Online browsing
Your local bookshop will be able
to order in any title you’re after.
Forgotten a birthday and need
something speedily? When it’s
not possible to pop-in in person,
see if your local – like many – has
an online ordering service. If not,
there are good places to keep
your shelves stocked. Connected
to a network of independent
sellers, at hive.co.uk a proportion
of each sale goes to a local
bookshop, or you can nominate
your favourite. Wordery.com is a
fast-growing British independent
online seller, with millions of
titles and free delivery. If you’re
based in London, it’s worth
checking out Near.St – it can tell
you if a local shop has your book
in stock – you can then choose
to pick it up or have it delivered
within the hour.aficionados can don their deer stalkers and
head to Belfast’s No Alibis, while Bristol’s
Arnolfini has all your coffee table/art book
needs covered. They can be places for change,
too – just look at London’s Gay’s the Word – not
only in promoting gay literature but also as
a centre for campaigning, as so memorably
brought to life in the film Pride.GO ON A BOOKSHOP CRAWL
The joy of a bookshop outing is that you can get
an immense amount of pleasure with a short
time commitment. If you have more time on
your hands, you could try a bookshop crawl.
The UK is blessed with several ‘book towns’- that’s (usually rural) towns or villages with a
high concentration of secondhand book shops.
The idea is said to have started in Japan at the
end of the 19th century, but perhaps the most
famous example is Hay-on-Wye, which became
a book town in the 1960s and is especially
worth a trip during its annual, world-renowned
literary festival. We’ve now also got Wigtown
in Scotland, Sedbergh in Cumbria and
Atherstone in Warwickshire, with more
examples now found around the world. Larger
cities probably have enough stores for you to
devise a day of bookish browsing for yourself,
but if you need a bit of a helping hand, Ninja
bookbox organises annual bookshop crawls
(see ‘More’ at ninjabookbox.com), to date held
in London, Bath, Oxford and Canterbury. And
Blue Stocking Books (bluestockingbooks.co.uk)
organises walking tours specifically around
inspiring London bookshops.
(^5) GAY’S THE WORD BOOKS. London, UK
When Gay’s the Word Books opened in 1979, much of its
stock had to be imported from the States, because the
UK didn’t publish enough gay books. In 1984, titles by the
likes of Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal and Christopher
Isherwood were among those seized under accusations
of pornography and conspiracy to import indecent
books. The charges were eventually dropped, but no
apologies for the wrongful accusations were ever given.
(^7) SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY. Paris, France
The Left Bank store is a tribute to Sylvia Beach’s
bookstore of the 1920s, which is famous for publishing
Ulysses. George Whitman opened the current
incarnation in 1951 – it’s now in the hands of his daughter
Sylvia. At least 30,000 writers and artists, including
Ethan Hawke, Darren Aronofsky and Geoffrey Rush have
been ‘Tumbleweeds’, sleeping on benches-cum-beds
tucked into the store’s aisles.
(^6) TOPPING & COMPANY BOOKSELLERS. Ely, UK
Get a free cup of coffee or tea as you browse handsome
shelves with well organised books of all kinds, including
many signed and collectible editions. Note the signs,
hand-written by Mrs Topping herself. Branches can
also be found in B ath and St Andrews.
Illustrations &
bookshop
captions © 2018
by Jane Mount.
Extracted
from Bibliophile:
An Illustrated
Miscellany
(Chronicle Books).
ESCAPE (^) | OUTING