A Bookshop on the Eve of Reopening (again)

Posted on May 24, 2021 in South West

As bookshops prepare to reopen for the umpteenth time, we wanted to ask one of SYP South West’s local independent bookshops, Storysmith, what positive impact the past year might have had, what they’re looking forward to about reopening, their recommendations, suggestions for someone who has read almost everything and how best to support independent booksellers.

What aspect are you most looking forward to about reopening?

“Seeing our regular customers again, and hopefully welcoming some new people who may have discovered us during lockdown but never actually visited before. It’s nerve-wracking: are we going to remember how to talk to people normally? How do you use a barcode scanner? How do you make a flat white? I guess we’ll find out…”

Is there any aspect of the lockdown changes to business or customer habits you would like to see continue?

“This might be us misreading things, but on a national level, there does seem to be a slightly stronger sense of adventure in people’s reading habits as a result of lockdown. Simply spending more time indoors reading has perhaps re-energised the reading muscles a bit, and we’ve noticed that people are taking our recommendations for slightly more esoteric or unusual reads when we post about them on our social channels. We’ve always been keen to broaden the reading habits of our customers (we think it’s what a good bookshop should do), and now our customers are sending the recommendations right back at us. Hopefully, this spirit of exploratory reading continues when we’re all allowed outdoors again!”

What are you currently reading and recommending?

“This is probably true all the time, but there does seem to be an especially large number of good books out just now. So far this year we’ve been loving Raven Leilani’s Luster (how can it possibly be this exquisitely written and still a debut?) and Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This (maybe the best novel written about the internet so far). Some brilliant translations have also gotten us excited recently, especially Tower by Bae Myung-Hoon and Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro, which will be arriving in July. Currently, we’re reading Hanif Abdurraqib’s A Little Devil In America which is pretty scintillating so far, and we’ve also just managed to bag a proof of Mieko Kawakami’s Heaven – Kawakami’s Breasts And Eggs was one of our books of the year last year, so our expectations are high.”

What would you recommend people get for someone who seems to have read everything?

“If it isn’t too much of a plug, we created a subscription service for this very type of person! Our Subscriptions for Curious Readers represent the best of our curated approach – every month we pick an obscure gem, a forgotten classic or a cutting-edge curio that is – very importantly – as accessible as it is interesting, and we send it out to all our subscribers. We keep it as broad as possible, and we love amplifying independent publishers. April’s pick is a Muriel Spark classic (The Ballad Of Peckham Rye), but recent months have included Yan Ge’s Strange Beasts Of China and David Foenkinos’ The Mystery of Henri Pick. Oh, and our subscriptions come with locally roasted coffee, too.”

What is the best way people can support indie bookshops?

“There’s definitely been a shift away from industrial online book retailers (we won’t dignify them by calling them booksellers – it’s a title you need to earn), but there is still a perception that smaller, independent bookshops don’t have the same resources as those massive companies. In fact, there’s every chance that your local bookshop is as efficient and swift in delivering your books as anyone else – but with the added bonus of more characterful service, almost certainly a better range of recommendations than any metadata algorithm could provide, and a vital high-street presence once we’re all back open again. So the best thing people can do with their local indie is just to continue using it. Talk to them, use their expertise like you would with a chiropractor or a greengrocer – they can do everything you’d expect and more.”

How would you describe the Storysmith experience in 3 words?

“Curated, adventurous, dog-friendly.”

Storysmith first opened in October 2018 and Dan and Emily are known for their strong online presence, recommendations, and Subscriptions for Curious Readers. They have a great website offering both delivery and ‘click and collect’. From April 13th 2021 they will be open again for browsing on Bedminster’s North Street where they’re surrounded by other independent shops and cafés, a large selection of the city’s street art, and are only a short walk from the harbourside. If you are local or looking for a new area to explore, definitely pop by for a browse. Otherwise, you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with their recommendations, hilarious threads and dog pics and have a look at their website to discover your next read!

Until such a time as travel is unrestricted, we too will be found seeking adventure and escape in books and frequenting as many of our local indies as will have us!

✒︎ Anna Richardson, SYP South West (@noulimou)