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Behind Her Books

Book reviews, recommendations and stories of literary life.

Libreria Bookshop
Bookshops

Libreria Bookshop

June 11, 2020

I mentioned in a post a while back that I went on a bookshop pilgrimage to London last year. Part of this trip took me into the depths of East London, past Brick Lane and its vintage clothes shops, to Hanbury Street. On this slightly shabby looking side street, you’ll find Libreria Bookshop. It’s part of the Second Home family (a hip co-working space in London) and let’s be straight here, it looks as cool as you’d expect from East London. But it also has a warm, golden glow that invites you in to take a further look.

(I don’t think they like you to use your phones in there as a rule, however, I did sneak a photo. Team Libreria, if you’re reading this: I’m sorry, it was for the greater good.)

Stepping inside, you’re enveloped in the soft ambience of yellow shelves, clever lighting and a seemingly infinite amount of books in a relatively small space. The bookshop has been very cleverly designed. The walls ripple towards a mirror at the back of the shop, reflecting the piles of books that lay on the table in the centre and of course the bookworms quietly perusing the shelves. Part of the ethos and design of Libreria is to cultivate creativity and allow you to discover new books and ideas.

To this end, you won’t books grouped in the standard fashion – no A-Z fiction, non-fiction, classics here. (All the bookshop purists just spat out their tea in shock.) Instead, the books are curated into categories such as ‘Wanderlust’, ‘Enchantment for Disenchanted’ and ‘The City’, expertly blending different styles and genres. This makes for a totally unique book browsing experience. How many times have you instinctively headed to the same part of the bookshop? Never branching into the sections that you claim you don’t like without actually ever reading them? I’ve definitely been guilty of that. Libreria removes those barriers,  allowing you to roam freely amongst the books in the wild. Like it was intended.

Of course, I was going to buy something (duh) and this style of browsing led me to a book I hadn’t heard of before. I bought The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon which is a novel about a Korean American woman who becomes involved in terrorist acts led by a cult tied to North Korea whilst in university. I was drawn by the eye-catching cover and I wonder if in a quote-unquote normal bookshop I would have noticed this, buried in an alphabetized shelf.

 A nice touch when I took my book to the counter to pay was a free bookmark and the option to have my book stamped with the Libreria logo. All those library vibes but I get to keep the book!

If you check out their website, you will see all of the other stuff Libreria has to offer. For those lucky enough to live close by they run loads of interesting looking events under their Cultural Programme. For those of us further afield, you can also check out their podcast or subscription service.

Now I’ve been once, I’ll definitely be back next time in London to discover something new.

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Megan | Behind Her Books
Q: what books inspire you to get creative? One of Q: what books inspire you to get creative?

One of my biggest loves (and goal and fears all wrapped up in one) is writing. I'm currently doing daily writing prompts and setting aside time to write every day. It's making such a difference!

I read Big Magic years ago and I still think about it now. In it Elizabeth Gilbert discusses how to live a creative life (not just writing, any art) and how to co-exist with The Fear. I love her writing so much and found this to be a real eye opener.

Being creative can be kinda scary so I'll take any support I can get 😊

If you need writing inspiration I'm following the prompts @marian_keyes so generously provided on her IG Live series and they're great. Her advice is really kind, practical and fun! So I'd recommend you check them out.

#creativewriting #bigmagic #books #Bookstagram #inspiration
Review ✨ Fleishman Is In Trouble tells the stor Review ✨

Fleishman Is In Trouble tells the story of Toby who is recently separated from his 'workaholic' wife Rachel and navigating the NY dating scene with some sense of glee in his mid forties. Yet when Rachel doesn't pick up the kids and stops returning his texts, he starts to evaluate everything he though about their marriage

Where do I start about Fleishman Is In Trouble?

It took me about 2 weeks to read it which is quite long for me and I'll be honest I was the closest to not finishing than I have with any book for a long time (DNF I think the cool kids call it).

But, I stuck it out. Something made me persevere.

The writing is razor sharp, intelligent and angry. Boy is this book angry! It's a scathing view on marriage, the elite New York parents, sexism and families. It's full of interesting characters and the writer explores really big themes in a fresh way.

What I struggled with was the dense prose (which is common of literary fiction these days) and the odd narrative choice, which threw me a couple of times. I wanted to hear from Toby and Rachel themselves but their story was told by a friend, who would often slip into tangents.

(As an aside, the writing did make me want to find any essays or articles the author had written because I think I'd love those.)

So, you see, I have no idea. I was left feeling very mixed up after it and looking at other reviews it seems to be a marmite book! I'd love to know what anyone who read it thought?

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Some glorious, mixed bag of books that I'm itching Some glorious, mixed bag of books that I'm itching to get round to. A mix of fiction and non-fiction, contemporary and older, all promising to be fabulous. Anyone else feel like they need another couple of hours in the day at the moment for reading? Wouldn't that be lovely.

This week has been busy and not helped by a naughty lil puppy who has decided to randomly start playing up in the nights 😵‍💫 lucky he's cute!

Let me know how your week is going and what books are you looking forward to reading? 💕
The longer lockdown goes on the bigger the risk my The longer lockdown goes on the bigger the risk my house will start looking like this 👀

I took this photo on my birthday maybe 5 or 6 years ago in Cofion Books in Tenby, a second hand bookshelf where the books are stacked precariously high and there's no apparent rhyme or reason, just books.

