Or, what I did on my holidays

We had booked a week in Settle. The aim was to ride up and down the Settle to Carlisle railway, finding great Yorkshire walks and interesting bookshops and above all, avoiding the internet and all things work and big-media related. We succeeded, and I came home feeling renewed.

I already knew one of my favourite bookshops awaited at the Carlisle end of the line.

Nearly ten years on since our last visit, Bookends did not let me down. Firstly because it was still there — indie bookshops sadly often aren’t — and secondly because we found some great books. I said recently that I realised I’d missed quite a few of Rose Tremain’s works along the way, and set out to find them – All bookshops tend to have the same stock these days, but I did find her latest, Absolutely & Forever. It’s well worth a read.

It was at Bookends though, in their extensive secondhand section, that I found a whole row of Tremains, and managed to pick up the ones from the back list that I’d been looking for. Reviews to follow when I’ve read them!

Actually, between Himself and me, we came away with a carrier-bag full. In the new books section, I found Ilan Pappe’s latest, a useful handbook whenever Palestine comes up in political discussions…

I did not know until this week though, that there’s an outstandingly good bookshop at the Settle end of the line, too.

Limestone Books is not huge, but it’s a true indie bookshop, where the owners have taken the trouble to provide both the popular and familiar and less well known, curiosity-inducing titles. A small press with a range of European books was featured, having a whole table to itself and when I commented on the importance of small press, I was directed also to a shelf of books from an even smaller, local press. If you’re interested in books, do not visit Settle without spending some time in Limestone Books it’s a great antidote to the modern world’s identikit bookshops.

If you’re not likely to be in Settle, here’s their website – or you can visit them at bookshop.org

This time, I came away with We Are Not Numbers and The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire.

Click here for review of We Are Not Numbers

And here for the Decline and Fall of the Human Empire.

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