Read & Return Bookshop

So, one week down... many more to go.

It's been good. A little slower on those first few days than I would have thought, but not catastrophic - eyebrows were raised, but we didn't go running for the hills. And it's picked right up since then, so things are looking good.

Which is great, since we need to be able to tick over for a little while before making moves on new stock, and new ideas - building on what we already have, and adding to it. We're taking nothing away here. For any loyal customers reading this who've been with the shop since way back when, we're here for you still. You're the backbone of our enterprise (one might say the engine room, if you want to make a Star Trek analogy).

We just want to bring a few new people into the fold. In the months to come, we hope to improve our Childrens section, enlarge it if possible, if space permits/can be bent to our will; refresh the SF/Fantasy; add a little spice across the sections in general, jbring their flavour to the fullest.

Elsewhere, we're looking to maybe start doing some kind of events in store. There's already plans for a Bookclub - or rather and existing bookclub is likely to be using us as it's base and would like to invite more people to join in. More details to follow.

we'd also like to introduce regular/semi regular readings to the shop. Hearing a story read aloud, when it's read aloud well, is a wonderfull thing, so I'm going to look into that. It's a dying art, but one that I sense is having something of a comeback. More and more people I know (myself included) say they read to their partners, in bed, or instead of television, or while the other is cooking or whhatever. It's a lovely thing to do. And really, a story can often be a whole different thing read aloud. Spoken out loud, a story can take on a life of it's own, find it's personality, express itself. It might be funnier than you thought it was, or scarier. The rhythm of the thing comes to the fore in ways you hadn't thought of before, because you'd never had to get your lips or tongue around it, never had to take a breath.

We'll see what happens with this idea. It's something that will need some planning and searching for good readers. But if it works, it could be something magical.

We'll keep you posted.