City Books

16/06/2026

Join us for an evening with Mary Portas who will be talking about her latest book 'I Shop, Therefore I Am.'

📅 Monday 28th September at 7pm
📍 Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham

It’s the 1990s: Britpop is dominating the charts, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell are on the cover of every glossy magazine and British fashion is ripe for reinvention. Leading the charge is a 20-something Mary Portas who has been brought in to revitalise the department store Harvey Nichols, at the time more likely to be associated with dowagers than daring designers.

With two babies at home, a sceptical, all-male senior management team to impress, and pressure to bring in new brands and customers, Mary steps into a world she doesn’t fully understand. At first it shows, but that vulnerability quickly reveals itself as vision.

By the millennium, the store would be renowned for its outrageous, headline-grabbing, traffic-stopping window displays; patronage by style icon Lady Di and bolly-swigging duo Patsy and Edina of the iconic sitcom Ab Fab – no longer fusty old Harvey Nicols but Harvey Nicks, daaarling!

Part memoir, part manifesto for business as a creative act, I Shop, Therefore I Am is the story of how she did it.

16/06/2026

17/05/2026

Join us for an evening with Olivier-nominated choreographer, director, singer, Strictly Judge and bestselling author Craig Revel Horwood!

📅 Wednesday 7th October at 7pm
📍 Ironworks Studios, BN1 4GD

General admission: £18.00
General admission + a copy of 'The Book of Panto' (RRP £18.99): £30

"It's behind you!

Strictly Come Dancing's favourite love-to-hate judge explores the colourful history of pantomime. You might expect that, after twenty years performing in pantomime, Craig Revel Horwood has always been a fan, but he initially took against the genre. In The Book of Panto, he traces the moments that turned him from a sceptic to a whole-hearted fan of - and advocate for - panto, as he follows the artform's journey from its international roots to its current status as a beloved British phenomenon.

He explores the popular tropes and key characters of pantomime, talks to people working in panto - from celebrity performers to costumiers, set-designers, directors and producers - and quizzes historians of the art form. The result is a vivid portrait of a centuries-old art form that is proving more popular than ever before."

17/05/2026

Join us for an evening with journalist and author Daniel Trilling who will be discussing his new book 'If We Tolerate This'.

📅 Thursday 18th June at 7pm
📍 Brighton Unitarian Church

"The far right is now mainstream in British politics. If We Tolerate This is a short, gripping and essential book on how we got here, and what we can do about it. In 2025 we saw the biggest far-right rally in Britain’s history, after a summer of flag-waving protests.

The year before, racist mobs tried to attack mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers. Something incredibly dangerous has been unleashed, yet our political class seems at best indifferent and at worst to welcome it.

If We Tolerate This traces the origins of this moment and gives us the tools to stop this destructive narrative in its tracks. This is the essential, clear-sighted and informed response to a time of profound turbulence and misinformation."

'Racism and the rise of the far right in Britain are often discussed but rarely understood. Daniel Trilling is an exception . . . his voice must be heard' – Owen Jones

'Combining forensic enquiry with moral passion, Daniel Trilling has emerged as
one of our most intrepid and resourceful reporters' – Pankaj Mishra

Daniel Trilling writes about nationalism, migration and human rights for publications including the London Review of Books, the Guardian and the New York Times. His work has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, the Political Book Awards and the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing.

15/05/2026

Join us for an evening with Olivier-nominated choreographer, director, singer, Strictly Judge and bestselling author Craig Revel Horwood!

📅 Wednesday 27th October at 7pm
📍 Ironworks Studios, BN1 4GD

Full details on our website!

"It's behind you!

Strictly Come Dancing's favourite love-to-hate judge explores the colourful history of pantomime. You might expect that, after twenty years performing in pantomime, Craig Revel Horwood has always been a fan, but he initially took against the genre. In The Book of Panto, he traces the moments that turned him from a sceptic to a whole-hearted fan of - and advocate for - panto, as he follows the artform's journey from its international roots to its current status as a beloved British phenomenon.

He explores the popular tropes and key characters of pantomime, talks to people working in panto - from celebrity performers to costumiers, set-designers, directors and producers - and quizzes historians of the art form. The result is a vivid portrait of a centuries-old art form that is proving more popular than ever before."

15/05/2026

Join us for an evening with journalist and author Daniel Trilling who will be discussing his new book 'If We Tolerate This'.

