We are in Book Time Magazine :D

Book Time Magazine January 2013 Edition

4

Easter Egg Hunting now underway in Lincoln Central Market! & Easter Opening Times.

Easter Egg Hunting now underway in Lincoln Central Market!

Every day we are open there will be chances to hunt for real Chocolate Easter Eggs!

There is the option to take part in the Virtual Easter Egg Hunt where you have to find the letters hidden around and make the phrase for a range of goodies to be won!

Or you can decorate your own Hard Boiled Egg and bring it in to be judged with others for a chance to Win more Chocolate Easter Eggs!

Each activity is only 50p a go with the proceeds going to Marie Curie Cancer Care!
So go on - Come in and take part, it's all for a Good Cause!

Easter Opening Hours at Unicorn Tree Books will Be:

Maundy Thursday (April 5th) - Open as Normal

Good Friday ( April 6th) - CLOSED 

Holy Saturday (April 7th) - Open as Normal

Easter Sunday (April 9th) - CLOSED

Easter Monday (April 10th) - CLOSED
Tuesday (April 11th) - Open as Normal

Remember we are here to serve you and we really appreciate your support - go on Shop Local and use an Independent - it's better for all of us when we go local to go global ;-)

So we'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you when you come in for your easter fun and supplies - or indeed for any other reason too!

IN STOCK NOW! 

Lincolnshires Favourite Author's New Book!

 Is it possible for a ten-year-old girl to fall in love? Jenny Mercer thought so. Evacuated to Lincolnshire from the East End of London at the outbreak of war, she is frightened of the wide open spaces and the huge skies. At first, she is treated badly by the two spinsters with whom she is billeted. But the kindly Thornton family soon makes her feel welcome. And no one more so than Georgie, the handsome RAF fighter pilot, who is caught up in the battle for Britain’s survival. When Georgie is posted missing, presumed killed, Jenny is devastated and there is more heartbreak when her mother demands that she return home to the dangerous city streets now under almost daily attack from enemy bombers. Dot never hides the fact that her daughter’s birth was a mistake and kindness and care towards Jenny comes, not from her mother, but from their neighbours across the street, the Hutton family. The only other person to show concern for Jenny is, strangely, Dot’s ‘fancy man’, Arthur Osborne, who moves into the terraced house. But is Arthur only interested in the girl because she can be useful to him? No one will suspect a ten-year-old of being involved with the Black Market. When the law comes a little too close for Arthur’s comfort, the family flees in the night under the protection of the blackout, heading north out of the city. But to Jenny’s disappointment, it is not back to Lincolnshire but into the hills and dales of Derbyshire where they are always on the move, always on the run. There, Jenny is caught up in a life of deception, obliged to do whatever her mother and Arthur demand of her, when all she really wants is to go back to Lincolnshire. For Jenny has never given up hope that one day, Georgie will come back…

Remember we are here to serve you and we really appreciate your support - go on Shop Local and use an Independent - it's better for all of us when we go local to go global ;-)

So we'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you when you purchase your copy of Jenny's War - or indeed for any other reason too!

Polskie książki teraz dostępny! - Polish books available!

Polskie książki teraz dostępny przy Unicorn Tree Books!

Wielu głównych autorów fikcji i style zarządzili w - inne tytuły mogą być zarządzone na życzenie!

Yes, That's right, Polish books coming to Unicorn Tree Books soon!
Many top fiction authors and styles ordered in - other titles can be ordered on request! 

We are really happy to say that we are now able to source a wide range of books in Polish so that we can better serve our new neighbours and friends here in Lincoln and across Lincolnshire. 

We are committed to really being a bookshop that serves the community we are in, and so getting in Polish books really was an important item on our list of how we can better serve the community. 

We are really happy to have found a supplier in Gardner's Books that also feels that committment and is carrying polish language titles as part of their stock range too, the added benefit here is that these books are also available on www.hive.co.uk - the website that supports independent local bookshops through every sale of a book or ebook download.

The first selection of fiction in Polish will be here in the shop and on the shelves by Wednesday 21st December, with an expanded range to follow in mid January. 
It's hoped the choice should appeal to a broad range of readers with some crime, thriller, romance and childrens books too!

We are starting out with a small selection but as people come in and let us know what they are interested in and as they spread the word we really hope to be able to grow the range and space given to these books to really be able to serve our growing multi-lingual community.

Books can be ordered - just let us know the title you are after and we'll do our best to get it.
Remember you can either pop in to the shop to order in store (and check the shleves to see what we already have in stock) or you can go online to www.hive.co.uk where you can then have them delivered either to your home or arrange to collect them direct from Unicorn Tree Books.


Remember we are here to serve you and we really appreciate your support - go on Shop Local - it's better for all of us when we go local to go global ;-)


So we'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you!



Jesteśmy bardzo szczęśliwi z tego,  że jesteśmy teraz w stanie pozyskać szeroki wachlarz książek po polsku, tak abyśmy mogli lepiej służyć naszym nowych sąsiadów i przyjaciół w Lincoln oraz w Lincolnshire

Jesteśmy zajęci się naprawdę będąc księgarnią, która pracuje dla społeczności jesteśmy w, zatem dostając po polsku książki naprawdę był ważną rzeczą na naszej liście z jak lepiej możemy pracować dla społeczności.

