Where to (Responsibly) Buy Your Self-Isolation Book Stash

So you've just finished reading our entire back catalogue of print magazines. Now what? Forgo Amazon in place of these independent sellers which, despite the coronavirus chaos, are still shipping to voracious bookworms in need. Support your local, or simply a local - either will do.

Surprise bundles and vintage tomes: get your reading fix from these indie booksellers

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Golden Hare Books

Edinburgh

Ship-shape shelves and, in winter, a crackling fire make this one of our favourite places in Edinburgh for a spot of book-hunting. Though a chunk of its staff are on furlough, Golden Hare Books is still shipping out deliveries – for free if you enter the code NEWNORMAL at checkout.

Address

68 St Stephen Street Edinburgh EH3 5AQ

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Dylan’s Mobile Bookstore

Swansea

For second-hand, rare-edition books with character, try this place. It’s flogging old stock on Instagram. You’ll find a mixture of seminal philosophical treatises as well as under-the-radar modern fiction. It’s first come, first served. Go, go, go.

Address

5 Summerland land, Newton, Swansea, SA34UJ, Wales, UK

This image is on holiday

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Own It

Hackney, London

We love the ethos behind this place. It’s a publisher first and foremost. Own It is committed to sharing stories from lesser-known wordsmiths and splits all net profits 50/50 with the writer. Right now, when you buy one of its books, it’ll send another to a recipient of your choice completely free of charge.

Address

125-127 Mare Street London E8 3SJ

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Books That Matter

It's a subscription service which dispatches bundles of books penned exclusively by female writers. For £16, subscribers receive a book and three themed gifts made by independent creatives each month. You can tune into its podcast for one-on-one chats with up-and-coming female authors, too.

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Book Hive

Norwich, London

If you’re a sucker for surprises, buy one of Book Hive’s self-isolation bundles. There’s the £10 “isolation lucky dip” (one randomly selected book), the “mega isolation lucky dip” (anywhere between 10 to 50 randomly selected books) and the “self-isolation book pack” (five books handpicked according to your literary taste).

Address

53 London Street Norwich NR2 1HL

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Daunt Books

London, United Kingdom

Starting out in Marylebone in 1990, Daunt Books has expanded to five stores all over London, (including Belsize Park, Marylebone, Holland Park, Hampstead, Chelsea and Cheapside). World renowned for specialising in travel, each book is grouped geographically, and the aesthetic of graceful skylights and William Morris prints extend throughout each store.

Address

83 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QW

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Lighthouse

Edinburgh

Expect to find literature from female, LGBTQ+ and politically radical perspectives here. Like others, it’s unable to order in new stock at the moment, but you can try its “lucky dip”. Pick a sub-genre – feminist, environment, sci-fi etc. – and it’ll send you a random pair of books for £10 or less.

Address

43-45 West Nicolson Street Edinburgh EH8 9DB