NEWS

Latest News / Website Updates:

November 2011 - GreenMetropolis Launches 2012 Charity Calendar!

We're so excited by the launch of our first ever Calendar for 2012 - guaranteed to inspire, delight and entertain family and friends alike as we turn the page together into a brand new reading year. Carefully designed with book-lovers in mind, from highbrow readers to fun-loving easy riders, there’s a great page for everyone and superb pictures to match.

Our calendar is packed to the brim with juicy quotes, birthday greetings and interesting book-loving facts you’ll really enjoy! Calendars are A4 portrait in size and printed on 100% FSC recycled paper.

At just £3.75 a go our 2012 calendar makes a great Christmas stocking filler that won’t break the festive bank - and with more than half the proceeds going to charity, you're giving just a little for a whole lot more in return, because from each sale, we'll donate 50p to The Woodland Trust, 50p to Macmillan Cancer Support, 50p to Age UK and 50p to The Stroke Association.

Click here to view our 2012 Calendar

September 2011 - GM launches new 'Rate and Review'

We're pleased to launch our great new 'Rate and Review' feature, giving all our members the chance to rate and review the books they've read, helping other members see if they want to read them too.

Our new 'rate and review' feature invites members to rate and review any book on our site - if you have a best loved read or a just-read book you'd like to review, then sharpen your prose and fire away - whether you loved it or hated it, we want to know. Reviews help all our members when it comes to picking their next book, so give your opinion, be bold and to the point, just don't give the ending away!

Celebrities join GreenMetropolis campaign to encourage sustainable reading as part of World Environment Day on 5th June 2011. GreenMetropolis.com is backing World Environment Day on 5th June by starting a campaign for sustainable reading. Our campaign, which encourages people to swap and share books online, has received the backing of celebrities who have all shared stories about their favourite books and why they are so special. The sustainable reading campaign has been backed by celebs including bestselling author Monica Ali, singer /songwriter KT Tunstall, Grand Designs Presenter Kevin McCloud, gardener and author Alan Titchmarsh, Time Team's Tony Robinson and Who Wants to be a Millionaire presenter, Chris Tarrant to name but a few.

Founder of GreenMetropolis, Barry Crow says, “Millions of old books get thrown away every year, with even more copies reprinted on new paper. The cost and damage to the environment is huge, so we want to encourage people to keep books in circulation to help prevent such massive and unnecessary waste. I’m thrilled we have received so much support from such recognised faces and hope we can make a real difference on World Environment Day and get people thinking more carefully before they purchase a new book off the shelf.”

Celebrity Supports of GM's Sustainable Reading Campaign:

Monica Ali - Award-winning author
The award-winning writer, is encouraging readers to swap and share books. She is supporting the book exchange website GreenMetropolis.com as part of an initiative for World Environment Day on Sunday June 5 and their campaign to make reading more sustainable.

Monica's favourite book is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Monica says the book 'reminds me of the library in Bolton from which I first borrowed it'. She says the novel 'means pure pleasure to her' because 'it's such a capacious book, it runs the full gamut of emotions'. Monica continues, 'It's a different book every time you return to it. It kind of grows along with you.'


Alan Titchmarsh - TV presenter, gardener and author
Alan, whose favourite book is Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, says, “The Wind in the Willows is one of my all-time favourite reads. It transports me to a sunny, tranquil riverbank where Mole and Ratty are ‘messing about in boats’, or to the dusty road where Toad is making a fool of himself. Magical!”

Alan continues, “I love rivers and the countryside and Kenneth Grahame’s evocation is wonderful… And anyway, I’m Mole!”



Kevin McCloud - presenter of Grand Designs
Kevin McCloud, whose favourite book is Middlemarch by George Elliot, says, “It tells how our lives started in the Industrial Revolution. I like that because knowing where we come from informs where we are and where we’re going. And just as Britain was the crucible of the Industrial Revolution so we’re now sitting at the epicentre of the post-industrial world, forging a green future. Middlemarch is also gloriously written, a British epic.”



KT Tunstall - Singer and song-writer
KT says of her favourite book, Wild by Jay Griffiths, “It gives me a perspective on the world that speaks to me in such a familiar voice, and at the same time completely renews my passion and energy for it.” KT says the book “has turned into a constant companion and helps me make sense of my own spirituality. It also has an amazing, fierce, irreverence that is so empowering and wickedly funny to read as a woman”.

KT says Wild gives her memories of being given the book by a great friend, and has gone on to use a quote from the book in the artwork of her album. “It’s an incredibly well researched, brilliantly written picture of our time; a celebration of what is possible, and also a record of our current dysfunctional relationship with nature. It's a masterclass in how important it is to stay wild.”


Tony Robinson - actor, author, broadcaster and political campaigner
Tony's favorite book is Middlemarch by George Elliot, “It’s exquisitely written, full of great characters, and is about the fact that true human goodness is about performing small actions without fuss and a desire for praise”.

