Stoke Newington Bookshop

It’s February, and this month we’re talking to Tom at the Stoke Newington Bookshop, situated in its namesake Stoke Newington, North London. We chat about the history of the shop, what his most favourite part of the day is and what’s to come for the shop in the future …

1. We see that the Stoke Newington Bookshop was opened in 1987. There must have been a lot of changes from then to now: what do you think have been the main differences in terms of bookselling, and in the book industry generally?

I am but a sprightly 34 years old, and have worked here for going on seven of those years, so I can tell you about all the changes I’ve witnessed in that period — the changes in shopping habits during and post-lockdown, the rise of romantasy, the increased conglomeration of the big publishers — and before that?

I’m always impressed the shop has weathered Amazon, the Kindle (I remember Waterstones caving and selling them in their shops for a bit, and then physical book sales picked up enough to ditch them again), various and ongoing recessions, a global pandemic…

With all that said, I would say the biggest change is that in 1987 there were no Bunny vs Monkey books and now there are, I think, ninety?

2. Have you always been at the same premises, and has much changed in the shop and surrounding area?

The bookshop began three doors down at 153 Stoke Newington High Street, which then became a bargain bookshop, and is now our sister Toyshop. We moved here in 1992 with Jo, the founder and owner, resolute in being part of the high street rather than the bougier Church Street round the corner.

We serve all members of the local community — the demographics of which have probably been the biggest change to the surrounding area, as Stokey has gone through a commensurate level of gentrification to the rest of Hackney/East London (not all bad)!

3. What’s your favourite part of the working day?

After my first, second, and third coffee, and the moment when someone asks if they should go across the street to buy fancy biscuits, it’s honestly whenever you get to recommend a book to a customer. It’s properly gratifying to know your stuff, to be able to discern what somebody is looking for, and fulfil their remit, no matter how vague. You get to pass on a book you like, often highlighting an author from a smaller press (like the ones represented by Yale!) and help a member of the local community out.

4. How do you choose the books that line your shelves – do you have a criteria to help you pick them?

It’s a rigorous and time-tested rubric of “do we like it.” There’s naturally a degree of recognising what’s right for our customers, diverse a group as they are, but one of the draws to an independent bookshop like ours is personal curation you don’t get from bigger chains/supermarkets/online/Steve Bartlett podcast interviews. Stuff we’re excited about, that our sales reps are excited about, or have Bunny vs Monkey in the title.

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

Events! We have a lot of cool things lined up, including writing workshops, stand up comedy, authors in conversation, book clubs, and a history of Nintendo in collaboration with a video game bar down the road from us. There’s more info on our Eventbrite and updates on our Instagram.