Scotland’s national celebration of books, Book Week Scotland 2024, returns from 18-24 November to uplift Edinburgh and Lothians with its theme of Hope.
This year’s programme offers unique perspectives on resilience, community, and the landscapes that define the region. Over the years, Book Week Scotland has deepened its impact on Edinburgh and the Lothians, delivering literary events to even the remotest locations and fostering connections in towns and communities.
The 2024 programme spotlights regional authors and local libraries as community cornerstones. 65,000 copies of a new free book, Scotland’s Stories: Hope, will be distributed during the week.
It is made up of real-life stories from people across Scotland, including contributions from people in Edinburgh and Lothians.
Local voices in this year’s Hope book include:
· “A Wee Pocket of Joy” by Rosemary Henderson, East Lothian
· “Dancing for Hope” by Georgia Marlborough, Edinburgh
· “Ribbons and New Socks” by Sheena Mason, Dalkeith
· “Hope and Consolation” by David Pickering, Edinburgh
· “It’s The Hope That Kills You” by Julie Drybrough, Edinburgh
· “Thorin” by Sam Eastop, Edinburgh (also adapted as a comic strip by Mollie Ray)
Each piece reflects the theme of Hope in unique and personal ways, highlighting the power of local stories.
Book Week Scotland event highlights in Edinburgh and the Lothians:
· Landscapes of Hope and Inspiration, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 18 November—This event will bring together visual artist Julie Brook, writer Linda Cracknell, and musician Duncan Chisholm to discuss how Scotland’s landscapes inspire and provide hope.
· The Pleasures of Reading with Jackie Kay, Portobello Bookshop, 20 November – Jackie Kay shares the books that have inspired her, joined by Dr Sarah McGeown to explore the benefits of reading for pleasure.
· Various Author Events Across Edinburgh and East Lothian – Libraries and regional community centres will host readings, discussions, and family events celebrating the joy of reading.
The variety of events this year reflects Edinburgh and Lothians’ longstanding engagement with Book Week Scotland, now in its 13th year and supported by Creative Scotland.
· Authors Rebecca Solnit, Richard Coles, Dorothy Koomson, Patrick Gale, Emma Stonex, Leroy Logan, Tessa Hadley, Eilidh Muldoon, Stephen Payne and more to join celebrations in indies across the UK
· Bookshop-curated literary festivals, special podcast recordings, poetry showcases, indie offers and exclusives, literary quizzes, bookshops turning into “gnome man’s land” and much more
· Indie twinning with Andersen Press, And Other Stories, Head of Zeus, Manchester University Press, Guppy Books, Louise Walters Books
The Booksellers Association (BA) has revealed the line-up for this year’s Independent Bookshop Week, the annual celebration of independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland, taking place between 18 – 25 June 2022 and with Hachette as the headline sponsor.
Top L-R: The Portobello Bookshop’s mural by Eilidh Muldoon (Edinburgh); Brighton Book Festival logo; The Ginger’s Cat Children’s Bookshop (Kilmacolm). Bottom L-R: indie exclusive edition of The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn (Fig Tree); author Tessa Daly; The Big Malarkey Festival logo
With nearly 700 independent bookshops confirmed to take part, celebrations taking place up and down the country include: literary festivals organised by independent bookshops, including the inaugural Brighton Book Festival; special podcast recordings taking place inside the bookshops; poetry showcases; nation-wide bookshop crawls; exclusive early releases for indies; beautiful window displays; local school events, and much more.
Returning with lots of exciting activities, Independent Bookshop Week is encouraging book-lovers of all ages to visit their local independent bookshop and join the celebrations this June.
The line-up for IBW 2022 includes:
BOOKSHOP EVENTS
· Rev Richard Coles will be doing a tour of independent bookshops during IBW, signing stock of his crime debut Murder Before Evensong (Orion). The tour will stop at Chorleywood Bookshop (Hertfordshire) on Monday 20 June and City Books (Hove) on Wednesday 22 June, among others.
