Finding sanctuary in Battle

Life's been a bit busy recently, so I've a raft of bookshop visits to share with you and an even bigger pile of books to read, but the news of a newly opened bookshop was too good an opportunity for me to miss.

Throw in the national Saturday Sanctuary campaign run by Books Are My Bag and the official opening of said bookshop occurring on the same day – just an hour from where I live – and it was pretty much inevitable I'd be rearranging my priorities once again. We'll gloss over the fact I couldn't visit in time to actually see the ribbon being cut by the local MP, but my boyfriend didn't realise we missed the festivities proper so who am I to set him straight?

Even several hours after the ribbon cutting, Rother Books in Battle was still crammed with eager bookshoppers, so much so it took a long time for me to find the opportunity to photograph any bookshelves for fear of disturbing the browsers. It created a nice atmosphere and I'm sure is part of the reason the feeling of celebration had lasted so far into the day.

In the words of the bookseller, the bookshop is small, but to my eyes it's two well-stocked rooms behind beautiful period windows in an historic high street building. Were I to draw a sliding scale of bookshop sizes I'd put it at small to middling, but the window running along the length of the shop, combined with whitewashed walls and a spacious entrance meant even with a crowd it never felt cramped. I even noticed one young lad had found a corner to call his own, sat on the floor to the side of the history books – I couldn't see what he was reading but he looked engrossed.

Stock was welcomingly varied, with a mix of old favourites and unusual treats. Where smaller bookshops have to take care over the titles they hold I'm used to seeing interesting selections with books notable for both their absence and presence, here was the same and I was pleased to spot those inclusions and omissions. Importantly, Rother Books had taken the trouble to include my favourite book among its titles so even if the rest of the place had been a disaster (it wasn't) the bookshop would still win a big thumbs up from me.*

Our visit ended with a chat to the bookseller, during which (and before I introduced myself) I asked for advice for a Christmas gift – one of my nieces will soon be the proud owner of Robin Stevens' Arsenic for Tea – and for myself I picked up On the beach by Nevil Shute.

Rother Books is a lovely addition to Battle High Street, and near enough to my home that I look forward to being able to visit again and again – best of luck to this long-standing bookseller who's decided to go it alone.

Rother Books
59-60 High Street,
Battle,
East Sussex,
TN33 0EN
Tel: 01424 834756
@rotherbooks

*It's my blog and I'll be biased if I want to.

In search of wildlife in Costa Rica

You've driven for an hour, sat in a plane for 11 more and your body clock is absolutely shot to pieces, so what's the first thing you do upon arriving in your hotel, a little north of the equator?

Go wildlife hunting, obviously. Only in this instance it wasn't for a sloth or brightly coloured bird hiding in the rainforest, but for an English-speaking bookseller working somewhere in a (mini) urban jungle.

We'd arrived in Costa Rica for our holiday of a lifetime with one goal each.

Him: to see a sloth in the wild.
Me: to visit a bookshop.

We'd done our research.

Him: pictures, descriptions, locations, that sort of thing.
Me: googling "English language bookshop, San Jose".

The first entry in my search was Mora Books, and flicking through a few pictures on their Facebook page I knew it was the bookshop for me. As luck would have it, when we set out to explore we realised this bookshop was also a mere five-minute walk from our hotel. It was meant to be.

Found on a side street very near the main shopping street of San Jose, Mora Books is a small but perfectly formed secondhand bookshop.

From the road I admit a first glance might have put off the ignorant traveller if she'd not done her research and been determined to visit the bookshop no matter what: Painted bars line the building, and looking in from the bright outdoor sunlight all you can see is darkness, a couple of men chatting and a dog. Then you look again and realise the railings are decorated with a Bernie Sanders poster, the men are chatting and relaxed, and they're all surrounded by an indescribable amount of books. Even the most timid of travellers must surely want to step inside? We did.

