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'


Halls hails Bookshop site as 'game-changer' for indies

New retail website Bookshop.org has been hailed as a “game-changer” by Booksellers Association m.d. Meryl Halls while its founder has said more features are on the way. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-17 09:40:54 UTC ]
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SelfMadeHero launches Draw Your Bookshop lockdown campaign

Graphic novel publisher SelfMadeHero is launching a social media campaign calling for artists to support bookshops with a drawing of their favourite store. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-17 06:10:11 UTC ]
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Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell review – virtuosic venting

Pantomime misanthropy is tempered with bursts of sweetness in the secondhand bookseller’s latest dispatches from WigtownThere’s a moment in the first season of the short-lived but influential sitcom Black Books in which an elderly customer appears with a box of attractive old editions of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-11-11 09:00:33 UTC ]
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HCG pre-empts Sagar's magical middle-grade fantasy in six-figure deal

Hachette Children’s Group has pre-empted a "magical" middle-grade fantasy series from debut author Andy Sagar in a six-figure deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-10 18:53:49 UTC ]
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BA calls for bookshops to be classified essential retailers

The Booksellers Association (BA) has written to key government ministers and Lords calling for bookshops be classed as essential retailers, allowing them to reopen during lockdown in England. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-10 11:56:02 UTC ]
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Toppings bookshop to expand in move to listed building

Bath bookshop Toppings & Company is to move to a listed Georgian building, and will begin expansion building works next year.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-08 18:39:07 UTC ]
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First Bookshop Heroes list unveiled

A new annual initiative celebrating the best of bookselling in the UK and Ireland sees 29 Bookshop Heroes hailed for their efforts in reaching readers with books—and beyond. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 23:21:06 UTC ]
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Bookshop Heroes share top bookselling tips

Some of our inaugural Bookshop Heroes — the best individual booksellers in the UK and Ireland — share the skills that are key to running a bookshop.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 16:20:56 UTC ]
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Hachette backs bookshops' online sales of Rowling's Ickabog

Hachette Children's Books has said the publisher will be "pivoting" promotional plans for J K Rowling's The Ickabog to support closed bookshops. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 10:01:07 UTC ]
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Bourne unites authors in bookshop support campaign

Author Holly Bourne has launched a campaign to support bookshops during lockdown, involving more than 300 writers so far.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 06:38:02 UTC ]
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Second print run for British bookshops travelogue

Fairlight Books is ordering a second print run of its c.e.o. Louise Boland's travelogue, Bookshop Tours of Britain.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-03 02:57:21 UTC ]
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Retail site Bookshop makes £65k sales on UK launch day

New online retailer Bookshop.org secured sales of around £65,000 in its first day, making £16,000 for indies. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-02 12:21:42 UTC ]
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Click and collect might not suit us all, say indie bookshops

Indie bookshop owners and managers are gearing up for a second lockdown with optimism, though some are divided over the viability of click and collect services. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-02 12:15:49 UTC ]
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Harry Potter publisher says Covid has weaved magic over book sales

After shaky start in lockdown, Bloomsbury sales soar as people pick books over box setsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Harry Potter publisher, Bloomsbury, has reported its most profitable first half in more than a decade, after a nation tiring of box sets fuelled... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-10-27 12:22:12 UTC ]
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Three bookshops make Britain's Best Small Shop 2020 shortlist

Indie stores Mr B's, Books At The Dragon's Garden and Griffin Books (pictured) are in the running to be crowned Britain's Best Small Shop 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-22 09:29:05 UTC ]
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Muswell Hill Bookshop to close

North London indie stalwart Muswell Hill Bookshop is to close, following the retirement of its owner, Ivan Beal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-20 23:21:36 UTC ]
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Totnes Bookshop closes in box office development plan

Totnes Bookshop in south Devon is being closed in its current form by the trust that owns its lease and will reopen as a box office for local events. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-19 11:36:36 UTC ]
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Retail site Bookshop announces UK board

Bookshop.org, a retail site billed as a way for indies to counter Amazon’s online dominance, has today revealed the members of its UK board.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-13 09:56:56 UTC ]
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The Magic of Plot and Catharsis: A Conversation with Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith

LET’S DISPENSE WITH the small surprises up front. The latest outing from Smith Henderson, acclaimed author of what others might call literary fiction — his award-winning 2014 debut, Fourth of July Creek — is indeed a thriller. And it’s not a solo endeavor — he’s teamed up with a friend, Jon Marc... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-10-11 12:30:47 UTC ]
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The Ivy Bookshop opens up in new location in Baltimore City

Look for the green stucco house with a porch near the Mt. Washington Whole Foods. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2020-10-07 22:23:53 UTC ]
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