· Marcus Leaver, Welbeck co-founder and author of A Little Book About Books, will visit 60 independent bookshops throughout Independent Bookshop Week, with the book available exclusively from independent bookshops until September. Confirmed indies include Not Just Books Limited (Thetford), The Book Lounge (Carnforth, Cumbria), The Mainstreet Trading Company (St Boswells), The Edinburgh Bookshop, Booka Bookshop (Oswestry), The Poetry Pharmacy (Shropshire), TheBook House (Thame), The Aldeburgh Bookshop, TheHolt Bookshop (Norfolk) and TheBook Case (Lowdham).
· The Summer Bookshop Crawl will be setting up nation-wide bookshop crawls, taking place between 17-19 June and covering 10 different locations, including Belfast, Bristol, Edinburgh, Falmouth, Hastings, Leicester, Newcastle, Norwich, Sheffield and Stratford upon Avon.
As well as indie bookshops, their tours will also include second hand and charity bookshops. Participants interested in doing a self-guided bookshop crawl will be able to download a welcome pack from the website including the map, downloadable routes, and a bookshop crawl ID that they can use to claim any discounts and perks from the local bookshops they visit. More info here.
· Authors and avid bookshop lovers Liz Fenwick and Brigid Coady will be setting up in their annual bookshop crawl with the Romantic Novelists Association, visiting indie bookshops across the country and meeting local booksellers.
· Afrori Books and TheFeminist Bookshop (Brighton) will be launching the first Brighton Book Festival on 24-26 June, with headline names including Guvna’B, Yvonne Bailey Smith, Dorothy Koomson, Leroy Logan, Sabba Khan and Alison Rumfitttaking in discussions covering the myth of the mainstream, masculinities, feminist futures, queer books in Brighton and British culture in books. There will also be a variety of workshops focussing on adapting books to film, pitching your novel, and developing soundtracks for books. More info here.
· Drake The Bookshop (Stockton-on-Tees) are bringing back their Great North Author Tour (GNAT) on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June. The tour will see ten authors deliver 20-minute performances and creative writing workshops in local schools on Friday, before going on a whistle stop tour of Stockton, Saltburn, Guisborough, Loftus, Thirsk and Ripon on Saturday, stopping in local bookshops to sign copies of their books. More info here.
· Portobello Bookshop (Edinburgh) will be doing an event with children’s author and illustrator Eilidh Muldoon, who will be visiting the bookshop on the afternoon of Monday 20 June, to do a reading and a colouring session aimed at young children. On Friday 24 June, Rebecca Solnit will be coming to Edinburgh for a special evening event at the Assembly Rooms on George Street, to discuss her two latest books Orwell’s Rosesand Recollections of My Non-Existence, in conversation with award-winning journalist and author Chitra Ramaswamy. More info here.
· The Rabbit Hole (Brigg) will be collaborating with Hull City Council at TheBig Malarkey Festival, as well as putting together a series of author events and children’s activities to mark IBW. More info here.
· The Ginger Cat Children’s Bookshop (Kilmacolm) will be doing an event with Amy B Moreno on Monday 20 June at St Columba’s Junior School in Kilmacolm, to celebrate Amy’s book A Billion Balloons of Questions.
· Griffin Books (Penarth) is organising lots of events as part of the Penarth Literature Festival to coincide with IBW, with daily events featuring Caryl Lewis, Pamela Petro, Peter Finch, Tessa Hadley,Lauren Ace; a crime writing workshop with Katherine Stansfield; a poetry showcase hosted by Penarth-based poet Stephen Payne; literary quizzes and more. More info here.
· The Bookery (Crediton) will hold a series of events to mark IBW, including: PatrickGale and award-winning singer-songwriter Jim Causley will be chatting about Patrick’s latest book Mother’s Boy and Jim will be performing songs based on Causley’s poems on Tuesday 21 June; best-selling authors Laura Shepherd-Robinson and EmmaStonex will be in conversation in an event on Wednesday 22 June; there will be one-on-one ‘illustrator clinics’ with author and illustrator Sarah McIntyre, who is also a patron of The Bookery, on Saturday 18 June. More info here.