A brief hello welcomed us to the bookshop and we dived into floor-to-ceiling piles and shelves. Where in some places books piled on the floor can be depressing, here it was welcoming, reassuring and a fascinating challenge to explore. Crime, fiction, science fiction and all the usual treats of my favourite British secondhand bookshops were to be found. The classics section was possibly better stocked than some I've visited, as I marvelled at the sight of Aristophanes, Burnett, Eliot, Gaskell, Ibsen, and so on through the alphabet, I even nostalgically flicked through a J M Synge play, remembering my A-level studies. The temptation to buy one, just to be able to say "I travelled almost to the equator and came home with a copy of this classic" was strong, but I had to keep exploring.

As mentioned, the bookshop is small, probably comparable to your average independent new bookshop in this country, but as well as the shelves of books there are piles: in front of shelves, in front of the counter, in front of other piles. There was also a sense of care to the piles, these books may not have been sorted as well as the bookseller would like (in his own words, if he's had time to tidy the bookshop, business isn't going well), but the books didn't feel dumped or neglected. Even the obviously most-read books in the worst condition* had still been looked after.

Rummaging was of a level of fun comparable to a new bookshop I remember in London, and we could have easily stayed here for the rest of the holiday, but there were sloths to see, and so I had to make my decision: The perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I love the randomness of buying a book that's long been on my to-read list, from a bookshop in Costa Rica.

Before leaving we made sure we were introduced to the bookshop dog: Harvey was just the right level of happy but distantly friendly; we asked about the bookshop cat, asleep upstairs – cats keep their own hours; and had a chat with the bookseller – a wonderfully enthusiastic man, I only wish I'd been awake enough to properly join in the conversation. His love of bookselling and friendliness were clear to see but I'm ashamed to admit jetlag has stolen much of the conversation.

Costa Rica is a wonderful country and we were lucky enough to see many wildlife treats – including tree frogs, sloths and a sleeping bat – but first impressions count and this bookshop was the perfect start to our adventure.


Mora Books
calle 5 ave 5 y 7
San José, Costa Rica
Tel: +506 8383 8385

* I would love to know how bibliophiles in humid countries keep their books in good condition?

 

Bookshop Day 2017

**The blog's going to have to take a brief pause, come back soon and I'll tell you more about each of these bookshops and the many others I've been visiting**

Life's a bit busy for me at the moment, with work, family, friends and cat all demanding urgent attention in such a way that the thought of five minutes to just sit and relax is unheard of. It's good to be busy, and I wouldn't be without any of it, but it means time's rushing by at unheard of speeds and I swear someone's sped up the second hand on my watch.

Which means it was probably inevitable that the evening before Bookshop Day would arrive and I'd have no idea where I was heading for my bookshop crawl. The decision had been playing on my mind, but none of the rough routes I came up with had quite worked out once put down on paper. I was panicking about it as I walked home from work, and what may have seemed like a jokey tweet was actually a genuine comment on the whimpering mental state I found myself in. Thankfully, a nearby-ish bookshop came to my aid and replied with the suggestion I visit them.

A long, long time ago* I first visited Much Ado Books in Alfriston and fell in love with its many details. Later I came to also love its booksellers for their friendly welcome and consistently spot on book recommendations, so it felt like I was taking my boyfriend to meet old friends.

Which was exactly the welcome we received.

It was a wonderful start to the day to be greeted by such a lovely couple, to talk bookshop plans, bookselling in general and catch up on news. It was also a treat to be able to give my boyfriend a tour of such a beautiful – and busy – bookshop and its barn event space. It was hard to leave when we had such a warm welcome, but The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell and The Roasting Tin cookbook by Rukmini Iyer came away with us.

Next we made a flying visit to Lewes, and the Bag of Books. It was unfortunate that our arrival coincided with a rather damp lunchtime, meaning this children's bookshop was rather quiet, but on the plus side we were able to enjoy the bright, colourful space uninterrupted and it wasn't hard to imagine a bunch of very happy children also enjoying it. Patrick Ness' The Rest Of Us Just Live here was my choice, having stuck in my mind since it was a finalist in the 2016 BAMB Readers Awards, I was pleased to find it.

