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Christmas Special. What your ideal bookshop be like?

Dear all:

Tomorrow is New Year, 2014 and I’ve decided to revisit a post where I asked about what your ideal bookshop would be like. It’s time to revisit what your year has been like. In my case it hasn’t been great but I’ve decided to revisit my life and I’m thinking of trying something new. I’m looking at bookshops, that have always been one of the loves of my life, but I admit not knowing anything about the business. At the moment it’s all thoughts, but it’s a good topic, so…any comments will be welcome and Have a great New Year’s Eve. And let’s hope 2014 is positive for everybody!

 Bookshop

 

My parents always tell me that when I was a small child, before I learned to read, I always wanted to know what any signs or anything with writing on it said. Later on, once I learned to read, I became an avid reader. My school was a pretty small neighbourhood school (it no longer exists) and it did not have a library, but the readers amongst us used to exchange books and read anything we could get our hands on, from ‘The Famous Five’ and the Adventure Series (I always preferred them to the Famous Five, but that’s me) to ‘Jaws’, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, Gustavo Adolfo Becquer o Mercé Rodoreda.

 

I’ve always been happier with books than with any other presents (or nearly) and I still am.

 

When it comes to books I’m like a moth to light, if I see books anywhere I’ll go and have a look, it doesn’t matter if it’s a supermarket, a charity shop, a car-boot sale. And of course, I love bookshops although they’re having a bit of a hard time and have changed beyond recognition. And yes, now we have big bookstore chains, somewhat anonymous but usually reasonably supplied and full of other things, the small specialised bookshop, the independent bookstore, second-hand bookshops that are true time-travelling machines.

 

Because of my job there have been periods of my life where I’ve travelled a fair bit and one of the things I remember more clearly of the places where I’ve stayed (or visited)  is where the bookshops are (or where). I must admit to feeling really disappointed when I revisit a place where I’ve been before and a bookshop I liked has disappeared. It’s like losing an old friend. When it comes to bookshops, like most important things in life, they are not all created equal

 

Reflecting on all that, I wanted to ask you, readers, if you could have the bookshop of your dreams, what would it be like? Would it be enormous with everything on it? Or small but quirky with lots of character? Would it only sell books or sell related items (DVDs, e-readers, magazines and writing materials, audiobooks, other equipment…)? Would it sell other kinds of stuff (postcards, craft items, toys…)? Would it have a tea/coffee shop attached? Would it organise events (book readings and signings, host book clubs, run competitions, have other guests…)? Would it have only new books, second-hand books, have a section for exchanging books…? Books in several languages? Best-sellers and less well-known books, local interest books? Would it offer other services like Wi-Fi and e-store? Would it be located in a remote place, around the corner, in a shopping mall, in a hidden nook in a magical place?

 

Dream on! It’s free (for the time being!)

 

And thinking about this and after a fellow author and good friend sent me some pictures of one of her favourite bookshops, I decided to start a board on Pinterest dedicated to bookshops, and once I started checking I was amazed at the fabulous building and beautiful pictures people had pinned. Have a look, and if you’d like to pin your own pictures or others you find, let me know and I’ll invite you to pin with pleasure.

 

http://www.pinterest.com/olganm7/bookstores-booshops-and-interesting-shops/

 

Thanks for reading, and if you’ve enjoyed it remember to like, comment, and share!

 

 

books (Photo credit: brody4)

 

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Categories
Miscellaneous

Hay-on-Wye. A paradise for booklovers

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As you will remember I have been thinking about bookshops recently and I wrote a post asking people what their ideal bookshop would be like. Not happy with that, I decided to ask one of the groups in Goodreads (UK group, thanks all) what would their ideal bookshop be like. Apart from fantastic thoughts and ideas, they also told me I had to visit Hay-on-Wye. Hay had been on my list for a long time and with my friend Sumi we had been talking about visiting their literary festival for several years, but we’ve never managed to make our schedules work (or only remembered far too late, as it books in advance, year on year it seems). I didn’t need much convincing and finally booked myself in for a weekend in Hay.

And I can tell you, they were right. Even if you don’t like books, you’d still like Hay. Just over the border in South Wales, it is a beautiful town, with an old market, great shops (evidently over 40 bookshops, but also clothes, crafts, local foods…), great pubs and restaurants…Even the cinema is fabulous, with stone walls and the most comfortable seats I’ve tried in a cinema for ages (and it has a bar…in case that makes a difference).

