In Praise of Books, Bookshops, Libraries and Reading Groups

On of the few regrets I have is that Edinburgh does not, at first sight, to be as well supplied with local independent food shops.  But more of that in a later post.  What it does have is an encouraging number of independent bookshops.

On previous visits we have discovered McNaughtan's Bookshop & Gallery at the top of Leith Walk and The Edinburgh Bookshop at Holy Corner.  Yesterday we sought out the Golden Hare in Stockbridge, a bright cheerful space with an impressive range of books including an attractive display of art books.  The children's room at the rear of the shop featured an imaginative wall of books alongside a flowchart to help young readers choose the right one.

Moving expenses, and the desire not to accumulate any more stuff until we're finally settled, prevent me from buying any more books for the moment (although I have dropped heavy hits vis a vis Nigel Slater's latest cookery tome and my next birthday!).  Which is where libraries come in. 

One of the first things I did on arrival was to join the local library.  I was 5 books behind on my Goodreads 2019 Reading Challenge and hoped to use the time afforded by my semi-retired status to catch up.  When we left Bristol our Reading Group gave us a copy of the Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide to World Fiction which I intend to use to expand my literary horizons.  Unfortunately Stockbridge library was rather lacking in the South American titles I'd decided to begin with but, when I switched to Scotland, I had no difficulty in laying my hands on a copy of Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and, on reflection, the perfect place to start.  The Central Library, next door to the Quaker Meeting I attend every Sunday has a much wider selection and I've not had any difficulty borrowing The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw (read), The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh (reading) and The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki (to read).

On a visit to the Botanic Gardens we noticed a poster for an Open Book reading group that meets every Thursday morning in the Botanic House.  We dropped in a fortnight ago and joined group of 20 people sitting round a large table taking turns to read a couple of paragraphs from a book of short stories.  This was followed by a short discussion before the session ended with the reading of two botanically inspired poems.  The setting of the kitchen garden area of the Botanics in a tastefully renovated building was thoroughly conducive to reading and the readers were a friendly bunch.  We're going to give it another go this week.  The aim of Open Book is to encourage reading in every area of our community.  Groups meet in public places, libraries, health centres, community groups, sheltered housing, care homes and prisons.  There is no charge and no requirement to read or prepare in advance.  I think it's a brilliant project.

The Independent Bookshop Manifesto from the absolutely inspiring Totally Locally project