What happens when you discover letters ✉️ from your grandmother’s past that reveals an entire new life that no one has heard about?
Fans of Singaporean history and World War 2 plan stories, come swing by Book Bar for a conversation between Clare Willis (author of The Singapore Secret) and moderator Andrea Strachan!
🕐 17 May 2026, 2PM-3PM
📌 Book Bar
***
A secret letter. A wartime promise. A courageous act of love...
Singapore, 1942: The war is drawing ever closer, and Dorothy faces a heart-rending choice to flee the country she has come to call home. With warplanes advancing across the ocean, she is boarding a boat full of evacuees when something is urgently pressed into her arms.
As enemy fire cuts off all escape routes, Dorothy makes a promise that will echo through the years...
England, 2019: When her beloved grandmother, Dotty, passes away aged one hundred, Annabel discovers letters and photographs hidden in her desk that document a secret life as a young woman in Singapore. But Dotty has never travelled further than her small village in Cornwall... What could have made her conceal this past life? And who is the bridegroom standing proudly next to Dotty in a faded wedding photo, who is clearly not Annabel’s grandfather?
Determined to uncover the truth, is Annabel prepared for what she will find? #bookstagram #historicalfiction #singaporehistory #historicalbooks #ww2history
We have something for everyone this May! From fiction to non-fiction, and children’s book launches too, we hope to see you!
And there’ll also be new Culture Pass titles added this month so come down to check out the new titles as well.
#singlit #sgculturepass #sgbookstore
You can now find our Mei Learns… series at @bookbarsg
🎉 If you find yourself in the Tanjong Pagar / Outram / Chinatown area, do pop in and enjoy a ☕️ or 🍷 while browsing the wonderful collection of titles.
Join us for What We Read, and Why — a book event and panel discussion with Warren Fernandez, together with Alex Chua, as they explore the books, ideas, and stories that shape the way we read and think.
📅 May 16th 2026 (Sat)
🕔 5–7pm
📍 Book Bar
57 Duxton Rd, Singapore 089521
The session will be followed by a Q&A with the speakers. Limited seats available, so be sure to secure your spot early!
“For had anyone heard of a yellow dragon, except in ballads and in dreams?”
This book was a dream. With sagely humour and a witty way with words, Low Ying Ping invites you into the heart of this tale.
We start with young Emperor Kai, eavesdropping on a conversation between his royal advisors, plotting his very own murder. Kai runs away, determined to chase an old legend: the Dragon’s Pulse, which he believes will save him from his enemies.
Kai must do this before he turns 13. In this world, children forget magic ever existed on their 13th birthday.
Led by the wind away from courtiers in pursuit, Kai meets the irrepressible Mengyao, a whirlwind of energy, curiosity and spirit. All she wants is to grow up to be a divine healer, and discovers that Kai’s pursuit of magic aligns with her own.
@lowyingping then brings us on a wondrous, unexpected journey that might induce a tear or two at the end.
This highly-anticipated middle grade title debuts internationally and in Singapore bookstores this month. Preorders (that come with #bookswag if you’re fast enough!) have opened for signed copies @closetfulofbooks and @bookbarsg ❤️ Make sure you do this by 12 May, ok?
@readingnationsg@times.reads@penguinkids #lowyingping #middlegrade #literaryreads #singapore
There’s a secret you might’ve known, but you probably forgot… MAGIC IS REAL. ✨🐉
In @lowyingping ’s latest story, every child knows that, but they forget all about it by the time they turn thirteen. Mengyao wants to remember. But with her thirteenth birthday fast approaching, she’s losing hope. Meanwhile, young emperor Kai is on the run from traitorous advisors, searching for the fabled Dragon’s Pulse, a magic capable of defeating his enemies. Embark on their journey; shaped by danger, secrecy, and the possibility of magic and unexpected alliances! 🐇
Join us for the book launch happening on the 30th of May 2026, from 2-4pm at @bookbarsg . Moderated by @melanderings , the authors will be chatting about Ying Ping’s international debut (!), magic, mayhem and mythical creatures, as well as get down to some arts & crafts to find your inner dragon. 🔥
Suitable for ages 8 and up: adults and kids welcome! See you there! 👋
Fresh off the press! Samuel Lee’s 𝘼 𝙁𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙂𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙚 returns—an award-winning collection that reimagines everyday aisles into something stranger and more expansive.
