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Opinion
Staff picks: the Booker Prizes team’s favourite bookshops
From hidden gems to bustling neighbourhood mainstays, the Booker Prizes team open the doors to their go-to bookshops around the world
Books are never far from our minds at Booker Prizes HQ – and naturally, neither are bookshops. So, as Independent Bookshop Week approaches, we’ve been thinking about what makes a bookshop truly special. Running across the UK and Ireland from 13 to 20 June, the week celebrates indie bookshops and the vital role they play in their communities.
At the International Booker Prize 2026 ceremony, Bernardine Evaristo said what makes it can be as simple as ‘a great vibe’ – something she has often found at Round Table Books in Brixton. Sir Ben Okri praised ‘the little bookshops’, including Rudolf Steiner Bookshop in Marylebone, while Kazuo Ishiguro singled out Mr B’s Emporium in Bath, where he often discovers ‘incredible things’. Three very different shops, each loved by a Booker Prize-winning author for its own reasons.
That got us thinking: which bookshops are our own favourites? To mark this year’s Independent Bookshop Week, the Booker Prizes team share the local shops they return to again and again – plus the shops around the world that have made a big impression – and the reasons they keep coming back for more.
Michael Windsor-Ungureanu, Senior Designer
AA Bookshop, London
Behind two large Georgian windows overlooking Bedford Square, you can glimpse what looks like an extraordinary private living room, packed to the ceiling with rare and unusual design and architecture books. A welcoming ‘we’re open’ sign and posters in the window mark the entrance to the AA Bookshop.
Like the best art-school bookshops, this shop is a rare space where private publishing projects, international architecture and design books, and limited-edition artists’ and architects’ books find a home. Filled with light and amazing books, this is a place to marvel and reconnect with the various forms that they can take.
AA Bookshop, London.
© Michael Windsor-UngureanuLillie Razvi Toon, Prizes Manager
Minoa Pera, Istanbul
Tucked down a winding side street in Istanbul’s historic Beyoğlu area, is a beautiful bookshop called Minoa Pera. As you step inside, you are invited to explore the two levels of the bookshop by an imposing staircase adorned with plants and steps which act as bookshelves. In such a bustling and vibrant city, Minoa Pera is a welcome reprieve.
As well as its vast Turkish language selection, the bookshop also has a large English language section, and its thoughtfully curated shelves span fiction, philosophy, design and art. The bookshop also houses a café, making it the perfect way to start the day, a Turkish coffee in hand as you browse.
When I visited Istanbul last December, stumbling across Minoa Pera felt like discovering a small literary haven – and it set the tone for the rest of the day.
Although Turkey has a complicated relationship with many of its writers, some of whom are censored or imprisoned, the bookshop and museum reminded me of the richness of its literary history, from Orhan Pamuk to Ahmet Altan and Elif Shafak. In a city overflowing with history, culture and religion, bookshops like Minoa Pera offer a quieter, more intimate way to get under its skin.
Minoa Pera, Istanbul.
© Lillie Razvi ToonGrace Sansom, Digital Content Executive
Novel, Sheffield
Novel began as a pop-up bookshop and just a few shelves in a bustling coffee shop. Fast forward a few years, and it is now one of Sheffield’s most beloved bookish communities. Many local folks, myself included, build their whole Saturday around a trip there.
Run by ex-teachers Kate and Joe, Novel grew into its first permanent home in 2024. The Crookes shop quickly became a neighbourhood favourite, complete with a coffee shop, book club, talks and special events. It was always sparkling with excited customers rummaging through the perfectly curated displays. Strangers and friends natter with each other or staff, excited to recommend and be recommended to. Exactly what a brilliant book shop should be.
In January this year, Novel closed after a string of incidents, including harassment and threatening behaviour towards staff. But the community rallied behind them; customers were not willing to sit by and let this one go. But great news! Novel is making an exciting return later this year. Its owners are continuing their motto of getting people to ‘read it all and enjoy it’, but potentially on a bigger scale than before. Keep an eye on their socials for announcements coming soon…
Novel, Sheffield
Maria-Mihaela Vasiutina, Finance and CRM Manager
Librarius, Chisinau
Librarius is a chain of bookstores in the Republic of Moldova, established in 2010. Walking there feels like a unique experience. Librarius manages to blend several different worlds together. Many of its branches combine a coffee shop, a bookstore, and a social lounge, all in one place. This creates an atmosphere that feels modern and slightly rebellious, stripping down the more traditional and transactional aspects of a conventional bookstore.
