Last month I heard rumours of a fantastic new independent bookshop in St Andrews. It has taken me just over 4 weeks to travel 90 miles to the Kingdom of Fife to browse for myself. Fortuitously I had need of a destination for my wedding anniversary weekend. Before you say anything, Rossetti was happily ensconced in the husband creche ….
My source had warned me of the temptations of floor to ceiling shelves packed with signed first editions. So I entered the threshold steeled against the oft-used wiles good independent bookstores. And then, I saw the stuff of my fantasies materialise before my eyes …..
Is this a ladder I see before me?
The ladders are not just for cosmetic purposes. Those shelves are high … and they are packed with books. In fact, apart from a couple of card stands, this shop is full of my favourite commodity. No distracting displays of pen, pencils, notebooks and e-readers. This is a bona-fide book-shop … with strategically placed nooks and comfy seats for bibliophiles to bide their time and browse their potential purchases. There’s complimentary tea and coffee too. The company owner has gone on record as saying that he is “too jealous of the space” to put a café in one of his shops. So your choice of beverage is brought to you on a tray and you are left to browse in peace and comfort.
Book browsing with a brew ….
I particularly liked that the fiction section was divided into hardback and paperback sections, but not by genre. This led to some interesting relationships on the shelves.
Goddard, Goethe, Gogol
In line with Mark Forsyth’s essay “The Unknown Unknown” these days I enter bookshops looking for books that I don’t know exist. I found more than my fair share on this expedition. For reference: The Burglar Caught by A Skeleton, The Girl who Couldn’t Read, and The Year of Reading Dangerously. However, this is the book I would have bought,
Unknown Unknowns
had I read the book next to it. Weimar was the unknown unknown I purchased last time I was in a bookstore. Weimar Thought, now a known unknown, must remain so for the time being.
As it turned out, I came away with two books that have long been on my wishlist.
The Death of Lomond Friel’s moment came because it is set in St Andrews, and I was reminded of Pure, while I was sitting enjoying my tea. I spotted a signed first edition in the locked cabinet. Budget wouldn’t run to £85 but it could stretch to the price of a signed paperback. Wrapped to maintain its pristine condition, I may add.
When my source told me of this fantastic bookshop, located 10 minutes from his work, “Oh dear” was my response. He knew exactly what I meant. Fortunately Topping & Co is 2 hours away from me, though I don’t think this will be the first and last time I pass through its doors …
A final (?) lingering look …
Imperium - Christian Kracht
My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout
Summerhouse, Later - Judith Hermann
When the Professor Who Got Stuck in the Snow - Dan Rhodes
Passenger 23
The Book of St Andrews
Pure - Andrew Miller
The Man in the High Castle - Philipp K Dick
A Doppelganger with Aquis Submersus - Theodor Storm
Confusion - Stefan Zweig
The Rain Maiden and Other Fairy Tales - Theodor Storm
The Last Bear - Mandy Haggith
Faust - A Tragedy in Two Parts - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Emperor of Ice-Cream - Dan Gunn
Whispering Shadows - Jan Philipp Sendker
The Vegetarian - Han Kang
The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin - Georges Simenon
On Glasgow and Edinburgh - Robert Crawford
Jellyfish - Janice Galloway
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Alice In Wonderland & Through The Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
River of Smoke - Amitav Ghosh
Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh
The Dark Heart of the Night - Leonora Miano
The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
The Driver's Seat - Muriel Spark
Viper Wine - Hermione Eyre
The Girl on The Train - Paula Hawkins
Wallenstein - Friedrich Schiller
In the Beginning was the Sea -Thomas Gonzalez
Munich Airport - Greg Baxter
Rise - Karen Campbell
The Lie - Helen Dunmore
Crime Novel - Petri Tamminen
A Tabby Cat's Tale - Han Dong 
Family Heirlooms - Zulmira Ribeiro Tavares 
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
The Franchise Affair - Josephine Tey 
Hedda Gabler - Henrik Ibsen 
Glass - Alex Christoffi 
The Miniaturist - Jesse Burton 
The Temporary Gentleman - Sebastian Barry 
Under The Tripoli Sky - Kamal Ben Hamada
The Blue Room - Hanne Orstavik 
Greenbanks - Dorothy Whipple 
Losing It! - Helen Lederer (2015)
The Pierced Heart - Lynn Shepherd (2014)
How lovely! Although I love my local indie, it is so small – and thus limited, although they do fill it with wonderful books. This new bookshop looks like such a lovely luxury. When my indie one went A-Z with no genres for a while, people didn’t like it, so they reverted, but I hope it works for Toppings.
I hope you enjoy ‘Pure’. I thought it was wonderful.
What a lovely sounding place – I especially approve of the husband creche!!
down for my next visit to fife my auntie is only a few miles away from st andrews in Elie so maybe we may visit her at some point this looks like a great new shop
So excited to hear about this shop! I’m a St. Andrews alumni and watched the independent bookshops close one by one ten years ago, despite my best efforts to keep them in business. Can’t wait to visit and try it.
Oh, how I wish I had been with you! I’ll make a note of this shop, just in case I ever get the cash to jump the pond. I thoroughly enjoyed your visit. Thank you!
Judith (Reader in the Wilderness)
This looks amazing! I love those ladders and the giant cups of tea! I assume this is related to the Bath Topping & Co, an equally lovely bookshop. Thanks!
Isn’t it wonderful? My photos did not turn out well so I posted a link to your site, hope you don’t mind. http://katewritesandreads.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/six-in-april.html
[…] What do I think of whenever I think of St Andrews? The two-mile long beach, the best bookshop in Scotland, or the bottle dungeon in the ruined castle, the horror of which haunts me, and was so […]