Halcyon days

For some time, my friend Danny and I have been on the hunt for the nearest bookshop to where he lives. As he's London-based, you'd think that hunt would be short, but aside from the offer of a trip to one shelf in his local Tesco (I won't tell you my response but it's a wonder we're still friends) we've both failed to find a walkable bookshop to his home.

Well, I failed. Danny found a compromise.

Instead of going to the nearest bookshop to where he lives, we went for a trip to a bookshop he thought I'd enjoy exploring. He was right.

Halcyon Books in Greenwich must surely be every secondhand book lover's dream. The books are piled high, it's just the right level of scruffy and, as the window proudly advertises, everything is permanently £1 (except children's books, they're 50p). I could pretty much leave it at that and I'm sure many of you would be getting your coats on and heading for the Overground train – the bookshop's across the road on the right as you walk to town from the station – but more still needs to be said.

We arrived before lunch on a drizzly autumn day, but no one minded that we dripped a little on entry, instead leaving us to enjoy the warmth and the faint hint of that welcoming secondhand bookshop smell.

Fiction awaits to the left of the door, with books arranged in roughly alphabetical order: ie, A, B, C by first letter but not by second or third. It's a plan I'd expect to be annoyed by, but the snug scale of the shelves means a little hopping around the alphabet doesn't really make much difference.

Tallish shelves, placed close together and supplemented by piles of books wherever there's room means browsing is cosy. Lots of polite shuffling goes on as customers navigate the space available (by the time we left the shop was full) but no one minded that we were happily chatting away, catching up on news, exulting over random book finds and recommending titles we knew and loved. The cheap price tag made it incredibly hard to buy just one thing, especially when we left fiction and discovered DVDs (£1per disc) and a large stash of vinyl on the way to the non-fiction side of the bookshop.

In the end we spent a minuscule amount on five items: Danny bought Carol Shield's The Stone Diaries (on my recommendation, even though I've not read it yet*), Beryl Bainbridge's Harriet Said... and a trains DVD called Along these lines. He said the DVD was a present for someone, but I'm not judging. As for me, it's rare I find any of my favourite writer's less popular novels so I snapped up The Reef by Edith Wharton, along with one of my favourite films, Never Been Kissed**.

The bookshop is small, but it was no trouble for us to find this hoard, and an open door behind the counter taunts browsers with the promise of more gems as shelves are re-stocked ahead of future visits. Of which I'm certain there'll be many...


Halcyon Books
1 Greenwich South Street,
Greenwich, London, SE10 8NW
Tel: 020 83052675

I wouldn't normally link to Facebook, but it's worth a look to see the photo they posted from within the shop a week or so ago. I find myself wondering if there's a bookseller trapped on the other side.

*If you're reading this, Danny I hope you liked the book?
**Okay, so it's hardly the most challenging of films to be watching, but it's the only time I've encountered a copy editor in cinematic fiction. The English version of that is my former occupation, sub-editor. Which happens to be the career I was in when I met Danny, although not at the place he now works, I wasn't *that* successful!

Finding a kindred spirit

No matter how well you know someone or something, it's still possible to have those occasional moments of shyness. The nervous fear of wondering if you should be there or if X will think you're a complete idiot.

There's doesn't even have to be a reason for having the moment of panic, it just happens. Leaving you feeling out of place and wondering when you'll be thrown out, laughed at or just looked down on for being that idiot.

This happened to me when I first entered this week's boutique bookshop. The room was small, the bookseller happily chatting to an obviously local customer, and I panicked. Rather than saying hello and exploring, I got myself to the fiction shelves, stood with my back to the other people in the room and froze. I don't know why – I've certainly visited enough bookshops to know none of those fears would come true – but I did, and it took a good long dose of reading the spines on the shelves to banish the fear.

Thankfully, the nerves abated (helped by a great selection of fiction) and I was finally ready to turn around.

At which point I was greeted by a big smile and a very warm welcome to The Bookshop Kibworth.

You know those rare occasions when you meet someone and instantly know you'll become friends? It was like that. Followed by a teeny bit, okay, a lot of disappointment as I realised I live 100+ miles away and so maybe I'd have to pause on the excitement of friends.

All of which probably sounds a little odd, but the more I spoke to the bookseller the more I knew I'd met a kindred spirit. She immediately offered me a cup of tea, and as the bookshop is small we continued to talk books, bookshops, authors and anything else that sprang to mind, including the happy coincidence that I'd arrived on the day of the bookshop's sixth birthday.

