Events

May 21, 2024 [5:30-7:30pm]

TQ Beerworks, 1A Abbey Crescent, Torquay TQ2 5HB

Calling all you readers in Torquay who are looking for dedicated time to read amongst friends. Grab whatever you’re reading, however you’re reading it, and join us for a little bookish chit-chat and some luxurious silent reading time. We get together the third Tuesday of the month from 5:30-7:30pm at TQ Beerworks in Torquay. We will bring a collection of books from our Bovey Tracey shop in case you have any book emergencies & need something new on the night. See you there & happy reading! Join us on Facebook for details about upcoming meetups and to connect with your fellow readers in advance.

May 22, 2024 [5:30-7:30pm]

Cromwell Arms, Fore Street, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AE

BYOBook to Bovey Tracey’s monthly Reading Social. Grab whatever you’re reading, however you’re reading it and meet in the Cromwell Arms’ Function Room from 5:30pm. We’ll settle in & chit chat with our bookish neighbours, then we will read silently together from 6:00-7:00pm. It’s a book club without the pressure! See you there.

June 6, 2024 [5:30-7:00pm]

First Draft Books, 54 Fore Street, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AE

When you live in a home built in the 1500s, you live in a time machine capable of connecting you to those who made and lived in your town over 400 years ago. Cultural Historian Gavin Plumley joins us in the shop to talk about his work exploring heritage & home, beautifully captured in his book A Home For All Seasons. This wide-ranging conversation will touch on our emotional connection to place and the community we continue thanks to those who came before us – through art, history, architecture, and landscape. We hope you will come along to share in Gavin’s love of British arts & culture. Free event; registration required. Please save your seat here.

8 June, 2024 [10:15-11:00am]

Holden Gallery, Torquay Museum, 529 Babbacombe Road, Torquay TQ1 1HG

Hey kids! There’s a new book club in town just for you. All readers ages 8-11 are invited to join us to discuss Tom’s Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearce. The conversation will be facilitated by Jane Powell 11+ Tutoring and Exams and supported by First Draft Books at Torquay Museum. Please read the book in advance.

This monthly book club is designed to celebrate the joy in reading while helping to improve vocabulary, concentration, reading performance, and build a deeper understanding of the world around us. You can check out the six books we’ll be reading together in our special TQM Book Club link here. See you there!

June 16, 2024 [2:00-4:00 PM]

Things Happen Here, Meadowbrook, Shinner’s Bridge, Dartington TQ9 6JD

Hey, bookworms! You can never have too many books, right?? Except when you do. So, a few of South Devon’s independent bookstores have joined with Things Happen Here to bring the book lovers in the region together for an afternoon of swapping books.

Bring up to three gently read books and exchange them for up to three exciting new-to-you reads. Don’t miss this opportunity to refresh your bookshelf and meet like-minded bookish neighbours. Who knows what hidden literary gems you’ll uncover.

The Great South Devon Book Swap will take place at the start of Independent Bookshop Week (15-22 June). To celebrate, all attendees will be entered to win a “South Devon Book Lovers” package, including book vouchers to some of your favourite participating South Devon independent bookshops, tickets to upcoming book events and more. All you need to do to enter is register here and come along with your books on June 16!

June 19, 2024 [5:30-7:00pm]

Bovey Paradiso, 83 Fore Street, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AB

There’s something about Devon that brings out the author in us. Or something about authors that are drawn to Devon. Either way, we are a county full of storytellers, writers & creators. Let’s get to know a few of them.

Join five Devon-based authors as they read for five minutes each from one of their recent books. From science fiction to crime to memoir, you’re bound to discover something new & unexpected. Mingle with the authors afterwards and pick up a book or two if inspired.

This event is organised in collaboration with Bovey Paradiso, a lively community arts and entertainment centre in Bovey Tracey. The Gallery will be hosting a show called “GREEN!” to coincide with The Big Green Week and ACT With the Arts. We hope you’ll have a look around the latest exhibition while you’re there. If you choose to make a donation as part of your ticket registration, it will go to support Bovey Paradiso’s work in the community. Thank you!

Come for the reading, stay for the mingling. Register here to save your seat.

July 10, 2024 [5:30-7:00pm]

First Draft Books, 54 Fore Street, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AE

United by stories of loss with a deep connection to place, two incredible authors join us to talk about their works.

Sophie Pierce, known for her Wild Swimming guides, shares a different side of herself in The Green Hill: Letters to a Son. Following the loss of her son, Sophie writes a moving memoir about love and grief, and the healing power of the natural world, particularly Dartmoor and South Devon. 

Fiona Williams navigates similar depths in her debut novel, The House of Broken Bricks. Set in a rural Somerset village, this is the story of a broken family, what they see and cannot say in their overlapping perspectives. It is a tale of loss & hope, of life in the cracks and how it can be repaired.

This is a free but ticketed event. Register here to save your seat.