Tony continues, “It’s a constant inspiration and admonishment” and claims the book makes him feel “Happy, sad and a bit jumbled”. Tony says that Middlemarch reminds him of “the smell of Penguin books” and “The joy of discovering that a classic you assumed would be turgid is actually a treasure trove”. Tony jokes that he would recommend the book to people as it is “even better than “The Wire” and “Six Feet Under”.


Ollie Phillips - England rugby hero
Ollie, whose favourite book is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, says, “I am a real History lover and I find life through the Middle Ages really fascinating. I enjoyed the book as it combined historical fact with some really great fiction. It was insightful in that it educated you about the way in which life was led back in those days and how everything revolved around the various churches and abbeys within the regions. Religion and faith was so powerful in those days that any thoughts to the contrary were met with severe punishment. The constant feuding between the monarchy and the church only added to the drama and for me the book was one that I simply could never put down.”

“It was enjoyable, gripping, entertaining and dramatic all at the same time. The book caught my attention from the off and that is very difficult to do. As a result it reminds me of an enjoyable moment in my life where my imagination was liberated a little and I was taken back to a time which was unfamiliar to myself and yet I felt as though I was there re-living life in those days.”

“Reading is all about discovery and learning to use ones imagination. It allows you the opportunity to see things through someone else's eyes and sometimes get an idea of what things could be like away from your own daily life schedule. This book did what most things struggle to do and that I keep my concentration and entertain me throughout. I loved all the characters and how they functioned and I lived their lives through my own imagination. I learnt a few things along the way about the history behind our great country and the various landmarks that we have and I can not encourage you enough to experience the same emotions that I did, thanks to this piece of writing.”


Julia Bradbury - Countryfile presenter
Julia says, “My favourite and most read book is a family favourite in the Bradbury household - The Prophet by the Lebanese American poet, writer and artist Kahlil Gibran. This 1923 book is a series of philosophical essays, which are really life lessons. Gibran writes beautifully about life, death, friendship and love. It is the perfect gift and we all keep a supply of old and new copies to give away.”


Brian Blessed - actor, author and adventurer
Brian's favourite book is Wuthering Heights by the Emily Bronte.
Brian says 'It has immense depth, and embraces comedy and tragedy. It also embraces my Yorkshire soul!' He goes on to say about the memories the book evokes 'The wonderful brooding Bronte home. The vast area of the North York Moors. The steam train that runs from Keightley and stops at Howarth. Howarth itself, the Bronte Spring, Top Withens and the staggeringly beautiful skyline.'

How does it make you feel and why would you recommned it? 'Real, positively, thumpingly, alive! Because Emily has written a great cosmic book which is frequently misunderstood. The great tragedy is that Wuthering Heights was murdered by the critics at the time, they hated it and this broke Emily’s heart and I feel resulted in her death. She also wrote a second novel that they would not publish, it has been destroyed or lost. The publishers and the critics at that time have a lot to answer for!.


Chris Tarrant - radio and television presenter
Chris says of his favourite book, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, 'It was the first book that made me laugh and cry all in a single page, the first book I read non stop cover to cover, the first book where I discovered the sheer joy of reading!'


For more details on World Environment Day go to www.unep.org/wed/

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General News / Website Updates:

April/May 2011 - Macmillan Cancer Support and Age UK join GreenMetropolis

We’ve joined forces with some of the largest UK Charities, to bring together great books, great people and great causes to one location - making our site the UK’s number-one online charity and second-hand bookstore!

Members can support the The Woodland Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support and Age UK via their book buying and selling, with £1.00 from every sale going directly to the selected charity.

January 2011 - Infrastructure Upgrades - Complete!

We're pleased to say after a few fraught moments, we've now completed the move over to our new web-servers. This will provide us the speed and performance necessary to enable us to continue expanding, and the capacity needed to allow us to add our new features and new website (Phase 2: New Website launch - planned February 2011)

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Support Tree Planting with the Woodland Trust

GreenMetropolis.com is delighted to announce that since launching our website back in 2004, we've raised over £23,000 for the Woodland Trust, via our 5p donations, helping to plant and support new trees.

Since launching, we've donated 5p to the Woodland Trist for every book bought and sold on our website, helping them plant and care for more trees, and enabling the Trust to further help protect existing woodland, create new woodland and bring about improved biodiversity.

Find out more:

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What the Papers are saying about us...

Daily Express -
Book Trader Turns Over New Leaf - Wednesday 13th July- Click here to read article

Mail on Sunday -
New chapter for books - World Environment Day 5th June 2011- Click here to read article

The Telegraph -
'Ten top tips to make money online for Christmas' - Click here to read article

The Guardian-
'Ten of the best... ways to make money from your home' - Click here to read article

The Observer -
'How to pick up a stack of good books for next to nothing' - Click here to read article

The Telegraph -
'21 ways to earn extra money: selling unwanted possessions' - Click here to read article

The Courier -
'KT Tunstall, Wild About Words - Sustianable Reading Campaign' - Click here to read article

Woodland Trust -
'Turn over a new leaf! Buy and sell your second hand books online to help the Woodland Trust' - Click here to read article

RecycleNow.com
Someone out there needs that book! - Click here to read article

BBC Radio 2 Steve Wright Show - 'Website of the Day' Click here to view