The Cottage Bookshop.... Savita Kalhan

The Cottage Bookshop

To celebrate Independent Booksellers week (30th June to 7th July) I’m going to tell you about a little bookshop I used to go to when I was a teenager. It was a second-hand bookshop, which was perfect for me as I couldn’t afford to buy new books. The library was my second home, but this particular bookshop wasn’t far behind it. My dad used to take me there – I don’t know how he found it, because it was set off the beaten track, and if you drove too fast along the main road, you’d miss it. I spent hours in there – you would too if you’re lucky enough to come across it. It is packed from floor to rafters with books, fiction, non-fiction, old, ancient, contemporary, soft-backed, hard-backed, and so many gems it’ll take your breath away. It always did mine.

After I left home to go to Uni, I never went back. That was exactly thirty years ago. Recently I googled the bookshop, hoping against hope that it had survived the last thirty years, and imagine my sheer delight when I found it. Of course I had to go and visit it for old times' sake. I had no idea whether it was actually the same bookshop, but the location seemed to be right – I remembered it was near Penn, in Buckinghamshire, and very close to High Wycombe where I grew up.

I found it tucked away in the lovely village of Penn, tucked in amongst the cottages, off the beaten track, and it was the same bookshop. Not only was it still there, it was exactly the same. Books overflowing from floor to rafters, little nooks and niches full of books, up the old staircase to another floor of more books. 65,000 books are crammed in at any given time.

I spoke to Liz, who runs the bookshop for the family, and she told me a little bit about its history. It was opened in 1951 by Fred Baddeley, who owned the general store next door. He wanted to run a bookshop where people could come in and find books they could afford to buy. He wanted to stock as many different titles on as many different subjects as possible. When he died, his daughter Wendy took over and kept the shop in the same tradition. When Wendy passed away, her husband took it over. The bookshop still remains in the family, and it is with the same commitment to the customer.

Midsomer Murders was filmed there twice - A Tale of Two Hamlets, and more recently, A Rare Bird. It also featured on kids’ programme, Chucklevision, Bookshop Chuckles. Blue Peter featured the bookshop twice: once with Enid Blyton’s daughter, Gillian Baverstock, and once with Terry Pratchett. Terry Pratchett lived just up the road from the shop when he was growing up and often went there as a child. Apparently he said that The Cottage Bookshop was the “origin of L-Space”. He launched his Johnny and the Bomb in the shop.

But I think The Cottage Bookshop’s main claim to fame lies in the fact that it has been open for business as a bookshop for sixty-one years. It is still thriving and it is still full of book-lovers, adults and kids alike.

One of the best things I’ve heard all year came from Paula, the very helpful shop assistant, who said, “People keep saying kids don’t read. Well, they should come in here on a Saturday and during school holidays – it’s full of kids!” That was music to my ears!

I hope The Cottage Bookshop thrives for many more generations, so that booklovers of all ages continue to enjoy it. It is a treasure trove, one that I hope everyone gets to stumble across.

http://www.cottagebookshop.co.uk/
 

 

Daunt Books Chelsea – Dianne Hofmeyr

I play games whenever I pass my local bookshop… ‘Today I will not stop. I will not buy another book… Well perhaps… just a short browse.’ But a short browse in Daunt Books is impossible. Before you know it an hour has disappeared. Book lust takes over. I lose myself on dark rainy afternoons or on summer mornings with the sunshine streaming in and the smell of paper rising up thickly in the yellow air. The smell, the touch, the hush. 

The first Daunt Books I ever stepped into was the one in Marylebone Road. In that galleried space I lost myself to the travel books and between the new books, found old unexpected copies of books I didn’t even know I was looking for. The lapis lazuli cover of Sacred Luxuries – Fragrance, Aromatherapy & Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt inspired a teenage novel and The Collected Traveller in Central Italy left me with the taste of vin santo in my mouth. 

My local Daunt in Fulham Road, Chelsea, replaced the Pan Bookshop – a ramshackle dream-palace of a bookshop that I was sad to see disappear. Its disappearance seemed to sum up the demise of the Independent Bookshop – so what joy when Daunt Books rose up from its ashes. And with Independent Booksellers Week about to start (30th June – 7th July) it seems the right time to be talking about favourite bookshops. 