Cieszymy się znaleźć w Gardners Books dostawca, który jest zobowiązany do dostarczania książek również po polsku jako część ich pasma towaru. teżdodatkowa korzyść oto to te książki są również dostępne na www.hive.co.uk - serwis internetowy, który podtrzymuje niezależne lokalne księgarnie przez każdą sprzedaż książki albo ebook pobieranie danych.

Pierwsze książki fikcji po polsku będzie tu w sklepie i na półkach przed środą, z rozszerzonym zakresem nastąpić później w styczniu.
Miało nadzieję, że wybór będzie pracować dla szerokiego zakresu czytelników z jakimś kryminałem, romans i childrens książki również!

Startujemy z małym wyborem ale jako ludzie odwiedzać i mówić nam jakich książek oni chcą, i ponieważ oni rozpowszechniają wiadomość o naszym serwisie, naprawdę mamy nadzieję móc rosnąć zakres i przestrzeń daną tym książkom aby naprawdę móc pracować dla naszej rosnącej wielo-językowej społeczności.

Książki można zamawiać - daj nam znać tytuł szukasz, a my dołożymy wszelkich starań, aby je zdobyć.Pamiętaj, możesz wstąpić do sklepu na zamówienie w sklepie (i sprawdzić shleves aby zobaczyć, co mamy już w sprzedaży) lub możesz zobaczyć w Internecie www.hive.co.uk gdzie można je dostarczony do domu lub zorganizować je odebrać bezpośrednio z Książki Unicorn Tree Books.

Pamiętać, że mamy tu obsłużyć cię i dziękuję za twoje wsparcie.
Proszę robić zakupy Lokalny - to jest lepsze na wszystko gdy idziemy do pobliskich sklepów do mieć globalnych rzeczy; -)

Więc nie będziemy móc się doczekać widzenia cię, recieving e-mail od ciebie, gadając przez telefon (01522 525557) z tobą albo nawet facebooking albo świergocząc z tobą!

A meander around the shop!

For those as may not have been able to make it to the shop in person or for a goodly while, here is a few minutes madness as we take a walkaround the shop! Oh but we realise we didn't do the outside of the shop and the sheer wonders to be found out there and in the glass gift cabinet too - still leaves us something else to do on another play day :D
Enjoy the visit!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Of course as great as this is we still really love seeing you in person and servng you directly because we really are here to serve you and we really appreciate your support - Go On Shop Local - it's better for all of us when we go local to go global ;-)

So we'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you!

we are part of the Hive network and it's competition time!

The Hive network is great because it supports independent bookshops across the country - every purchase you make on hive.co.uk supports the nearest local bookshop or the bookshop you choose, It's a great place for getting books and ebooks! it also includes google books too!

You can find us there too! http://www.hive.co.uk/shop/lincoln/unicorn-tree-books-crafts/

Of course as great as this is we still really love seeing you in person and servng you directly because we really are here to serve you and we really appreciate your support - go on Shop Local - it's better for all of us when we go local to go global ;-)

So we'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you!

We are 5 Today!

Today is our 5th Birthday, we've seen an awful lot of change in those five years not only in Unicorn Tree Books (& Crafts) but in the economy, in the market and in the booktrade and we are happy to say we are still here and smiling widely!

 We've drunk a lot of Caramel Latte's, shifted a lot of units, re-arranged how many times and seen our minions fledge and go off to found their own businesses - this bookshop boss thinks that's one heck of an achievement and to celebrate is having a venti caramel latte today!

However I know we wouldn't be here still today if it wasn't for all you lovely customers and I want to say the biggest and most heartfelt THANK YOU! to all of you.

You make each day different, fun and, hey, maybe even a little more crazy than it would be even with the bookshop boss in attendance anyway - so thank you.

As a little birthday celebration we are today giving 5% off all books to celebrate the 5 years of trading and we are also giving 1 reward point for every £5 spent instead of the usual £10 

So come in and celebrate with us as we journey forth into our next 5 years of bookshop bosses, minions and cheerful customers, along with coffee, books, crafts and other fun fuelled things!

So there we go 5 years old today so go on come in and browse and treat yourself to a gift from us that will act as a gift to us, because the best gift we can ever have is your custom!

We'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you!

Competition time for tickets to the Pickering Traction Engine Rally!

Competition time! 

I have 2 half price tickets to the Pickering Traction Engine Rally and Music Festival 

going on between 4-7th August!

So I'm going to give them to someone who can use them 

(Bah-working! I say - otherwise I'd be using them and you lot wouldn't get a look in!)

Now as there may be more than two of you who want them let's make this fun!

To enter the competition you need to go over to our facebook page:

www.facebook.com/UnicornTreeBooks

Like the page if you haven't already and on there

I want you to tell me what Fiction Genre would best be at home at a steam/traction engine rally 

and why you think so!

Share the competition with friends and at the end of next week we'll get the topper down 

and put all the entries in it and see who the lucky winners are!

Good Luck and tell others!

So there we go that’s the bookshop boss done being generous and having competition fun for now – time for a vanilla syrup flavoured coffee I think – nothing like a bit of a change of pace now and again! 
So anyway don't forget to come in, browse and, we hope, stock up soon – we’ll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you!

Unicorn Tree Books, Central Market, Lincoln. LN5 7ET
www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk
www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk

Christian Resources Together Trade Retreat

It has been my great pleasure to escape the confines of the wonderful Unicorn Tree these last couple of days (minions of old were conscripted in to fill the empty seat of the wonderul bookshop boss - I am informed the shop still stands ready for my great return tomorrow - remember i'll be the one sipping on the caramel flavour nectar of the coffee bean!) and go to the Christian Resources Together retreat which is a meeting together of Christian retailers and suppliers/publishers. 