· Niche Comic Books (Huntingdon) will host an open mic poetry night with performance poet, musician and storyteller Fay Roberts on Thursday 23 June, and an acoustic night with talented singer-songwriter Christian Smith on Friday 24 June, both at The Commemoration Hall in Huntingdon. More info here and here.
· Harris & Harris Books (Suffolk) will be hosting a talk with Annie Garthwaite, author of the outstanding debut novel Cecily, to discuss her book, do a reading and sign copies in the atmospheric Clare Church on Wednesday 22 June. More info here.
· One Tree Books (Petersfield ) will be visited by best-selling author Kate Mosse, one of the contributors of Marple: Twelve New Stories , a brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve acclaimed authors, on Wednesday 22 June, 10-12pm. More info here.
· Confer-Karnac Bookshop (London) will be celebrating IBW and the first year in their new Spitalfields home with all-day celebrations on Saturday 25 June, 11– 5pm. Expect a book launch with author Anne Power, 15% off on all books all day, a talk on ‘How to Get Published’ with Christina Wipf Perry (Publishing Director) and Catharine Arnold (Author and Editor of The New Psychotherapist), an afternoon of tea and cake, and much more! More info here.
· Chorleywood Bookshop will be celebrating their 50th anniversary (!) as well as IBW with a packed week of events, including: Boutique Book Club with novelist Clare Pooley to discuss her new book, The Authenticity Project, a joyful, uplifting novel about truth, friendship and the power of connection on Tuesday 21 June; an evening with best-selling writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, talking about his captivating memoir, Back in the Day on Wednesday 22 June; best-selling crime writer, actor and comedian Mark Billingham will be bookseller for a day on Friday 24 June, and much more. More info here.
PODCAST AND ONLINE
As well as in-person events, Independent Bookshop Week celebrations will include lots of online activity, including:
· Simon Savidge and Melanie Sykes will be the official Book Club for Indie Bookshop Week again this year. They’ll be reading a book from the Indie Book Awards shortlist for their June Book Club, which they will then discuss on their YouTube channel. More info here.
· YouTube influencer Lauren and the Books will be hosting a Cosy Reading Night on Saturday 25 June between 7-10pm to celebrate Indie Bookshop Week. More info here.
· Round Table Books (London) will be hosting a podcast recording of Down the Rabbit Hole, the podcast for grown-ups who love children’s books, hosted by Caroline Carpenter, Hannah Love, Charlie Morris and Sam Sedgman. The episode will see the special guest Namina Forna, YA author of The Merciless One (Usborne) in conversation with guest host Stacey Thomas, book reviewer at Bad Form Review and judge on The Diverse Book Awards longlist. The episode will air on Saturday 18 June, the first day of IBW. More info here.
· Denny’s Books (Thames Ditton, Surrey)will be hosting an episode of the podcast Writers Routine, a show discussing the work and lives of writers, hosted by Dan Simpson. More info here.
· Gerrards Cross Bookshop (Buckinghamshire)will be hosting a recording a show of the podcast We’d Like A Word, a radio show and podcast about the words we write, the words we read, the words we say, hosted by Paul Waters and Stevyn Colgan. More info here.
INDIE TWINNING
Building on the success of previous years, the Indie Twinning strand of IBW is coming back for a third year, with independent publishers and independent bookshops teaming up to develop bespoke programmes of activity across the country. Confirmed indie twinning activities include:
· The Book Hive (Norwich) will be twinning with independent publisher And OtherStories, to mark the publication of The Visitors by Jessi Jezewska Stevens. Inspired by the events in the book, set on the eve of the Occupy Wall Street protests, and whose protagonist suffers from hallucinations of a garden gnome, The Book Hive’s three-storey building will become “gnome man’s land”, inviting customers to build a new society and suggest a law or policy for the soon-to-be independent utopia/dystopia. At the end of the week, a team of booksellers and publishers will pick their favourites, who will be rewarded with an And Other Stories goody bag.
· October Books (Southampton) are twinning with Manchester University Press. They will be doing a book launch event on Thursday 23 June for Borderland by Phil Hubbard, who used to work at October Books as a bookseller.