📅 Thursday 18th June at 7pm
📍 Brighton Unitarian Church

Full details on our website!

"The far right is now mainstream in British politics. If We Tolerate This is a short, gripping and essential book on how we got here, and what we can do about it. In 2025 we saw the biggest far-right rally in Britain’s history, after a summer of flag-waving protests.

The year before, racist mobs tried to attack mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers. Something incredibly dangerous has been unleashed, yet our political class seems at best indifferent and at worst to welcome it.

If We Tolerate This traces the origins of this moment and gives us the tools to stop this destructive narrative in its tracks. This is the essential, clear-sighted and informed response to a time of profound turbulence and misinformation."

'Racism and the rise of the far right in Britain are often discussed but rarely understood. Daniel Trilling is an exception . . . his voice must be heard' – Owen Jones

'Combining forensic enquiry with moral passion, Daniel Trilling has emerged as
one of our most intrepid and resourceful reporters' – Pankaj Mishra

Daniel Trilling writes about nationalism, migration and human rights for publications including the London Review of Books, the Guardian and the New York Times. His work has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, the Political Book Awards and the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing.

25/04/2026

Ella Berthoud has been hosting 'Under the Covers' for the past 10 years, delving into the psyches of authors, actors and musicians to find out what books have made them, what they love to read, and how books feature in their lives. After baring his soul, Patrick will receive a prescription from Ella for the perfect book for him to read right now with an opportunity for the audience to get involved as well!

📅 Thursday 25th June at 7pm
📍 Brighton Unitarian Church, BN1 1UF

Signed copies of Patrick's new book, Love Lane, will be available to purchase at the event.

"A reunion. A journey. A longing for a place called home...

When veteran Canadian wheat farmer, Harry Cane is obliged to sell up and sail home to an England transformed by two world wars, his arrival triggers unwelcome self-examination for the family he abandoned, and for whom he has never been more than a distant myth. His daughter feels duty bound to take him in but is riven with doubt and ambushed by a long buried anger she has never before expressed.

Harry's effect on the next generation is less predictable, and enables his granddaughter to deal with an unspeakable trauma, while her gentle husband feels seen for who he truly is. Can Harry stay and make a new life before it's too late, or will he find himself cast out again, punished for having witnessed and understood too much?"

25/03/2026

Upcoming events

This afternoon we will be at Found Café

And on Thursday we will be at Brighton & Hove City Libraries Jubilee Library

Starting Saturday is our two minifigure trails, in Hove and Portland Road

Entry forms via
Hove Actually trail - City Books & Harriet's of Hove
Portland Road Trail - Timeless Toys & Hearth cafe

16/03/2026

Join us for an evening with Adele Bertei to celebrate the release of 'No New York: A Memoir of No Wave and the Women Who Shaped the Scene.'

📅 Tuesday 14th April at 7pm
📍 Ironworks Studios, BN1 4GD

"In 1975 a young q***r singer from Cleveland meets photographer Nan Goldin — an encounter that will lead them to New York's bombed-out downtown, where something unprecedented is brewing. At Max's Kansas City and CBGBs, in derelict lofts and underground clubs, a generation of visionary women artists is rewriting the rules of creativity, sexuality, and power.

Adele Bertei didn't just witness the No Wave explosion—she ignited it.

As acetone organist for the Contortions and Brian Eno's assistant, she was at the epicenter when punk collided with post-punk, birthing a counterculture that fused music, art, cinema, fashion and outlaw literature into an uncompromising explosion of creativity. While mainstream culture wallowed in sexism and homophobia, these artists and more created something fluid, fierce, and transgressive. Raw, gripping, and illustrated with rare photographs from personal collections, No New York is the definitive insider's account of the women who obliterated every barrier in their path, taking you deep into the artistic and sexual experimentation of an era when true expression mattered more than money or fame."

'Elegant and incisive’ Viv Albertine

‘Utterly compulsive and passionate’ Thurston Moore

‘Reveals a lost Manhattan full of creativity, space and danger’ Jon Savage

Adele Bertei is a founding member of musical insurrectionists the Contortions and lead singer for the Bloods, which is considered the first out, q***r, all women-rock band.

An evening with Adele Bertei to celebrate the release of 'No New York: A Memoir of No Wave and the Women Who Shaped the Scene.'