It is a wonderful time for keeping informed, social chats, networking and friend making and inbetween the coffee breaks there are even some rather good seminars, talks and useful training type things.

I was extremely flattered to be invited to contribute a  little something to a wonderfully entitled session being given by the great Eddie Olliffe on 'Albatross, Dodo or Jewel - is there still a place on the high street for Christian bookshops to shine!'

I did say to one of the other people also asked to contribute thoughts, the rather clever Steve Mitchell, that sandwiched between Him, Eddie and the very insightful Andrew Lacey, it was obvious I was to be comedic value - God having a rather grand humour decided to prove that one right and as I took my stage debut I promptly fell up it into a rather full slapstick faceplant! ahh well luckily my ego is such it provided an ample cushion and I picked myself up, dusted off and started all over again!

The following piece is a much longer version of what I said (much, much longer and what I said was too long for the squeezed time space given - mea culpe, Eddie).

It's not necessarily of great interest to all you lovely shoppers but it does perhaps give you a feel for the things facing a lowly bookshop boss these days, and not just this bookshop boss but many others and their cheerful minions too - so please do try to think of us here in the shops and when you can please buy local and support your indie businesses as we really do need you all more than ever these days!

Anyway see you in the shop soon, and don't forget mines a caramel latte if you feel like stopping by to chat :-)

How can our trade best communicate the good news in an increasingly post retail era and to a progressively digital era.

Just the kind of question I always loved when studying! So falling back on academic principles I’m going to break the question down into sections!

So first off then: how can our trade communicate the good news.

(For me this raises two main questions that need considering first off,

the simple one of – how do we communicate the good news already?

Then: how do we ourselves experience or define that good news or indeed what the good news is.

You see much of our answer to the bigger question as a whole depends on the answers we give to these questions and how we predicate our response to the questions and issues in relation to being an albatross, dodo or jewel I think.)

My response to the question of good news issues can be summed up in the fact that we are the good news not the books we sell, the books are tools but we are the witness, the living proof and so therefore it is our actions in the heart of the community, our local community, that actually communicates the good news and not the books/music/gifts we sell.

(This is really quite a freeing idea if we properly embrace it …

Think being sent out and not needing two coats etc, think about being the witness by the sharing of verbal word, attitude and action and not by written books or arcane wwjd codes! Think radical hospitality as just a few ways this works.)

So ok that’s a great theory or spiritually fulfilling outlook but in practice our job is actually to sell Christian product and to be a solvent venture while doing it or we aren’t in our trade or in business! So how do we reconcile these things – turn the theory to practical expression when the way we’ve done it before doesn’t seem to be working so well anymore?

Is it coffee shops, more secularisation and hiding our light under a bushel, a little bit of abramic selling out or peter like denial to survive?

No and Yes.

Yes – we widen our outreach to where it should be – the wider community, that’s the wider secular community and not just the churched community, after all that’s where the good news needs to be if we are talking of us communicating it! Because surely those in the churches already have it (though they might need a bit of re-education and a reminder on occasion).

So is this selling out?  Shouldn’t be, but ask yourself what your local community needs, is it really another coffee shop sandwiched in between the others on the high streets? Or could it do with a general bookshop/stationers, toy shop, health food store, secondhand bookshop to fill the library decrease gap, haberdashery or hardware store etc etc etc

All these things are not in anyway in conflict with Christian books and do nothing to lessen the communicating of the Good News – however there is not a reason to my mind for the Christian Books to be shunted to the back of the shop to make room for these others things so as to make the shop more acceptable to the secular shoppers, instead they should work together in tandem so that the buyers/browsers of one interact with the buyers/browsers of the other and in so doing act as witnesses together and build up the community as a whole and show clearly that being a Christian is not an extreme sport for the minority or radicalised but is instead something normal, real and liveable (and in so doing make the questions askable and the witness real) – the good news communicated through people that’s the original model after all.

Does this potential broadening of our retail offer and widening of our customer base dilute or alter our message? No!

Does this lessen our trade focus and offer? Not really – after all TMD for example aren’t lessened by the range of items they distribute, nor are Kevin Mayhew as they broaden their offerings either.

Does this broadening make us viable – possibly is the only answer here because the factors are many that determine viability but it’s certainly stands a chance of improving viability if done right!

(So does changing the focus, broadening the base make us an albatross, dodo, or jewel –as we  try to communicate the good news, well I think that really depends on how we see that good news and answer those first two questions.)

Ok ‘ in an increasingly Post Retail Era’?

I don’t think so. In fact I would go on to say that we now consume more than ever before, we buy more for less and use less for more! But it’s mostly all retail orientated still, yes people are all about cheaper and easier but not about not buying! The venue may have changed but the game of consumerism hasn’t!

But our shops are struggling, our sales are dropping like the proverbial stone in a mill pond, yes but that’s not because people aren’t buying it’s just they aren’t buying from us sadly.

(So is that due to us being retail dodo’s then – old fashioned, ugly, twee and outdated albatross shops? Or buried jewels hidden in sunken treasure chests?  )

Are we avoided because of how we look or act, what we stock or don’t or where we are situated in other words?

Possibly so.