The Bookshop Kibworth is a lovely little shop, which felt just the right size for the community it serves. It's bright and colourful and as welcoming as the chatter of the bookseller I met and, while shelf space means stock is naturally limited, they offer a next-day ordering service and, honestly, I couldn't think of anything that was missing. A good range of fiction, non-fiction, young adult and children's books are available, and the variety of people who popped in during my visit were obviously satisfied with their choices of books.

Returning to the fiction shelves I'd so unnecessarily cowered by, these held absolutely perfectly the range of books I'd hope to find were I to live near a new independent bookshop. From literary fiction to crime, romance to science fiction, the selection on offer was obviously carefully considered to satisfy all moods and tastes. Combine this with the great conversation and I was in heaven.

Making the most of a rare opportunity to buy sci-fi from an indie, I eventually selected Peter F Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction, but so diverse was the selection on offer I could easily have come away with any number of other titles.

The Bookshop Kibworth may not be near enough for me to pop into on a weekly* basis, but it's a delightful place to visit and an excellent reminder that if you're in a bookshop there's nothing to be nervous about: you're in the presence of friends.


The Bookshop Kibworth
52 High Street, Kibworth, Leicestershire, LE8 0HQ
Tel: 0116 2791121
@kibworthbooks

*It is 100- miles from my parents' house, so I will be returning at the next available opportunity. And encouraging them to take regular trips to Kibworth too.

Take your time

We're too busy rushing around. Whether it's a social engagement, a work deadline, a long drive to visit family, or an urgent post on social media (telling people about one of the others), there's always something else we need to be doing or somewhere else we need to be, meaning we rarely get the chance to stand and stare.

I'm certainly guilty of it. I'm not about to pour out a list of sins here (they'd only show me up as having a shamefully unimaginative social life) but I do have to confess to a booky instance of being in too much of a hurry.

When on my way to this week's bookshop, I was in the middle of a long journey and a little tired and hungry, which meant rather than arriving in the town and taking my time to scout out parking, cafe, bookshop, etc, I rushed to the nearest Pay and Display space I could find. And because I was in a hurry I didn't read the big sign saying 'short stay, meaning I only had 25 minutes in which to explore. Meaning I very nearly missed out on a book I've long searched for.

Warwick Books is within relatively easy reach of my parents, so it's somewhere I've often meant to visit but not quite achieved. Then it appeared in the Your bookshops section of this blog and I knew I had to make the effort.

A beautiful blue shop front greets you as you arrive at this bookshop, which looks out onto what I imagine becomes a bustling market place on the right day. Entering, it feels quite open and spacious, with warm wooden shelves opening in front of you.

Knowing I was limited for time, I merely glanced at the children's section to my right, and some of the non-fiction to the left, before noting a wall of fiction on my way to the first floor. Upstairs I found tea and coffee making facilities – how I wished I had the time to stop for a cup – as well as a comfy sofa and more of the non-fiction. Five minutes later I was back downstairs admiring the wall of fiction, noting the great variety on offer and thrilled to find a copy of David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks.

Rushing over to the till, it was finally time to slow down, buy my book and take the time to say hello to the booksellers. Mog and Pauline are absolutely lovely. Exceptionally friendly and welcoming, they empathised with my parking plight (and advised me of better options for my next visit) and personally introduced me to their wonderful bookshop.

From plans for the future (I'm looking forward to returning to see how their new shop front turns out), to book choices, they were sympathetically swift in their conversation while helping to make me wish I had more time. And this feeling was never more so than when they began talking about the children's section. Remember how long I spent there?

The bookshop has a beautifully revamped space for young readers and they're doing all they can to develop links with schools and encourage future generations. I'm not going to list everything here (it was a lot and all admirable) but their efforts do include encouraging the children to take part in reviewing the books they read.

They then proceeded to pick out examples for me to see, and oh how I wished I'd taken the time to look at the children's section sooner, instead of rushing past... S F Said's Varjak Paw was one of the books picked out as an example of a young reviewer. Ever since I 'met' the author on Twitter and saw his efforts to support young reading I've wanted to read this book, even more so because who wouldn't want to read a book about a superhero cat? Here it was in front of me, but I have a one-book-per-shop rule, and I'd already made my purchase. Willpower was out the window and this second book was mine.

Which pretty much sums up my feelings about Warwick Books. It's a gorgeous bookshop with an excellent offering for adults, but don't overlook the children's section – it's worth taking the time to explore.