Moving on, we overcame slow traffic to arrive at Kemptown Bookshop, on the outskirts of Brighton. I've often heard good things about this place, so I was looking forward to this visit, but what I hadn't expected was the joy on my boyfriend's face as he explored. He's a fan of bookshops too, but in all our time together this is the first one where he's acted like a kid in a sweetshop.

Taking up three floors, I was more than happy with the diverse, high quality fiction offering, but throw in the popular science, poetry and art and my boyfriend was in his element. He bought Ted Hughes' The Crow, Steffen Kverneland's Munch and The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, making my choice of Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson seem rather limited by comparison. While paying the bookseller and my boyfriend enjoyed an animated conversation about books and their love of Thomas Mann and it was a pleasure to see such pleasure in literature.

The final stop of the day was the Steyning Bookshop. Opened when the booksellers converted house almost 35 years ago, this had the added bonus of free tea and cake in honour of Bookshop Day. There's something particularly soothing about wandering around a bookshop with a cup of tea in your hand.

We enjoyed browsing a diverse selection of fiction and I lost my boyfriend to the chair by popular science for quite some time – leaving me to discover a steam engine made of bookcases in the children's area and a good mix of fiction. I was thrilled to finally find a title from my must-buy list: Ted Chiang's collection of short stories, Arrival, containing the story that prompted the film of that name, while my boyfriend bought The Periodic Table, by Paul Parsons and Gail Dixon.

This took our total for the day to one tote bag, four bookshops and nine books, which isn't bad going for a girl who has a one book per shop rule...


Much Ado Books
8 West Street, Alfriston, East Sussex, BN26 5UX
Tel: 01323 871222
@MuchAdoBooks

Bag of Books
1 South Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2BT
Tel: 01273 479320

Kemptown Bookshop
91 St George’s Road, Brighton, West Sussex, BN2 1EE
Tel: 01273 682110
@KemptownBkshop

Steyning Bookshop
106 High Street, Steyning, West Sussex, BN44 3RD
Tel: 01903 812062
@steyningbooks


*Okay, not in general, but two and a half years is a long time in the life of this bookshop blog.

It's time to refuel

There comes a point in everyone's life when nothing else matters except the pursuit of a good lunch. During our Independent Bookshops Week bookshop crawl, that point arrived mid afternoon, somewhere between Haslemere and Petersfield.

We went from being fun, happy-go-lucky bookshoppers to ravenous beasts, the desperate need for food pushing even the excitement of books out of our minds. Fortunately, the next stop on our crawl had been recommended to us not only as a bookshop, but as a cafe. Which meant we were on a mission to find One Tree Books, marching through the Hampshire town at top speed to find food. We weren't disappointed.

The bookshop has a large street presence, but inside it's even bigger, covering two floors, with half the ground level given over to Madeleine's Kitchen at the back. At first glance this may disappoint the casual bookshop visitor, but anyone with enough hunger pains (or even just a sprinkling of sense) could tell you the balance between the two halves is spot on.

We chose a table to the side of the room, which meant we were perfectly placed to observe areas of the bookshop while relaxing in the welcoming atmosphere of the cafe. The staff were friendly and the food was divine: naughty and healthy at the same time, accompanied by delicious smoothies and rounded off with tea and cake. It was a leisurely lunch that was too good to rush and is the reason we ran out of time to visit all the bookshops on our itinerary.

Refuelled and refreshed, we had the energy to return to the task of the day: bookshopping.

While in the cafe, we'd enjoyed the sight of the bookshelves, which looked as though they were ready to cross the border into the cafe at any moment. Bookcases and tables fill the front half of the shop, crowding it with bookish treats without being too crammed in – One Tree Books really does have a luxury of space.

Fiction is on the ground floor, with a good sprinkling of non-fiction, children's and recommends, and games too, meaning many browsers may not feel the need to venture upstairs, where more treats of books, games and jigsaws (I love jigsaws) can be found.

