One Tree Books is an award-winning independent bookshop established by Tim O’Kelly in 1994 situated in the market town of Petersfield in the heart of the South Downs. As you would expect, we are passionate about all things literary and if you can’t find something to tempt you from our extensive selection in the shop, we can order in just about anything. Come and browse our shelves, and then relax with a coffee from Ginger’s café to complete your visit – we look forward to welcoming you!
Bookshop Opening Hours
9:00 – 5pm Monday to Saturday
Cafe – Ginger’s Catering
9:00 – 4pm Monday to Saturday
Contact us on 01730 261199 / mail@onetreebooks.com
Listen to Tim and Suzie Wilde talking all things books on Petersfield’s very own Shine Radio!
CLASSIC BOOK CLUB: The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Wednesday 11th October 2023 – 7:15 for :7:30pm
‘To the red country and part of the grey country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth. ‘Drought and economic depression are driving thousands from Oklahoma. As their land becomes just another strip in the dust bowl, the Joads, a family of sharecroppers, decide they have no choice but to follow.
They head west, towards California, where they hope to find work and a future for their family. But while the journey to this promised land will take its inevitable toll, there remains uncertainty about what awaits their arrival . .
The discussion will be led by Elizabeth Griffiths
BOOK CLUB: The Perfect Golden Circle – Benjamin Myers
Wednesday 1st November 2023 – 7:15 for :7:30pm
England, 1989. Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men – traumatized Falklands veteran Calvert, and affable, chaotic Redbone – set out nightly in a clapped-out camper van to undertake an extraordinary project.
Under cover of darkness, the two men traverse the fields of rural England in secret, forming crop circles in elaborate and mysterious patterns. As the summer wears on, and their designs grow ever more ambitious, the two men find that their work has become a cult international sensation – and that an unlikely and beautiful friendship has taken root as the wheat ripens from green to gold.
The discussion will be led by Sally Jay
Everyone is welcome – either let us know beforehand or just turn up on the night. If you would like to be added to the emailing list just go to our contacts page and put your details in with ‘Book Club’ in the Subject line. Our book club meetings cost £5 which includes a glass of wine.
Events
Welcome to our events page. Below is a list of our current programme – please contact us for more information or if you would like to hold an event in the shop.
Libbla has created an empowering method of friendly journalling, sharing the importance of choice, values, resilience and emotional intelligence and you join in too – it’s like working with a soulmate. Divided into MIND BODY & LIFE – change your thoughts into your own guided journey of positivity and wellbeing in midlife and beyond.
Saturday 16th September, from 10am
Artist Doug Robertson will be holding a live drawing session in Ginger’s Cafe to promote his new book, A Whistling of Birds, in collaboration with poet Isobel Dixon.
Tuesday 26th September, 7pm
Best-selling author Thomas Harding will be in conversation with Adrian Wooldridge about his latest publication, The Maverick – the story of George Weidenfeld and his publishing empire.
Wednesday 27th September, 6pm
Book launch: From Hell, With Love by Nigel Johnson-Hill
The story of Clifton and Pooh Johnson-Hill, told through the pages of Clifton’s secret diary and set against the horror of the Burma railway, kept hidden from his Japanese captors.
Postponed – The thriller comes of age? Join us as we welcome Victoria Selman, Simon Toyne and William Shaw to launch their latest thrillers.
Tickets available at £4, which includes a credit against any of the authors books. Book through the contact form, email mail@onetreebooks.com or just drop into the shop.
If thrillers reflect the changing complexities of our world, three of our top contemporary thriller writers come together to discuss where the genre is headed.
Sunday Times bestseller Victoria Selman’s latest thriller All The Little Liars tells a story that reaches across two decades following the disappearance of a thirteen-year-old girl. It’s a novel about sisterly love and toxic friendship that asks how much would you sacrifice to belong? John Marrs calls it, ‘Fantastically addictive.’ After graduating from Oxford University, Victoria Selman studied Creative Writing at the City Lit her debut Blood for Blood was shortlisted for the CWA’s Debut Dagger. Truly Darkly Deeply was a Richard and Judy pick and was long listed for the Theakston’s prize, and Jeffrey Deaver warned, ‘It will keep you up all night.’ Patricia Cornwall describes her as ‘an exciting and powerfully fresh voice. Victoria co-hosts the top-rated crime fiction podcast Crime Time FM
Criminologist Dr Laughton Rees returns in international bestselling author Simon Toyne’s The Clearing, investigating an alarming number of disappearances in an ancient and remote forest, and the local legend of a bogeyman called The Cinderman who is believed to prey on young women. ‘The ending is genuinely one of the most jaw-dropping ones I’ve read in a long time. Absolutely superb,’ says M.W. Craven. Simon Toyne is the international bestselling author of Dark Objects, the Sanctus trilogy and the Solomon Creed series. He wrote Sanctus after quitting his job as a TV executive and it became the biggest selling debut thriller of 2011 in the UK. Tess Gerritsen said of his novel Dark Objects: ‘There are times when I read another author’s novel and it’s so darn good I just want to put down my own pen and retire because I can’t match it. This is that book.’ Simon’s books have been translated into 29 languages and published in over 50 countries.
William Shaw took a breather from his critically acclaimed DS Cupidi series to write two international thrillers as G.W. Shaw. The latest is The Conspirators, about a hapless English language translator who unwittingly finds himself at the centre of an international crime conspiracy. The Literary Review says it’s: ‘Clever, persuasively written and great fun’. William Shaw has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger, a Barry Award and three times long listed for the Theakston’s Prize. The Sun calls him ‘a modern crime master’. Peter May has praised him as ‘a superb storyteller’, and Peter James has hailed him as ‘one of the great rising talents of UK crime fiction.’ The Times critic, the late Marcel Berlins once said: ‘William Shaw is a superb, flowing writer, both of police procedure and personal relations, and perhaps England’s most adept at using dialogue to propel his always intelligent stories.’
One Tree Writers
Do you write? Have you always wanted to write? We’re a small friendly group who have been meeting for over ten years. We take turns to read out whatever we are currently working on and offer each other advice and support. Over time we have had writers working on short stories, novels (adult, YA and children’s), poetry, memoir, blogs and even academic essays! We have met at various venues and now, at Tim’s invitation, we will be based at One Tree books – hence our new name. We meet upstairs at 2.30 on Tuesday afternoons. If you think you might be interested, why not come along and say hello?
Ginger’s Café
A vegetarian and plant-based friendly catering company, with a seating area at the back of the shop and takeaway service from the front.
Breakfast is served from 9 - 11.30am, and lunch between 11am - 2:30pm. Menu includes sandwiches and toasties, soup of the day, a selection of quiches, frittatas and salad and locally baked cakes. Our speciality coffee is Luna blend from a local roasting company - Moon Roast Coffee in Alresford.
We try our best to use products and suppliers that are at least one of the golden 4: Organic; Local; Reduced plastic; Reduced carbon imprint.
Book Doctor
An appointment with our book doctor makes a great gift - for a birthday or a wedding, or just to treat yourself or a friend. Our personal service begins with a consultation usually lasting 30 minutes or so which includes coffee and a welcome pack, discussing your reading tastes and getting an idea of what you love most about books. We then send out a monthly book choice to any address in the UK (other destinations available on request).
Prices start at £75 for 6 months, or £150 for 12 months.
