
Support For Bookshops
One of the things I have missed most this year is bookshops. Because I've been shielding as far as I can, I haven't been into shops at all. Weekend pop-ins to our local bookshops, Heffers, Waterstones and Toppings is a regular family ritual and since getting published it's added a whole new level of excitement for me. Meeting and chatting with lovely booksellers, seeing my books displayed on tables and getting reviewed by them and signing copies has been such a thrill. And of course while I'm there it'd be rude not to try a few of their bookish delights!
I am dreaming of doing that again soon. But in the meantime I'm desperately aware that continued lockdowns mean bookshops are struggling. I want them to be there when all this is over. Because let's face it, bookshop browsing is the best.
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Over the last couple of years, I've got to know more local bookshops through Twitter. They're not local to me so I can't just pop in. But I try to order through their on line services as a thank you not just for stocking my books, but because following their excited voices on Twitter is how I get most of my own book recommendations and find out what to read next. I'd be a bit lost without them.