Warwick Books
24 Market Place, Warwick,
Warwickshire, CV34 4SL
Tel: 01926 499939
@warwick_books

You've nothing to prove

My first visit to Camden Market took place one cold December afternoon, at the tender age of 13.

It was the early 90s so Dr Martens were in abundance and all the older kids (it was a school trip of 13-17-year-olds) were talking about 'alternative' music and the things that made Camden cool. As a youngster who was only just discovering music, most of their conversations meant absolutely bugger all to me but I wasn't going to admit it, I was just happy to be in London.

The afternoon is now a blur but I remember the excitement of exploring the stalls and how, frozen from a winter afternoon, I used all my pocket money to buy a scarf. It wasn't a particularly exciting scarf but it was from Camden and so I wore it to death over the next few winters, telling everyone I met where it was from.

The trip was a lot of fun and helped me realise shops don't all have to be chains, but otherwise my lasting memory of the visit was of how totally and utterly cool everyone and everything in Camden was. And how much I wasn't. This mistaken, or at least extreme, belief meant I didn't return to the area until last year. Which is a crying shame, because I've definitely been missing out.

My visit was prompted by the lure of a bookshop and took place on a beautiful day at the end of the summer. It was the kind that makes you choose to walk for miles to enjoy, rather than hurrying underground, and so I walked, eventually arriving at the famous Camden Lock, where a beautiful footbridge took me into the market.

Black Gull Books is on the main market square for buying food and – despite the lunch crowds – was calm and relaxing.

A secondhand bookshop, categories include 'Sex drugs and rock n roll' and are identified by chalk board-style signs around the large for a market room, which is inside a building rather than an actual stall, although tables and boxes of books do surround the entrance. A wall of fiction awaited me, but all the children's and non-fiction you'd hope for were scattered around too. The stock is eclectic and (that word again) effortlessly cool, bringing back memories of my teenage visit.

The thing about Black Gull Books is, while it is unashamedly cool, it accepts everyone for who they are. The bookshop has as much for the indie crowd as it does the everyday reader, and when a slightly obnoxious child told his mum (and the rest of the shop) "this bookshop has no good books, only bad ones" no one batted an eyelid: it was his loss to not appreciate his surroundings, not ours.

The more time I spent in this bookshop, the more I wished I'd not been so nervous about revisiting Camden. Black Gull Books put me at ease and the variety of its stock helped me to see the market is a place for a variety of people too.

Which is why I don't feel the need to prove myself and buy books to impress. I picked up Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love, because life's so much happier when you do your own thing.


Black Gull Books
70-71 Camden Lock Place,
Camden, London, NW1 8AF
Tel: 020 7267 5005
@BlkGullBksLdn

Crossing the bridge

For as long as I can remember my life has involved trips to Wales. From north to south the country is littered with my family and friends, but it's also a great place for a holiday and there's something extra special about finding myself on the right side of the border.

The variety of Welsh destinations I regularly travel to means there's no one road most travelled, but given the choice nothing beats the Severn Bridge for making an entrance to a country. I must've been about seven the first time my Dad drove me across the original suspension bridge, which to me was the biggest, most impressive river crossing in the world. I don't remember that first journey, but I do remember – years later – the first time I crossed the Second Severn Crossing* and was able to enjoy the view of the original bridge: marvelling at its size, the beauty of the river below and being very grateful it was there to shorten our journey.

The second crossing is a cable-stayed bridge, yes, that's probably more information than you needed, but I'm a bit of a fan of bridges so I couldn't resist sharing. In fact, the more I think about this blog post the more I wonder at the influence these two bridges must have had on my consciousness, impressing a young Erica so much that when in later life I looked to end my brief time as a resident of Wales I chose my then new home because of its proximity to another bridge.

Another, more relevant to here, side-effect of all those crossings of the two Severn Bridges is Chepstow's appearance in my consciousness. Regularly driving past signs for the town put it on my 'must-visit one day' list, and yet more than 15 years after that first pass I'd still not left the motorway to find out what I was missing. Which is where a bookshop comes in.

The Chepstow Bookshop managed what general curiosity had failed to achieve: instead of pausing at the nearby service station, I left the motorway for a proper break in a proper community.

My visit took place on the morning of a bank holiday, so I found myself driving through a pleasantly empty town and enjoying the luxury of a half-empty car park within easy reach of the bookshop, which wasn't opening until noon. The plan was to explore a little of the town first, then to round off my visit with books. However things didn't quite work out as planned as roughly three doors away I stumbled across a cafe with a specials menu dedicated to crumpets.