There is for me a consideration we all need to look at and think on and that’s the fact that we in many ways over the years have managed to ghettoise ourselves to some extent, we have isolated ourselves on the desert island of being ‘Christian’ bookshops and by default and accident inferred we only serve Christians and that’s who we are there for etc

In some cases we have even gone one step further and not only infer we only serve Christians but in fact we only serve ‘Our type’ of Christian! We sometimes forget how easy it is to become trapped in our pride and prejudice and in turn become bastions of bigotry  - ‘ I am of Apollos, I am of Paul’ and when we do this we become our own downfall as we stop communicating the good news fully outwards.

I know this sounds really harsh and believe me I’m not casting stones as I’m not without sin but I do believe it is something we need to give real thought to as we outreach out – radical hospitality means talking the log out of our eye so we can use the wood to build bridges, inroads of communication and community centres.

The truth is if we open our doors wider there are lots of people out there shopping and browsing daily – it is still a national pastime.

However they aren’t using us and it’s not just because the doors are too narrow and people like playing at shop the net night and ebay gambling, it is however down to wanting more for less and I’m sorry to say there isn’t much we can do about this – it’s a producers and publishers fix, -  because while they give in and sell their  product at prices that allow their product to be devalued to such an extent that consumer mindset is full price is a rip off (and then don’t play with a fair trade ethos at heart by allowing independents the sort of terms that would ensure a more level playing field so that we can compete on price) well this seems like something we can’t beat doesn’t it.

But is it? I think we can and should campaign, shout and educate both in trade and in the secular arena – buy local campaigns, being honest in name, shame and explain tactics and finally at the end of the day if it is cheaper from Amazon then buy it from there! Of course then tell your supplier/publisher what you are doing and why – (also point out that though that may make their figures look good if they extrapolate the sheer numbers of indie customers doing that currently and then work out the outcome when those indies finally go under what the final impact to them may be maybe they’ll see that working with us is better for all, especially as there isn’t a bookshop in the country, secular or Christian, that doesn’t daily see customers come in to browse and choose books and then say to their friends or ebook/download tool _ I’ll get it from Amazon now I’ve seen it! So how many end sales lost will that really be??) Yes this is a double edged sword I’m playing with here but sometimes ‘I count my losses as gain’

So talking of Amazon what about this increasingly progressively digital generation!

First off perhaps we need to stop blaming the internet for our problems – after all the internet is just an inanimate object, a tool – it’s people that buy and that use the internet! If we are going to ascribe blame (and really should this be a blame game?) then let’s ascribe it correctly.

Wouldn’t it be better to stop seeing Amazon, Eden etc etc as the enemy and instead see them as a colleague the way we do each other – yes maybe not a best friend after all if you are on my back doorstep you are my competitor but not my enemy, we can still be friends and collegues – that same holds with internet shops, indeed they can in some cases even be an admirable ally!

Marketplace, A-shops, ebay, affiliate schemes etc all can be a radical tool in shop survival – after all in the immortal words of another big boy – every little bit helps.

We use the tools at our disposal and should thank god for them instead of bemoaning them and wailing lamentations of doom.

In this progressively digital generation there are still people out there that don’t want kindles and ebooks, that still enjoy the sensation of a real book and it’s ability to be shared with others, still people that like going in bookshops and so the rumours of the books demise are much exaggerated I think, and so too the end of all high street and independent bookshops!

However we can’t and mustn’t deny kindles and ebooks and other downloadable materials, so I advocate that here is the time we use our online competition as ally! An affiliate percentage is better than nothing while we petition our trade partners to work with us in finding a solution we can use well, be it a Christian offering like Gardners Hive, or a shop based scheme for digital download cards or cloud & app based download offerings etc. I’m not sure of the solution but I am sure we need to be working on it right now and together.

So yes it’s an increasingly digital generation but we can still be at the heart of it if we use the tools available to us.  Websites can be done cheaply – very cheaply and no one should be without one, if only for the avenue of online advertising it can open up!

Something worth remembering is that this digital generation want to be part of a community! Facebook, twitter, blogging and social networking are all proof of the want to be part of a community – yes it’s different than before but it’s still a want to be part of something more – we can be part of that something more, we can still be aprt of that community.

Lets not forget as well that the digital generation, regardless of their age, are still coming into town on Saturdays, they still want to see live bands, meet up with each other, go to the cinema, out for food, attend conventions and other events or group meetings, see their fave authors and interact with them etc – this all still leaves the door wide open for us – but probably only if we’ve widened the door for them first.

Books are not dead, our trade is not dead but it may be that they are being redefined – and to answer Eddies larger question (which I wasn’t asked to do!) yes we can still shine as jewels set in an ephod breastplate made from gold tested in the refiners fire.

Melanie Carroll

Biblefresh - Lincolnshire Bible Festival Today, 30th April!

The biblefresh Bible Festival is on in Lincoln Today - events all up & down the High Street with the Godpod in Cornhill Square, we here at Unicorn Tree Books in Lincoln Central Market are delighted to be the official event bookshop & have free maps & programmes for you, so don't forget to call in first and get one!

We are offering the Biblefresh 'The Big Story' Bible at only £14.99 instead of the RRP of £19.99 (and yes we are even cheaper than Amazon on this offer!!) whilst stocks last to support this great initiative - don't miss out as this is a fantastic offer and a great bible too, oh and there are also lots of other special offers in for the event too!

If you can't make it to Lincoln for this fantastic event but still fancy a wonderful biblefresh 'The Big Story' Bible then contact us to reserve your copy by any of the regular methods - phone (01522 525557), email (unicorntreebooks@aol.com), twitter, facebook.