Join us in celebrating its return as part of AFTERIMAGE’s RENDITIONS series 🛒🌿
📅 4 June, Thu, 7-8pm
📍 Book Bar (57 Duxton Rd)
🔗 Free with registration: <afieldguide.peatix.com>
#singlit #poetry
Happening tomorrow, May 6! Come join us - read something if you like, or come enjoy the lovely company.
Registration starts 7pm. Readings from 730-9pm.
May 6, Wednesday, at @bookbarsg
#ownyournonsense #kilangkobis
chatting with Dr Marcus Tan this Saturday at the launch of Theatrimusicality, a book that offers a compelling new way of thinking about the relationship between music and theatre in Singapore. Moving beyond the idea that they are separate forms, Marcus explores how musical and theatrical elements work through one another in performance, shaping how meaning is created, perceived, and felt. Drawing on examples from a range of cultural contexts, Marcus’ book invites audiences to reflect on performance as a rich, layered encounter in which sound and sight are deeply intertwined. The performances analysed in this book and the Singapore artists featured include – Margaret Leng Tan, Ming Wong, Siong Leng Musical Association and my own work, Quora Fora: A Rehearsal.
Currently an Associate Professor of Drama at Nanyang Technological University, Marcus Tan is an internationally engaged scholar of theatre and performance whose work spans music and theatre studies, sound studies, intercultural performance and Asian Shakespeares. Apart from having published extensively in these areas, Marcus is also an advisor to SoundscapeSG, a sound map and sound archive by the National Archives, Assistant Editor of Theatre Research International and Secretary-General of the International Federation for Theatre Research.
“The Matcha Maker Cafe” is out now! The first 20 people to purchase a copy of the book will be entitled to redeem a free matcha latte (on the same day of purchase) courtesy of our friends at @definitelybooks !
<The only person harder to match than her clients . . . is the matchmaker herself.
At Matcha Moments, owner Sasha Lee is a star matchmaker, helping customers find love over a smooth cup of matcha. You’d think that as the master she’d be living her fairytale ending, but Sasha is allergic to commitment.
With a growing reputation, her successes are challenged when the ‘unmatchable’ Ben walks in - a man who believes he’s too boring for love. As Sasha tries to match him, she slowly finds herself drawn to his quiet charm.
As their daily banter becomes the highlight of her day, Sasha must confront the possibility that her own love story might be brewing. Will she embrace the unexpected romance, or let her past fears keep her from true love?>
#matchalatte #sgmatchalovers #sgmatcha
🌟Join Teo You Yenn at Book Bar for an engaging and thought-provoking Sunday afternoon‼️
This session will feature short readings from Unease: Life in Singapore Families and space for conversation with the author on the themes and topics within Unease.
🗓: 3 May 2026 (Sun)
🕤: 3.00PM-4.00PM
📍: Book Bar—57 Duxton Rd, Singapore 089521
🎟: Register via link in bio
📖 Unease: Life in Singapore Families is bestselling author Teo You Yenn’s iincisive exposé of how social structures, individual strategies and common practices come to produce Singaporean ‘cultures’ of doing family, and why, in a loudly ‘pro-family’ society, work-life balance remains elusive and parents so uneasy.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭? – 𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
Have you made a commitment to a workplace, a community, or an organisation and sensed that something is off? Something in that human system feels life-draining, unhealthy, toxic? You may not know what that something is, let alone what to do about it.
“What is worthy of your commitment?” is a question we offer as a space for you to dialogue about, search, wrestle with not just what is off – what is life-draining- but more importantly what a life-giving alternative could look like. We share the book Worthy of Commitment to empower the choice of that flourishing alternative for your life and the human systems you participate in.
Join us in the conversation to envision this shared flourishing life and work towards making it a reality together.
We hope to see you:
🗓 Date: Thursday, 30 April
🕛 Time: 7.30pm – 9.30pm
📍 Venue: Book Bar, 57 Duxton Road, S089521
Space is limited, RSVP link in the bio to reserve your spot!
