An LGBTQ+ meeting place entirely centered around books? We love to see it! This week, we’re chatting with bookseller Erica Gillingham from the ever-so-magical Gay’s the Word bookshop in Bloomsbury, London. Spoiler alert: you will want to book a flight immediately after reading this. How did your bookstore transition from concept to reality? The bookshop was opened in January 1979 by a group of gay socialists led by Ernest Hole. Ernest had been inspired by the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop in NYC, which he had visited just after the Stonewall Riots. image via gay’s the word What do you feel …
If you’re a fellow bookworm (which, duh, you are on Bookstr,) you probably already know that Audible has made a ton of children’s books free to stream for the duration of the pandemic. This is super helpful for the parents stuck at home with kids out of school, hungry to stay educated and entertained! image via audible Luckily for us, among the free titles are plenty of great YA novels for all ages, including Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by the incredible J.K. Rowling! Narrated by Stephen Fry and packed with delightful theme music by James Hannigan, this is truly a magical listening experience. …
Where are you from? I was born and raised in Southern California. I love it here and would never want to call any other place home. Why did you start your Bookstagram? I started it as a way to hold myself accountable for reading. I had a million excuses as to why I didn’t have time to read. When I started my Bookstagram, I had a goal to read twelve books in a year. By the end of that first year, I had read over seventy books. image via @hardcoverhippie What do you want your Instagram to bring to the …
For many of us, the library offers a sort of sanctuary… somewhere to escape to, get lost in, explore, and learn. Not having access to that space for self-betterment, especially in these anxious times, can be truly devastating.
Although most retailers have temporarily shuttered their doors to the public in the wake of the pandemic, we still want to shine a light on some of the incredible bookspots around the world for you to visit when the travel ban is lifted. So cozy up with a warm tea and dive into our conversation with sales manager Dave Kelly of Blackwell’s Broad Street in Oxford. How did your bookstore transition from concept to reality? We opened over 140 years ago, so it’s a bit difficult to recollect, but I do know that it had been the dream of Benjamin …
