What makes a good bookshop?

At the moment I’m trying to decide what makes a ‘good’ bookshop. Opening hours, clear layout, and facilities are important. I’m also creating a measure for the subject range. I’m preparing a list of books to look for as a bookshop activity pack. Here is my list so far:

1. Books by Isaac Asimov, (thank you Ed in Suffolk!)
2. A fantasy/science fiction section
3. A book on Existential therapy (thank you Emma in Bristol)
4. A university-level book on abnormal psychology
5. A book about diesel train carriages and a section on Transport (for Mark in Didcott)
6. Val Thomas’ book, A Witch’s Kitchen, and details of her forthcoming book (Previous book sellers seemed to think Val is an American Author. This Val lives in Norwich)
7. Anything by Angela Wigglesworth (Angela in Lewes)
8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (one of my favourites)
9. M Grieve - A Modern Herbal (only about 100 years out of date)
10. Books to help children cope with emotional issues

Any other suggestions to broaden the range would be appreciated.

About the challenge

I love bookshops. I’ve always loved books. Books are the answer to an inquisitive mind. As a youngster I would read lots, including dictionaries, encyclopaediae, books on space travel, science fiction, the sciences, the pseudosciences, philosophies and religions, and comedy transcripts. Whenever I developed a new passion or pursuit, the first step was to buy a book on the subject. No; that was my second step. My first step was to walk into a bookshop. 

During the 1970s I lived in Norwich, a city with many bookshops. There are still a lot of bookshops in Norwich, but many towns and cities suffered bookshop blight when eReaders became fashionable. Between 2005 and 2012 the number of bookshops halved according to The Telegraph (Bookshop Numbers Halve In Just Seven Years). Digital books,  cheaper and easier to buy than their hard-backed cousins, and online shopping killed the footfall in physical shops. Today this is changing. In recent years bookshop numbers have started to increase again, according to The Guardian (Independent Bookshops Grow For Second Year After 20 Year Decline). So which bookshops are left? What are they like? Which ones are the must-visit bookshops?

I am fortunate to have a month’s holiday. I have set myself a task of visiting 150 bookshops in 20 days to see which I would recommend to friends. I shall take photographs and hope to speak to staff. I shall report progress on this blog. This is my Bookshop Challenge and I’m very excited.

150 bookshops is quite a high target. Effectively I aim to view about 8-10 bookshops a day, and allow time for travelling. I shall focus on places with many bookshops in a small area. I will travel by public transport - at least I can read whilst on the train or bus. As I exhaust places with many bookshops I’ll be spending more travel time to see fewer and fewer bookshops. I don’t know if I will succeed.

The Challenge starts on September 23rd 2019