Well I've finally got round to posting on here again. So much has happened that I can't really some it all up - Christmas in retail does tend to blow your mind.

Still, we've made it to January and we're now starting to look at all the other things that makes a Borders store different. So...

... on Tuesday 30th January at 7pm we have the first meeting of our Stitch 'n' Bitch knitting group. Knitting is fashionable right now so if you're interested then please come along.

Also, if you enjoy crafts in general then why not join us on Sunday 4th February at 2pm when the good folks from www.getcrafty.co.uk will be in-store for their first Borders Craft Crop - making Valentine's Day cards.

In February we're excited to be hosting a day of events with Andy Stanton , children's author extrodinaire! That's on Feb 6th .

And on March 1st we are very proud to be joined by Julia Golding , winner of the 2006 Nestle Children's Book Award Gold Medal. This is the first of our World Book Day events - keep your eyes peeled for more.

As well as all this, we're still booking more author events, still looking for reading group members, and clubs and societies who'd like to use our events space. Just contact Borders Southampton for more info.

As for as Reading, Listening and Watching... well, I'm going to try to read more this year than last, that's for certain. Already enjoyed Aladair Gray's collection of short stories Unlikely Stories, Mostly , a fantastic, but now sadly out of print Finnish novel called Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo - if you can find a second-hand copy then buy it! - and a short but sweet novel called Gents by Warwick Collins. I was put onto Gents by Scott Pack, ex-Waterstone's Head Buyer on his blog Me & My Big Mouth . After tracking a copy down it turns out Warwick Collins lives just down the round in Lymington - small world!
No new music to speak of - Xmas is traditionally time for any Best Of... compilations to dominant the new releases, and I won't inflict my weird taste in Xmas tunes on you! But, I am very, very excited about the new album from The Hold Steady . Chips Ahoy!, the first single was fantastic and the album promises more of the same - in fact, you can hear Chips Ahoy! on the free CD on this month's Uncut magazine.

I think I'll call that that for now. Here's hoping the next post is sooner than a month away!