I’ve had more best friends than boyfriends. With them I’ve had first cigarettes, first drinks, periods, crushes, encountered perverts, drunk too much, gone too far, got hurt, been betrayed, shamed, laughed riotously, spent nights in the woods or walked roads with nowhere to go, endured paralysing boredom, got in real danger, escaped. Usually she was braver and more curious. She was loyal. I can’t even remember the boyfriends, but the best friends I have carried with me. I know that …
Category: Reading
For the first time I think, ever, I’ve set a book at the same time of year as it’s being released! Hopefully the long dark January evenings will help transport …
Christmas 2020 promises to be one like no other. Most of us will be at home. There’ll be less visiting but more home fires; less cocktails in bars but more …

One of the best history books I’ve read, that is both accessible and broad, is E.H. Gombrich’s informative A Little History of the World. Originally published back in 1935, and …
This Halloween, why not settle down in a comfy chair, ignore the wind and rain outside and read something spooky. Here are some of our booksellers’ favourite spooky reads to …
My life has always revolved around bookshops. My earlier memories are of my mum bringing us into our local indie to spend our paper 5 punt National Book Tokens and …
Halfway into my week’s holiday at the end of March, our bookshops closed due to Covid-19. It was unwelcome but not unexpected news. The stress which had made concentrating on …
I often get parents coming in, looking for recommendations for the young readers in their lives. No matter if the child has just started school, or has been reading for …
With the world held hostage to the deadly virus, getting to travel anywhere now would be a mere dream. But I was lucky enough to visit Vietnam just before the …
I, like many people, get stuck in a slump in between books. Sometimes I struggle to go from one amazing book in one genre to a completely different one. My …
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