rd June, 7pm
'In for Dinner is as generous and fun as Rosie is. It's totally modern for our times but it's nostalgic too: classic recipes spun into simple …
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James Canton for Renaturing: Small Ways to Wild the World
Thursday 5th June, 7pm
Twenty years ago, James Canton moved from London to the English countryside. Behind his farm labourer's cottage was a small field with a 'for sale' sign. …
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Book reading Mariajo Ilustrajo for Oh Carrots!
Sunday 8th June, 9.30am
Mariajo Ilustrajo will read her brilliant new picture book Oh, Carrots! alongside her previous books: I Love Books, Lost and Flooded. Join us in spending a …
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Fern Green and Lunch Well
Monday 9th June, 7pm
Lunch Well is an efficient new guide to bringing a spark to your midday meal.A Talk, Demo & Tastings with Bath food writer, Fern Green and …
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Helen Carr for Sceptred Isle: A New History of the Fourteenth Century
Tuesday 10th June, 7pm
We are thrilled to welcome bestselling author and historian Helen Carr to Bath for her new book, Sceptred Isle: A New History of the Fourteenth Century.Beginning …
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Natalia Rudin @natsnourishments Cooking Fast & Slow
Wednesday 11th June, 7pm
Easy, Comforting, (Mostly) Plant-based Recipes for Busy PeopleDemo & TastingsCooking Fast and Slow is the much anticipated first book from Natalia Rudin, chef and creative behind …
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The Gayest Love Story Ever Told: Jeremy Atherton Lin for Deep House
Thursday 12th June, 7pm
'In writing that is both lyrical and informative, this book also manages to be bold and sexy' SHON FAYEIt's 1996, and Jeremy, a young American, has …
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Helen Lewis for The Genius Myth
Wednesday 18th June, 7pm
Join Helen Lewis, author of Sunday Times bestseller Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights, to celebrate her new book: The Genius Myth.Helen will …
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Katie Kitamura for Audition
Friday 20th June, 7pm
'An original' RACHEL KUSHNER'Gorgeously disquieting' HERNAN DIAZ'One of our most brilliant writers' LAUREN GROFFOne woman, the performance of a lifetime. Or two. An exhilarating, destabilising novel …
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Jane Austen's 250th: An Austen Walk with Akeman Press
Sunday 22nd June, 11am
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, we are hosting a week of literary events for books on and about the great author!To round …
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Jane Austen's 250th: Gill Hornby for The Elopement
Monday 23rd June, 7pm
'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'To celebrate the 250th …
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Olia Hercules for Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story through War, Exile and Hope
Monday 23rd June, 7pm
'It is the roots that keep the trees from falling during a storm. Olia Hercules tells us that the same is true for people and nations' …
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Jane Austen's 250th: Jane Austen's Wardrobe with Hilary Davidson
Tuesday 24th June, 7pm
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, we are hosting a week of literary events for books on and about the great author!Hilary Davidson …
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Jane Austen's 250th: John Mullan asks What Matters in Jane Austen?
Wednesday 25th June, 7pm
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, we are hosting a week of literary events for books on and about the great author!John Mullan …
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An Evening with V. E. Schwab: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
Wednesday 25th June, 7pm
Join us for an evening with beloved fantasy author V.E. Schwab to discuss her latest novel, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Please note that …
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Jane Austen's 250th: Kathryn Sutherland on Austen in 41 Objects
Thursday 26th June, 7pm
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, we are hosting a week of literary events with the most brilliant Austen scholars and writers celebrating …
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Jane Austen's 250th: Caroline Sanderson for Jane Austen ~ The Life of a Literary Titan
Friday 27th June, 7pm
Caroline Sanderson began her career as a bookseller, and later worked in publishing publicity before becoming an author and journalist. Since 2000 she has compiled the …
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Jane Austen's 250th: An Austen Walk with Akeman Press
Sunday 29th June, 11am
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, we are hosting a week of literary events for books on and about the great author!To round …
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An Evening with Fredrik Backman
Tuesday 1st July, 7pm
We are delighted to welcome bestselling author of Anxious People and A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman, to Bath for his new novel, My Friends.Fredrik Backman …
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Francesca Segal for Island Calling
Wednesday 2nd July, 7pm
'A much-needed escape, I warmly recommend this beauty' Nigella LawsonJoin us in celebrating the wonderful second instalment in the Tuga trilogy, Island Calling with Francesca Segal …
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Flavour Heroes with Gurdeep Loyal
Thursday 3rd July, 7pm
Gurdeep makes things simple: he shows that with a well-stocked pantry and an open mind, ingredients can transport you anywhere you want to go. This book …
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Jane Austen's 250th: Janet Todd for Living with Jane Austen
Friday 4th July, 7pm
'Sharing a mind is as exciting as sharing a bed. In this gentle, witty, semi-memoir, Janet Todd reveals her eccentric encounters with books and shows us …
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Yasmin Khan for Sabzi: Fresh vegetarian recipes for everyday
Wednesday 9th July, 7pm
'Pure poetry and joy.' Meera SodhaSabzi - the Persian word for fresh greens and herbs - isn't a casual afterthought in best-selling author Yasmin Khan's kitchen; …
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An Evening with Ocean Vuong for The Emperor of Gladness
Tuesday 9th September, 7pm
'Reminded me that every word can be an incantation, and that beauty does hard and important work' - Rebecca Solnit (praise for On Earth We're Briefly …
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Tim Spector on Ferment: The Life-Changing Power of Microbes
Tuesday 9th September, 7pm
The legendary Tim Spector joins us for his new cookbook Ferment: The Life-Changing Power of Microbes.Tim Spector, MD, is Professor of Epidemiology at King's College London. …
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British Museum Lectures: Ice Age Art Now
Thursday 11th September, 7pm
Join us as we pair once more with the British Museum to bring to life an evening that celebrates humankind's connection and drive towards artmaking. Curator …
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Karen Bartlett for The Escape from Kabul: A True Story of Sisterhood and Defiance
Monday 15th September, 7pm
The Escape from Kabul: A True Story of Sisterhood and Defiance is the extraordinary, moving story of the Afghan women judges who fought for their careers …
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Vince Cable for Eclipsing the West: China, India and the Forging of a New World
Wednesday 17th September, 7pm
'A succinct, authoritative and up-to-date account of one of the most important but neglected relations in contemporary geopolitics.' - Kerry Brown, author of The Great Reversal: …
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An Evening with Simon Armitage
Monday 29th September, 7pm
We're thrilled to welcome back Simon Armitage to the bookshop for an evening of conversation and readings from his upcoming collection New Cemetery.Simon Armitage was born …
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A Musical Evening with Amy Jeffs, artist Gwen Burns, and musician Natalie Brice
Tuesday 30th September, 7pm
Join us for a very special event with Amy Jeffs, author of Storyland and Wild, artist Gwen Burns and musician Natalie Brice to celebrate their illustrated …
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Joe Boyd for And the Roots of Rhythm Remain
Wednesday 1st October, 7pm
A Financial Times, Irish Times, Mojo and Uncut Book of the Year'I doubt I'll ever read a better account of the history and sociology of popular …
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Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present
Tuesday 14th October, 7pm
'This book draws a cultural map of who we are, where we've come from and how we think and feel about our surroundings. Meticulously researched, imaginative …
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