The Aardvark Blog

9 days of problems, followed by a period of sanity
16/10/2016

For 9 days up until the middle of last week we lost our Broadband connection at the bookshop - this was susequently restored but it was an amazingly traumatic incident that has given me more insight into the way in which BT works than any human should have. Should you yourself ever find yourself in a similar position my advice would be to rapidly escalate your complaint to the top of British Telecom, and to know that however it may seem otherwise there are many good people in BT who will be on your side.

During that period we did have a very successful October Brocante. Many thanks to the stallholders and all who came, and to Norrie Davies for her superb music. The Brocante happened in the middle of the great Broadband outage, so many apologies to any customers who found me somewhat distrait. It is only when technology stops working that you realise how dependent we all are on it.

Moving forward we are hoping that we can have a somewhat less stressful end to the year, as following some computer problems in the summer I have spent far too much time and energy on matters that do not involve either books or customers ( the two elements that make being a bookseller the best job in the world).

On that note I finally opened up the three pallets of Allemandi and other art books that we bought in the Spring ( yes it really has taken me that long to get to them), and there are some real gems amongst them. Look out for them as they start hitting our shelves and website over the next few weeks.

Next weekend is the Frankfurt Bookfair when the Aardvarks go to buy new books for autumn. This year we will be buying from more publishers than ever, and I am really looking forward to the books coming back to the shop as it always feels a bit like an early Christmas.

Speaking of Early Christmas another date in your diary is the 19th of November for the ever popular Aardvark Winter event. This time we have a return visit for the Brian Lamas trio who so entertained us during the opening of 'Take Five' in the summer. Brian and his friends play a mixture of Jazz standards and blues and will certainly make events swing. Don't forget that we will also be having a flash sale on that day with reductions throughout the store and some fantastic special offers. A great time to start your Christmas shopping ( or finish it if you are ultra organised).

Don't also forget that as always Aardvark is the place to find your Christmas cards and advent calendars.

Last week I made my first major purchases towards next year's Map Exhibition. People always laugh when I say that it takes a year for me to collect together the maps for our annual exhibition, but it really is true. If I can continue as I have  started next year's exhibition should be a cracker.

Finally with one member of staff leaving and another going on maternity leave, you are likely to see some unfamiliar faces at Aardvark if you come in over the next month or so. We are interviewing this week for a maternity cover for Hattie and many thanks to all who have applied. Working at Aardvark is not always easy ,but I would like to think that it is spiritually rewarding.