Oh and just a reminder that you might want to reserve your ticket for the next Lincoln Theological Society Lecture on the 24th May at Bishop Grossteste University College at 7pm too -'Marcion, Heretic or Hero', subtitled 'Can a Christian really read the Old Testament?' The lecture is being given by Rev'd Canon Dr. Stephen Dawes and tickets are only £5, but do get them early ;-)

"Allies or Opponents? Secular & Religious Voices in the Public Sphere" - Get your tickets from us for the Lincoln Theological Society Lecture

Tickets are available from us for the Lincoln Theological Society Lecture at Bishop Grosseteste at 7:30pm on 3rd March -
The Rt Revd. Hon Lord Harries of Pentregarth
(Or Richard Harries as he's known as on his books)
will be talking on
"Allies or Opponents? Secular & Religious Voices in the Public Sphere"

There will be a bookstall provided by us and... tickets (£5) also get you a glass of vino too!

Get your tickets now - we only have a limited number left now!

Honestly this should be a fantastic lecture and fire up lots of debate and talking points as it's an incredibly topical subject touching as it does the faith and politics issue and also addressing the secularisation of society to the exclusion of faith debate currently raging - I'm really looking forward to it!

Pre-order your copies of Richard Harries newest books:
'Faith in Politics? Rediscovering the Christian Roots of our political values' (DLT £12.95)
and/or
'Issues of Life and Death: Christian Faith and Medical Intervention' (SPCK £10.99)
and get a 10% Discount on the books and 2 Free Reward Points on one of our Reward Cards when you collect the books on the night ;-)
Contact us to reserve your copies by any of the regular methods - phone (01522 525557), email (unicorntreebooks@aol.com), twitter, facebook or indeed when you come in and see us to get your ticket for this fantastic event!

Ebooks, Website Updates and a Fantastic Product of the Future!

Wow - Been busy recently - not only re-arranging the shop to make yet more space (honestly this place is like a tardis, always more space to be found, you never know what you might find in it and time in it seems to move in funny ways!) but also refreshing the shops websites too!

Yes the digital age is here, no use pretending it's not and ignoring it, which wouldn't work anyway as some of us have been reading ebooks for much longer than Kindles and the like have existed, pda's & now phones are a much better multi tool anyway, however that doesn't stop me buying the real things too! So it's a much better idea just to get on and go with it - so that's what we've done!

Now on our online shop sites of www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk & www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk you will find a new page entitled 'Ebooks, Audio Books & Mp3 Offers' for your delight and delectation, this means even if you have gone 100% Digital you can still support us here locally!

It really is better to Go Local to Go Global - and yes this includes even in the cybersphere!
Local Community and Businesses puts more into the Local Economy, so by going Local you keep your Local area healthier and lots of healthy local areas and economies make a healthy world!

So please do use the sites and maybe put a favourites on them so you go to them everytime you want to make a purchase (Books, Ebooks, Cds, DVDs, Mp3s & lots more too!) each sale through the sites help keep us here and you don't lose out at all as our shop sites always match Amazon price, or other big name online shops!

Don't forget we are not just active online but in the real world too!

Remember that one of our favourite things is to actually see you in person, so please do come visit the shop too!

If you are members of the Community Partnership Scheme then tell your groups about these fantastic prices because if they come in to the shop itself and buy themselves copies of physical product then this will count towards your Schemes total! If you aren't signed up to Scheme then it would be well worth it - it's open to any community group or initiative regardless of size!

Just to let you know these are not the only bargains, come in store and see whats on offer at the minute - we'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you!

Anyway see you in the shop soon - if it's the real one remember i'm likely the one behind the counter sipping on the Caramal latte - and yes the counter has moved, we moved it to the centre of the shop at the end of September ;-) I'll provide pictures of the new look shop for all the blog watchers once I've finished this new crop of re-arranging!

Ohh and I nearly forgot about the Fantastic product of the Future! Here you go, it really is a fantastic product and I'm wholeheartedly endorsing it:

Faith, Books & Facebook - The script I really should have used on The Reading Room on Siren 107.3fm

On Sunday 1st of August I was a contributor to the wonderful radio show, The Reading Room, on Siren 107.3fm. It is a fantastic radio show on the first sunday of every month at 10am - 12noon and then repeated on the following Tuesday starting at 7pm.
It is an excellent production by Paul and Jonny on books, reading, literature, writing and all manner of things to do with Books & Writing and has some fantastically good music in it too - I really do recommend it.
Paul foolishly has allowed me to be a regular contributor to it so far and this month I did a rather good job at fumbling live on air! I had a script and should have stuck to it but I didn't, bad me!
Still it's not as bad as it could have been and I hope one day Paul & Jonny will trust me to go back and do some more spots on air - I'll even buy them coffee and spring for syrup ;0)
Anyway here is the script I had, I share it here for your enjoyment and edification *grin*.

During the last month I've been reading a few books that look at the idea of facebook, social networking and how we relate to each other and how faith interacts with these ideas. After all I am all about books, faith and social networking - which despite what some may think is not so sad or so unusual. In fact facebook and yes, even twitter, are excellent communication mediums for sharing about all manner of ideas including faith and not least about books, about writing and can really help contribute to the society of the literate, and this despite what Lynne Truss seemed to be concerned about towards the end of her book - Eats, Shoots and Leaves.