Daunt’s success I think lies in their unique diversity. This is where you’ll find the book that no one else seems to stock… that copy of The Poetics of Space… or that definitive book on Paris… in fact I ended up with three definitive books on Paris thanks to a very helpful assistant… or that American edition of How to make a Book just when you’re doing a book-making course at the V&A.


When I ask Jonathan Ellen, the manager of the Chelsea branch, what makes Daunt Books successful, he answers it’s because they keep no stock, bar the single copy on the shelf that you see and when this is sold another single copy is ordered. No stock room filled with unsold books. If a book you want is not on the shelf, they’ll order it in by the next day. It’s this policy that keeps them making a profit.


In Chelsea they have a glorious children’s book section with plenty of space to sit and browse and read, and be read to, which Jonathan admits sometimes leaves books looking a bit tousled. He says the teenage section is devoted to the latest top sellers so agrees the mid-listers suffer, but in the picture book section, the shelves grown with all and every type of book… old favourites and new unknowns. And talking about unknowns, Jonathan recommended Archie, a picture book by Domenica More Gordon, published by Bloomsbury. It’s making its presence felt with few words and fresh illustrations that tell of a dog who acquires a sewing machine and discovers his forté for canine couture. There’s a creation for everyone including some important corgis.

Daunt Books also run an annual Children’s Short Story competition in three age categories. Winning entries from each age category and extracts from each age category come out annually in a book. This year, Lauren St John was the judge and said of the children’s writing; ‘When imaginations like yours combine with bookshops like Daunt, magic happen’.


I think magic happens everyday in a Daunt bookshop.

www.diannehofmeyr.com

See Domenica More Gordon's promo video for Archie:
www.domenicamoregordon.com/video.html

Daunt Books,
158-164 Fulham Road,

www.dauntbooks.co.uk
Opening hours:
Monday - Saturday 9.00 - 21.00
Sunday 11.00 - 19.00

BOOKSELLER SUNDAYS: Born that way, Ornella Tarantola at The Italian Bookshop, London

The fourth in a new series of guest blogs by booksellers who work with children’s authors in different ways. These Sunday guest blogs are designed to show life behind the scenes of a crucial but neglected relationship – the one between a writer and a bookseller.

Booksellers are like writers. You can learn to be one, but in reality you’re born that way.

I was absolutely born a bookseller. Even now, I feel the joy of belonging as soon as I put my nose inside a bookshop. And my bookshop is like me. Like me, it is, well, a bit of a mess sometimes. Sometimes it seems that the books skip around the shelves of their own accord, because it’s also too much effort for them to stay in strict alphabetical order. I always find Italo Calvino’s Marcovaldo among the cookbooks. If you ever read it (and you should, my friends) you will understand why. I take it and put it back among the ‘C’s where it should be.

I forgot to say that I sell Italian books …

You’d think it would be difficult to sell Italian books here; a losing bet, even. In fact, English people love Italian books! Those who read Italian books come to our shop to find them in translation and in the original language. Above all, the English love to learn our language. And we Italian booksellers are ready to help them with advice and encouragement.

What do you read when you first come up against Italian literature? My clients cover a big range. They don’t have any qualms about variety … moving from the classics to the latest ‘giallo’ (detective story) because now Italian writers know how to create a great thriller – by dint of being jealous of the Anglo-Saxon writers, we have become pretty good thriller-writers ourselves!

Among my most passionate clients I have many children. They are not discouraged by a foreign or a strange word. They open books, full of courage. They chant the nursery rhymes of Gianni Rodari, even when they don’t understand every word. But the beauty of poetry is that you don’t understand it all straightaway, is it not?

I always offer advice, whether to the grown-ups or to the smallest children. But I also like to leave them the total freedom to fall in love with a cover or an alluring beginning, or a fleeting phrase they find when they open the book somewhere in the middle.