· The Ginger Cat Children’s Bookshop (Kilmacolm) will be twinning with AndersenPress, with a window displays featuring a hand-painted standee from RobertStarling based on his new book The Bookshop Mice, along with activity sheets and signed bookplates; point of sale material from Elmer, The Bolds, Phil Earle, Harry Woodgate, and signed book plates from David McKee and Ross MacKenzie.
· Forum Books (Corbridge) are delighted to be twinning with Head of Zeus, with more plans to be revealed.
· Wallingford Bookshop (Oxfordshire) will be twinning with Guppy Books, and are planning a combination of online and in person activity, with something happening each day of IBW.
· Green Dragon Bookshop (Crewkerne, Somerset) will be joining forces with the LouiseWalters Books, a one-woman independent press from Northamptonshire.
· Topping & Company Edinburghwill be twinning with award-winning indie press Fitzcarraldo Editions. There will be a bespoke window display, tote bags and postcards available throughout the week.
· Books on the Hill (St Albans) will be twinning with VERVE Books, with celebrations including: author event with Jane Jesmond on Saturday 18 June in the bookshop; podcast episodes with VERVE authors Laurie Petrou and Carolyn Kirby; a social media giveaway for a personalised book buying experience at Books on the Hill; co-branded bookmarks; an special IBW window display and more.
· Next Page Books (Hitchin) will be teaming up with children’s book publisher Barrington Stoke during IBW. They will hold an ‘Introduction to Barrington Stoke’ evening event for local parents and carers in the shop on Tuesday 21 June, where JaneWalker will talk about how their amazing books can help children break down barriers to reading and ensure that ‘every child can be a reader’. In addition, Jane will also be a bookseller for a day on the same day, helping with displays, booking in stock and chatting to customers!
SPECIAL EDITIONS AND PUBLISHER EXCLUSIVES
· The Independent Bookshop Week children’s bag will feature the mouse and the lion from the best-selling, award-winning picture book The Lion Inside (Hachette Children’s Group) by Rachel Bright and Jim Field. The bag will be part of the Independent Bookshop Week point of sale kits, which will be available exclusively from indie bookshops during IBW. To celebrate the upcoming publication of The Gecko and the Echo, there will also be a limited number of bookshop standees featuring Rachel & Jim’s gorgeous new character, Goldie.
· Fig Tree (Penguin Random House) will produce an indie exclusive edition of The Whalebone Theatre, a wonderful debut by Joanna Quinn, published on 9 June. The exclusive edition will be signed by the author, with blue sprayed edges and foil on the cover.
· We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza (HarperCollins) will have an indie bookshop exclusive edition with gorgeous blue sprayed edges, as well as POS packs including bookmarks, posters and tote bags, which will be released exclusively for indies ahead of official publication on 7 July.
· Rex: Dinosaur in Disguise by Elys Dolan (Walker), a comedy of errors starring the instantly-loveable Rex – the first book ins a series for 7+ readers – will make available for independent bookshops a standee, print, bookmarks, poster and downloadable activity pack, perfect for keeping little dinosaurs busy.
· Celebrate IBW and the 10th birthday of George, everyone’s favourite calamitous dog from Oh No, George! (Walker) – with a delightful “why not visit your local bookshop?” poster, designed exclusively for IBW by award-winning Chris Haughton.
Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the BA, said: “We can’t wait to celebrate Independent Bookshop Week with indie booksellers and book-lovers across the country this June.
“From author events to school initiatives, and from podcast recordings to their own literary festivals (!), independent booksellers are proving ever full of creativity and dedication, not only as they curate a special week-long line-up of activities, but also in their everyday work, as pillars of their high streets and local communities.
“We invite everyone to join us as we celebrate the brilliance of independent booksellers, during and beyond Independent Bookshop Week!”
Richard Colessaid: “Nothing gives me more pleasure than the thought of Canon Clement, his mother and his dachshunds finding their home at independent bookshops around the country and I can’t wait to meet as many booksellers as I can!”
Follow the latest developments via social media: #IndieBookshopWeek @BooksAreMyBag
When Jack founded The Portobello Bookshop in July last year, never could he have imagined that he’d be celebrating Portobello’s one-year anniversary in the midst of a global pandemic!
