Your bookshops #9 Griffin Books

For me, the most important thing about this section of the blog is the joy of hearing about other people's enjoyment of bookshops. Which is why, when a Ladybird-collecting Twitter friend asked for a bookshop recommendation in or near Cardiff I was happy to make a suggestion, and even happier when she agreed to tell readers about her experience.

9A Windsor Road, Penarth, The Vale of Glamorgan, CF64 1JB
Tel: 029 2070 6455
Published: 11th December, 2015


I don't really buy books, well I do, but they have to be over 35 years old and be a Ladybird book. My family aren't big readers and I get most of the 'normal' books I read from the charity shelf at work. So it's rare that I actually visit a bookshop that sells new books but I wanted to buy my dad 'the Herdwick shepherd' for Christmas. It's written by a farmer very local to him and so I wanted to try and encourage him to read a bit more. I'm happy that on this rarest of occasions I was directed by Erica to the rather wonderful Griffin Books in Penarth.

Small, bright and welcoming it didn't have the book – it had sold the previous day – but the lovely ladies in the shop offered to order it in for me. It did have two other books I wanted (the new release Ladybirds) so I duly purchased them. Griffin Books also had a lovely collection of Welsh language books that I wished I could read and a great selection of children's books which again made me want to buy for my two nieces. It had also put together as the perfect Christmas presents, bundles of three books on a theme which led me to another impulse buy. I'm a sucker for a good crime/murder mystery and I love books that are set in places I know and love so asked the shop staff to recommend such a book: a Harry Bingham novel also went into my bag.

I'll definitely return to Griffin next time I'm down in South Wales. It's a little gem where I'm pretty sure the staff know every book in stock.


It's great to know a Twitter conversation led to a lovely bookshop experience and the sale of three books to a 'non book buyer'. I'm yet to visit Griffin Books but had been sure it would be worth the effort – this introduction only confirms my belief. 

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