There's a great independent bookshop in Belfast called No Alibis. As the name suggests, it specialises in crime books, but it has a more general stock as well. Jenny and I dropped in a while back for a talk by the Australian crime writer Jane Harper.
There's also Keats and Chapman, a second-hand bookshop I'm embarrassed to say I've never checked out (well, it's a bit off the beaten track).
Lots of other people like independent bookshops too, and often come to the rescue if they're in danger of going under.
When John Westwood, who runs the Petersfield Bookshop in Hampshire, specialising in antique and second-hand books, found he hadn't sold a single book all day, one of his staff tweeted the worrying news, and in no time orders were flooding in from all over the world.
John was astonished. "We had someone call from Inverness [in Scotland], telling us they wanted to spend £10 on any book - they didn't care what, they just wanted to support us. Then we had a guy come in who told us he lived locally but had never visited before. His friend in San Francisco saw the tweet and told him he had to go in and buy something."
He has had to bring in extra volunteer staff to help deal with the backlog of hundreds and hundreds of orders.
"It's truly amazing. I think it really shows the passion people still feel for books. The feel of them, the smell of them. That can never be replaced by anything else."
So the shop started by John's father in 1958 has a new lease of life. And all thanks to the awesome power of Twitter.
Pic: John Westwood
I love old bookshops, and new bookshops and all in between. There's a great couple downtown here and I love wandering the shelves but also buying some to support them. As we just exchange books at Solstice this is not a burden, we gather for each other all year.
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www: I sort of imagine that Newfies are very literate and keen on reading. And it's good to support local shops rather than buying through the awful Amazon.
DeleteWhat a great name for a book store.
ReplyDeleteColette: Isn't it just? There are several Bookworm Bookshops in the UK. And there's a bookshop in Bath, Somerset, called Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights.
DeleteOur local bookstores went under, even though they had tried selling other things, :(
ReplyDeleteJean: That's a great shame. Clearly there aren't enough keen readers in your part of the world.
DeleteNo, it's a highly literate community, but there is a wider selection online.
DeleteJean: Online ordering is what small independent bookshops are up against. Jenny and I now avoid ordering online. We get our books from the local charity bookshop or from Waterstones in the city centre.
DeleteI love little bookshops. There used to be one in particular that I went to because she always had the books I wanted to read.
ReplyDeleteMary: Another independent bookshop that was forced to close? That's a shame.
Deletethis wonderful post brought tears to my eyes and a great swell of emotion. I loved reading from an early age. they filled a great void and made my nomadic lifestyle cozy and comforting in a way nothing else could.
ReplyDeletebooks have always been more than 'just books' to me.
the same way that a beloved dog has always been more than 'just a dog.' it's the same thing to me.
you either deeply love books and dogs or you don't! xoxo
Tammy: I used to read voraciously as a young child but having to plough through various laborious set texts at boarding school put me right off reading for several years. Luckily it was only a temporary blip.
DeleteYour post reminded me of another great Twitter story here: https://people.com/food/doughnut-store-sells-out-after-son-tweet-billys-donuts/
ReplyDeleteGives one faith in humanity that people are willing to help strangers. I think most want to support small businesses, but don't always have time to go out of their way to do it.
Bijoux: A great story about the grand opening of the doughnut shop. As you say, it restores one's faith in humanity.
Deletethe Petersfield story could be the part of an independent film! I listened to the story on the radio this morning
ReplyDeleteJohn: It could. Something like Notting Hill, with Hugh Grant as the bookshop owner and Daniel Radcliffe as his son?
DeleteI've seen that twitter phenomena happen several times. Sadly, the last indy bookshop in my town closed, about a year after the last Harry Potter book.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: So they couldn't find anything as popular as Harry Potter to keep them going? That's a pity.
DeleteI love old books! I have tried using the Kindle app, but it's just not the same, and it tracks your reading habits - paper all the way, I say!
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Ms Scarlet: I've never had a Kindle. I love the feel of a physical book in my hand. An electronic gadget just isn't the same.
DeleteNo decent bookshops here...in any language. I don't miss much about GB, but bookshops are a big miss.
ReplyDeleteFly: I can't imagine being somewhere without a decent bookshop. There's something so enjoyable about poking around bookshops looking for a "good read".
DeleteI love book shops, sadly we don't have any independent ones here, we have Waterstones and Oxfam have a very good one.
ReplyDeletePolly: In the city centre we have a Waterstones, an Oxfam bookshop, and also Easons, a branch of a Northern Ireland chain that has a large book department. So there's no shortage of books on offer.
DeleteSince I have mobility issues and also problems with space, I have been buying books on my kindle mostly but on the odd occasion do buy the hard version but almost entirely online. Book shops in India are also closing down unless backed by big pocket corporates like a couple of chains that don't sell many books but, still remain afloat in malls.
ReplyDeleteRamana: Yes, I can see buying books online is the best option for you. But those of us who can get to bookshops easily should do so and help the local economy.
DeleteI love books shops, old books, new books. But mostly read kindle. I have some books I have both versions of simply because I love them so much. but we don't have any independent ones near.
ReplyDeleteBooks have always drawn me like flowers draw bees. If I go in a person's home and they have books, I want to see what they are reading.
Any place we ever go that is new, I look for bookstore. I look at old books.
Now, I cannot stand to stand long on concrete so don't stay very long if we go.
Rose: Like flowers draw bees - a good analogy, I feel the same. If I'm visiting someone's house, the first thing I look for is what's on their bookshelves! That's unusual, that you don't like standing on concrete. Does it do something odd to your feet?
DeleteOnline buying is a shame. Of course, it's convenient but but but … where is the sensual pleasure of aimlessly meandering around a bookshop, fingering print, then bumping into a title you'd never heard of before? A sort of making friends by accident not design.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I will buy via the internet (mostly ebay, occasionally Amazon - don't stone me) are titles you can't find in your local bookshop - even if you ask them to order it for you. Not so much "first editions" as those out of print. Oh the treasure. I once found "Prefaces" by George Bernard Shaw, ca. 1934, on ebay. The postage was more than the actual book. Which rather perturbed me (not the postage but how little value is given to the printed).
My favourite bookshop? The one in "Black Books". The Angel occasionally, and rather drily, remarks that I and my study remind him of Dylan Moran (minus the copious amounts of red wine I hasten to add).
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Ursula: Me too, I only order books online as a last resort if I can't get them any other way. Apart from anything else, delivery drivers are treated very badly - tracked every inch of the way, given ridiculous workloads, sometimes not even allowed a toilet break.
DeleteBlack Books was wonderful. I love the way if he got tired of answering the phone, he simply snipped the phone cable.
So many good bookstores have closed down and I miss them. One of my favorites was called Carpe Librum and had live music some afternoons.
ReplyDeleteAgent: Carpe Librum, Seize the Book, I like it! Good luck to all those plucky independent booksellers who still manage to keep going despite everything.
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