While the physical shop might be currently closed, Jack is determined to keep the activity going (safely!) and keep bringing books to his wonderful customers.
After weeks of hard work and planning, the bookshop set up a new online order system, and they will soon be launching a click-and-collect service.
In spite of the current challenges, Jack and his team are remaining hopeful and creative, and are still planning to celebrate Independent Book Week, in whatever form might be safe to do so.
Their current plans involve a virtual event with children’s author Emily MacKenzie, whose latest book Beware! Ralfy Rabbit and the Secret Book Biter (Bloomsbury) is published this month.
Emily will also be curating a stunning shop window for Portobello.
Jack said: “For the time being we don’t plan to open as a physical shop, but instead to run a click and collect service, as we keep an eye on things and open at a time when we feel it is ok to do so.
We’re going to make sure our shop is as safe as possible. This will include distancing signs around the interior of the shop, a shield for our till area, and of course hand sanitiser always available.
“The interior of our shop was always designed for easy access and navigation and the flow of it from left to right will allow us to hopefully ensure people can move around safely and browse easily.”
Jack talked about their plans for Independent Bookshop Week: “IBW is a wonderful thing and we’re pleased that it will be possible for us to do something for it with the lockdown having been lifted a little.
“We’ve got local author and illustrator Emily MacKenzie popping in to the shop to do an inspiring window featuring characters from her latest book Beware Ralfy Rabbit and the Secret Book Biter, a book all about books, reading and the love of literature.
“She’ll also be doing an online event, most likely streamed via our Instagram, which both children and adults are welcome to join!”
From online events with bestselling authors, to a picture book celebrating key workers, to virtual bookshop crawls, Independent Bookshop Week 2020 will go ahead this year, taking place 20-27 June as planned.
Organised by the Booksellers Association (BA) and sponsored by Hachette, the annual celebration of independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland this year has adapted to include online events to give book lovers across the country access to authors and books during lockdown.
The week will celebrate the role indie booksellers have continued to play in building a sense of community during the pandemic, as well as encouraging customers to support their local highstreet by shopping local at what is a particularly challenging time for small retailers.
VIRTUAL EVENTS
Confirmed events taking place during IBW include:
Meg Rosoff, bestselling author of How I Live Now, will be joining the series of virtual events “At Home with 4 Indies”, created by booksellers from Book-ish (Crickhowell), Linghams (Wirral), Forum Books (Corbridge) and Booka Bookshop (Shropshire). The series, which since the lockdown began has included guests such as Joe Wicks, Robert Webb, David Baldacci, and Marian Keyes offers all book-lovers a new, special kind of author event. The event with Meg Rosoff will be live on the At Home with 4 Indies Facebook page on Tuesday 23rd June at 8pm.
Maggie O’Farrell, bestselling author of the Women Prize nominated novel Hamnet, will join At Home with 4 Indies on Friday 26th June at 8pm.
Cressida Cowell, Waterstones Children’s Laureate will be a holding a virtual bookshop tour on her social channels, featuring each of the following indies on a different day for the duration of IBW. Bookshops confirmed so far are Mainstreet Trading (Melrose), Little Ripon (North Yorkshire) and Silverwood Events (Kirkham, Preston).
Steve Chambers, co-author of Resist:Stories of Uprising, a collection of stories and essays exploring two millennia of British protest, will be doing a virtual event with Bookmarks Bookshop (London) on Friday 26th June.
Julia Bell, novelist, essayist, poet, creative writing course director and author of Radical Attention will be taking over the social channels of Newham Bookshop (London) and sharing her bookshop picks during the week.
Tim Burgess will be curating a special book-inspired playlist, released on his Twitter channel at 3pm on Sunday 21st June.
To celebrate National Reading Group Day, which coincides with the first day of IBW, The Reading Agency will be encouraging reading groups across the UK to read The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. There will be a discussion with the author on Facebook on Saturday 20th June.
INDIE BOOKSHOPS AND PUBLISHERS PAIR UP
To underline the many ways in which small businesses are supporting each other at this difficult time, IBW wills see independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland being “twinned” with indie publishers, in a series of special events and exclusives.
