Last Call 🔊 We can make Vegetable Biryani with Asma Asif 🧑‍🍳 "I’m originally from Pakistan and a single mum with three boys. Cooking has always been a way for me to stay connected to my culture and share love through food." Join us👇 Details: octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/117/d...

🎖️ Congratulations to David Szalay for winning the Booker Prize of 2025! ‘I don’t think I’ve read a novel that uses the white space on the page so well.’ This summary from Roddy Doyle, the Chair of judges, provides an insightful overview. Visit the bookshop to get your hardback copy today!

🔊 Migration debates are loud, but facts calm the noise. Just 0.2% of the UK population are seeking asylum. In Southampton, only 286 people. ⚓ As a port city, Southampton’s story is one of arrivals. 🧡 At October Books, no matter who you are or where you come from, you belong here.

📚 Hardback Series❗ We will be offering a £3 discount on these hardback selections, and this week we are focusing on memoirs. We don't just select any odd book, but ones that are more niche, less high street. Pick up an inspiration today, share it as a gift or relax with it over a cuppa❤️‍🔥

🏆 The 2025 Goldsmiths Prize winner is out! Congratulations to C.D. Rose! ⚡ If you love exploring bold styles in novel forms, the shortlist and winner of the Goldsmiths Prize will be a good start! Find the winner title in-store now! #octoberbooks #bookprize #christmasgift #christmaspresentideas

📚 Bring Your Own Book Club – November Edition Part 🥈 Due to popular demand, we have BYOB Part 2 in November! Dates/Times🕰️ 29th November, Saturday 11:00-12:30pm Tickets 🆓 Free of charge, booking required Details: octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/114/d...

You have heard of dad jokes, in the Bookshop, we have post-person jokes. Let's start of winter with a seasonal joke😀 Comment HAHA to hear more 📬 Post-person jokes 💌 #octoberbooks #mail #jokeoftheday #communitybookshop #communityjokes

🌲 Art of Climbing Trees book launch review🎉 October Books hosted a wonderful sold out event with Henrik Dahle and his book Art of Climbing Trees. A funny and quirky evening, when we met Professor Handlebrass Gauntlett... See full review on our Instagram #octoberbooks #events #booklaunch #newbook

❗ Our Movember motto🙆‍♂️ 🥸 Movember is not just about the moustache, just like mental health is not just the mind, but body and soul too! Our Movember focus is to provide you with the tools and ingredients that makes the soul a bit more happy and bit less chilly❄️ Come see our collection!

🥦 Happy World Vegan Day 🥗 With our vegan recipe books, vegan products and our popular Monday Veg Out Cafe, October Books might not just be your community bookshop, but also your community groceries shop! What is your favourite 'Vegan aspect' of October Books? #octoberbooks #vegan #veganproducts

❄️ Shortlist for the Booker Prize 2025: add them to your winter reading list! Suzanne finished The Land in Winter and was moved by its quiet power. With its snowbound setting, subtle tensions, and echoes of lives shaped by war, it reminded us of Claire Keegan’s prose — spare and emotionally sharp.

🌍 Disarmament Week 🍉 Hope, Empathy & Gaza This week marks Disarmament Week (Oct 24–30): a time to imagine peace beyond the sound of weapons. It’s impossible not to think of Gaza, where lives are shattered by war. We hold space for grief, justice, while empathy can be a form of resistance 🧡

What’s the scariest way to spook yourself out? 👀 Step closer… if you dare. Our shelves are whispering tales of haunted woods, restless spirits, and ghostly mysteries that refuse to stay buried. 💬 Which spine-chiller would you dare to read alone at night? #octoberbooks #halloween #spookyseason

🤎 Layers of Life☕ Creative & Meditative Workshop Date/time⌚ Wednesday, 29th October, 3-5pm Tickets 🎟️ £33 Details 👉 stan.store/lindalooom/p... @linda.looom Includes: 🤲 sharing 🧘‍♀️ guided meditation 💓 space for inner reflection 🖼️ a masterpiece to bring home #octoberbooks #workshops #FrequencyArtist

🍚 We can make Vegetable Biryani with Asma Asif 🧑‍🍳 Asma will show people how to make a vegetable biryani, and attendees will enjoy it together at the end, taking the recipe with them. Dates/Times🕰️ 22nd November, Saturday 11am-1pm Tickets🎟️ £14 Details: octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/117/d...

✊🏾 Black authors are celebrated here 🖤 Our shelves are filled with powerful voices, stories, and histories that deserve to be read and remembered. See our display of selected Black authors from all genres; each book offers a unique lens into Black experience, resilience, and creativity.

