The Bookish Mindset

After holding a very official vote over on my Instagram, I have gathered together the best indie bookshops according to my wonderful followers. They spread far and wide across the country and I will absolutely be finding ways to get to these soon. So here they are, the best 30 indie bookshops as voted by the public.

Scotland:

• Golden Hare Books, Edinburgh
• Rare Bird Books, Edinburgh
• The Book Nook, Stirling
• Toppings, Edinburgh

Wales

• Everything in Hay-on-Wye, full list here.

North East England:

• Barter Books, Alnwick
• Hold Fast, Leeds
• Slightly Foxed, Berwick-upon-Tweed
• The Accidental Bookshop, Alnwick
• The Bookish Type, Leeds
• The Bound, Whitley Bay
• The Old Chapel, Corbridge

North West England

• House of Books and Friends, Manchester
• News from Nowhere, Liverpool
• Simply Books, Manchester

Central England:

• Fig Leaves Bookshop, Nottingham

London, England:

• Book Bar, Islington and Chelsea
• Brick Lane Bookshop, Tower Hamlets
• Gay’s the Word, Central
• Round Table Books, Brixton
• Word on the Water, Granary Square

South East England:

• Afrori Books, Brighton
• Goldfinch Books, Alton
• Hare and Hawthorn, Hastings
• Imaginiarium Books, Lyndhurst
• The Book Ferrett, Arundel
• The Book Nook, Hove

South West

• Bookbag, Exeter
• Mrs B’s Emporium, Bath
• Persephone Books, Bath

What others have I missed? Drop me a comment below!

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And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 30/06/2025