Available only in bookshops – a magical voyage of discovery

As the curtain raises on Independent Bookshop Week, Helen Dunmore argues that, despite the convenience of shopping online, readers need to browse real shelves packed with real booksThe 10 best independent bookshops in the world – our readers recommendWe read not only with our eyes, but with our hearts. Every sense is in play. We shiver with fear, weep, laugh aloud, blaze with anger, are seduced, aroused, enchanted. We read with our senses of taste and smell, with skin and brain and intuition. We read intellectually, emotionally, erotically. We read in order to understand our lives, to become what we are not and through this to question what we are. For a few hours we enter the minds and bodies of lovers, criminals, artists. We are insiders, present as latitude is defined or Anne Boleyn murdered. We enter the minds of explorers and scientists, even though we may not be able to do the maths. Ages fly before us, and we step on to other continents. Our identity shifts. We understand other languages, even if we do not speak them. We live in 16th-century London, or Hogwarts. We run on the moors with Cathy and Heathcliff. We are watched by Big Brother, and sense our own weakness in the face of implacable totalitarianism. Related: David Nicholls: Browsing bookshops then buying online is a 'genteel form of shoplifting' Related: Weird and wonderful bookshops worldwide – in pictures Related: A life in writing: Helen Dunmore I can give you no conception of my welcome here. There... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #big brother #david nicholls #buying online #genteel form #helen dunmore

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Available only in bookshops – a magical voyage of discovery'


Available only in bookshops – a magical voyage of discovery

As the curtain raises on Independent Bookshop Week, Helen Dunmore argues that, despite the convenience of shopping online, readers need to browse real shelves packed with real booksThe 10 best independent bookshops in the world – our readers recommendWe read not only with our eyes, but with our... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big brother #david nicholls #buying online #genteel form #helen dunmore


Bookshops weave some magic to mark Harry Potter’s 20th anniversary

Bookshops around the country are unveiling a host of magical events — including Quidditch Pong, Harry Potter Bingo and Horcrux hunts—to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Bloomsbury). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #20th anniversary #harry potter #stone bloomsbury


Years Later, ‘The Year of Magical Thinking’ Wields Different Magic

As his own life unfolds, an artist reconsiders his reaction to Joan Didion’s memoir about loss. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-02-17 10:04:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #magical thinking #joan didion #memoir


Leone Ross | 'I knew I wanted magic, and I knew I wanted magic realism'

"Everything in Popisho was born with a little something-something... a little something extra. The local name was cors. Magic, but more than magic. A gift, nah? Yes. From the gods: a thing so inexpressibly your own.” Welcome to Popisho, the fictional Caribbean archipelago setting for Leone Ross’... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-14 21:58:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #leone ross


Harry Potter's magic: Documentary looks at 20 years since the boy who lived revived magic

In the 20 years since Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone – the first novel in JK Rowling's global publishing phenomenon – was released, the bespectacled boy wizard has achieved many, many revolutionary things. Most importantly, he has transformed children's passion for reading – and... Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2018-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harry potter #jk rowling


Bookshops celebrate Super Thursday and prepare for Bookshop Day

Booksellers are gearing up for a "very exciting and busy" Super Thursday today (5th October), although one has argued the multitudes of releases may mean some "great" titles get overlooked. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop day


Chorleywood Bookshop crowned Vintage Independent Bookshop of the Year 2016

Chorleywood Bookshop has been named the Vintage Independent Bookshop of the Year 2016, making it the first shop to have won the prize twice. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chorleywood bookshop


Big Green Bookshop owners to open children’s bookshop

The owners of the Big Green Bookshop are to open a second premises in Brookmans Park,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #open children


PW Bookstore of the Year 2024 Finalist: Red Balloon Bookshop

The Red Balloon, founded in 1984 in St. Paul, Minn., specializes in books for children of all ages. It has been a community gathering space for decades. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pw bookstore #bookstore


RuPaul has launched an online bookshop that will share its profits with writers.

There’s a new online bookstore in town—and this time it’s helmed by RuPaul. Yes, that RuPaul. (Reading being, after all, fundamental.) Allstora, announced today*, is a membership-based bookstore that offers a profit-split to authors. RuPaul serves as Allstora’s Chief Creative Officer and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-04 16:45:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online bookstore #bestselling author #bookstore #bookshop


Announcing Voyage Into Genre Live!

Tor Publishing Group and Lit Hub are thrilled to present an evening of fantasy at a LIVE version of our popular Voyage Into Genre podcast.  Join us on our epic group tour, featuring four TPG authors with new fantasy titles and a special guest moderator at each event. Details below — be sure to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-28 09:41:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fantasy titles #lit hub #live version #publishing group


Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

Before running the bookshop, Yeongju had never considered whether she was suitable to be a bookseller. She thought, rather naively, that anyone who loves books could be one. It was only when she started her own bookshop that she realized she had a serious shortcoming. She fumbled questions such... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-23 09:44:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop


‘Historical reparation’: new bookshops in Europe give voice to female authors

Greta Livraria in Lisbon and Rare Birds in Edinburgh are among the new stores dedicated to women’s writingWith its neatly arranged tables and shelves laden with books written by women, Greta Livraria’s small space masks its big ambitions. Since opening earlier this year, the bookstore in Lisbon... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-12-28 05:00:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #female authors #big ambitions #bookstore #books written


Akimbo Bookshop, Rochester’s Radical Bookstore, Rises from the Ashes

Helped by the bookselling community, Akimbo reopened in April after a fire destroyed its first location. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookselling community


A journey of discovery and identity formation: The Dictionary of Lost Words makes its wonderful stage debut

Verity Laughton’s stage adaptation of Pip Williams’ best-selling book is a a very clever realisation. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-09-28 05:05:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stage adaptation #pip williams #best-selling book


8 Magical Libraries in Fiction

Get away from it all with a journey to the most magical libraries in fiction from the Library of Zosma to the Great Libraries of Austmeer. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-09-12 10:34:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #libraries


Books About Magic and Witchcraft Offer Home Remedies

Forthcoming titles—written by experienced herbalists, spell casters, tarot experts, and pagan practitioners—connect readers to ancient folkways and spiritual practices using everyday spaces. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #spiritual practices


My big Birmingham bookshop crawl: why booksellers are suddenly thriving

In 2009, two bookshops a week were closing in the UK and the days of physical books seemed numbered. Now, indie stores are booming. What explains the turnaround – and can it be sustained?When Sarah Mullen was asked to set up a children’s book festival in a leafy suburb of Birmingham in 2012, she... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-27 09:00:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #covid pandemic #friday morning #write poems #small retailers #independent bookseller #children’s book #bookshop