📚 Bring Your Own Book Club: November Edition Part 1 #bookearlyenjoylater Date/time⌚ Saturday, 8th November, 11am Tickets 🆓 Free of charge, booking required Donations can be made at the shop 🙇♀️ Details 👉 octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/111/d... Watch out for Part 2! #octoberbooks #bookclub

👣 Protest Days, Rebellion Nights: Songs and Stories of the Luddites by Monty +The Anywhens ✊ Dates/Times🕰️ 4th December, Thursday 7-9pm Tickets🎟️ £10.00 Details: octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/116/d... #octoberbooks #events #folktales #history #cultural #southamptontodo #weekday #nightout

🔔 We Can Learn to Sing in Festive Harmony Workshop🎄 🗣️ Light up the darkest days in this uplifting, a cappella singing workshop, learning songs about the turning seasons, darkness and light, and being cosy and warm. Tickets 🎟️ octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/113/d...

📚 Today is Bookshop Day❗ We know we are your favourite bookshop 😜 We just want to say a huge thank you to everyone! Your ongoing support truly keeps our community vibrant and lively. Keep it coming! Whether it's kind words, purchases, donations, or even just a warm smile means the world to us 😊

❌ Celebrate Banned Books Week UK⁉️ This is not another Book Week, but rather raising awareness about how our freedom of speech is being controlled through the exclusion, censorship, and banning of books in schools, libraries and publications. #Octoberbooks #BannedBooksWeekUK #banned #censorship

🌍 In a time when anti-immigration rhetoric and division are on the rise, October Books' doors are open to all. 📍 Visit the display here at October Books and reflect on what colourism means in our society today. 🖤 Exhibitions across town all through Black History Month

Before his October 15th event with Daniel Ash, aka Teenage Waitress, Glenn wanted to share with us why hard copies are important. Read: octoberbooks.org/blogs/news/w... A Musical Wander with Glenn Fosbraey and Daniel Ash 19:00-21:00 15 Oct 25 Tickets: octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/107/d...

🎮 Solent Game Developers – Welcome Jam: Meet Your Party 🕹️ Join the first Solent Game Developers meetup! Connect, share, and help shape a brand-new indie game dev community from day one. Date and time 🕰️ Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:00 - 17:00 Tickets🎟️ £8.00 www.eventbrite.com/e/solent-gam...

✨ *Happy National Poetry Day!* ✨ Local schools are invited to claim a *free copy* (up to five available in total). This inspiring collection by one of our most beloved poets is a brilliant way to spark imagination and bring the joy of words into the classroom. 📩 Email for details

🌳 Art of Climbing Trees Book launch🙌 Theatrical book presentation of newly released Art of Climbing Trees by local Henrik G Dahle. Details @artofclimbingtrees Dates/Times🗓️ Fri 17 Oct 2025 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM Tickets🎫 £8.00 buytickets.at/artofclimbin... #octoberbooks #supportyourlocalauthor

⚓ Personal story about Brick Dust🏛️ "I grew up on Thornhill Council Estate in Southampton and I moved away pretty much as fast as I could. I went off to uni and then moved to Brighton..." Read full story on Facebook! Event details: octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/108/d...

🫶 Easy Hand Stitched Ornaments workshop🎄 Join us in making hand-stitched felt decorations - great for the festive season or other occasions. 🎁 Space is limited! Dates 🕰️ 1st November, Saturday 10.30am to 12.30pm Tickets🎟️ £10.00 *including materials octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/110/d...

🌊 World Maritime Day 25: Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity Comment your thoughts: ⚓ How do we demand cleaner shipping and port technologies? ⚓ How can we protect marine life and air quality around our coast? ⚓ What role do we play, as residents, readers, advocates, in caring for our oceans?

👑 Wainwright Prize is for readers who care about our planet and enjoy stories that connect us to land, wildlife, and the urge to shape a better future. 🏛️ Come into the shop to see these award-winning titles for yourself or order them online at octoberbooks.org

🇺🇸 Disorientation of a Taiwanese-American postgraduate life 🛞 For fans of R F Kuang’s ‘Yellowface’ or John Williams’ ‘Stoner’ will greatly enjoy this novel - Review from Catherine of our book-buying group - ‘Disorientation’ by Elaine Hsieh Chou is... Read full review on our Facebook or Instagram 🤲

🌃 An Evening with Carole Burns and Craig Jordan-Baker Dates/Times 🕰️ Weds, 8th Oct 25, 7-9:00pm Tickets🎟️ £5.00 *Redeemable with purchases of Brick Dust Details: octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/108/d... #octoberbooks #southampton #events #darkcomedy #refugeestory #booklaunch #bookdiscussion

✨ A Night with Esther Swift🎙️ Harp, Place & Atmosphere Esther brings her unique blend of harp & place (as heard at East Neuk Festival) to our bookshop. ✨ A rare chance to hear harp surrounded by shelves + stories. 📅 octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/99/de...