Books should be touched, creased, caressed. I fear a time when they will all be contained inside little electronic devices. But by that time I shall be a lovely little old lady seated on a terrace surrounded by books. I shall reread for the umpteenth time about how Marcovaldo found mushrooms in the city.

My bookshop hasjust transferred to a new address. Now we are combined as The European Bookshop and Young Europeans Bookstore and The Italian Bookshop in Warwick Street W1. When I first heard this would happen, I was desperately sad, but now I have come to the conclusion that walls don’t matter much. What matters is the writers who are folded away inside the books and all the people who are curious enough to open them.

And now I am happy again …

Ornella Tarantola, The Italian Bookshop

The European Bookshop and Young Europeans Bookstore and The Italian Bookshops' website

Watch out for Independent Booksellers Week, a campaign celebrating independents on the high street, which this year takes place between 30th June and 7th July.

BOOKSELLER SUNDAYS: What greater pleasure? – Eve Griffiths at The Bookcase, Lowdham

The second in our new series of Sunday guest blogs by booksellers who work with children’s authors. These guest blogs are designed to show life behind the scenes of a crucial but neglected relationship – the one between a writer and a bookseller. These days, such relationships are more intense and more important, as increasing numbers of authors go on the road to promote children’s books – a goal shared by the booksellers who will contribute to this series.

The Bookcase is a ‘small independent bookshop with a big imagination’ situated in the village of Lowdham, eight miles north of Nottingham. The Bookcase’s proprietor is Jane Streeter (second from right), who runs the shop with a friendly team: Louise Haines, Jo Blaney, myself, Marion Turner and Kendall Turner (pictured left to right above).

Three years ago I (as one of the assistants) began a reading group at our local village school. This coincided with our 10th Annual Book Festival. So, to celebrate, I went in once a month until we had read 10 books. The 12 children read each book and then wrote a review, which formed the basis of a display at our book festival. We read all sorts – from contemporary authors to Enid Blyton and Richmal Crompton – and one poetry book. I have used a few different poetry books, but the first was Carol Ann Duffy’s The Hat, which was very timely as I’d handed it out to the children just before she was announced as the Poet Laureate! We’ve also used Gervase Phinn’s There’s an Alien in the Classroom, and others over the three years we’ve been involved in the project.


Each month I went into school so that we could have a discussion, which made the youngsters feel very grown up!


The idea became so popular that I have been approached by other schools, so this year I am working in four schools – always with Year 6 children. The group is aimed at the more able readers. (The thinking behind this is that so much is done to encourage the less able readers: those who are keen readers need some sort of outlet for their enthusiasm.)


This year, I have found a real difference in ability from one school to another. Not only is the reading ability markedly higher in one school, but the children are much more mature. This makes it harder for me to choose appropriate books, so I’m always keen to hear of the experiences of others who work with children of a similar age.


Michael Morpurgo is, of course, unfailingly popular, but I’ve also had real success with Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother and Morris Gleitzman’s Once. In both cases, several of the children have gone on to read the sequels. We have offered a discount to reading group members who have ordered sequels.


After Christmas I will be discussing David Almond’s Skellig with two schools and Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones with our most able readers and Once with the fourth group.

After reading your blog, I have ordered a copy of Penny Dolan’s A Boy Called M O U S E to consider as one of next half-term’s books. With four schools to visit, I see each group once only per half-term, now. I really enjoy having one poetry book to discuss, and each member is expected to read aloud a poem of their choice. There is always one group member – usually a boy – who chooses the shortest in the book, so they then have to read a poem of my choosing!


One of the greatest joys I have experienced is a group of reading enthusiasts clamouring to tell you how much they have enjoyed a book. What greater pleasure can there be than to have introduced children to a book they love and an author they want to read again!

Please let me know of any really popular choices!

Eve Griffiths, The Bookcase

The Bookcase’s website: http://www.thebookcase.co.uk/

Watch out for Independent Booksellers Week a campaign celebrating independents on the high street, which this year takes place between 30th June and 7th July.