Tempted as I was by a jigsaw, I dragged myself back downstairs empty-handed. Instead I opted for a non-fiction read, because I've heard lots of interesting comments about Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari and by now we'd realised exactly how long we'd loitered over lunch.

I was sorry to rush off, because it meant I didn't get the chance to ask why the name One Tree Books was chosen, but we'd enjoyed more than our fair share of time browsing the bookcases and devouring our lunch, so I can't really have any complaint.

One Tree Books in Petersfield was the perfect balance of bookshop and cafe, feeding mind and body, and the next time I find myself hungry in Hampshire, I know where I'll be going.


One Tree Books
7 Lavant Street, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU32 3EL
Tel: 01730 261199
@_onetreebooks

The bookshop by the bridge

This blog has been running for several years now, meaning you can name pretty much any county and I'll know of a bookshop worth visiting. It's a niche area to be an expert in, but it does mean a random diversion through anywhere can be vastly improved by a stop at X, Y and/or Z independent bookshop. Also, given some people collect traffic cones as a hobby, I reckon my interest isn't all that odd. But there are gaps in my knowledge.

Last weekend saw me take a long-anticipated trip to Telford, where a friend was getting married. Despite my having almost two years' notice, I somehow managed to forget to book a hotel until just three weeks before the big day. Meaning I also had no idea where the hotel was in relation to either the wedding or any potential bookshopping activity.

For once, the internet helped me out perfectly, reassuring me I was staying in the correct county and – more importantly – surprising me with the introduction of a new-to-me bookshop.

Every now and then I do stumble across a previously unknown-to-me bookshop, but it's an increasingly rare occurrence, so to have accidentally booked my boyfriend and I into a hotel just five minutes' walk from both a bookshop and a bridge (another thing I'm quite fond of) was a welcome surprise.

The Ironbridge Bookshop is found approximately a hop, skip and a jump from the bridge it's named after, an enviable location in what turned out to be a lovely village. Knowing the history of Ironbridge and its popularity with visitors I'd expected the area to be ever so slightly tacky to appeal to tourists. Instead we were met with a lovely selection of shops that are admittedly probably slightly more geared to visitors than your average village, but were also high enough quality to keep our attention and ensure that when we spent money, we spent it well.

The bookshop was obviously my highlight when it came to money-spending, and within about five seconds I knew what area of shelving I was buying from. It is stocked with good quality secondhand books to tempt all tastes, but walk up a short flight of stairs to the till and children's area and you also find a wall of orange Penguins (and associated other colours).

I've seen early Penguins in bookshops before, but this is the first time I've seen so many and so brightly presented and it was a wonderful treat to discover when we walked in wearing our wedding guest finery during a break in the proceedings. I quickly began investigating the selection, passing up on a few titles I've long wanted to read in favour of Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell because before I knew it I'd read a page and a half while stood in the shop.

The bookshop is a snug, lovely little place, with a large variety of reasonably priced secondhand books. Signs around the shop offer the paperback fiction at £2 each or three for a fiver (the Penguins have their own pricing structure), which seemed very reasonable to me and certainly appealed to those browsers who were somehow able to resist the orange of Penguin.

During our brief visit not long before closing time we could see it was a popular place, with customers popping in to shop and chat. I'd hoped to meet the bookseller responsible for Twitter, who had tweeted with me about the area a week or two previously, but as is often the case when arriving at places unannounced, I'd turned up when she was on holiday. That didn't matter though, I still enjoyed a friendly chat with the bookseller I did meet.

Bookshop found and book bought it was time to think about returning to my friend's wedding, via the bridge for a selfie first...


The Ironbridge Bookshop
5 The Square, Ironbridge,
Telford, Shropshire, TF8 7AQ
Tel: 01952 432273
@ironbridgebooks

A labyrinth of books

One of the things we loved about the first stop on our IBW2017 bookshop crawl was how unexpectedly big it was, with room after room opening up in front of us. That was nothing compared to the labyrinth my boyfriend and I found waiting for us later in the day.