So, for my comments on the town itself I can tell you Tiffin Vintage Tea & Coffee House is the perfect place to stop for a bite, enjoy relaxing surroundings and read a book, and that it's on an interesting street of independent shops. That may sound like a rubbish explanation of a town I've long wanted to visit, but if, like mine, your needs are crumpets and books it's the perfect visitor experience.

And so to the main event. Even if you don't want to make the most of the nearby offering of crumpets, The Chepstow Bookshop is worth a diversion from the motorway. I arrived shorty after opening so it was naturally a little quiet, but not empty, as a mother read to her daughter in the children's section while dad got on with the shopping. There's something extra special about hearing an adult and child enjoying a bookshop in such a way, those two voices filling the room with adventure, laughter and the possibilities of a lifetime of reading.

As the family were tucked away at the back of the bookshop – the children's section is slightly hidden from view by a cleverly placed bookcase – I contented myself with investigating a packed wall of fiction, a fascinating recommends table, areas of non-fiction and a great selection of gifts. Hardbacks run along ledges at the bottom of the main shelves, and occasional markers stand out from among the fiction, drawing attention to a particular Penguin title and listing others to help browsers find their next read.

Both the wall of fiction and assorted recommends grabbed my attention, but in the end I was drawn to Anne Tyler's A spool of blue thread, which has been recommended to me by just about every bookish person I know over the past few weeks.

I'd previously resisted buying the book until, stood in this bookshop near the bridge, the idea of winding through the past caught my attention. Perhaps because I couldn't help but wonder: how different might my own life be if I'd never crossed those bridges?


The Chepstow Bookshop
13 St Mary Street, Chepstow,
Monmouthshire, NP16 5EW
Tel: 01291 625011
@chepstowbooks

Answering the second question

Whenever I first tell people about this blog there's an inevitable question: Which is your favourite bookshop? It's a question that's impossible to answer, generally leading me to talk about a random selection of highlights from my travels so far and sometimes, but not always, managing to distract them.

A secondary question is whether or not I return to bookshops once I've written about them. Today's post should, in some small way, answer this second question.

The question takes a whole blog because it's not as simple as yes or no. I do revisit bookshops, as often as I can, but when it comes to finding a bookshop a week to write about I have to prioritise new visits. Otherwise this website would get very repetitive and a lot of brilliant bookshops would never get the chance to appear (as it is it takes me far too long to write about some of them). There's also the issue of distance, much as I'd love to, it's not so easy to jump in the car and pop to the Big Comfy Bookshop or Wenlock Books for the afternoon. (Both are on my 'must revisit list', along with most of the destinations featured on this blog if I'm honest.)

However in a bid to prove I'm not one for the bookshop equivalent of a one-night stand (a one-shop stand?) here are a few of the places I've revisited since writing.

We'll begin by looking back to the hottest day of the year, when I finally got to meet Baxter the bookshop dog. My visit sadly coincided with his last day at Belgravia Books, but he was an excellent excuse to revisit this excellent bookshop that's only a hop, skip and a jump from Victoria train station in London.

A particular favourite of mine for translated fiction (it's linked with Gallic Books, the people who brought the wonderful 'French romcom' The Red Notebook to English speakers), on the occasion of this visit I must confess to having broken my cardinal rule of never ordering a book. Given the wide variety of great books on offer in Belgravia Books I'm not proud of that confession, but if you're a regular reader you'll know I'd been overwhelmed by a book and simply had to know what happened in Patrick Rothfuss' second, The Wise Man's Fear.

Which leads us nicely to the bookshop where I actually bought The Red Notebook by Antoin Laurain: Much Ado Books in Alfriston. Just an hour away from my home, this is a gorgeous place to spend a day escaping from the world, and as an honorary member of their Friends group I've had the privilege of whiling away many a happy hour in their private room. But if I'm honest, everyone's a friend when greeted by Cate and Nash, the bookselling couple who give this beautiful destination its creative heart.

Closer to my home, we have Little Mouse Books in Maidstone. Once my local, this delightful children's bookshop feels like it's actually hidden away down a mousehole. I may not live near it any more but it continues to play a big part in feeding my comfort reading cravings, because to me that's what children's books are when read by adults, and we should all be proud to be seen reading them. For this blog I'm mentioning When the Whales Came by Michael Morpurgo because I've lost track of which other books I've picked up here!

