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'


V&A to close dedicated bookshop and cut 10% of staff as Covid-19 hits finances

The Victoria & Albert Museum is closing its dedicated bookshop and making 103 roles redundant across its retail and visitor experience teams as the Covid-19 crisis hits its finances. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-05 09:58:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop


Bookshops gear up for second 'Super Thursday' as 355 new titles hit shelves

Bookshops are gearing up for another bumper Super Thursday with around 355 new trade hardback books hitting the shelves today (1st October), with some warning of a "creaking" supply chain. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-01 00:12:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshops gear #super thursday #supply chain #hardback


Little Toller to open bookshop

Independent press Little Toller is to open a bookshop in the Dorset town of Beaminster next month.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-24 21:34:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #open bookshop #independent press #bookshop


Booksellers welcome UK arrival of indie-focused Bookshop site

Booksellers have generally reacted enthusiastically to news that the US indie-focused retail site Bookshop.org is launching in the UK this November, although some remain cautious. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-13 19:17:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop


'We haven't seen anything like it since Harry Potter': UK bookshops report record week

With books delayed by the pandemic reaching shops alongside other titles aimed at the Christmas market, the trade has seen sales boomBooksellers up and down the UK are reporting a boom in sales since readers returned to bookshops after the lockdown, with the first avalanche of Christmas titles... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-09-11 12:40:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books delayed #trade magazine #harry potter #titles aimed #christmas market #records began #elena ferrante #bestselling titles #year due #bookseller


Discovery + Diversity: 8 Moms on Building Personal Libraries for Kids

Eight moms on how they're building personal libraries for their children and building their interest in reading. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-09-11 10:37:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #libraries


Bookshop Opens in the U.K.

Bookshop.org has opened to the U.K. trade and will be open to consumers in November. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop opens


Bookshop Opens in the U.K.

Bookshop.org has opened to the U.K. trade and will be open to consumers in November. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop opens


Inaugural Sceptre Bookshop Award shortlist revealed

The shortlist for the first Sceptre Bookshop Award shortlist has been revealed, featuring independent retailers across the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-09 22:30:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop


London Review Bookshop's Screen at Home series returns

The London Review Bookshop has partnered with the MUBI streaming service for the broadcast of eight films to be accompanied by fortnightly conversations with writers.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-01 17:23:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop


Check out this gorgeous illustrated map of Black-owned bookshops across the country.

Happy Independent Bookstore Day! As part of its guide to Black-owned bookshops in the US, O, The Oprah Magazine created an illustrated map of some of the highlights, and it’s really delightful. The team also asked writers like Tayari Jones, Kiley Reid, and Clint Smith where they like to shop;... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-28 17:29:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #black-owned bookshops #asked writers #tayari jones #kiley reid #clint smith #independent bookstore


Bookshops operate on a broader canvas | Letter

Ross Bradshaw responds to an editorial on the boom in publishing We were interested to read that “Bookshops in big city centres … are wary of taking risks” (Editorial, 23 August), and that this autumn’s harvest includes books by Ant and Dec, Jilly Cooper and Arsène Wenger, which have the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-26 16:44:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jilly cooper #arsne wenger #current bestsellers #poetry books #bookshop


Cowell tops bill for Reading is Magic Festival

Waterstones children’s laureate Cressida Cowell is heading the line-up of authors and illustrators at children’s digital book festival Reading is Magic. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-26 16:14:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #magic festival #digital book


Bolton Asks for Discovery, Claims Trump Administration Acted in 'Bad Faith'

In an August 20 filing, attorneys for former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said the evidence will show that Trump administration officials abused the prepublication review system in an attempt to suppress his bestselling book 'The Room Where it Happened.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bad faith #bestselling book


Online bookshop launches for Mail readers

E-commerce firm Monwell has launched the Mail Bookshop with Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-19 17:01:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookshop


Over half of Tate's London bookshop staff at risk of redundancy

More than half of Tate's London bookshop staff are facing redundancy, with several roles in its books team and publishing operation also at risk, The Bookseller has learned. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-16 14:07:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books team #publishing operation #bookseller #bookshop


Sharmaine Lovegrove: ‘You must spend a year in a bookshop before you get a job in publishing’

Seeing unexpected pairings of readers and books quickly dispels the idea of who reads what• Time to reset: more brilliant ideas to remake the worldI have a party trick. If you name three books you like and two you hate, I can write you a reading list of 10 books you will love.I’ve gained this... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-15 10:00:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ve run #publishing industry #sharmaine lovegrove #brilliant ideas #ve worked #bookshop


Hodder Faith and St Andrew's Bookshop launch The Big Church Read

Hodder Faith, in partnership with mini-chain St Andrew’s Bookshop, will launch a national church book club this autumn, to be known as The Big Church Read. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-12 13:00:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hodder faith #book club #hodder #bookshop


ABA Relationship with Bookshop Draws Booksellers’ Scrutiny

Bookshop has helped many independents weather the pandemic, but some booksellers say the ABA is not being transparent about its financial relationship with the online retailer and worry that Bookshop poses new competition. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online retailer #bookshop


Arabic Literature and Antiquarian Bookshops: A Conversation with Richard van Leeuwen, by Alex Crayon

Interviews Richard van Leeuwen is a senior lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Amsterdam. This year, he won the 2020 Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Arabic Culture in Other Languages category for his book The Thousand and One Nights and... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-08-10 20:32:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #peter handke #wide audience #laid bare #cultural change #digital media #bookshop #zayed book