Social networking via the internet, because lets remember that though when we use that phrase these days we seem always to be talking about the internet it is a phrase that also describes something that we can and do undertake offline as well! So anyway Social Networking via the internet has the potential and ability to expand and grow our outlook, our outreach and the communities in which we interact, or that's the theory at least. Now all of this it has to be said sounds like something we used to do in our physical and loca; communities and not least in our faith communities, so hows that working?
Hows the move to virtual, to a disembodied medium over a more phyiscal medium really working in this setting, in the traditional faith setting, thats the question that authors Jesse Rice and Dwight Friedman have both decided to look at in their books.

Jesse Rice's 'The Church of Facebook' published by David C Cook begins by addressing our need for connection with others and then goes on to look at why though facebook and twitter give us a form of connection in the end they just dont fulfill our more basic needs for contact - real contact - despite the length our 'contact' lists may be.
In the book he gives a great synopsis of the history and development of our socially networked internet and talks about how it has grown from our needs and wants, but he also points out how it can be a place of shallow depth and interaction that in some ways rather than satisfying actaully leaves one more empty, or feeling more lonely and isolated and then needing more of it to assuage these feelings - for me this made me think of the addiction cycle and tied in to why we succumb to and talk of facebook addiction etc. This is where the need for real community comes into play, says Rice, real human and physical contact can help fill the lonely spots and here is where faith can play an active and real part, faith should after all be about personal contact, outreach and growth - about more than just touching in through an update, but about real interaction. This is what Community and real connectedness is about.
Having said all this though 'The Church of Facebook' does not dismiss social networking, no instead it sys it can be a positive thing - a way to work and grow our connectedness but only if we move beyond the shallowness of much of the interaction and instead anchor it in the reality of our lives, only if we are honest and open and resist the temptation to hide in urbanity and surface socialisation - only then can there really be a church on facebook.
It is an excellent book and worth looking at even if your not really interested in the faith angle as such because it's looking at the idea of Community more than anything and as the subtitle says, 'How the hyperconnected are redefining community'.

Dwight Friesen's book, 'Thy Kingdom Connected' and published by Baker Books looks at a similar theme, that of networked communities, however this book does come with a bit of a warning because although facebook is mentioned in the subtitle of 'What the church can learn from facebook, the internet and other networks' this book isn't really about facebook or social networking online, thats just a nice marketing play to make the book more appealing to a larger audience! This book is really looking at Network Theory and relating this to how he, Friesen, believes the church should work.
Network theory at it's most basic is the idea that has adherents in many fields of study and holds we are connected in all manner of ways by links, nodes and cluster groups. It's an interesting idea and so is the underlying content of this book, however it's not an easy book to wade through and has a very technical feel to it. Being full of venn and cluster link diagrams doesn't really help as it just adds to the feel of being some sort of science manual. That said though if you want a book that really opens up the idea of the network theory and it's correlation to, connectivity to and implications for the church and what it could be, then this is that book and probably a very good one too as it does have some very interesting idea's of how things could work better and more integrative across the church.

On the whole though, 'The Church of Facebook' does cover much of the same idea and in a way thats much more accessable, fun, practical and that really addresses the reality of our internet, facebook, twitter linked and socially networking lives.

For me with both these books what we are really looking at is why we have moved ourselves online? Thats what we need to look at, to address, why are we so willing to pass up our actual phyiscal community for our online community? Is it just convenience - an anytime easy time thing? probably not given we hook into these things even whilst working or roaming the streets - So how do we address this?
We buy online instead of in our local shops, we email, msn, twitter, text and facebook chat as opposed to over the phone or in the real, why is this? How do we, or even do we want to, become more real in the virtual world? How do we deepen ourselves in and through the disembodied medium so we become more involved in the real community around us? Is social networking really increasing our social lives or is it just in reality shrinking them, it, us?
Something to consider and these books are both good starters in that process.
9780736921275/Googling-God
However I want to mention a third book, 'Googling God' by John Cox and published by Harvest House, and this is because this book is about finding God and how we start that experience, possibly by Googling him (or of course you could even Bing him these days! though we don't advise you use a bong although we understand some have tried using such a tool in some cultures, places and times!). From Googling God this then develops out into eventually a personal experience and relationship. Tihis book is great because it's written in such an engaging and personal way by someone who is of our time, a person whose had experience changing continents, changing lives, going through divorce, heartache and upheaval, who uses modern technology and isnt afraid of sharing the personal experiences of doubt, trauma and pain to get across his message. A person who is willing to share more than just the surface niceties and nonsense, but open up about the life drama's experienced in an open and honest way.
But what I like most about this book is how it feels like a book thats incorporating our internet experience into the very body and feel of it, it reads how googling hopping feels - short interesting on topic sections with jumps to quotes and idea's on a theme, quick flits elsewhere and then back onto the next engaging section. It reads like you are googling God and John Cox and that in iteself is really engaging and shows just how much books, the internet and faith can work together, adapt each other and grow to the better for it - and that is a great thing to witness.

Now remember all these books are available at Unicorn Tree Books, so why not call in to see us and pick up your copy, you can even come back and chat about it with me! or of course you can go to our online shop at www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk or www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk and get a copy there.
So come in and stock up soon - we'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you!

Think Local Not Amazon - but to help we'll try to match Amazon prices!