Confirmed twinned bookshops and publishers include:
Saraband Books (Glasgow and Manchester), indie publisher of fiction, nature writing, and environmental reads will be twinned with Sam Read Bookseller (Grasmere, Lake District).
Publishers of “the best of Chinese literature”, Alain Charles Asia (West Sussex) will be promoting 11indiebookshops from Sussex throughout the week via its social channels.
Indie publisher Wrecking Ball Press (Hull) will be partnering with The Rabbit Hole (Brigg) and will be hosting virtual events with a selection of their authors, providing signed titles and more.
EXCLUSIVES
An early release of Meg Rosoff’s new children’s book, The Great Godden will be available exclusively in indie bookshops during Independent Bookshop Week, with signed copies and tote bags available for customers, before its general release in July.
Thank You, Heroes, a new picture book celebrating key workers by Patricia Hegarty and Michael Emmerson will be release exclusively in indies from 20th June, ahead of wider publication in July. Little Tiger will be donating all publisher profits on UK sales to NHS Charities.
INDIE BOOK AWARDS
The shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2020, this year in their fourteen edition, has been revealed, as voted for by independent booksellers across the UK and Ireland.
Spanning four categories – Fiction, Children’s Fiction, Picture Book and a new Non-Fiction prize – the awards celebrate the paperback books of the year, as chosen by independent bookshops, and are part of Independent Bookshop Week (20 – 27 June 2020), the annual celebration of indie bookshops organised by the Booksellers Association.
Included in this year’s shortlist are Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other), international best-selling author Elif Shafak (10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World), Baillie Gifford Prize winner Hallie Rubenhold (The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper), former Children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson (Animalphabet) and Irish Children’s laureate Sarah Crossan (Toffee).
Chosen by a judging panel of independent booksellers, authors and industry influencers, the Indie Book Awards winners will be announced on Friday 26 June 2020, the penultimate day of Independent Bookshop Week.
The full Indie Book Awards 2020 shortlist:
FICTION SHORTLIST
The Offing by Benjamin Myers (Bloomsbury)
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak (Penguin)
You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr (Bloomsbury)
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Picador)
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Corsair)
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (Penguin)
NON-FICTION SHORTLIST
Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner (Hodder & Stoughton)
War Doctor by David Nott (Picador)
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (Black Swan)
Extraordinary Insects: Weird. Wonderful. Indispensable. The Ones Who Run Our World by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson (Mudlark)
Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem (Bloomsbury)
No Win Race by Derek A Bardowell (Mudlark)
CHILDREN’S FICTION SHORTLIST
Toffee by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
Deeplight by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Chinglish: An Almost Entirely True Story by Sue Cheung (Andersen Press)
The Star Outside my Window by Onjali Q. Rauf (Orion Children’s Books)
The Somerset Tsunami by Emma Carroll (Faber & Faber)
The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson (Usborne)
PICTURE BOOK SHORTLIST
Animalphabet by Julia Donaldson & Sharon King-Chai (Two Hoots)
Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker & Zoe Persico (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)
Don’t Worry Little Crab by Chris Haughton (Walker Books)
Alfie on Holiday by Shirley Hughes (Puffin Books)
I’m Sticking With You by Smriti Halls and Steve Small (Simon & Schuster)
Franklin and Luna Go To The Moon by Jen Campbell, illustrated by Katie Harnett (Thames & Hudson)
The final winners of the Adult categories will be chosen by a panel chaired by bookseller Matt Taylor (Chepstow Books & Gifts) and including Elizabeth Perry (Daunt Books), Zool Verjee (Head of Marketing and Publicity at Blackwells), Sarah Shaffi, (freelance journalist and #BAMEinPublishing co-founder) and Hachette author William Shaw.
The judging panel of the Children’s categories will be chaired by bookseller Vanessa Lewis (The Book Nook) and includes Layla Hudson (Round Table Books), Jessica Paul (Max Minerva’s Marvellous Books & More), Jonathan Douglas (CEO of National Literacy Trust) and Hachette author Piers Torday.
For updates and to join the conversation on social media, follow @booksaremybag and #IndieBookshopWeek.
