50 Bookers 2025 Meet Up

Yes, thank you so much everyone and especially @AgualusasLover for a fantastic day! Such great conversation, and a very spacious venue with enticing bookshop. Bravo to @FuzzyCaoraDhubh for flying all the way over from Ireland! I hope you had a safe trip home, Fuzzy, you must have been exhausted by the time you got to bed.

My book haul:
The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature by Viv Groskop. I'm expecting to like this as I loved her book on French literature Au Revoir, Tristesse.
The Eights, Joanna Miller, from @elkiedee's stash. This was a serendipitous find as I've just joined a new staff book club at work and this is one of the books we'll be discussing soon (the author is even coming to speak to us).
The Crucible, Arthur Miller, because DS2 performed in an amateur production of this play just last week, and I wanted to read the whole play at leisure. The bookshop had an amazing assortment of plays (as one might expect I guess from the National Theatre bookshop!).

In other news, I learned what the Proms are (cough, cough @Terpsichore) - an embarrassing gap in my cultural knowledge!

The only downside I can think of to the day was that now I'm going to be even more addicted to the 50-Bookers threads than I already was, given the extra frisson of having faces to match to posts 😁

Thanks everyone for a lovely day yesterday and for organising Agualusa. Lovely to see some of you again and to meet some new people - sorry to miss those who couldn’t make it.

What quick work on reading the book Fuzzy! Glad you found it entertaining in the end. I have bought Last Samurai since reading it but not read that yet. Delighted with the one I got (The Girl Aquarium) as it’s not something I’d have known of, it looks beautiful and having dipped into it it’s intriguing - thank you to whoever brought it.

Sorry! Strange things happening with bold font.

I would like to say thank you to @CornishLizard for my book which kept me entertained on my way home! The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt.* It was surprisingly good! I'll keep in mind the other title of hers that Terpsichore mentioned to me (The Last Samurai). *Going to post a picture of the front cover.

My Elkie gift is Honour by Elif Shafak* which Agua says is very good. *

It was a really lovely way to spend a day with fascinating conversation with a great bunch of women. Anyone on the fence for the next one take the leap. Thanks to @AgualusasLoverfor organising and everyone for being so welcoming.

Wonderful to see those who could make it today, and those who couldn’t were missed.

We took a little photo moments of our book swap (and in the background @elkiedee spoiled us once again with a wonderful offering.

Thank you @AgualusasLover for all your organising work. The National Theatre gift shop is quite impressive though I would prefer to visit the South Bank again in dryer weather, because I found all the outside steps a bit scary. I was very worried about falling. Especially as I returned to the gift shop and bought a rather expensive but very beautiful Midsummer Night's Dream mug and then worried about falling and breaking it. When I got home and looked at it more closely I discovered that it's made by the same company as two of my other favourite tea mugs, featuring Frida Kahlo and colour changing birds (the birds mug was a charity shop bargain and I'm still finding it quite fun).

Yes, thanks again for wrangling it all and booking the lunch arrangements, @AgualusasLover

I'm at the airport and going to read a book until departure time and not fall asleep Thank you for my book Cornish! It looks very unusual. And Elkie for the gift of a second book!

A huge thank you to Agua for planning everything. It was a lovely day out and it was fantastic to meet bookish friends from the 50-B thread.

Oh, excellent @noodlezoodle! 🥳

What an excellent day! So lovely to meet you all, and I will definitely take part again, travel plans allowing.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief, The Secret History is my all time favourite book, so I hope you enjoy it (But I won't be offended if you don't)

I started my bookswap Monica Dickens on the train home and have already laughed out loud several times

Thank you @AgualusasLover for organising a great meet up. Lovely to see you all: @FuzzyCaoraDhubh @cassandre @CornishLizard @MegBusset @Terpsichore @noodlezoodle @Cherrypi @DesdamonasHandkerchief @elkiedee @Terpsichore. Safe travels.

Sorry to miss those who couldn't make it this time.

It’s been lovely! Looking forward to reading my book swap book, Trees. Thanks again @AgualusasLover for organising!

Thanks again all for a lovely meet-up. Just a warning that buses from the S Bank into the Aldwych area are still up the spout so probably best to rely on the tube for any return journeys.

On my way home. Really lovely to meet everyone and put some names to faces.
Thank you so much for organising Agualusa.
Looking forward to starting my book swap book, The Secret History - although at my reading rate it could take a while!

Hope you all have a lovely day, wish I could have been there. Im having the same "what do I wear" dilemma as the concert I'm going to is outdoors and it's muggy as hell here.

Have fun all of you! Wish I was there.

Have a wonderful day!

Have a good time everyone!

I am here. Where is everyone?!

I’m going to need intravenous coffee I think.

My train is stuck somewhere in Essex because of signaling problems 🙃 hopefully be with you by lunch!

Wonderful. I am in immense traffic at the start of London Bridge.

Hello all! 4 of us are here and have set up camp on one of the long tables in the lobby - just come in and turn to the right and you’ll see us. Cherrypi is wearing a dress with books printed on it! 📚

Thanks @DesdamonasHandkerchief ! The weather isn't bad, and she has learned from last time that boots need to stay in the tent overnight. Not a mistake you make twice.