Just to let you all know - we are putting up a sign in the shop saying:

We Will Try to Match Amazon's Prices on Bulk Orders so Please think of us first and support your Local Indie Shop.
You can also support us online too - www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk & www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk - where you will get Amazon prices ...everytime, so please bookmark these sites and use them for your purchases - Every little bit helps :0)

Think Local, Buy Local, Be Local - Don't let our local business become a thing of the past!

Now as you know we really are committed to you all and want to support you in the best way we can!

We set up the Church and Community Partnership Scheme to really work with and support the local communities, because we want to give to the local community, we want to be part of that community actively and integrally.

We host events, buy tables, run classes, start groups and make blogs because we want to be involved with our community.

We know how hard it is to always get into the shop so we have set up ways for you to shop online with us, so you can still go local to go global.

In fact we want to be part of the community - an integral, fulfilling and active part of the community.

We hope you want us to be part of the community as well!

To this end then we need your help - we need you to support us too because being a small local indie business is getting harder and harder, So please use us whenever you can - you know we will go that extra mile for you!

And Yes, as you know and we have always admitted - all the things we do such as above are not completely self sacrificing, they are as much for our benefit as yours - but then thats what community is all about, working together for the betterment of both, of all!

So please, here are some posters - 
can you perhaps print one out and stick it up somewhere visable:

church, school, Dr's Surgery, community hall, house window, car window
(all right the last two are unlikely but really how cool would that be - how cool would you be to do that, to really show full out grass roots support!).

Can you tell people about us please, real people you see and know, share the knowledge of us and that we are here, perhaps on your own blog or facebook pages you could include links to our website(s) or even to this post, or use the poster on your blog!

Perhaps in your emails in the signature section you could include one of our links? Recommend us on your twitter stream?

Please support us - shop with us and share with us and share us with others.

let's be community minded and share news with our community - wherever and whoever they may be.

And you know if there is something you want sharing, something you want spreading to the community then let us know, bring us a poster to put up in the shop, send us a note to blog or twitter about, let us know about your links too!

You see if we think local, buy local and be local the whole community and economy naturally and vigorously grows strong and healthy and vibrant! All we have to do is start sharing and spreading the message, start thinking of each other as part of the whole - the community.

So go on, stick up a poster, add a link and use the shop and the sites!

It makes sense!

Now remember, when you come in to have a chat, share the news, or as you bring a poster to put up or leaflets to hand out, mine's a caramel latte and you can have whatever you want too! oh and if I recall right I think the minions mostly drink hot chocolate - see how community minded I am, I even remember the minions!

The websites are:

www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk

www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk

www.jigsawsandmore.co.uk

www.cardmakersupplies.co.uk

www.centralmarketlincoln.co.uk

www.christianbookshopuk.co.uk

You can join us on twitter: @unicorntreebks

Friend us on Facebook, or join our facebook group

Please think local, buy local, be local and support us where you can, just use the websites and pass on the info wherever you can - and in return we'll try to be the best we can for you, just let us know what you want and need and how we in turn can help you, our community and our friends.

Can't resist this - it's fantastic really, at the end just change the one word 'America' to 'Britain'! and remember  I'd love to see you in the shop soon :0)

Online Shopping - we know you do it but now do it with us!

Sad news all around for the booktrade, Borders gone as from this week, Wesley Owen Christian Bookshops pretty much gone, 26 into administration this week, then Waterstones admitting a major profit downturn, the furor earlier in the year with Oxfam killing off Secondhand bookshops - yes indeed one might think it really was the end of real bookshops!
But you know what, it's not - it's just a changing time and these all have to be gone through.
Now the big blame being placed out there is on Supermarkets and Internet Shops
(and yes it does make it harder when publishers etc do give them such massive discounts as to allow them to half price the books, this then makes the supermarket/internet price a better price than normal bookshops can actaully buy them from the publishers and wholesalers for in the first instance! madness but is this the supermarkets/internet shops fault or the publishers, there's something to think about!).
So anyway I can't actually do anything about this conundrum except raise the issue that when you buy from a non-local national or multi-national that less of your spend actaully goes back into your local community, so there we go issue raised.
Now though what I can do is try to make it easier for you to support a local bookshop business whilst going where you want to go anyway - ie onto the internet for what is admittedly a style of selling that is going nowhere fast!
So Here we go, please use these sites:
www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk for all books and more needs! This is an Amazon Ashop so you will be getting all you want from one of the big players that I often can't compete with, however by going to them this way you will be helping support me via their affiliate scheme.
Now lets be perfectly honest here - I would much prefer you actaully came in and purchased from me directly, but as your probably not going to in this instance, at least this way you are still helping support a local business for the times when you do come in to see what the book look like! :0)
Now if it's jigsaws and games you want then please use: www.jigsawsandmore.co.uk
and if it's Christian & Religious Books then please use: www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk
Now on the Christian Books side, if you want church supplies and stationary then that's not online but you can just email us your order at unicorntreebooks@aol.com and we will get it for you and phone you for the payment details we need!

It really is just that easy, of course you can also twitter the order to us at anytime, we are @unicorntreebks or you can facebook us: Unicorn Tree Books Group or friend me

Now please do me a favour and post all these website details all over the place for me! link to them and try to help out your Local(ish) Bookshop business, cause you know we live to serve you!
So Go Local to Go Global, local communities supporting local businesses build a better world and support a healthy global economy and network – really!

Oh and if you are popping in in person then I wouldn't mind if you felt like sharing a caramel latte with me, you bring it i'll drink it - those cyber ones just don't seem to taste as good or quench the thirst nearly so well!


http://www.bookdepository.co.uk?a_aid=unicorntreebooks

Nursery Crimes, oops I mean Nursery Rhymes! Children In Need Appeal - Friday 20th November!

