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The Bookshop Book
by
Every bookshop has a story.
We’re not talking about rooms that are just full of books. We’re talking about bookshops in barns, disused factories, converted churches and underground car parks. Bookshops on boats, on buses, and in old run-down train stations. Fold-out bookshops, undercover bookshops, this-is-the-best-place-I’ve-ever-been-to-bookshops.
Meet Sarah and her Book B ...more
We’re not talking about rooms that are just full of books. We’re talking about bookshops in barns, disused factories, converted churches and underground car parks. Bookshops on boats, on buses, and in old run-down train stations. Fold-out bookshops, undercover bookshops, this-is-the-best-place-I’ve-ever-been-to-bookshops.
Meet Sarah and her Book B ...more
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Hardcover, 273 pages
Published
October 2nd 2014
by Constable
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Jan 05, 2015
Sean Barrs
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
bookworms and those that loiter in bookshops for hours at a time
Shelves:
non-fiction,
4-star-reads
"This book is a love letter to all bookshops around the world"
Jen Campbell is living the dream. She has, essentially, travelled the world for the sole purpose of visiting bookshops.
Now doesn’t that sound like fun?
What a wonderful trip that must have been.
“All bookshops are full of stories, and stories want to be heard”
Indeed, they most certainly do! In the process of her travels she has met quirky writers and wacky bookshop owners. She recounts some of the exciting, and so ...more
Jen Campbell is living the dream. She has, essentially, travelled the world for the sole purpose of visiting bookshops.
Now doesn’t that sound like fun?
What a wonderful trip that must have been.
“All bookshops are full of stories, and stories want to be heard”
Indeed, they most certainly do! In the process of her travels she has met quirky writers and wacky bookshop owners. She recounts some of the exciting, and so ...more

Sep 27, 2014
Maxine (Booklover Catlady)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Bookshop and Book Lovers, Reading about books!
Squee! A book about books and bookshops, and bookshop owners, and books and bookshops, and bookshops, and bookshops. Freaking fantabulous! (Yes, I made up a new word).
And written by Jen Campbell, she who wrote Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops which is hilarious!
I absolutely had a blast reading this book, my dear husband was worried as I talked of packing a small bag and starting my tour of the six continents covered in this book on a pilgrimage to visit every single one mentioned (and bu ...more
And written by Jen Campbell, she who wrote Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops which is hilarious!
I absolutely had a blast reading this book, my dear husband was worried as I talked of packing a small bag and starting my tour of the six continents covered in this book on a pilgrimage to visit every single one mentioned (and bu ...more

It is no secret that in recent times with the advent of the internet that the humble "independent bookstore" has been under attack like never before. Some have even prophesied that bookstores in years to come will disappear from the landscape all together. If you ever needed a reason as to why we as book lovers should never ever let this happen then this majestic love story to our bookish Mecca's is the perfect start.
Every bookstore has it's own unique story to tell and through each page the aut ...more
Every bookstore has it's own unique story to tell and through each page the aut ...more

"Bookshops are
time machines
spaceships
story-makers
secret-keepers
dragon-tamers
dream-catchers
fact-finders
& safe places.
(this book is for those who know this to be true) "
The bookshop book is absolute love ♡
A book about books, about bookshops, about facts on books and cherry on the top, authors talk about books.
This one is for all the bibliophiles & bibliomaniacs.
"Because whether we're in the middle of the desert or in the heart of a city, or the top of a mountain or on an underground train: hav ...more
time machines
spaceships
story-makers
secret-keepers
dragon-tamers
dream-catchers
fact-finders
& safe places.
(this book is for those who know this to be true) "
The bookshop book is absolute love ♡
A book about books, about bookshops, about facts on books and cherry on the top, authors talk about books.
This one is for all the bibliophiles & bibliomaniacs.
"Because whether we're in the middle of the desert or in the heart of a city, or the top of a mountain or on an underground train: hav ...more