Librarius encourages people to stay and socialise, rather than simply buy something and leave. Customers can browse and sit down to read a few pages of a book while enjoying a coffee before deciding if they wish to purchase it or simply spend time relaxing with friends. This bookstore-café mix creates a warm environment where people with various interests can gather and enjoy their time. Being there feels like seeing a few worlds merging into one.
This bookstore has managed to become less about consumption and more about curiosity and comfort. I feel like it also deeply reflects the shift in how society now view books. Instead of objects meant to be kept on a shelf away from the world that can damage them, they now become part of our everyday lives., something that can exist beside us in our daily routines.
This shop has left a strong impression on me, since it’s not only a place where books and coffee are sold, but rather somewhere people can slow down, explore, and belong, away from the outside world.
Librarius, Chisinau.
© Maria-Mihaela VasiutinaEmma Joliffe, Schools Engagement Manager
The Hastings Bookshop, Hastings
It seems strange to choose a bookshop which is no longer there – at least not in bricks and mortar form – but I know that indie venture The Hastings Bookshop lives on in the memories of lots of Hastings residents and book lovers.
The new bookshop arrived during the first year of the pandemic, 2020, with its many lockdowns – not the easiest time to start a new business. But it became clear that this bookshop would be special. With beautifully curated collections and displays, including a wonderful children’s section, it was a pleasure to dip into. It was often busy and buzzing, but it was in their readings and events that the bookshop – for me – really came into its own.
Fierce and committed allies to the LGBTQ+ community, the bookshop held brilliant author talks and roundtables, as well as working with a queer indie publisher, Cipher Press, to organise Hastings’ first-ever Queer Lit Festival. They helped me discover new authors, find perfect gifts for people, and always ordered in copies of whatever our queer reading group chose each month.
When they announced in 2025 that they were closing, due to the usual financial pressures facing independent bookshops, there were round-the-block queues as people tried to buy all their remaining stock. They are much missed.
The Hastings Bookshop, Hastings.
© The Hastings BookshopIndira Birnie, Head of Digital Marketing
The Bookseller Crow, London
The Bookseller Crow, named for one of its owners as well as for the sizeable local community of glossy black birds, is like a bookish Aladdin’s Cave. It’s been a mainstay of Crystal Palace for 29 years and stocks a range of contemporary fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, local history, cookery books and graphic novels. They regularly host book groups and author events too. I tend to pop in at weekends, for what I tell myself will be a quick look around, but inevitably end up leaving with a book or, at the very least, several added to my mental list for future purchase.
Jon, one of the shop’s co-owners, died unexpectedly in September 2025. Over the years, we bonded over a shared love of John Cheever and Raymond Carver, and books where not much happens but, also, everything happens. He was kind, generous, very funny and beloved locally and beyond. He’d probably roll his eyes reading that, but as Jon might say, keep fighting evil and read more.
The Bookseller Crow, London.
© Indira BirnieDonna Mackay-Smith, Deputy Head of Editorial
Leakey’s Bookshop, Inverness
Leakey’s Bookshop is one of those rare places that feels untouched by the rush of the modern world. Housed in a former church in Inverness, it is Scotland’s largest second-hand bookshop and has been run by the same family since 1979.
Step inside, and time seems to slow down. Books with cracked spines and faded dust jackets line every wall, climbing towards the rafters. A wood-burning stove sits at the centre, and the floorboards creak as you wander between the shelves, never quite sure what you’re looking for until you find it. Some retro sci-fi, a battered children’s classic or an out-of-print gem. I’ve picked up all of these, and more.
I always try to stop in when I’m in the north of Scotland visiting family, and somehow, it’s impossible to leave empty-handed.
Leakeys Bookshop, Inverness.
© Hugh Mitton, AlamyLisa Macdonald, Children’s Prize Manager
Rye Books, London
Rye Books on North Cross Road in East Dulwich is a cosy, local community bookshop. It has a carefully curated collection of books, and the promise that if they don’t have what you’re after on the shelf, Alastair – the owner – will order it for you, to be delivered the next day.
The children’s corner at the back is just a few shelves per age group, but offers a vast array of authors and genres, and not just your typical bestsellers. This makes it easy to navigate, and for my kids at least, it’s a great place to discover new books and series.
The last time we visited, my daughter had some vouchers to spend. Off the back of some recommendations from Alastair, she came away with a detective story set in the Caribbean, a historical novel about the Blitz, and the first book in a fantasy adventure trilogy she’d never heard of before.
Rye Books, London.
© Paul Davies