Pudsey Bear Day cometh!
aka Children In Need Appeal - Friday 20th November!

We are thinking Nursery Crimes, oops! I mean Nursery Rhymes as the days theme in the shop!
It's Literary and as were a book & craft shop it just makes sense! Fun and adventures will abound!
All the staff will be dressing up as Nursery Rhyme characters (guess who we are and make a donation if you are wrong & we'll make one if you are right!).
There will be make & take and craft lesson sessions for a donation to the pudsey appeal for children in need, and no I'm not thinking of Mrs Hubbards GrandKids or that Shoe Ladies kids, though you know their cupboards are bare and it's a tight squeeze for a family living in something the size of a shoe!!
Nursery Rhymes really tell some social stories and for a donation we'll even tell you some tall tales and stories too!
What do you think, sound like fun? well then spread the word around and don't forget to come on down on the 20th November.

A Round Up, Some Questions and a new white table!

So whats new in your friendly bookshop?

Well the newest edition, as of today, is a white table in the middle of the shop!
Now as you may know we don't have a seperate room where we can hold regular events like reading groups, book discussions or craft classes, though we really want to hold them!
So I am trying to get feedback here, would you consider doing these types of things in the open venue of the bookshop whilst the shop was open if the events were either free or really really cheap or coffee was provided? (Because as I'm sure you all know by now I will do much if a really good caramel latte is added into the equation - it is a payment and reward in itself!)

So anyway I think it would add an interesting vibe as other people browsed while you breathed the books as it were in terms of a book group - or created and learned a new craft, what do you all think please?

Talk like a Pirate Day and visiting Author Sue Hampton was well recieved - thanks to all the young-uns that walked the plank to see Sue! I had a great time!
We still have copies of Sue's book - 'The Lincoln Imp' in stock for those that couldn't make the day and we also have some of her other books in and they are very good too!

We would love to do some more author or themed events in store (Hence another reason for the big white table where once there were bookcases!) - so if you have any idea's then please let us know!

The Bishop of Lincoln, John Saxbee, has a new book out - 'No Faith in Religion' and it is now in stock and available, though it is selling pretty fast!
Please pass the info on and reserve or come in and buy your copies (and yes we do mail order too!), it is an excellent book and a wonderful symphony of blended idea's on the dichotomy of faith and religion!

We have Calenders, Diaries, along with Advent Candles and Christmas books, cards and items making an appearance now! Lots of Christmas Decoupage and Craft things too! and not forgetting Parsons Pocket Books & Lectionaries! Yes it's early but they are selling already.
Please think of us!

Oh and of course dont forget about our Church & Community Group Partnership Scheme! Tell others, join yourselves!
This is a real opportunity for working together to build community by supporting each other! More proof if needed that we are Working with you and for You!

The basic idea, as i've said somewhere her before, is that Churches and Community Groups (this also includes schools, clubs or any community, church or group based initiative) sign up with us as a Partner, once signed up you promote us to all your church/group members and then everytime they come into the shop and make a purchase, providing they let us know they are part of your partnership (we can provide cards for you to give them), you get a percentage of that sale held in credit for your church/community group!
We think this is worth it as we are helping you and we hope building community at the same time - and yes we do not deny we hope it helps us too by increasing the outreach of our shop too!

Ok and we would be really grateful if you could let your friends, collegues and networks know about us, both in person and through the Facebook groups/twitter/blogs! So next time you visit the fb group page, followfriday on Twitter, or even come into the shop then please 'invite people to join'!

So that's the news, info and questions from your friendly folk and slightly mad but highly amusing and mostly tame wonderful bookshopboss at Unicorn Tree!
Please do respond, tell others and feel free to pass on this message to any you think might be interested.

See you in the shop! and don't forget mine's a caramel latte and bring one for yourself as well :0)

A mention in the Echo again - it's no fake copy either!

I am once again mentioned in the Lincoln Echo - a short quote from me on the damage Counterfeit Goods can do to genuine businesses and markets!

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/Don-t-caught-counterfeit-goods/article-1297651-detail/article.html

Hehe - it's good to be known!

Unicorn Tree Books Nominated Charity

First off we would like to say thank you to everyone that has contributed in the last year to our Nominated Charity - The Alder Hay Imagine Appeal. Together we have raised £367.

That's not bad going at all considering the economy, So thanks.

As you probably know we nominate a new charity each year on the anniversary fo the start of the business, and this year we have decided to go with Listening Books.

Listening Books is the only audiobook charity in the UK providing a streaming audiobook internet service, as well as a comprehensive postal service, to anyone who has a disability which makes it impossible or difficult to hold a book, turn its pages, or read in the usual way. Charity registration number. 264221

We figure this is a worthy cause as we love books and we want everyone to be able to enjoy them - this one is close to our hearts as well due to the fact that in our family we have people who suffer from both degenerative eye issues and physical issues that can contribute to causing our families favourite past-time to becoming something deeply missed. So we want to help make sure that everyone with similair issues gets to continue enjoyig the treasures that books are.
We hope this is a Charity that again you will all be able to get behind with us and that this year we can raise as much, if not more!, for this worthy charity too.
You can donate in shop giving your pennies as so many of you already do - or of course you can dontate directly through our JustGiving Page too. Thanks :0)