Returning to that boiling hot day in July, another place I've revisited a lot is London Review Bookshop, in particular for tea and cake – I adore the London Review Cakeshop – but also for books. It's one of those bookshops that has a recommends table unlike anything else I've seen and simply can't be compared. On this day I was meeting a friend from The Booksellers Association and she recommended Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides. It would've been rude not to feed my book-buying addiction.

Further away, visiting friends on the coast has enabled me to enjoy the odd trip to Tiverton Books in Margate. Limited opening hours alone make this bookshop a treat to explore, throw in the quirkiness of its shelves and a friendly bookselling couple and it's a reason to get up early to ensure you don't miss out. I believe my last purchase here was The Pigeon by Patrick Süskind.

Finally, I've already mentioned a revisit to Blackwell's High Holborn, but that same quest to read more John Wyndham was also rewarded in West Hampstead, during a trip to West End Lane Books. I'd only popped in to say hello to their resident penguin, but their science fiction is so well-stocked I was also lucky enough to take home The Midwich Cuckoos.

Obviously the bookshops named here are all relatively close to home and easy to visit, so in some ways I feel like I'm cheating saying I make return trips to all bookshops, because I can't. But I've enjoyed revisiting them here and hopefully this has helped jog your memories about some of the many great bookshops I've visited.

Perhaps these, or other bookshops I've already visited, are among your favourites too? If so I'd love to hear about them.


Belgravia Books
59 Ebury Street, Belgravia, London, SW1W 0NZ
Tel: 020 7259 9336
@BelgraviaB

Much Ado Books

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

Little Mouse Books

Unit 11B The Corn Exchange Market Buildings, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1HP
Tel: 01622 679826 @littlemousebook

London Review Bookshop

14 Bury Place, London, WC1A 2JL
Tel: 020 7269 9030 @LRBbookshop @LRBcakeshop

Tiverton Books

Down the steps, Smiths Court Hotel, 21-27 Eastern Esplanade, Cliftonville, Margate, Kent, CT9 2HL
Tel: 01843 222319 @Tivertonbooks

West End Lane Books
277 West End Lane, West Hampstead, London, NW6 1QS.
Tel: 020 7431 3770 @WELBooks

Growing tomorrow's readers in yesterday's city

As I've previously mentioned, a few months ago I had the pleasure of visiting York. It's a beautiful city, with narrow streets, quirky buildings and a sense of history everywhere you look. It's a place to step back in time, and nowhere is this more apparent than by the Minster.

The building towers over its surroundings, catching your eye as you meander through the higgledy-piggledy streets and guiding you to your destination. Which in my case was a bookshop. Now the obvious choice would be the traditional, antiquarian and secondhand bookshop that perfectly matches its historic surroundings. But I didn't hear about that one until after my visit was finished.

Instead I had my sights set on contrast. I wanted to see how the modern fit alongside the historic. The relatively new The Little Apple Bookshop was the perfect place to do just that.

The bookshop is tiny, it's not the smallest I've ever visited, but the front room especially is not a place for swinging a cat. It's also bright and colourful and perfectly filled with everything you could need to inspire young (and old) minds, with youngsters being particularly lucky with the space allocated to the well-stocked children's section at the back.

The thing that stuck with me the most was the sense of fun. Apples sit along the top of bookshelves, cuddly literary characters are everywhere and the mix of books and other stuff is spot on. Wherever you look there's something to admire, pick up, open or investigate, and even the bookshelves offer more than meets the eye as books facing outwards hide other titles by the same author. This last detail was a particular favourite of mine as an invitation to discover extra treats.

This is a bookshop for everyone, but while I was there a stream of children were passing through and it's impossible to miss the appeal of The Little Apple Bookshop to young people. I love the idea of families visiting the historic landmarks and stumbling across the bookshop as a reward to patient children. Or of local youngsters being drawn in by the colour and fun, discovering a love of reading and continuing to visit as they grow into adulthood.

As for me, I took my love of reading and returned to childhood, choosing to buy Tove Jansson's Comet in Moominland.* I've long wanted to read these dark children's books and this bright and fun bookshop in the shadow of the Minster seemed the perfect place to start my collection.

The Little Apple Bookshop may not be a dedicated children's bookshop, but to me it's the perfect place to grow young readers.


The Little Apple Bookshop
13 High Petergate, York,
North Yorkshire, YO1 7EN
Tel: 01904 676103
@LittleAppleBook

*Yes, I also bought a birthday card. A few months after the visit I need to own up to one of the friends I was visiting York with: Sorry, I forgot your birthday, but at least I still managed to buy you a card before the day itself.