The ancient city of Norwich is suffering a little from closed shops and financial woes, but it is still a welcoming, friendly city. The pace of life is gentle. It is too easy to call into cafes, and pubs and to lose an hour or two. This makes the job of a bookshop blogger very, very difficult. Fortunately the city centre is quite small and walkable. It has an active market 6 days a week.
Norwich is great for secondhand books and first-hand writers. It has a National Centre for Writing and was awarded Unesco City of Literature in 2012.
57. JR and RK Ellis at 53 St Giles Street is a bookshop where you can buy secondhand books cheaper than anywhere else in Norwich. 30 years ago I could go in through the front door, and at the end on the right would be social science and philosophy. Today I can go in and the subjects are still in the same place, maybe even the same books are there too. They may be a pound more expensive though.
Ellis' has been running for over sixty years. The shop is in two separate sections, each a large room. Overall it's about the size of a narrowboat.
JR Ellis died about two years ago and his son has now taken over. He is a friendly, helpful and chatty man with a background in aeronautical engineering. His loyal fan-base give him books for free.
Mr Ellis used to have three market stalls and benefited from passing trade, but stalls were expensive. His shop is about five minutes away from the market so people need to make the effort to get to it. It is worth the effort.
58. City Bookshop on Davey Steps is very close to the market and was busy when I visited early in the morning. It opened in 2010 and is about 8 narrowboats in size. The owner has been in the book trade since the 1980. It has new, remaindered, secondhand and antiquarian books. They vary from £1 to a lot of money. Expensive ones are often advertised online. Staff are helpful.
It is easy to browse without being interrupted, and you may find a bargain. Unsold books sell for £1. I was tempted to buy an encyclopaedia for £1. There were a lot of books about trains that I expect will eventually be put into the bargain zone.
59. The Book Hive at 53 London Street has been oven for ten human years, which makes it new in Norwich years. The building is old, rickety, enjoyable, and bigger than it looks. It's about 1.5 narrowboats in size.
The Book Hive has "whimsical, alternative curation" meaning there is no subject curation. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The books are engaging and randomness is stimulating. For browsing it is fun. For attention deficit disorder it isn't. If you need a specific book it is annoying.
There is a large section upstairs for children's books.
The owner of Book Hive is a trained actor/writer from the National Theatre. The bookshop also has a publishing company, Propolis.
60. Jarrolds Bookshop at 1-11 London Street is within the Jarrolds department store. Jarrolds opened in Norwich in 1823, which in Norwich terms makes it quite settled. It used to be on the ground floor but was renovated in 2013 and dropped to the lower ground floor. It occupies about 10 narrowboats of space. It is "intentionally old fashioned". To me it is a small clone of Waterstones Bookshop, so there was little point in taking photographs. There were a few older people either looking through the books or unable to find the exit.
61. Dormouse Bookshop is at 29 Elm Hill , a pleasant little crypt of a shop on a cobbled street. It has been in existence for 26 years but only at its current location for four years. The name was a random piece of inspiration by Mrs Dormouse.
The bookshop is small, less than a narrowboat in size. It has a nice feel to it.
The range of books focuses on fiction and the humanities. There was a nice collection of old children's annuals but no science books were visible.
62. Undercover Books is in the Flea Market at 23/25 Magdalen Street. Here is a typical flea:
Undercover books has been running for nine human years, so it is new for Norwich. It started specialising in crime novels and collectibles, but now has a few books on most topics. It makes more money at outside events than amongst other fleas in the market. The market is slightly away from the centre so there is little passing trade.
The floor coverage is quite big at 3.5 narrowboats. The book layout is pleasantly chaotic. Items are in subject order. Nigel the owner is very helpful and chatty.
62. Tombland Bookshop is at 8 Tombland has the largest collection of antiquarian and secondhand books in Norwich. It has been around for thirty human years, so in Norwich terms it is starting to settle in. There are apparently five thousand books available online. Mrs Tombland was very engaging and helpful.
The shop is about three narrowboats in size, which isn't huge. It has a comprehensive selection.
It is easy to spend a long time in this shop. Books are reasonably priced but not as cheap as in Ellis' shop. You could find a gem of a book in here. It is a listed timber-framed building owned by Tombland Bookshop. Upstairs is lovely.
Tombland Bookshop is about ten minutes walk from the market. It is worth ten minutes walk.
63. Stall 18 on the market may be a bookshop, or it may be a leather shop. It opens around 12pm, maybe later or not at all, depending on the weather.
The owner may have been running the shop for about twelve years. Books filled about three bookcases when I visited. The owner didn't know how many books he had in stock, or where they came from. Or where they went, or what categories he had. Life's a mystery.
Books were arranged whimsically. They seemed slightly expensive.
64. The Movie Shop is at 11 St Gregorys Alley a few minutes walk from the Market. It has lots of movie paraphernalia, with a lot of books upstairs. The range is good for anything film-related. It also has literature classics.
The building is old and creaky. It had a slight musty smell upstairs, like damp rented student accommodation, office-sized.
