This blog took a bit of a hiatus for a few years, my visits to bookshops did not. So now I'm here to tell you about a bookshop visit from June 2024 (during Independent Bookshop Week). Time has passed, but research tells me my experience is largely still relevant today. In we go...
Most of the bookshops on this blog appear because I've planned for them. I've heard a name, had a recommendation, or perhaps had an idea I want to visit an area so I'll look up all the nearby bookshops and choose my destination for maximum bookshop visiting opportunity. Other times I'll be planning a break on a journey, looking for a moment of calm and to avoid dreaded service stations.
Then there are the occasions when we're on a long journey and I decide enough is enough and stop at the first village I can find after turning off the motorway. In this case that village was Cookham, slightly north of Maidenhead, and we were on our way home to Kent after a short break in Cheltenham, which we'd somehow ended up at after a holiday in Bakewell. I can't remember the details of how we got to be zigzagging across the country, what I can remember is my delight at realising my bookshop homing instinct had kicked in and brought us to an appropriately served village.
I can still see us in the car as we made our way into Cookham. As we turned onto the High Street, The Boy got all excitable because he'd spotted an art gallery dedicated to one of his favourite artists, then a few moments later I spotted the bookshop, and all thought of lunch went out the window as we crawled along the road in search of a parking space.
The Boy rushed back to check the opening hours of the Stanley Spencer Gallery while I made my way into The little bookshop. He soon returned, satisfied we had time to visit both and eat lunch somewhere, and so our bookshop exploring began.
First off, it really is a little bookshop. The pale blue front door opens into a space that could easily have been a cosy living room, with a white ceiling interspersed with large black beams. The small space still felt light and airy thanks to the front window and carefully placed spotlights, so there was no danger of feeling claustrophobic.
As you'd expect, I was immediately drawn to the wall of fiction to one side just through the door. I was so busy enjoying it I appear to have forgotten to take a photo, so instead here's the other side of the room, showing some of the recommendations tables and the children's books.
After a short while, I turned around to discover The Boy was nowhere to be seen, which at first glance is an impressive achievement in a little bookshop. Then I realised he'd headed upstairs to the non-fiction area, where he'd made himself comfortable in one of the chairs.
Both of the bookshop's two rooms are nicely appointed and very nicely stocked. Had there not been a nearby gallery to go to, I reckon The Boy could've happily sat there all afternoon – instead he did the right thing and bought the book in his hands. It was Fancy Bear Goes Phishing by Scott J Shapiro, and he tells me it was an excellent read.
Meanwhile I'd enjoyed loitering at the fiction. I remember a particular shelf of books was at the perfect height for me to browse, making it both easier to see titles I was interested in and harder to choose just the one book for my purchase. Eventually I selected Violeta by Isabel Allende, an author I'd read a lot in my 20s then somehow drifted away from as the years passed.
Books bought, we headed off to the gallery for an enjoyable look around, before finally remembering the reason for our visit: lunch.
Delightful diversions such as this are what make long, dull journeys easier to bear. These days we try to travel more by train, but next time we find ourselves driving near Cookham – and I'm sure there'll be one – we will definitely pausing for books, art and a bite to eat.
The little bookshop
16 High Street, Cookham, Berkshire, SL6 9SJ
