withtimeandspacetobrowse,andapersonal
endorsement – I bought it.
I’m so glad I did. Leanne Shapton’s novel tells
ofthecomingtogetherandfallingapartofa
relationship through objects. And that’s one of
thedelightsofaphysicalbookshop,being
introducedtonewthingsthatmightnothave
otherwise crossed your path.
Butthere’salotmorethatIhavetothank
thisbookshopfor.Idiscoveredanewfavourite
author,LauraDockrill;Ifoundthefirstissueof
anintriguinglookingmagazinethere–itwas
Oh Comelyand I now work for it; and when I
contributedtomyownfirstbook,weheldan
event there. All that’s not counting the many
recommendations and discoveries made there,
disproportionate to its modest size. I now live
in an entirely different neighbourhood, but I
haven’t taken myself off the mailing list, always
tempted to make the hour trek for another visit.
And that’s the pull of a good bookshop.LOVE LOCAL
Local bookshops are so much more than ‘just’ a
shop. They’re community hubs, as well as a way
into hundreds of different lives, minds and
worlds. Knowing this, a campaign was
launched earlier this year to give bookshops the
same business tax relief rates as pubs, a bid to
protect them from current high-street woes.
Since Amazon opened in 1995, more than half
the UK’s bookshops have shut. We’ve all
ordered online but the best way to support our
bookshops is, of course, to visit them in person.
They’re the antithesis of the speedy, unthinkingN
owthat’safantasticbook!”.I’m
flicking through the pages of
Important Artifacts and Personal
Property from the Collection of
Lenore Doolan and Harold
Morris: including Books, Street
Fashion and Jewelryinmylocalbookshopwhen
I get this enthusiastic endorsement from the
shop’sowner.I’dhavedismissedthebookifI’d
seen it online – that title, for starters, and the
fact that it resembles an auction catalogue,
more than a novel. But in my local bookshop,Looking for booksIllustration: JANE MOUNT Words: FRANCES AMBLERWHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN AN HOUR BROWSING
THE SHELVES OF A BOOKSHOP? AND WITH IT THE
PROMISE OF MORE PLEASURABLE HOURS TO COME(^1) STRAND BOOKS. New York, USA
This store in Manhattan’s East Village boasts ‘18 Miles of
B ook s ’ (which , if you ’re wondering , is more than 2. 5
million of them). It’s owned by Nancy Bass Wyden, whose
grandfather founded Strand Books in 1927. At that time,
Fourth Avenue was called Book Row and there were 47
other bookstores nearby. Strand is the only one left.
ESCAPE (^) | OUTING