Prices varied from very cheap to what seemed expensive. Soft-backed were £4, hard-backed about £10. I would have talked to the owner but he sounded too fierce.
Norwich is great for secondhand books and first-hand writers. It has a National Centre for Writing and was awarded Unesco City of Literature in 2012.
57. JR and RK Ellis at 53 St Giles Street is a bookshop where you can buy secondhand books cheaper than anywhere else in Norwich. 30 years ago I could go in through the front door, and at the end on the right would be social science and philosophy. Today I can go in and the subjects are still in the same place, maybe even the same books are there too. They may be a pound more expensive though.
Ellis' has been running for over sixty years. The shop is in two separate sections, each a large room. Overall it's about the size of a narrowboat.
JR Ellis died about two years ago and his son has now taken over. He is a friendly, helpful and chatty man with a background in aeronautical engineering. His loyal fan-base give him books for free.
Mr Ellis used to have three market stalls and benefited from passing trade, but stalls were expensive. His shop is about five minutes away from the market so people need to make the effort to get to it. It is worth the effort.
58. City Bookshop on Davey Steps is very close to the market and was busy when I visited early in the morning. It opened in 2010 and is about 8 narrowboats in size. The owner has been in the book trade since the 1980. It has new, remaindered, secondhand and antiquarian books. They vary from £1 to a lot of money. Expensive ones are often advertised online. Staff are helpful.
It is easy to browse without being interrupted, and you may find a bargain. Unsold books sell for £1. I was tempted to buy an encyclopaedia for £1. There were a lot of books about trains that I expect will eventually be put into the bargain zone.
59. The Book Hive at 53 London Street has been oven for ten human years, which makes it new in Norwich years. The building is old, rickety, enjoyable, and bigger than it looks. It's about 1.5 narrowboats in size.
The Book Hive has "whimsical, alternative curation" meaning there is no subject curation. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The books are engaging and randomness is stimulating. For browsing it is fun. For attention deficit disorder it isn't. If you need a specific book it is annoying.
There is a large section upstairs for children's books.
The owner of Book Hive is a trained actor/writer from the National Theatre. The bookshop also has a publishing company, Propolis.
60. Jarrolds Bookshop at 1-11 London Street is within the Jarrolds department store. Jarrolds opened in Norwich in 1823, which in Norwich terms makes it quite settled. It used to be on the ground floor but was renovated in 2013 and dropped to the lower ground floor. It occupies about 10 narrowboats of space. It is "intentionally old fashioned". To me it is a small clone of Waterstones Bookshop, so there was little point in taking photographs. There were a few older people either looking through the books or unable to find the exit.
61. Dormouse Bookshop is at 29 Elm Hill , a pleasant little crypt of a shop on a cobbled street. It has been in existence for 26 years but only at its current location for four years. The name was a random piece of inspiration by Mrs Dormouse.
The bookshop is small, less than a narrowboat in size. It has a nice feel to it.
The range of books focuses on fiction and the humanities. There was a nice collection of old children's annuals but no science books were visible.
62. Undercover Books is in the Flea Market at 23/25 Magdalen Street. Here is a typical flea:
Undercover books has been running for nine human years, so it is new for Norwich. It started specialising in crime novels and collectibles, but now has a few books on most topics. It makes more money at outside events than amongst other fleas in the market. The market is slightly away from the centre so there is little passing trade.
The floor coverage is quite big at 3.5 narrowboats. The book layout is pleasantly chaotic. Items are in subject order. Nigel the owner is very helpful and chatty.
62. Tombland Bookshop is at 8 Tombland has the largest collection of antiquarian and secondhand books in Norwich. It has been around for thirty human years, so in Norwich terms it is starting to settle in. There are apparently five thousand books available online. Mrs Tombland was very engaging and helpful.
The shop is about three narrowboats in size, which isn't huge. It has a comprehensive selection.
It is easy to spend a long time in this shop. Books are reasonably priced but not as cheap as in Ellis' shop. You could find a gem of a book in here. It is a listed timber-framed building owned by Tombland Bookshop. Upstairs is lovely.
Tombland Bookshop is about ten minutes walk from the market. It is worth ten minutes walk.
63. Stall 18 on the market may be a bookshop, or it may be a leather shop. It opens around 12pm, maybe later or not at all, depending on the weather.
The owner may have been running the shop for about twelve years. Books filled about three bookcases when I visited. The owner didn't know how many books he had in stock, or where they came from. Or where they went, or what categories he had. Life's a mystery.
Books were arranged whimsically. They seemed slightly expensive.
64. The Movie Shop is at 11 St Gregorys Alley a few minutes walk from the Market. It has lots of movie paraphernalia, with a lot of books upstairs. The range is good for anything film-related. It also has literature classics.
The building is old and creaky. It had a slight musty smell upstairs, like damp rented student accommodation, office-sized.
Prices varied from very cheap to what seemed expensive. Soft-backed were £4, hard-backed about £10. I would have talked to the owner but he sounded too fierce.
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