The Haslemere Bookshop in Surrey looks like a typical welcoming indie from the doorway: compact, nicely stocked and beautiful. Had it been that, then we would've been happy. However, walk the length of the wall on the right and you find yourself in a large children's area. Turn a corner and there are cards and more new books. Turn another corner and there are stairs...

Going up a level you find room after room of secondhand books, some small, some large, some taking your round in a circle. More books are in a cupboard, and there's even a discounted area. We lost each other up here but neither of us really minded because of how much fun it was to make each new discovery.

I was taken with the vastness of the fiction, the secondhand area enabling a good offering of usual suspects so the new books could be equally accommodating but also much more diverse than I'd usually expect. Alternating between the two floors meant there were some real treats to be found. Once he'd returned from charity pig-spotting around the town, my boyfriend seemed equally impressed with the non-fiction.

From the very hungry caterpillar among the children's books, to a wall of letters from local schools, and a very handsome bear in a bowler hat behind the counter, this bookshop clearly reaches out to young readers too.

When it came to a purchase, despite the wide array of fiction that was calling out to me I had to buy Shop Cats of New York by Tamar Aslanian. Not a book I've seen before, it's a beautiful selection of photographs with brief explanations and made this Crazy Cat Lady want to hop on a plane immediately. Hopefully they'll still all be there in three years' time.

This book, our wonderful surroundings, and a question about the pigs scattered around the town*, prompted a very cheery conversation with the booksellers, further confirming my love for The Haslemere Bookshop. They had a natural enthusiasm for books and friendliness towards customers – the ones who wanted to say hello – that meant I'm sure anyone would feel welcome and at home here.

Not only did they share (humour?) my love of cats, they explained about the pigs and very generously increased my knowledge of the other bookshops in the not so near area. It's always a good sign when bookshops are friends with their neighbours, even if some of them are quite a distance away – who needs rivals when there's a wonderful booky community?

The Haslemere Bookshop
2 Causewayside, High Street,
Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 2JZ
Tel: 01428 652952
@HaslemereBooks

* Apparently the Haslemere Hogs were decorated by businesses and auctioned off to raise money for charity.

No strangers here

Booksellers are remarkable people, as are bookshoppers. For this week's bookshop both are what caught my eye, or ear, as I listened into conversations and enjoyed hearing the bookseller kept on her toes.

The venue was The Cobham Bookshop in Surrey, which was stop 2A on my latest bookshop crawl, stop 2 having been closed for the day. Set in a paved area away from the road, I'd expected to find a small space. In reality the bookshop is huge, stretching back much further than anticipated and also somehow managing to be wider than it appears from the outside too.

The front half included a good selection of fiction and fiction recommends tables, and it was here that my eavesdropping began, as a young customer came in looking for a gift for her mum, who 'reads books'. When gently questioned by the bookseller, the customer managed to elaborate that the books are usually big and contain stories, so I was very impressed  by the bookseller both for her patience and determination. Perseverance and gentle questioning about mum in general eventually drew out enough information for the young girl to find a gift she was happy with, but how booksellers manage this every day is beyond me.

Having started being nosy, it's very hard to stop, so while I admired the variety of fiction, a long wall of travel, non-fiction and a cheery children's area at the back (it's worth the long walk), I also found myself caught up in the conversations around me. There were discussions about loved or hated titles, must-read authors and plenty of collections of orders.

The Cobham Bookshop is clearly popular with the locals. I even met one customer who was enjoying his surroundings so much he joined in with the book recommending while I was queuing at the till. The only explanation I can come up with is that the large but somehow still cosy room is somehow spacious enough to make people feel comfortable chatting with strangers – but is anyone who loves books and bookshops really a stranger?

I selected I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes to be my purchase, but I could have gone for any number of other titles thanks to all the conversations I overheard.


