Bishopston Books

Gloucester Road feels like one big car boot sale with art, clothes, furniture, food and collectables and this book shop is no exception, but it does add a touch of class to the street.
You walk into expecting it to be like Black Books (maybe I’ve just watched that show too much), with an Irishman plastered on red wine acting appropriately uninterested in you and why you are in the shop, unfortunately or not this is not the case, the shop owner is lovely and helpful. The shop itself is very clean and organised and they stock a huge range of books, some very vintage indeed so, I imagine, perfect for book collectors (apparently they exist although I’ve never met one, have you?). I couldn’t tell if the owner was drunk or, he didn’t seem it.
They have lovely high books shelves that you could hours exploring and they also buy your unwanted books.

Bishopston Books conjures up, somewhat appropriately for a book shop, all the words associated with wonderful disorder. Erratic, haphazard and the hyphenated willy-​nilly are some of my favourites.
Outside this quaint little hobbit’s house shop, for starters, I often find a big box of books marked ‘free’. True it may be that these are some of the books that I often envisage having simply fabricated from the twists of time for simply being too peculiar. Nonetheless they are free. A few more boxes of various priced gems and we’re not even inside yet!
The opening times are equally incidentally irregular, seemingly based around the owner’s daily routine. That is, however, what this place is all about.
Now I’m a pretty tall guy and this is a pretty small shop (think Gandalf in said hobbit house) yet they still manage to squeeze in a second tier, a sort of extended balcony. And piles of wonderful books! Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species and an extensive Biography section both stand out.
It is the enormous art and photography section, however, that really excites me.
Indeed if you like books, if you love books — see if you can’t find something to excite you here.

I could spend hours in here!
Granted it’s small
And it’s difficult to figure out where things are
And some of the books really have no place in any one’s library…
BUT IT IS SHEER BRILLIANCE!
You can’t beat a good browse through various old (and new books) some so dog eared you feel they have been through millions of hands. but isn’t this what makes books special, they grow old as history passess and each have their own story to tell. I also love the independant stores, they have a quality that no chain could ever posses, and you imediatley warm to the whole atmosphere and shop, and want to buy something to support the shop and keep it going.
Definatley worth a look.

If you are one of life’s book worms, you’ll be sure to appreciate Bishopston Books. A small, privately run company, this book shop operates on a buy and sell basis and stocks a wide variety of books. It has a certain higgledy-​piggledy quality to it and that unmistakable smell of old books. There are often bargain books on sale outside, with deals such as three books for £1, or paperbacks for 50 pence each. All in all, a perfect venue for those of you with a love of books, and a penchant for the ramshackle.