Can't wait to stumble across new bookshops again. What's the best bookshop you've found?

#bookstagram #bookshops #igbooks #indiebookshop #secondhandbooks
Thinking about the fact that I set myself a goal t Thinking about the fact that I set myself a goal to finish War and Peace this year after not managing a read along last year but it's still just next to my bed, buried under some other books.

Can someone give me motivation plz xo

Tags: #booksofig #bookstgram #classicbooks #warandpeace
Books with strong covers coz we love those pretty Books with strong covers coz we love those pretty books.

✨ Little - a fictionalised retelling of an orphan who goes on to become Madame Tussaud. A weird but good read!
✨ Rest and Be Thankful - an eerie story of a paediatric nurse who is exhausted from lack of sleep and whose creepy dreams seep into reality.
✨ The Silence of the Girls - an amazing retelling of the story of Troy from the perspective of Briseis, the former queen who is now a slave.
✨Homegoing - such a good book! This tells the stories of two half sisters who are born in 18th century Ghana and how their experiences diverge & the consequences on future generations.

Have you read any of these?
Review 💛 (That I can't believe I haven't writt Review 💛

(That I can't believe I haven't written already!)

If you know me, you'll know how much I love Dolly Alderton. (And Pandora Sykes btw. My boyfriend often reminds me I don't actually know them even though I talk as if I do. What a spoil sport.) So for some unknown reason it took me until Jan to read this Dolly's debut novel Ghosts.

Summary:
First off, it's not about actual ghosts 👻 let's just clear that up. It's actually about Nina Dean, a food writer who has just turned 32 and who has also just met Max on a dating app, who she's fallen for hook, line and sinker. Just when everything is starting to click, Max ghosts her (aka disappears out of her life without an explanation) and Nina is left to work out what went wrong and what happens next when everyone's life is moving on.

What I loved about this book is how real it felt. It's those conversations you have with your friends in the pub (remember pubs?) when you're two drinks too far into tipsy territory, it's waiting for a reply back from someone you fancy  with your heart in your mouth, it's receiving another wedding invitation. Dolly has a real talent for wrapping all those up and creating really relatable and interesting characters.

THAT TEXT EXCHANGE CHAPTER MADE ME WANT TO BE SICK. IF YOU'VE READ IT, YOU KNOW.

What surprised me was the tenderness and sadness of the parallel storyline about Nina's father and his progressing dementia. It was the perfect balance of nostalgia and frustration and heartbreak of family issues.

Dolly writes with wit, awareness and I honestly want to be her best friend.

Have you read Ghosts? I'd love to know what you thought?
Mr luvva luvva 💖 Like it or loathe it you're g Mr luvva luvva 💖

Like it or loathe it you're gonna get bombarded with some V Day content and I am here to add to the noise woot woot.

Here are some books for all sorts of love, not just the cuddly-toy heart-shaped-box oh-look-my-partner-sent-flowers-to-work-which-I-definitely-didnt-ask-for (👀) kinda love...

💕 For really gritty everyday love: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
💕 For pure love that'll break your heart into a thousand pieces: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
💕 For when you're heartbroken and need a pep talk: Heartburn by Nora Ephron
💕 For celebrating platonic love and friendships: Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
💕 For teenage love and a super cute story for young and older readers alike: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
💕 For millennial love: Exciting Times by Naiose Dolan
💕 For an order of love with philosophy on the side: Essays in Love by Alain de Bottom
💕 For the ultimate will they won't they / an ode to families making love complicated: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
💕 For a story on learning to love and accept yourself: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Add your suggestions in the comments!

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Are you signed up for a book subscription? I've c Are you signed up for a book subscription?

I've come to the end of my three month personalised subscription from @mrbsemporium (sob) and wanted to share the gems I had selected by the their team!

As part of this subscription you answer a bunch of questions about your reading tastes, what you like or don't like and then they curate suggestions tailor made to you.

I love essay collections, fiction, female writers, and I've started getting into  magic realism so these choices were perfect for me!

This is not an ad (lolz I wish) but was a gift from my lovely bf so feel free to tag in someone you're trying to hint for gift ideas, or if you wanna treat yourself I'd say go for it. Nothing better than a suprise book landing on your doormat each month ♥️

#books #indiebookshops #bookstack #bookstagram

2020 Reading Challenge

2020 Reading Challenge
Megan has read 26 books toward her goal of 30 books.
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4 Comments

  • Deborah Klee says:
    June 14, 2020 at 09:01

    I discovered that bookshop last year when visiting Brick Lane as research for my book Just Bea which will be published next year. It is an amazing bookshop. I love the guest curated book shelves. I wanted to buy armfuls of books. And those mirrors! Book heaven.

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    • Megan says:
      June 14, 2020 at 21:03

      It’s so lovely isn’t it, I wish it was local to me! I would have bought more but was limited to my rucksack haha! That’s so exciting that you have a book coming out – congratulations.

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  • Diana says:
    July 2, 2020 at 10:16

    Amazing post. I am always in and out of many bookshops in London but after all these years I am still to visit Libreria – maybe because it is slightly out of the way, as you say – in “the depths of East London”. Your post convinced me that it is a must-visit and I particularly like that the books there are not organised in a conventional order.

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    • Megan says:
      July 5, 2020 at 15:15

      It’s definitely worth a visit, plus there are lots of nice places to eat nearby too!

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