The Cobham Bookshop
12A Anyards Road, Cobham,
Surrey, KT11 2JZ
Tel: 01932 862903
@CobhamBookshop

A feast for book lovers

While I'd recommend a visit to any bookshop featured in this blog, there are certain destinations that have achieved – in my mind – legendary status.

The bookshop might have been especially nice to me; or was recommended by a higher than average number of bookshoppers; maybe it stocked a particular title I'd hunted high and low to find; hosts intimate music evenings; had an especially friendly pet; or in the case of this week's subject, was not especially straightforward to visit.

Boulevard books and Thai cafe in Hastings on the south coast used to be a full-time secondhand bookshop, but like many others around the country, it had to diversify to survive. Where some have opened cafes or launched innovative booky experiences, this one became a restaurant.

Yes, you did read that correctly. You go to the bookshop, sit among the shelves and partake in a delicious two or three-course Thai meal. You can also buy a book.

The catch is that this offering has proved to be incredibly popular. Meaning getting a table is not necessarily an easy thing to do: "we had a wonderful meal, booked a month in advance" is a statement I've heard a lot. I'd even tried booking myself, but general disorganisation (phoning the day before) meant I'd had no luck. I'd even walked past and jealously looked through the windows, wondering when my turn would be.

Then, during a spur of the moment trip to Hastings on the last Bank Holiday, we walked past and saw the door open and books laid out on tables in front of the shop. The inside was closed to visitors while the family enjoyed their lunch, but we were told there were tables free if we wanted to return after 6pm. We had a quick look at the books and went to kill time for five hours.*

I'm not sure when the bookshop made the transformation to restaurant, but it's certainly a successful one. We returned at 6.05pm to claim the second table and not long after our arrival the rest of the bookshop had filled up, with yet more diners making the most of the summer evening at tables in front of the shop (the evening was nice, but not nice enough to draw me away from the books).

Our table was next to a corner bookcase stocking the early alphabet fiction, and I was initially confused as to what appealed to me most – the bookshelves or the Thai menu in front of me. The menu temporarily won, while the waiting staff politely told us the restaurant is cash only and we're welcome to pop across the road to buy our own wine. Having been pre-warned neither was a problem, we'd loaded up on cash and were driving. What we hadn't expected to find was that we didn't need to bring nearly as much money as we'd expected: the menu has a set price of £15 for a starter and main course. Which was all we intended to have. Honest.

Prawn crackers started the meal while we browsed the shelves and – very briefly – waited for our starters. My Thai soup was beautifully fresh, while my boyfriend chose a very tasty vermicelli salad which the restaurant helpfully adapted to be vegetarian. For the mains I chose something combining chicken and coconut milk while he went for a beautifully displayed stir fry. Accompanied by boiled rice and cooked to a medium spice level (we resisted trying the Thai extra hot option), everything was delicious and fresh, with portions just the right size that we felt treated but not greedy.

But who cares about the food when there are books?

To avoid intruding on diners the bookshop is only open to those diners, and I made the most of my visit by exploring as many shelves as possible in between courses and tables being refilled. The back room is dedicated to non-fiction and the whole shop is carefully organised to allow every table a certain amount of privacy, but ignoring the tables Boulevard Books and Thai Cafe looks and feels like a secondhand bookshop. Old favourites sit along modern novels, classics, sci-fi, crime and everything else.

It's as though one day the tables and menus simply appeared in the middle of the bookshop and the booksellers transformed into waiting staff. It all fits together perfectly and makes for a marvellous experience.

We were nicely full after dinner but a glimpse of homemade desserts and the opportunity to browse a while longer saw us jump at the chance of another course. Chocolate and caramel tart and a lemon meringue pie may not be traditional Thai dishes but they were certainly as delicious as everything else we'd consumed.

I then rounded off the meal with the purchase of a rather well-loved copy Robert Harris' Enigma for a mere 30p. Which I might have read a page or two of while enjoying my meal...


Boulevard books and Thai cafe
32 George Street, Hastings,
East Sussex TN34 3EA
Tel: 01424 436521

*Not strictly true, the five hours were spent enjoying the rest of Hastings, with me being only slightly distracted by the promise of what was to come.

