New bookshop

The Portobello Bookshop opened this week and had its opening party tonight. Tickets, although free, were snapped up in minutes but luckily C from my book group had a spare so I went along. The were supposed to have had four authors speaking but two called off at short notice. Still Daniel Gray and Doug Johnstone did readings from their work and Doug performed a few songs on guitar. He often writes songs linked to his work and the last one he played explored the same theme as his novel The Jump. He talked about the way he included some Frightened Rabbit lyrics and the support he got from Scott which has since been made much more poignant by events. I talked with Doug afterwards about that, and his other work - we might do one of his books at out book group and he said, if we wanted, he could come along to discuss it with us. Also chatted with Daniel and talked football with him - he recognised me as 'the guy who can see Stark's Park from his kitchen window' (referencing a tweet I made earlier in the year, when I discovered the fact). After they turned  us out of the bookshop at 9pm went along to The Skylark with C and J to continue the chat over a couple of drinks and then L joined us later having cycled back across town after a meal out with a friend.