Why I Love Bookshops!

Today I have a special post to share with you guys. I was asked by UKYABA to join in n their month long set of bookish challenges. Of course I said yes and I was given my challenge. My challenge is to show my favourite local bookshop some love and to tell you about my favourite encounter or memory associated with it. I am so happy with my challenge and cannot wait to get right into it! I though I would add my own little spin to the challenge and also talk about why I love bookshops!

‘Bookshops are dreams built of wood and paper’- Jen Campbell. Today’s challenge is to show your favourite local bookshop some love and tell us your favourite encounter or memory associated with it. 📚#LocalBookshop #SupportYourBookshop #FavouriteBookshop  #UKYABA2019

I don’t have many bookshops local to me but it is safe to say I am always planning a bookshop trip. I have been to bookshops ever since I was little and have so many amazing memories thanks to them.

One of my earliest memories of bookstores is when I was around 6 and every Saturday I went to the local bookstore with my Grandma and bought a book for to read the following week. Little 6-year-old me decided to write letter to the bookshop thanking them for all the books they had on offer and how much I enjoyed going into the store. My Mum secretly sent this letter off to the bookshop because of how much she thought it would make the owners smile.

My Mum was right, they wrote back and sent me a gift voucher to send in the store. I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to go and pick another book out to read. I was therefore even more surprised when an entire box of brand new books turned up at my front door, all for me. The wonderful people from this bookstore had sent me an entire box packed full about 30 books! This memory has stuck with me all my life and I was distraught when this shop had to shut very recently.

After my local bookshop closed I didn’t know what to do with myself. This is why every time I go to the nearby city Manchester, I am found in Waterstones Deansgate. I have so many incredible memories in this place. Including it is where me and a lot of my friends met, it is where I have met many of my favourite authors and it was there I decided to start my blog.

If I was to talk about all my memories from this bookstore this post would be very long, instead I will share a couple of my favourites. One of these memories from this bookstore is the first time I ever interview authors. I was asked by the YA bookseller Kimi (who thanks to books and bookstores is now my best friend) if I would like to interview 3 authors ahead of an event happening at the store. These authors were Simon James Green, Beth Garrod and Stephanie Kate Strohm. This was an opportunity that I couldn’t miss and a memory that I will cherish forever. These authors were all delightful, I had such a lovely time and I made me want to blog even more. Also this was a photo that happened thanks to this event, a photo that makes me laugh every time I see it!

Another memory from the wonderful Waterstones Deansgate is from one of the TEENSgate Blogger events. These happen every few months and I always attend when I can. The most recent blogger event was one of my favourites. We sat discussing books, Marvel, life and everything inbetween. This store means a lot to all of the bloggers in the group because it is where we all met. At this particular event we talked about how it was hard to believe that over a year ago we didn’t know one another and now we were meeting up whenever we could.

There are so many more reasons why Waterstones Deansgate is my favourite bookshop that is local to me. Obviously I love a lot more bookshops too though and have so many memories in those stores. If you ever want to hear about those memories please let me know because I would love to do another post like this!Thank you so much to UKYABA for letting me join in on the month long challenge you have created! I have had so much fun writing this post and cannot wait for the UKYABA Awards at YALC this year.

If you didn’t know the  UKYA Blogger & Vlogger Awards are all about celebrating UKYA book-bloggers and vloggers. Also to thank them for all they do to support the whole bookish community, but especially authors, publishers and readers.

This year the awards even will be on Friday 26th July @ YALC from 5:30-7pm. I will be watching the awards event and I cannot wait!

Thank you again to the wonderful people at UKYABA.

What are your favourite bookshop memories? Where is your favourite bookshop? Let me know in the comments below!