We are delighted to host We Can Learn to Sing event last week! Sound on to hear the harmony! More events to come in this festive season, watch out for their next event in December! #octoberbooks #events #eventreview #harmony #christmasevent #music #learntosing

If you have 27 seconds, you have time to hear Suzanne tell you the 13 new releases are this week😉 It's not just the good ol' fiction, but a whole variation of children's books, and...watch till the end, we have two books on one controversial figure! #octoberbooks #newreleases #booksforall

From bookshops to libraries, our members are putting the power of knowledge in people’s hands. We’re proud to highlight some of our members working every day to make knowledge and learning accessible to all.✨ Shout out to... @octoberbooks.bsky.social #Coops

Book buying group recommendations 📺 Good book becomes good TV? Full book recommendations: octoberbooks.org/blogs/news/b... #octoberbooks #tvseries #TVdinner #mealdeals #tvbooks

Glory Handmade🌅 Crafted with heart, rooted in heritage. Original handmade designs by a Hongkonger, blending tradition and creativity through pipe cleaners, fabric, and imagination. Our work is playful, thoughtful, and full of warmth—little handmade joys for everyday life.

September marks the East and South East Asian Heritage month, celebrating the following countries: Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, North Korea, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

🎵 A Musical Wander with Glenn Fosbraey and Daniel Ash🎶 Dates/Times🕰️ 19:00-21:00 15 Oct 25 Tickets🎟️ £5.00 *Redeemable with purchases of Reading Song Lyrics Details: octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/107/d... #octoberbooks #music #acoustic #southamptonevents #booklaunch #bookearlyenjoylater

🌟 Time to be Artsy🪇 🎸 🎨 🎙️ Whether you paint, draw, sing, craft, play instruments, do a photoshoot, make sculptures (or buildings!), we are including you! Come and have a look at the artist handbooks, inspirational journals, crafty manuals, music discussions and more books to boost your creativity!

📚 Bring Your Own Book Club is back in September! #bookearlyenjoylater 9️⃣ September Bring Your Own Book Club: Date⌚ Saturday, the 27th of September at 11am Tickets 🆓 Free of charge, booking required Donations can be made at the shop 🙇‍♀️ More details here👉 octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/106/d...

✨ A Night with Esther Swift: Scottish Harpist and Singer🎙️ “Björk-esque” ★★★★★ - Edinburgh Reporter "Esther Swift is a monster musician. Be very afraid” - Chris Wood Details: Dates/Times🗓️ 18th Oct 25, 19:30-21:30 Tickets🎫 General Admission: £15.00 octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/99/de...

🪴 Alaa Abu Asad’s Wild Plants of Palestine: the post-colonial world of cultural unacceptance See blog at octoberbooks.org/blogs/news/a... Alaa Abu Asad’s Wild Plants of Palestine and accompanying exhibitions end on Sept 6th. #octoberbooks #immigration #migrants #plants #Britishflag #bookreview

October Books Sustainability tour 📖 Curious how a high street space can be more sustainable? This hour-long tour will explore the multifaceted sustainability features of October Books. Date 🗓️ Saturday 20th September 11.30 to 12.30pm Tickets🎟️ Free octoberbooks.lemonbooking.com/events/105/d...

📝 Ralph’s book review on “The Fate of Abraham” ⏪ Journey from right-wing apologist of the establishment to unaligned, independently-minded, ferocious critic of the corruption See review here: octoberbooks.org/blogs/news/r... #octoberbooks #bookreview #politics #history #thewest #islam #rightwing

🐴 Reflecting on Ukraine vs Russia through Mykola Ridnyi’s Mazepa's Ride exhibition See full review here: octoberbooks.org/blogs/news/r... 👁️ @mykola_rrrrr Mazepa's Ride exhibition @johnhansardgallery ends on the 6th of September. #octoberbooks #johnhansardgallery #artexhibition #bookrecommendation

✨ Celebrate Women in Translation Month * The Vegetarian — Han Kang * The Discomfort of Evening — Lucas Rijneveld * The Little I Knew — Chiara Valerio * The Bitter Water of the Lake — Giulia Caminito * When the Crane Fly South - Lisa Ridzén * Fair: The Life-Art of Translation - Calleja, Jen

🆕 New release this week 🗓️ Preview the first page, then visit our store or browse our website to explore them further! ✳️ Extraordinary Women Of Faith ✴️ I Swear, John Davidson ✳️ Ootilin, Jenni Fagan ✴️ The Lollipop Man, Daniel Sellers ✳️ The Rivals, Jane Pek #newbooks #fiction #childrenillustration