Now THAT is a bookshop!
Over half-term we took a short break up near Oxford, and spent a very enjoyable day walking round the venerable city. I went to Blackwell’s, a bookshop that’s been around since the nineteenth century, and was reminded of how a good bookshop will really inspire you. Whilst it’s great to have Waterstone’s in Dorking, where I live, it’s small and seems to always have the same or similar books on display – with a good portion of the shop given over to small gifts and toys now, too. I don’t often feel gripped by anything when I go in. But here I was bolting around like a dog in a field of sheep, constantly thinking how I not only wanted to but needed to read this, and this, and this…
OK, Blackwell’s does have the advantage of an incredible 3.5km of book shelves, as you can see in the picture – but still, the main ‘top’ displays had a more diverse and intriguing selection than I’ve seen for a long time. And that’s not to say size is all that matters – there was another small cafe bookshop in the Oxford market which had a great display, full of interesting books, not the usual suspects.
So, this post is in praise of our beleaguered bookshops – keep them going, whenever you can! Above is a book you’ll see that amused me and another that amused my wife (I think you’ll guess which is which!) And below is a fabulous-looking ghost story I picked up in Blackwell’s second store for Graphic Novels and Sci-fi/Fantasy, which includes a Horror section…