Portal to a different world

If books are journeys to different worlds, then bookshops are the portals to them. Crammed with book-shaped passports to foreign intrigues, magical adventures and lives more remarkable or inspiring than our own. This week's bookshop is definitely such a portal, opening a wormhole between Baker Street in London and the golden, spice-laden streets* of Egypt.

But first a confession, I discovered this bookshop a long time ago and visited it over a year ago, during a very busy bookshop crawl. Which means these words come to you very late indeed, but the best things come to those who wait, so back to those spice-laden streets.

The Egyptian Alef Bookstore may not have the scent of the country but it was definitely golden, with late afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows and making the shelves glow as if made of the precious metal. In reality the shelves were filled with something more special than gold: books.

A combination of remarkable reads any bookshop would be proud to display and Arabic titles I have no idea the contents of, there was much to discover on those shelves. I enjoyed the balance of the stock I do have the ability to read, with novels I recognised placed alongside what appeared to be a good variety of Egyptian titles and a large section of non-fiction too.

As good as the books I recognised were (the popular science section particularly appealed), it was the Egyptian titles that appealed to me the most – and the promise of being transported to a different world.

I had no idea where to start with the various recommendations, so instead I did what I do best and approached the booksellers for help. The man who stepped forward had the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, and while I was mesmerised he politely listened to my plea for help and discussed what I was looking for before selecting his favourite book for me to try: Beer in the Snooker Club by Waguih Ghali.

Which brings me to the other reason this blog is so delayed. In order to give a full picture of my experience I wanted to read the book before I wrote about the bookshop. Only I buy so many books and pick my next actual read so randomly (according to whichever unread title is in front of me at the time) that this one kept missing that rare golden moment of opportunity. Which is a crying shame because once I did finally reach that time I could not put the book down. I laughed, I cried, I swore, I related and I disagreed. All in just 224 pages. It was a remarkable read and even when scenes occurred in Britain it succeeded in transporting me to that different world and opening my eyes to how different our personal experiences can be.

In a world of increasing divisions and suspicions it's more important than ever to learn about our fellow humans who are both the same and different to ourselves. Egypt may be one country among many, but I figure it's as good a place as any to start. After all, as I said at the beginning, bookshops start us on journeys to different worlds – why shouldn't those worlds be close to our own?


Alef Bookstore
219 Baker Street, London, NW1 6XE
Tel: 020 7935 4311
@Alef_UK


*It may be around a decade since I visited the country but – thanks to a few days in Aswan – that is how I'll always remember it.

Annual review #4: An apology and a promise

Tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of the bookshop blog, but you'd be forgiven for forgetting to wish it a happy birthday.

Look down the list of blogs posted and you'll see I've not written about a bookshop for almost a month, and that on more than one occasion this year I've failed to stick to my one bookshop per week promise. For that I apologise.

There's been no deliberate snub and this blog is definitely not finished, but since I sat down to write my manifesto so many years ago, my life has changed – in no small part as a result of this bookshopping hobby – and recently other commitments have had to, temporarily, take priority.

One key thing is that I've moved house, which means although the bookshop blog books were the first thing unpacked, my life still looks a lot like this:

and I can't easily post my annual photograph of how the book collection has progressed. Hopefully I'll remedy that in the near future.

Meantime, some highlights from my past year of bookshop blogging have to be mentioned. There's the obvious one of my appearance on BBC Radio 4, but when it comes to bookshops, it's the less obvious moments that tend to be the most special.

A game of hide and seek had me feeling like a child, while a tour around Portsmouth provided a variety of unexpected gems. I got to meet the second half of a pair of London bookshops, find out what all the fuss is when it comes to Terry Pratchett, and I had a beautiful surprise by the sea.

There was also sadness, when I finally met a bookshop on its last day in business, two years after I'd first tried to visit. I can't tell you the tears I shed after that visit.

