Scarthin Books

01/06/2026

Hey, ho! Let's go!

There are around 100,000 books, and Scarthin Books even had to make structural changes to the building because of the weight of the tomes

31/05/2026

Literary Places Quiz

1/6. In May 1974 which rock star performed his musical suite ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ for the first time? In speech and music it follows Jules Verne’s party of adventurers who travelled from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean, underground all the way.

2/6. Think of the town that inspired Jeanette Winterson’s ‘Oranges are not the Only Fruit’ (1985). Now, which football club is the answer to the question ‘Can you name a town in Lancashire, Oliver?’?

3/6. ‘Bleak House’ by Charles Dickens begins with with a description of ‘Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights’, but which novel by Dickens begins with a boy’s nightmarish experiences on the Kentish marshes (particularly in the 1946 film version)?

4/6. Macbeth's witches were unusually familiar with the largest city in Syria, though why they knew it was never explained. Can you name the city?

5/6. The ‘small town’ in the title of John le Carré’s ‘A Small Town in Germany’ (1968) was actually the capital of the country from 1949 to 1990. Which town is it?

6/6. Harper Lee's ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ (1960) and Fannie Flagg’s ‘Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe’ (1987) are both set in which southern state of the USA whose capital is Montgomery?

29/05/2026

✨ Sneak Peek ✨ at our recently acquired Golden Age crime collection. Over 600 first edition crime novels in original, stunning dust jackets.

Available in the bookshop from 18th June!

26/05/2026

It is a little late in the day, but we are still on the day. You'll see why in our

Literary Poets Laureate Quiz

1/6. The current Poet Laureate was born on this day, 26th May 1963. Who is he?

2/6. Poet Laureate for the second half of Queen Victoria’s reign, who wrote “The Charge of the Light Brigade”?

3/6. After the death of Ted Hughes, his successor Andrew Motion introduced a fixed term for the position (previously it had been held for life). How long does a Poet Laureate now serve?

4/6. In 2009 who became the first female and first Scottish-born Poet Laureate, a position she held until she was succeeded by the current Poet Laureate?

5/6. Cecil Day Lewis (Poet Laureate 1968-1972), wrote 'Malice in Wonderland' (1940) using his criminous pseudonym Nicholas Blake. Like John Creasey’s 'The Toff At Butlin’s' (1954) it is set in what sort of institution?

6/6. Who was Poet Laureate from 1972 to 1984, known from his television appearances, and often called the "national teddy bear"?

25/05/2026

Thank you to the Derby Book Festival for another great literary quiz.

Derby College in the historic railway buildings, now redefined for modern education, make a great venue. The staff were so helpful.

24/05/2026

✨ Golden Age Crime Evening! ✨

24/05/2026

So lovely to meet author who just dropped by the bookshop! We now have a signed copy of her book The Drowning Place 😍

24/05/2026

Literary Grandparents/Children Quiz

1/6. Which novel of 1881 by Johanna Spyri drew worldwide attention to her country’s inadequate social services and parochial care as an aged grandfather had to adopt his orphaned grand-daughter, she having nowhere else to go but sleep on the Alps?

2/6. In whose books can you read about peculiar doings of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg?

3/6. According to Frances Hodgson Burnett, young Cedric Errol was taken out of poverty in New York City to live in Britain with his grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, when he inherited which title? Belvoir Castle was used as the Earl’s estate in the 1980 film and Ricky Schoder played Cedric.

4/6. Which 1992 novel by Ian Banks can be read as a serious critique of Scottish funeral directors and their services, evident in the first line ‘It was the day my grandmother exploded’ (due to an un-removed heart pacemaker going into the crematorium)?

5/6. ‘The Summer Book’ was a 2023 film based on the 1972 novel describing Sophia’s summer spent with her grandmother beside the sea in Finland. Can you name the author, known for her children’s fiction and illustrations (she illustrated the Swedish edition of ‘The Hobbit’, which is rather different from her own books)?

6/6. While staying with their grandparents outside Sevenoaks in Kent a brother and sister encountered a caveman living in a nearby quarry. The caveman was ‘Stig of the Dump’ but can you name either of the children?

22/05/2026

✨ COMING SOON ✨

We will soon be announcing details of an extraordinary Golden Age Crime collection: over 600 1st edition crime novels in original, protected dust jackets, alongside ephemera, games and original jacket artwork.

Watch this space for more details!

17/05/2026

Literary Citrus Fruit Quiz

1/6. A well-known detective had a secretary named Miss Lemon, as did Parker Pyne, a less-well known detective created by the same author. Who was that author responsible for detectives and secretary?

2/6. William Dampier, the first man to reach every continent, and the man who first described the kumquat citrus-fruit in English (in 1699), was also the captain who rescued castaway Alexander Selkirk in 1709. Which book did that rescue inspire?

3/6. Yoko Ono in 1964 published which book as a work of conceptual art? Due to her ignorance of citric botany she chose the name of a fruit as its title, believing that fruit to be a hybrid of an orange and a lemon, exemplifying her own transformation.
4/6. In Peter May’s thriller 'The Blackhouse’ (2011) Detective Sergeant Gunn is given a cup of Earl Grey Tea which, like any person of normal tastes, he puts down undrunk. What variety of citrus fruit is added to flavour Earl Grey Tea?

5/6. Harry Lime was created as a character in the film ‘The Third Man’ (1949), where he was played by Orson Welles, who also wrote his own best lines. Which novelist wrote the script of the rest of the film?

6/6. One-time drummer with Genesis, Chris Stewart has written a trilogy of books about his life in Spain including ‘A Parrot in the Pepper Tree’ (2002) and ‘The Almond Blossom’ (2006). Can you complete the title of his first book: ‘Driving Over ……’ (1999)?

Bonus: Which word is missing from all these titles: ‘Bright …... for the Shroud’ by John D Macdonald (1964), ‘…... Wednesday’ (1967) by Leslie Thomas, and ‘…... s are not the only Fruit’ (1985) by Jeanette Winterson?