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'


Jillian Tamaki’s Troubled, Magical Teens

Jillian Tamaki's follow-up to her award-winning 'This One Summer' is a darkly humorous look at the foibles of super-powered teen students that confirms Tamaki's place as one of the most exciting cartoonists today. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jillian tamaki


Amazon petition couple sell bookshops

A couple who were splashed across the national press when they delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street calling on Amazon to pay corporation tax in the UK have sold their two bookshops. Keith and Frances Smith who owned Warwick Books and Kenilworth Books have sold both the indies to new owners... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #national press #kenilworth books


Expanding tearoom and bookshop chain opens in Chester

A new branch of a growing tearooms and bookshop chain is to open in Chester this weekend. Beatons Tearooms Ltd, which is also a bookshop, was first founded by owner Patrick Duffy in 2010 in Tisbury, Wiltshire. Beaton's outlets are “very much a tearooms,” Duffy, said, “but the book stock is also... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop chain #book stock


ALLi to launch bookshop campaign during LBF

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is to launch a new campaign aimed at bookshops during the London Book Fair. Called Authors for Bookstores, the campaign will launch at the Indie Author Fringe Festival, which will be held on 17th April at Foyles’ Charing Cross Road flagship. ALLi... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #campaign aimed #indie authors


Indie bookshop numbers fall again in 2014

The number of independent bookshops in the UK fell once again last year, with nearly 50 high street bookshops closing in 2014.  The number of indie members of the Booksellers Association fell by 48 in 2014, to 939 indies. The 2013 figure (987) was a watershed moment for the industry, as it was... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent bookshops #uk fell #watershed moment #records began


Three bookshops open

Three new independent bookshops have launched onto the scene in Manchester, Cheltenham and Cornwall. The Suffolk Anthology opened its doors at the end of last month in Cheltenham, run by former GP Helene Hewett as a family business with her two children, selling new titles, with a significant... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshops open #independent bookshops #family business


Independent Bookshop of Year shortlists and winners revealed

The regional shortlists and winners of The Bookseller Industry Awards’ Independent Bookshop of the Year category, sponsored by Gardners Books, have been praised by the judging committee for their “creativity, passion and [for] demonstrating the very best the sector has to offer”. The judges —... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #year shortlists #year category #independent bookshop #regional shortlists #gardners books


German indies launch online bookshop

Already dubbed by the media as a serious contender for Amazon, the new German online bookshop Genialokal.de will finally be launched on March 12th, the first day of the Leipzig Book Fair. The e-commerce platform promotes localism under the banner “fantastically local” and is an initiative of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up' stays strong on bestseller lists (+video)

'Tidying Up,' which gives readers a one-time solution to de-cluttering their home, has been a mainstay on bestseller lists since its publication. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #life-changing magic #stays strong #one-time solution #bestseller lists


'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up' stays strong on bestseller lists

'Tidying Up,' which gives readers a one-time solution to de-cluttering their home, has been a mainstay on bestseller lists since its publication. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #life-changing magic #stays strong #bestseller lists #one-time solution


Charing Cross Road events for Big Green Bookshop

The Big Green Bookshop is set to hold events at The Old Café – in the former Foyles Charing Cross Road – in an “exciting new partnership.” The Old Café in Foyles’ former home was always a popular venue with literary folk and is still operating after the bookseller moved its flagship store down... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hold events #literary folk #flagship store #wood green


Indie Bookshop of the Year Award: deadline extended

The deadline has been extended for independent bookshops to apply for one of the industry’s most coveted prizes – Independent Bookseller of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards. Indies now have until 5p.m. on Monday 23rd February to submit their entries here to be considered for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #indie bookshop #independent bookshops #independent bookseller #added bonus


There’s No “Magic Pill” When it Comes to Data

Three questions publishers should ask before embarking on a data strategy The post There’s No “Magic Pill” When it Comes to Data appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2015-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #data appeared #magic pill


Bookshops contend for Best Small Shop award

Four bookshops have made the shortlist for the Best Small Shops Competition.  Booka bookshop in Oswestry, Main Street Trading Company in St Boswells, the Book Nook in Hove and Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath (pictured) have all made the shortlist of the best 20 small shops in the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #booka bookshop #st boswells #book nook #reading delights


Bookshops begin Go Set A Watchman deals

Blackwell’s and Foyles are both offering discounts to people who pre-order Harper Lee’s forthcoming novel Go Set a Watchman (William Heinemann). Go Set a Watchman, written by Lee before her bestselling novel To Kill a Mockingbird but featuring some of the same characters, will be released on... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #offering discounts #14th july


Indie Book Day backed by bookshops and publishers

Indie Book Day is set to make a mark on the UK this year after starting in Germany two years ago and quickly spreading across Europe. The campaign – which hopes to become comparable to the American Record Store Day event, but for books – wants readers to flock to independent bookshops on 21st... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent bookshops #independent publisher


Belarus bookshop rallies against publishing crackdown

Independent publishing house Lohvinau launches crowdfunding campaign after government imposed heavy fine on Minsk literary hub“We are trapped in an absurd and unjust situation which threatens not only the existence of Lohvinau Bookstore but which endangers the possibility to publish books freely... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #selling books #state registration


New Start-Up Touts Book Discovery Tool

Digital distributor Trajectory has an algorithm it claims can extract a book's 'personality' in order to offer better recommendations. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Worldly Magic of Hugo Pratt's ‘Corto Maltese’

PW interviews IDW/EuroComics editor Dean Mullaney and translator Simone Castaldi about 'Under the Sign of Capricorn,' the first of twelve projected reprint volumes of Hugo Pratt's beloved Corto Maltese series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Busy bookshops see range of Christmas hits

Booksellers have reported positive sales going into the final week of the Christmas rush, with Chris Hadfield’s You Are Here (Macmillan) breaking through as a last-minute favourite. However the leading celebrity memoirs are not racking up individual totals as substantial as they did last year,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #christmas hits #final week #christmas rush #chris hadfield