Bookshops continue to be an important part of my life, places filled with wonder and welcome that even after all these years often appear in front of me at unexpected moments just when I need them most. I may not have written as frequently as I'd like these last few months, but my bookshopping has continued, and I'm just as excited to tell you about my recent visits as I was in the early days. Life is still slightly chaotic, but I promise normal (or relatively normal) service will resume.

Thank you for your patience and for continuing to keep me company on this bookshopping adventure – and don't forget, if I'm quiet one week you're welcome to share your own stories too.

Happy bookshopping,
Erica x

PS. I may still be living out of boxes, but Dolly is very happy in her new home. Here she is guarding what's visible of the bookshop blog shelves, while having a chat with a purchase from another much-missed gem.

Brief encounter

When you're in the middle of packing up all your possessions to move in with your boyfriend for the first time in your life, things can be a bit stressful.

There are boxes to find; books to pack; books to cull; books to hide*; bookshelves to move; CDs and DVDs to pack; at some point there'll be clothes to fold; bedding and towels to merge; kitchen equipment to squeeze into a smaller room; kettles to argue over; a cat to move as stresslessly as possible**... and in between all that there's work, eating, sleeping, breathing, dieting, socialising, exercising, and helping to organise an annual awards ceremony. If you don't get the image of a Very Busy Time then I have no idea how you cope with your life.

Which is why, when it came round to a random weekday booked off for a day trip to Brighton we arrived in the town with absolutely no idea where to find a bookshop***. And no brainpower to work out how to find one either. It was an opportunity to relax, switch off and forget about all the stresses of day-to-day life. The internet was off, and we hurried to nothing. We wandered around, ate doughnuts on the pier, bought mementoes from arty boutiques and generally fell in love with our bright, quirky, and wonderfully chilled surroundings. It was exactly what I needed, if only we could stumble across a bookshop.

I'd pretty much given up on that hope until we turned down a road in the North Laine. Pausing outside a lively pub, we spotted a man bending down to take in the doormat just as Brighton Books was closing up. I was pleased to have found what I now know to be one of many independent bookshops in the town, but also sad we were only there in time to see the door closed. I took a photo of the shop front for posterity and prepared to keep walking. Meanwhile my boyfriend had gone inside and asked the bookseller if we could just look in quickly. I wouldn't have dreamed of trying to keep the bookshop open longer than needed – booksellers have homes to go to too – but we were told we could have a couple of minutes.

I loved the colour and bustle of Brighton, but entering the cool, slightly darkened bookshop and finding myself surrounded by floor to ceiling secondhand books and a general sense of calm was the icing on the cake. I liked it even more when contrasted with the general Brighton buzz drifting through the open door. I quickly located the fiction taking up a good space at the back and took note of diversity and quality (good and good). It hadn't occurred to me that I'd manage to buy a book and so be able to feature the bookshop on this blog as the result of such a short visit, but as I turned to leave a slim volume caught my eye.

Edith Wharton is my all-time favourite author and so to be able to add her novella Ethan Frome to my collection without even trying felt like it was meant to be. Not only that, but my boyfriend also found a book: Turner, a life, by James Hamilton.

There's not much more I can tell you. There's a comfy looking chair and the bookshop has a downstairs but it had been closed when we arrived. The bookseller seemed friendly enough, but anxious not to delay him further, I kept my chatter to the absolute minimum. It was a brief encounter but a happy one, and yet another reason for us to return to Brighton.

Books were reasonably priced, so the bookseller didn't make much money out of allowing us those few minutes in his shop, but he did make us very happy.

Brighton Books  
18 Kensington Gardens, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4AL
Tel: 01273 693845


*he really doesn't need to know about my Sweet Valley High collection
**impossible
***slight exaggeration, I did know of one but it was out of range at this time. I fell head over Irregular Choice heels for Brighton though, we'll be back again soon


UPDATE: 28th July 2017: I've just received a very lovely email from this bookshop, sharing all the local bookshops in Brighton. Independent bookshops are lovely.