The Bookshop Strikes Back by Ann Patchett

In case you hadn't realised, it is Independent Book Sellers week, right up until 6th July. I received a lovely little booklet from Bloomsbury last week which contained an essay written by independent bookseller and novelist Ann Patchett:

One morning Ann Patchett woke up to find her city no longer had a bookshop. Surely, she thought, someone would open another. So she waited, daydreaming all the while about the bookshops of her childhood: ones that valued books over muffins; where staff passionately introduced readers to new writing; where buying a book was a social experience. And then she decided to take matters into her own hands and open her own bookshop. A prize-winning novelist turned champion of independent booksellers, Ann Patchett celebrates the joy of local bookshops. 

I really enjoyed Ann Patchett's essay and more importantly it made me realise how little I use independent bookshops even though it is one of my favourite things to do. To be completely honest, I am a huge fan of Amazon, I work from home with a one year old so trips to the shops are not that often. Yet this author brought a lot of lovely memories back for me of wandering around local book stores, reading booksellers reviews, reading the first few pages of several books and coming home with something unexpected that I certainly wouldn't have found on Amazon. My daughter Darcey is only one yet she already loves books and will happily sit and look through her growing collection or bringing them to me to read to her. After reading this essay I know I will make much more effort in using my local bookshops rather than the internet and also taking Darcey along too so she gets to begin building the same memories as I have.

The Bookshop Strikes Back is available in independent bookshops and is only £1.99, it's a very interesting read that will have you thinking of the huge positives of these lovely and important places compared to the convenience of a huge, faceless website.

Many thanks to Eleanor at Bloomsbury for sending this essay for me to read.