Reviews

The perfect book for a bibliophile. I got this book for Christmas and absolutely devoured it. Jen Campbell has filled this with interviews, anecdotes and quirks from bookshops around the world. Most of the examples are from the UK and I have decided to dedicate a significant chunk of this year to visiting some of them. This book proves that bookselling is not a dying trade, and that with the increasing challenges to independent booksellers, owners are coming up with more creative and innovative ideas to keep their businesses going.

ninjakiwi12's review

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informative lighthearted medium-paced

2.0

Fun(ny) fact(s): Summer reading challenge Bingo with the Dayspring youth #1: Book because I loved the cover! I bought this from a used book stall in Market Square during my first week in Cambridge because I loved the cover, but I never got around to reading it until now!

Favorite quote/image: "You see, that's what good bookshops do: they work against the grain. They don't accept the pessimism, and they carry on with what they believe in...A good bookshop is not just about selling books from shelves, but reaching out into the world and making a difference." (from an interview with David Almond, pg. 32)

Honorable mention: "The more I walked around, the more I felt as though the bookshop's silence was loaded: the books holding their breath, trying to keep their stories inside." (pg. 67)

Why: Full of book-ish facts, descriptions of unique independent bookstores all around the world (but mainly the UK), and interviews with bookshop owners and authors, The Bookshop Book is a scattered testament to the power of the used bookshop that too often feels like an endless list of shameless plugs.