An essential bibliophile’s handbook. Wherever you plan to travel, pack your Rough Guide for info, your DK guide for photos, and this book to direct you to the nearest bookshops – and entertain you on your journey with author and bookseller interviews, plus plenty of bookish trivia. The book is definitely Eurocentric (and especially UK-focused – this section is nearly half the text), but Campbell is still careful to spend time on all six continuously inhabited continents. So whether you’re headed
...more

I love bookshops.
There, I have said it. My secret is out.
To while away part of an afternoon in an bookshop looking at the shelves, seeing the shiny new books and finding a new one by a favourite author is just perfect. And these unassuming shops offer a whole series of worlds to explore and discover, all just from the printed page.
Jen Campbell is a complete book addict, and in this delightful little book she takes you from bookshop to bookshop across the UK, Europe and the world. Almost of them ...more
There, I have said it. My secret is out.
To while away part of an afternoon in an bookshop looking at the shelves, seeing the shiny new books and finding a new one by a favourite author is just perfect. And these unassuming shops offer a whole series of worlds to explore and discover, all just from the printed page.
Jen Campbell is a complete book addict, and in this delightful little book she takes you from bookshop to bookshop across the UK, Europe and the world. Almost of them ...more

This book is literally packed with anecdotes, interviews and stories about readers love affair with bookshops. Although much of the book (approximately half) deals with the UK, this is also a worldwide tour – from Africa, South America, Australasia, Asia, there are countless examples of how the books hop is flourishing. There are Camel Library Services for nomadic communities, bookshops in barns, stations, piers and on board boats. There are even books about bookshops, such as “The Bookshop that
...more

The Bookshop Book is a tour of bookstores around the world. The author chats with authors and bookstore owners and includes pages of interesting facts about various bookstores. There are also some color photos of very cool bookstores.
I loved this book for the first 100 pages or so but the more I read, the less I enjoyed. As she leaves England and Europe, the author is less personally involved with the shops she details. The bookstore descriptions read in some cases as if they came from the store ...more
I loved this book for the first 100 pages or so but the more I read, the less I enjoyed. As she leaves England and Europe, the author is less personally involved with the shops she details. The bookstore descriptions read in some cases as if they came from the store ...more

A great wonderful book about bookstores around the world. I especially loved the ones in London/United Kingdom!

Very interesting, but the interest is limited to people who love bookshops. I am one, and even I only bought it by mistake, thinking I was buying the author's other book "Weird things customers say in bookshops", the title of which is featured confusingly prominently on the cover. (I should have known there was a reason it cost only about 1/4 of any other edition!). Basically, it is a world travel guide for bookshops; Every time I travel from now on, I will definitely consult it before I start a
...more

“Perhaps that is the best way to say it: printed books are magical, and real bookshops keep that magic alive.”
A wonderful book about bookshops, booksellers, readers and authors. It made me want to travel the world, one bookstore at a time. From the obscure camel caravans – camels carrying books across the desert – to an actual floating bookstore, this book is filled with hidden treasures and wonderful bookish things.
A wonderful book about bookshops, booksellers, readers and authors. It made me want to travel the world, one bookstore at a time. From the obscure camel caravans – camels carrying books across the desert – to an actual floating bookstore, this book is filled with hidden treasures and wonderful bookish things.

This is such a gorgeous book about different bookshops around the world, their remarkable histories, quirky bookshop owners and interesting interviews with authors about books. It has made me fall in love even more with bookshops and made me appreciate what a beautiful experience it is to walk amongst overflowing bookshelves, trying to glimpse your next favorite book while allowing your fingers to roam over the book spines. Truly a book worth reading.

