It's Independent Bookshop Week!

Happy Independent Bookshop Week! This is one of my favourite weeks of the year, where usually I’d make a point of getting to as many of my favourite indie bookshops as possible. But given the current situation, I thought instead I’d highlight some of my favourite indie bookshops, and encourage you to all order from your indie where you can!

Links to all of the bookshops’ websites are there if you click on the bookshop’s name.

Toppings and Co, Bath.

This is one of my favourite indies, even before they installed Beauty-and-the-Beast style library ladders all down the shop (Reader: I squealed). They have an extensive literary criticism section, and history section, compared to the likes of Waterstones and so if I’m not buying lit crit/history books second hand, then Topping is the place to go.

Mr B’s Emporium, Bath.

Oh. My. God. They extended the shop a while back now and have the most enormously fantastic children’s section and teen section. Going in there is an absolute joy. They also have a great range of graphic novels in there, which is really lovely to see as usually I have to travel to my next favourite bookshop to get those, which is…

Gay’s The Word, London.

I visited here on a pre-YALC bookshop crawl with my friend Mary last year, and honestly my little heart just SANG. There are so many books here that either aren’t available from my indie wholesalers/easily in the UK, or books that I didn’t even know existed. I spent hours in here, looking at all the books and discovering narratives that I desperately wanted to explore but also couldn’t buy all of because… well, I was about to go to YALC, so book space was at a premium. Every time I go to London now, I make sure to go to Gay’s The Word and buy a few books.

Octavia’s Bookshop, Cirencester.

This is not enormously far from me, and is a children’s specialist bookshop! (Although they do have some adult books in stock too). It’s such a wonderful space to be in, just off the main road in a classic Cotswold town, that it really feels like going on an adventure. They also run local children’s reading groups and I’ve never been in the shop when it’s been quiet. Full of reading and laughter and excitement! There’s also a great little cafe just round the corner…

The Rocketship Bookshop, Salisbury.

This is a fairly new venture, but what a wonderful indie! Another children’s specialist shop, this place is a maze of old rooms filled to the brim with everything from picture books to bestselling YA titles! (And the YA section really is something to behold, let me tell you). They have the most impressive graphic novel collection I’ve seen outside of Gay’s The Word, and when I visited and chatted to them pre-lockdown they were such lovely people!

And finally, I couldn’t go for a whole Independent Bookshop Week post without mentioning my own indie, Bassett Books. Disclaimer: I do work with them on their socials and for their children’s section, so I am a little biased, but any support you can throw in the direction of smaller indies like BB right now would mean the world.

What are your favourite indie bookshops? Let me know in the comments!