Our Top 25 of 2025

What were Chorlton’s favourite books in 2025? We’ve done the sums and here they are. 

Chorlton Book Festival

This year’s literary line-up features the poet, novelist, biographer, children’s author and all-round brilliant woman, Jackie Kay!

Bibliomaniac! Robin Ince Returns!

Robin Ince Returns! We had such a good time last year, when the brilliant Robin Ince dropped in to say hello. Plenty of chat, book signing, tea and biscuits – the only thing we were short of was space (we’re not the biggest shop and we have SO many books!!). Robin’s coming back to Chorlton […]

Christmas has Landed!

Our Christmas catalogue has arrived – which means the countdown has officially begun!

Booker T!

When it’s Booker Prize Shortlist Time, we know that the official ‘curling-up-with-a-great-book’ autumn season has truly begun! This is the literary prize, awarded to the best novel published in the past year and identifying a new generation of modern classics. Titles like Shuggie Bain (Douglas Stewart), Girl Woman, Other (Bernardine Evaristo), and Wolf Hall (Hilary […]

I Wanna Be Yours

John Cooper Clarke’s autobiography was always likely to be a vivid, engrossing read, but I Wanna Be Yours, out now in hardback, manages to exceed expectations. Everyone’s favourite spiky-haired performance poet conjures up a bygone age growing up around post-war, pre-punk Salford, and he’s unfailingly candid about his subsequent hazy days of fame and addiction. We […]

What Girls do in the Dark

Writer / performer Rosie Garland is a long-standing friend of the shop, and we’re always delighted to receive her latest book. Rosie’s new volume of poetry for Nine Arches Press, What Girls Do in the Dark, is a luscious, wide-ranging collection that demonstrates her spellbinding gift with words, whether considering her birth parents, a bramble bush […]

"This way to the gift shop", said the Walrus

Have you popped into our online shop yet? 

We’ve got lots of surprises for Christmas, plus notebooks, diaries, cards and gorgeous gifts for everyone! We’re adding treasures all the time.

We offer free click-and-collect from our Chorlton (Manchester) shop, or we’ll ship to you – whatever works! And if you’d like a book, use our order page