I just love Jen Campbell:-) I had to purchase this nonfiction through the Book Depository website since it's only available in the UK. This beautiful and fun book is a more international version of my beloved My Bookstore-Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop (edited by Ronald Rice).
Books about books are largely informational, and thus hard to give a star rating. The only questions I ask myself are: Did it instill a curiosity about the places listed? Were the anecdot ...more
Books about books are largely informational, and thus hard to give a star rating. The only questions I ask myself are: Did it instill a curiosity about the places listed? Were the anecdot ...more

As a future owner of a bookshop, I read this book as a research, but also for the love of books and talks about them. It got me really worried and frustrated to read about booksellers that know waaay much more than I do about books, about this business, and also about bookshops that spread on tens and hundreds of square miles and sell rare books, expensive books, quirky books. And then, I read this:
"I don't particularly enjoy selling books to rich people; I prefer to sell books to regular human ...more
"I don't particularly enjoy selling books to rich people; I prefer to sell books to regular human ...more

This book to me is a full of love stories, a travel guide book, fairy-tale and magic book. It has so many different aspects but in its main, to quote the book.
“It is like sitting down with the bookshop owners, with tea, and listening to their stories”
With tales from 300 hundred bookshops across six different countries.
A few of my favorites, Scarthin Books in Peak District has “The Utterly Unfair Tall Father Book Prize” where if your father’s head touches a beam you can claim £3 worth book credi ...more
“It is like sitting down with the bookshop owners, with tea, and listening to their stories”
With tales from 300 hundred bookshops across six different countries.
A few of my favorites, Scarthin Books in Peak District has “The Utterly Unfair Tall Father Book Prize” where if your father’s head touches a beam you can claim £3 worth book credi ...more

Describing this book as Amazing and Phenomenal would be a mere understatement.
But however, I would like to share my opinions about this book now.
This isn't a proper Review but it's actually about the various aspects of the book which impressed me.
So If you are looking for a proper,Professional, Well-written Review of this book, then better don't read this.
What it is about: This Book is the A-Z of Bookshop and all other aspects of it.
Time Spent to Read: 20 days (Although, not continuous)
W ...more
But however, I would like to share my opinions about this book now.
This isn't a proper Review but it's actually about the various aspects of the book which impressed me.
So If you are looking for a proper,Professional, Well-written Review of this book, then better don't read this.
What it is about: This Book is the A-Z of Bookshop and all other aspects of it.
Time Spent to Read: 20 days (Although, not continuous)
W ...more

This book is an ode to bookshops and bibliophiles all around the world. Jen Campbell has conducted a spectacular research, travelling around the most notable bookshops and meeting all kinds of different people who are all connected through their passion for books and reading. She has discovered bookshops and bibliophiles in some parts of the world where one would have never thought they would exist.
The book sets off with a brief but informative history of books and then it proceeds with an arra ...more
The book sets off with a brief but informative history of books and then it proceeds with an arra ...more

If you ever dreamed of opening a bookshop - here's your handbook!
I think we all love independent book stores, but without our support they will die out. This book collates stories that underline why these quirky shops can never be replaced by a computer algorithm.
Jen Campbell travels the length and breadth of the UK and further afield to bring you great tales of people behind these shops, their lives, loves and even their pets!
An absolutely enchanting book.
...more
I think we all love independent book stores, but without our support they will die out. This book collates stories that underline why these quirky shops can never be replaced by a computer algorithm.
Jen Campbell travels the length and breadth of the UK and further afield to bring you great tales of people behind these shops, their lives, loves and even their pets!
An absolutely enchanting book.
...more

What a delightful book, smiled nearly all the way to the end. Having been born in London and then moving to Edinburgh I have visited many of the shops here, the memories came flooding back. Now for a large format full colour edition with photographs of them all in detail. ahhhhhhh. This is required reading for all bibliophiles.....So that's EVERYONE on Goodreads then?
...more

I wish this book didn't have to end. I love Jen's Youtube channel and as I was reading this book, I could hear her telling me all about these bookshops. The bookish facts, author interviews, and photos really added to the already enjoyable snippets of bookshops all over the world. If you love books or just love to read in general, I would definitely recommend picking this up.
...more

