Words & Wonder

Our November Bookshop of the Month is Words & Wonder, located in the market town of Downham Market, at the edge of the Fens and by the River Ouse, in Norfolk. We chat to Penny, one of the owners of this quite newly established independent on why she opened the bookshop, the diverse range of books they carry and her recommended read for the last year. Read on to find out more.

1. What made you go into bookselling, and what is your favourite part?

I first started bookselling part-time as a student over 30 years ago with Dillons and since then have worked for various booksellers and publishers. I think this is such a wonderful profession to be part of, everyone you meet is so friendly and passionate about books.

The best part of the job is meeting customers, chatting with them about what they like to read and lots more. People do seem to open up to a bookseller and put the world to rights! I love the fact that we are creating a community of readers who are incredibly supportive of the shop.

We run two book groups each month; a History non-fiction group and a fiction group, both are very popular and all members have become great friends of the shop. I run the fiction group. It is so rewarding to offer the group a book they perhaps would have never picked up, but they discover they have really enjoyed. Hopefully it encourages our readers to step out of their comfort zone and try something different.

As we are a relatively new bookshop we have been blown away by the support from the local community. Many are so pleased to see an independent bookshop in their town, willing to support us with their book buying and attendance at events. It is just so wonderful to know that there is still a lot of love for a bookshop.

2. Your shop carries a wide range of different genres, from fiction to Children’s – how do you choose the books that line your shelves?

I tend to do the majority of the buying, as there is just myself and my sister Sarah, who has a background in education, running the shop. Mainly it is about choosing books that are perhaps a bit different or have caught our attention which we love, we then recommend these to our customers; they seem to trust our choices! After a year I now have a good understanding what our customers seem to like. Some of our customers will also recommend books that they have discovered and loved. We do sell some of the more big bestsellers but mainly it is about books that are just a very good read or a beautiful thing.

We are also passionate about getting children reading and learning to love a book. We have a dedicated Children’s area and we spend a lot of time with parents, grandparents and children recommending and finding the right book for them or whoever they are buying for. These may be cherished books from our childhood or just great new stories, there are so many brilliant books for children.

3. What kinds of books are your customers buying – is there a particular trend?

We tend to sell books from all genres, though history and fiction are popular. So is romantasy but I have to admit this is an area where my knowledge is weak! I need to read more in this genre and brush up on my knowledge of it.

Nature books are very popular too from the beautiful Clare Leighton’s Rural Life, anything by Robert Macfarlane, and of course Raising Hare to another beautiful book, 50 Plants That Changed the World by Stephen A Harris, which I think will be a good seller for us this Christmas.

Local interest is also a strong seller for us, the British Library’s Eerie East Anglia does well as does Imperial Mud by James Boyce which is an excellent introduction to the Fens and how the landscape we see today was created. Our bestselling book is Norfolk Dog Friendly Pub Walks, which encapsulates the essence of Norfolk life –  walking, dogs and drinking!

Any fiction about Norfolk is always popular too, so we sell a lot of Elly Griffiths, JM Dalgliesh and Joy Ellis.

4. If you had to recommend one book published in the last year, which would it be?

That’s a hard one! I think it would have to be The Lancaster Story by Dr Sarah-Louise Miller which is the true tales of the brave people, men and women who worked at the (many local) airfields and flew these magnificent planes. It is written by a local author from Downham who is a historian of war and conflict, specialising in air and sea power, military intelligence and defence and security. She is a lecturer at the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London, and teaches military education courses at the Defence Academy of the UK.

We held an event with her over the VE weekend, the shop was packed and it was the most moving talk. We must never forget these brave people who risked their lives for us. It is a wonderful book and another bestseller for us.

5. And finally, do you have any exciting plans for the shop in the coming months that you would like to share with us?

There are no big plans as such, as we move forward into our second year it is about establishing ourselves, running more events which have been extremely popular and building on the wonderful start we have been lucky enough to enjoy. Long may it continue!