Granted, the weather wasn’t too great, but it’s October and Wales, so…not too cold either.

I can’t tell you how much I loved it. The sheds/like bookshops, the little ones, the ones like corridors, the thematic ones, the gorgeous/temple like ones, the Penguin one, the pink one…

And I was talking to one of the owners of the Addyman Books shops (they have 3, including one dedicated to crime: ‘Murder and Mayhem’,  the first picture in the post) who was really welcoming, encouraging, talked about how the business had changed, how now you have to be in the internet, how after 30 years in the business the US Library of Congress had ordered a book from them, how it is hard work but if you really love it and have ideas…She told me that all writers wanted to own bookshops and all bookshop owners wanted to be writers, and told me that they were always looking for enthusiastic and intelligent people who could plan events, etc. And yes, getting hands on experience would be good in her opinion.

???

In case you haven’t worked it out yet, I’m one of those writers who’d like to own a bookshop. At the moment collecting ideas, we shall see.

I share a few of the pictures I took with you. They will probably keep coming…

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Thanks for reading, and if you have enjoyed it, please, like, comment, and share!

(Oh, and thanks to the owners of the Rothbury B&B for their hospitality. Lovely house and I’d never before tried a bath with feet!)

Link to my previous post on bookshops:

https://olganm.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/what-would-your-ideal-bookshop-be-like-please-comment/

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Categories
Miscellaneous

What would your ideal bookshop be like? Please comment.

Bookshop
Bookshop (Photo credit: conxa.roda)

My parents always tell me that when I was a small child, before I learned to read, I always wanted to know what any signs or anything with writing on it said. Later on, once I learned to read, I became an avid reader. My school was a pretty small neighbourhood school (it no longer exists) and it did not have a library, but the readers amongst us used to exchange books and read anything we could get our hands on, from ‘The Famous Five’ and the Adventure Series (I always preferred them to the Famous Five, but that’s me) to ‘Jaws’, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, Gustavo Adolfo Becquer o Mercé Rodoreda.

I’ve always been happier with books than with any other presents (or nearly) and I still am.

When it comes to books I’m like a moth to light, if I see books anywhere I’ll go and have a look, it doesn’t matter if it’s a supermarket, a charity shop, a car-boot sale. And of course, I love bookshops although they’re having a bit of a hard time and have changed beyond recognition. And yes, now we have big bookstore chains, somewhat anonymous but usually reasonably supplied and full of other things, the small specialised bookshop, the independent bookstore, second-hand bookshops that are true time-travelling machines.

Because of my job there have been periods of my life where I’ve travelled a fair bit and one of the things I remember more clearly of the places where I’ve stayed (or visited)  is where the bookshops are (or where). I must admit to feeling really disappointed when I revisit a place where I’ve been before and a bookshop I liked has disappeared. It’s like losing an old friend. When it comes to bookshops, like most important things in life, they are not all created equal

Reflecting on all that, I wanted to ask you, readers, if you could have the bookshop of your dreams, what would it be like? Would it be enormous with everything on it? Or small but quirky with lots of character? Would it only sell books or sell related items (DVDs, e-readers, magazines and writing materials, audiobooks, other equipment…)? Would it sell other kinds of stuff (postcards, craft items, toys…)? Would it have a tea/coffee shop attached? Would it organise events (book readings and signings, host book clubs, run competitions, have other guests…)? Would it have only new books, second-hand books, have a section for exchanging books…? Books in several languages? Best-sellers and less well-known books, local interest books? Would it offer other services like Wi-Fi and e-store? Would it be located in a remote place, around the corner, in a shopping mall, in a hidden nook in a magical place?

Dream on! It’s free (for the time being!)

And thinking about this and after a fellow author and good friend sent me some pictures of one of her favourite bookshops, I decided to start a board on Pinterest dedicated to bookshops, and once I started checking I was amazed at the fabulous building and beautiful pictures people had pinned. Have a look, and if you’d like to pin your own pictures or others you find, let me know and I’ll invite you to pin with pleasure.

http://www.pinterest.com/olganm7/bookstores-booshops-and-interesting-shops/

Thanks for reading, and if you’ve enjoyed it remember to like, comment, and share!

books
books (Photo credit: brody4)
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