The Bookshop Book is a love letter to bookshops all around the world. Well, it's also a love letter to bibliophiles around the world too. Prepare to lose yourself in this book as you read about some of the most wonderful and beautiful bookshops in the world. The media is constantly focused on the closures of libraries and independent bookshops, and rightly so, it's a travesty us book lovers wish we could prevent but it's not all that often a book comes along celebrating books and the places they
...more


Finished reading: March 27th 2016

“Because whether we're in the middle of the desert or in the heart of a city, or the top of a mountain or on an underground train: having good stories to keep us company means the whole world.”
(view spoiler) ...more

Oct 26, 2014
Noa
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
Book lovers
Recommended to Noa by:
Mercy's bookish musings channel
What a beautiful non-fiction book. This was a new kind of trip through books for me. And what a bookish trip!
Jen Campbell has collected in just a few hundred pages the stories of lots of bookshops, booksellers and writers of all continents and none of them could feel at any moment boring. I wanted to read the book slowly, taste it like a book gourmet, and I never lost my excitement. Reading some pages every night made going to bed very special.
Apart from the interesting contents, the way Jen wri ...more
Jen Campbell has collected in just a few hundred pages the stories of lots of bookshops, booksellers and writers of all continents and none of them could feel at any moment boring. I wanted to read the book slowly, taste it like a book gourmet, and I never lost my excitement. Reading some pages every night made going to bed very special.
Apart from the interesting contents, the way Jen wri ...more

I really enjoyed this book but I did not care for all the author stories. I would rather have read about even more bookshops, especially more that are in other areas than the EU and USA. My last point of critique is the placement of the photos: it makes no sense. Why show pictures of bookshops before you have talked about them? I would have liked it more to see it spread out in a more logical way.

To a reader, an island amidst all the chaos of daily life is a bookshop. My hometown has but a few bookshops which has helped me nurture my interest for reading to a good extent. However, contrary to most readers my love for reading has been given wings by the internet. It was only after I was introduced to Goodreads and to Amazon that a lot of books which I had no clue about. Bookshops still continue to hold a charm for me but I am not someone who has been smitten with a bookshop (at least in m
...more

I love the idea behind this book, and although I didn't know whether I would enjoy reading so much, I was pleasantly surprised.
The book is divided into six continents and Jen Campbell goes on an expedition to many locations in search for bookstores. You will read about some of the strangest bookshops, but also some of the more well-known chains. You will discover hidden gems, and you will really just want to get up, pack a bag and travel to all those destinations. It was such a fun and enjoyabl ...more
The book is divided into six continents and Jen Campbell goes on an expedition to many locations in search for bookstores. You will read about some of the strangest bookshops, but also some of the more well-known chains. You will discover hidden gems, and you will really just want to get up, pack a bag and travel to all those destinations. It was such a fun and enjoyabl ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Around the Year i...: The Bookshop Book, by Jen Campbell | 4 | 21 | Jan 01, 2017 10:47AM | |
Bookshops where are they? | 2 | 11 | Jun 20, 2016 02:08AM | |
Where Would you go? | 1 | 13 | Oct 03, 2014 08:24AM |
Jen Campbell is a bestselling author and award-winning poet. Her short story collection The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is published by Two Roads, her children's picture books, Franklin's Flying Bookshop, Franklin and Luna go to the Moon, and Franklin and Luna and the Book of Fairy Tales are published by Thames & Hudson. Her poetry collection The Girl Aquarium is published b
...more
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“bookshops are
time machines
spaceships
story-makers
secret-keepers
dragon-tamers
dream-catchers
fact-finders
& safe places.
(this book is for those who know this to be true)”
—
326 likes
time machines
spaceships
story-makers
secret-keepers
dragon-tamers
dream-catchers
fact-finders
& safe places.
(this book is for those who know this to be true)”
“You see, bookshops are dreams built of wood and paper. They are time travel and escape and knowledge and power. They are, simply put, the best of places.”
—
65 likes
More quotes…