Indie Bookshop week
Bookshops and books
This week is the wonderful #Indiebookshop week and there’s no better time to stop and think about why bookshops are so important and why they are just the best places to be. The indies are vital to the health of the reading nation. They are havens of book loveliness, book wizards who live and breathe books work in them, writers visit and talk in them, they light up the streets and towns they stand in, and this week, it’s time to say a special thank you.
Why you should support your local indie…………………………
They are the champion of local authors:
The Stripey Badger Bookshop can be found in Grassington, Yorkshire. Julia Chapman‘s a local author…she sets her novels in and around the area and this is her special bookshop. She had a great shelf of books on display and another local author Frances Brody was also being celebrated. Local authors are worth their weight in gold and that’s what local bookshops value and promote.
The Stripey Badger Bookshop (c) TheBookTrail
They offer booknooks and corners to lose yourself in…
This was the way to the bathroom but just look at the cute curtains, chair, staircase……
Book heaven right there
Books set in bookshops – books with a bookish setting
The Stripey Badger Bookshop stairs! (c) TheBookTrail
They are the David Attenboroughs of the book world
Authors are often solitary creatures. Well they have to be, as writing is a lonely process at times. But when that book is edited, polished and marketed…BOOM Bookshops tempt those authors out from their hibernation. Take Will Dean for example, author of Dark Pines and Red Snow. He lives in a cabin in the middle of the Swedish woods, working away in his little log cabin. But when his book comes out and readers want to devour his next installment…indie bookshops are the magical way he can reach readers in ways nothing else can. Meet and greets, author signings, author interviews and more…
He visited Corbridge’s bookshop Forum Books and spent a lovely evening in this gorgeous setting. It’s a bookshop in a chapel! Take a look at the ceiling, the book pulpit where authors speak, the amazing windows to shine light on the new bookish gems….
Books set in bookshops – books with a bookish setting
(c) Forum Books
They have hidden treasures inside…not just the books!
Take Cognito books in Hexham. It’s the Harry Potter shop of the bookworld. Not only is it tucked down an alley where you could imagine Harry and Hagrid walking down, it’s a haven of book magic.
The shop is decked out with books, bookcases, tables , displays and a table set for tea. Yes, tea and cake packages are available here. You can ask for personal recommendations and they will sit and chat with you to select the book (s) right for you.
Pretty special (and tasty)
Bookshops can help you find love…..
Potentially with a human….but failing that, there’s plenty of new books to fall in love with on every visit! You never forget your first love, that first time you cried after finishing a novel, that moment when you have flashbacks to the time you time it was there for you and got you through some dark times… Book love is the best love….
Veronica Henry’s book How to Find Love in a Bookshop
This week, go out and give your bookshop a hug by buying a book. Hey, even give your favourite bookseller a hug to say thank you too. I’ve been to so many events, had so many books signed, met so many lovely authors, made new friends thanks to bookshops. And since I travel around a lot, they’re a great welcome to a strange city or town. You are never alone when there’s a bookshop nearby!
Happy Indiebookshop week!