BOOKSELLER SUNDAYS: An invitation to writers from Meryl Halls at the Booksellers Association

This is the first in our new series of guest blogs by booksellers. These blogs are designed to show life behind the scenes of a crucial but neglected relationship – the one between writers and booksellers. Here Meryl Halls shares news of some exciting initiatives and invites writers to participate in the events such as ‘Strictly Come Bookselling’ during the fifth Independent Booksellers Week, which this year takes place between 30th June and 7th July.

My main responsibilities lie in working with independent booksellers, and over the last five years we have established a thriving Independent Booksellers Forum, which organizes events and campaigns for the 1000+ indie bookshops still operating in the UK and Ireland.

I’ve always been a book-lover, and my earliest and most vivid childhood memories revolve around our annual trips from Scotland to visit family friends in Meldreth, near Cambridge. A trip to Heffers Children’s Bookshop was the highlight of every trip (for me, if not for my brother!). I can hardly put into words the excitement of walking through the door and smelling ‘that’ smell.

As a teenager and student, I worked in the local indie bookshop in my small Scottish home town, though it is now sadly long-closed. Whenever I am home visiting family, one of the biggest pleasures for me, my husband and my two teenage children is to visit the wonderful Main Street Trading Company in St Boswells. So, you could say I have the perfect job – and you’d not be far wrong!

At the BA, our umbrella brand for our indie activity is IndieBound, a marketing campaign begun in the USA, which focuses on the importance of shopping locally, shopping independently and creating a strong community. When we introduced the campaign into the UK, it immediately resonated with UK booksellers and it has provided both the BA and our members with opportunities to start a meaningful conversation with customers about how important their consumer behaviour is in keeping retail areas diverse, bookshops thriving and high streets healthy.

We have migrated our IndieBound messages about community engagement and shopping locally into our more recent ‘Keep Books on the High Street’ campaign, which is currently entering a new phase, and is reaching out to authors for support. You can see more here.

We will be back in touch with SAS members about the campaign, but in the meantime if you are interested in providing us with a quote in support of indie or high street bookselling, or – even better – if you are prepared to record a short spoken piece on the same subject, we would love to hear from you – email us here. The American BA has just launched a very similar initiative called ‘Why Indies Matter’, and you can see some of your fellow authors talking about indie bookshops on this link to the US IndieBound site.

The main reason, though, that I’m delighted to be writing this blog, is to bring SAS authors news about Independent Booksellers Week. The Week is in its fifth year, and is designed as a celebration of independent bookshops on the high street.

There are many opportunities for authors to get involved in IBW, which this year runs from 30th June to 7th July and which includes National Reading Group Day on 30th June – we have 310 bookshops signed up to take part this year, a record number, and many of them will be holding events in the bookshop during the Week. They are always looking for local authors to run events, or to participate in our ‘Strictly Come Bookselling’idea, where authors work behind the till for a couple of hours, and create a great bit of local press and PR! Or sometimes just a signing session, or to take part in a reading group discussion.

The 310 shops signed up are all over the UK and Ireland, and you can see a list of the participating shops by visiting our site. Many bookshops also run ‘authorless’ events, such a quizzes or reading groups, but most are looking to involve authors in their plans. If you are an author or illustrator and would like to get involved in IBW this year, check the website above for any UK bookshops near you and get in touch.

You could also use the BA’s author-bookseller service, AuthorBound UK, to connect to bookshops year-round – if you upload a profile, your details will be available to bookshops whenever they are searching for you, or for authors in your area. Visit the site to see more. If f you need help getting set up, then email anna.clarke@booksellers.org.uk

We’d love to work with authors more and more often. In this fast-changing book world we all love, nothing stays the same for long, and the more collaboration and shared creativity we can foster, the better. For a good overview of what the BA is up to, and to get ideas for how you can get involved, here are a few sites to visit:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/


http://www.independentbooksellersweek.org.uk/


http://www.indiebound.org.uk/


Hope to hear from you soon!

Meryl Halls

Head of Membership Services, Booksellers Association

6 Bell Yard, London, WC2A 2JR

direct line 020 7421 4692 - switchboard 020 7421 4640

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/