What do you recommend for a grieving mother at 9 o’clock in the morning? — You could say it is a difficult time to be a bookseller or for bookshops to stay afloat. There are problems everywhere. The rising cost of rent, the soaring energy costs to heat and run buildings, or more importantly, what’s causing the death of most shops: Amazon. The multinational corporation…

The first use of writing and record keeping had far deeper meanings than you think — As a history graduate, I spent a lot of hours in my university library, pouring over dense texts and sticking to demanding deadlines. I spent most of my life for three years in a library and although I was glad to see the back of that place, I could never…

Because there is so much more to the genre than escapism alone — I was in bed one night reading the eagerly anticipated Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. It was clear I didn’t want to be disturbed. However, my peace was broken slightly when my partner turned to me and asked, “Why have you suddenly been reading so much fantasy?” I muttered a…

And why we should stop commenting on bodies for good — It was one of those weeks at work. Everything was a mess. More chaotic than it needed to be. And the customers — every one of them slightly ruder than necessary. My colleagues and I could feel it in the air and were just trying to ride the wave. And…

Surprises, uncovering my unknown history and taking on a new sense of self — My partner thought taking an ancestry DNA test would be a fun activity for us both to do. We could compare percentages of ethnicities, tell each other about our family trees and bond over how much spit was required to fill the sample tube. I was initially sceptical, due to…

Discovering the importance of routine, prioritisation and looking beyond the obvious — Yes, I’m as surprised as you are. Not about the exercise thing and the mental health benefits. I’ve known about that for ages, haven’t we all? Like many, I’ve always chosen to ignore it. Until now. It’s only taken me over a decade to listen. But running. Running. That torturous…

Everything we know about how to lead a successful life is wrong — You can end up wasting your whole life by assuming you have time. It’s only when that time runs out, that you realise how finite it is. Part of the challenge of being a human is realising you will never have enough. This can be alarming, but a force of…

And why it was important to make them — It’s Virgo season which can mean a lot of things. Autumn is on the way and the mornings and evenings already have a crispness to them, and the days are getting shorter. But it also means I have another birthday. One that I’ve been dreading more than 25. I’ve grown…

And why we are needed more than ever — When I tell people I work in a bookshop they usually smile and tell me I’m lucky because I must get so much time to read. They then proceed to idealise how relaxing it must be. There are highs and lows to every job, we all know that. But for…